MAN OF WAR

8

The days passed, and Titus kept his word. He made no unwanted advances toward Jade; unfortunately, he did insist she sleep in his bed. His reasoning was that there was only one bed in the small house, and she would have no other place to lay her weary head. However, Jade suspected the insisted closeness was to serve some ulterior motive.

She was expected to maintain the household as her duties. Titus rose in the morning and often left for the day. She did not know where he went, but he took his sword and often did not return until dusk. She was left to her own devices during the daylight hours.

            The first day Jade cleaned the house, ridding it of its months of dust and dirt, washing all the surfaces and the floor. She then ventured outside the house to chop wood for the hearth and to explore. She wished to get a better feel for the area if she wished to escape from it. Titus had been correct in the fact that there were too many people in and around this place that could catch her and turn her in. Without her crystal, she needed more than just mere luck. She needed cunning, stealth, and a well thought out plan.

            While she walked around gathering kindling and cutting wood, Jade made detailed mental notes of the layout of the surrounding area. Of the other houses, the stables and barns, of the high stone wall surrounding the palace, and the well-armed soldiers that were patrolling the walls. She then ventured farther toward what seemed like a small marketplace down an alleyway set up for slaves to purchase necessities for making their master’s meals.

            Jade entered the alley, inspecting the vegetables and the grains. She held a small leather purse filled with coins, which Titus had left her to buy food. Jade reached for a large potato, and the vendor snatched it away from her. “Go away, witch. I do not sell to the likes of you,” he snarled. Jade withdrew her hand, startled and hurt by the man’s nasty remark. Word of her and Miya’s arrival had spread throughout the palace and the surrounding areas like wildfire. Every nobleman, soldier, peasant, servant, and slave were whispering about the witch that Titus had taken to his bed.

            Jade moved to the next cart, and the vendor glared at her. “Witch!” He growled. “We do not want you here,” Jade looked at another vendor and then another. Each scowled at her with raw hatred in their eyes.

            She straightened her back and thrust out her chin rebelliously. She shot a hateful glare at every one of them. If they wanted a witch, then she would give them something to fear. “If I were you, I would be nice, or I may turn each and every one of you into toads,” she snapped and stormed out of the alley. She wanted to cry, but she would not. Their irrational hatred of her cut deeply. This was exactly why her people kept themselves secret, why they hid.                                          

            Jade headed for the barn, which was not far from the house. She ducked inside and leaned against the wall. A tear rolled down her cheek. To the grave with all of them for all she cared. Jade looked around and saw a cow. She supposed she could at least get some milk. That much she could do herself. She walked over to the cow, finding a stool and a bucket, she sat down beside it.

            She had never milked a cow before, but Jade had seen it done, and it did not look all that difficult. Jade reached for a teat and firmly squeezed and pulled down. A squirt of milk hit the bottom of the bucket. That was not so hard, albeit it did not result in much. This would prove to be a long and tedious process; it would seem.

            “There is a faster way to do that,” a female voice said from behind her. Jade looked back to see a young girl standing in the mouth of the stall. She was dressed as a milkmaid with long golden hair. She could not have been more than perhaps thirteen. It was the same girl that had brought in Jade’s bathwater the other night, she realized. She seemed a bit uneasy, but she offered Jade a friendly smile. “I could show you if you wish,” the young girl offered, coming into the stall.

            Jade rose from the wooden stool to allow the girl to take her place. She reached under the cow and set to work immediately, producing far more with ease. Jade leaned over to watch and learn for the future. “You are quite good at this,” she said.

            “I have had many years of practice,” the girl smiled. “I was born here.”

            Jade found that to be very sad. This poor girl was born a slave. She had never known freedom. “What is your name?” Jade asked.

            “Elizabeth,” she said as the bucket reached the halfway point. She stood up and held it out to Jade. “Here you are.”

            “Thank you. My name is Jade,” she introduced herself with a smile.

            “You are staying with Admiral Titus, are you not?” Elizabeth asked awkwardly.

“Yes.”

“Is it true what everyone is saying? Are you really a witch?”

            Jade frowned. “No,” she shook her head. “I am no witch,” she said, carrying the pail out of the barn.

            Elizabeth followed her. “I saw you in the market. It was cruel what they all did, to shun you so,” she said sympathetically. “If you like, I could do your shopping for you,” she offered.

            Jade entered the house and placed the pail near the table. “Why would you help me?” She asked, questioning this young girl’s motives.

            “Because we all need a friend sometimes,” she smiled, “and you look like you could really use one right now.”       

            Over the next few days, Elizabeth had become just that… a friend. She went to the marketplace and returned with fresh vegetables, grains, and flour for Jade each day. She also taught Jade to bake bread and churn butter. All skills she had never learnt. When Titus returned at the end of the day, he did so to food on the table. He praised her quick adjustment to her domestic role. To which Jade would smile and say nothing. It was best he felt she was in compliance; it would keep him out of her way.

            While he was gone, Jade would still spend much time exploring the tall walls and watching the guards. “You are always watching those men,” Elizabeth said one day. “I do not understand why when you have such a perfectly handsome one sharing a bed with you,” she said, gathering up some kindling.

            Jade diverted her attention from the men on the wall back to Elizabeth. “Lizzy, you are far too young to be thinking about such things,” she scolded.

            “I am not all that young,” she protested. “Many other girls my age are happy mothers made,” she declared.

            Jade shook her head; such a thing was just wrong; a girl so young should not be forced into parenthood. She was but a child herself. She supposed as a slave, such things were common in Elizabeth’s life, and there was no use trying to argue the immorality of it. “That may be so, but a lady does not discuss such things,” Jade said, picking up some kindling. “Besides, nothing happens. The man is my enemy. He is evil.”

            “Evil?” Elizabeth turned up her nose. “Admiral Titus? I have known him almost all my life. I do not think he really knows me, but I have seen him. He is gentle and generous. He treats us kindly and has, on more than one occasion, stepped in when he witnessed a master mistreating a slave. Around here, he is a hero. Any one of these women would consider themselves lucky to take your place.”

            Any one of them could as far as Jade was considered. So long as she could get over that wall without an arrow in the back. She needed a way over the wall safely. Jade thought. She had examined the wall, and the rock surface was smooth with little for her to hold on to. She could not likely scale it.

            “Planning an escape?” A male voice asked over her shoulder.

            Jade turned abruptly and faced the man she had seen in Titus’ house the day she had arrived. Logan, she believed she had heard Titus call him. He was smiling at her; perhaps he had been joking, not realizing she had actually been plotting for freedom. “Of course not, merely admiring the fine structure,” Jade lied. She returned to gathering her kindling.

            “Begone,” he ordered Elizabeth, taking the kindling from her. Obediently Elizabeth cast Jade an apologetic glance and left her alone with Logan. “Alone at last,” he smiled. “Might I carry that for you?” He offered.

            Jade held the pile of wood closer to her bosom, rejecting his gallant offer to relieve her of her burden. “I am perfectly capable of carrying it,” she said, deciding it might be a good time to return to the house with what she had gathered. Unfortunately, Logan followed her. “I regret to inform you the Admiral is not in,” she said, coming to the door. Jade dropped her load onto a heap on the floor just inside the door.

            Logan entered the house behind her and dropped the wood he carried onto the same pile as he smiled at her. “I must admit, I know exactly where the good Admiral is,” he said, closing the door behind him. “It is not he whom I have come for.”

            Jade had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. She recoiled and placed the table safely between them. “I know not what I might do for you, Major.”

            He offered her a brazen smile. “Come now, sweet; you are far too beautiful to be so naive,” he said, taking a few steps forward. “I only wish to come to an understanding.”

            “An understanding?” She asked quizzically.

            “Between you and me,” he said, coming around the table. “Why should Titus be the only one to enjoy your bounty?” Jade moved around to the other side of the table, keeping it between them. “I could bring you great pleasure,” he said, trying to tempt her.

            “I do not belong to you,” she said. Jade never thought she would be grateful that she could say such a thing until that moment.

            “I can be discreet; he need not ever know,” Logan pressed, coming quickly around the table once more and catching her wrist in his iron grip. He pulled her into his arms and crushed her against him. “You have haunted my dreams from the moment I saw you,” he said, gazing down at her like a starving man at his last meal. “I must have you.”

            “I am not yours to have,” she persisted, struggling to get free. His grip was tight, and she could not break his hold on her.

            “I have never bedded a witch,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.

            “And you shall not today,” she growled, bringing her knee up between his legs hard and knocking the wind from his lungs. Logan yelped in pain and released her. Jade ran around the table to get away from him as he stood up. The lust gone from his eyes and replaced by rage. 

            “I shall run you through for that, you stupid w***e,” he snarled, drawing his sword and coming after her. Jade ran to the hearth, grabbing hold of the bail of the cauldron and pulled it from the fire. It was burning her hands, but she swung it with all her might as high as she could and hit Logan in the face with it. The stew she had been making spilt out all over the floor, and Logan screamed, dropping his sword. His hands flew up to protect the burning flesh of his face.        

            Jade dropped the pot and ran for the door. She had just assaulted an officer. She would likely be put to death if she was caught. She had to make a break for it now; she had no other choice. Jade ran around the house and slammed hard into a solid body. She screamed and looked up to find Titus looking down at her. He reached for her, confused by the state in which he found her. He noticed the burns on the palms of her hands and grabbed her wrists to examine the damage better. “What is this?” He demanded.

            “‘Tis nothing,” she lied, trying to pull away and hide her hands.

            “You are telling falsehoods,” he snapped. “What are you running from?” She could hear Logan cursing behind her, searching for her. Titus’ attention was drawn to this ruckus as well. “Stay here,” he ordered, pressing her against the wall. Titus stepped out into the open to confront his friend, and Jade peered around the corner to watch. “Pray tell, my friend, what has happened to your face?” He asked, observing the nasty red burn along the whole right side of Logan’s face.

            Startled to see Titus, Logan paused and lifted his fingers to the burn thoughtfully. “An accident,” he finally said. “With the servant girl. She grabbed the cauldron while it was too hot and spilled everything. I tried to help her and suffered for it,” Jade felt her rage boil. That dirty liar.

            “I see?” Titus said skeptically but did not question his lie. “And just why is it that you were here to assist her?”

            “I came to find you,” Logan lied once more. “The girl said you would return soon. I decided to wait, but the witch tried to seduce me,” he said.

            “Liar!” Jade yelled, coming out from her hiding place and charging Logan. “You are a dirty liar!” She growled, enraged. Titus laced his arm around her waist and held her back, lifting her off her feet. “I should cut your tongue out.”

            Titus held her at bay and carried her to the door of the house. “Go inside and clean up,” he ordered. “I shall deal with this,” he nudged her inside and shut the door. Stubbornly Jade cracked the door open to listen to what they had to say. Titus returned to his friend.

            “She is a liar Titus. You cannot believe a witch,” Logan said, sheathing his sword.

            “Perhaps,” Titus agreed, “but should I find you near her once more and find her harmed as she is, you shall taste the edge of my sword,” he warned sternly in a calm and even tone. Both men were silent for a moment, and then Titus smiled and slapped Logan on the back. “But that was not why you had come, was it? So why not tell me what it is you did come for?” He asked, calling Logan’s bluff.

            “Sakwa,” Logan spoke a name that caught Titus’ attention.

            “What of him?” Titus asked. Jade strained to listen, but their voices grew lower, and all she could hear were half words and whispers. She had heard the name before, whispered in taverns and alleys. She had also heard a little from what she could overhear at the banquet hall the other night. These men hated this Sakwa, feared him, and sought him. He was their enemy. A rebel leader if the rumours she heard carried any truth — the head of the rebellion.

            Suddenly Titus broke away from Logan, and the dastardly soldier left. Jade saw Titus coming toward the house; she backed away from the door and quickly sought out a rag. She bent to her knees and began to clean up the spilt stew. Titus entered the house and closed the door behind him. “I am sorry dinner is ruined,” she apologized. Scooping up chunks of food and tossing it into the pot. Her hands throbbed from the blistering on her palms, but she continued to clean.

            Titus came to her and took Jade by the arm. “Stop, just stop,” he insisted, helping her up from the floor. He took her hands and turned them over, assessing her injury. He ushered her to a washbasin and gently placed her hands inside to clean them. He then disappeared into the other room for minutes before returning with an ointment. Titus sat Jade down at the table. “Let me see,” he asked softly. “This will help speed the healing,” he insisted.

            Reluctantly Jade held out her hands, and he gently applied a liberal amount of foul-smelling ointment. “I did not seduce him,” she said. Not sure why she cared whether or not he believed her.

            “I know you did not,” he said, offering her an understanding smile. “You are not the sort,” Titus rose and retrieved a clean rag. Tearing it in two strips, he used it to bind her wounds. Once he was finished, he held her hands in his and lifted them to his lips. Titus placed a gentle kiss on her fingers and smiled. “There, all better,” she could not help but smile in return to his boyish grin. He was so kind and gentle with her. He had both believed her and come to her defence. When he could have yelled about the loss of his meal and the state of his house, he had merely tended to her wounds and offered her compassion and understanding.

            Jade disliked this part of Titus very much. It made things all the harder for her to hate him. She tried each day to remind herself that this man was responsible for her situation, for Miya being imprisoned. Telling herself, he was her enemy and deserved her malice and contempt. Then he would return and wish her well and praise her. He would stroke her hair and whisper sweet words. He would watch her in silence with such desire in those dark eyes she would struggle to keep her own emotions in check.

            It was worse when he would help her clean after the evening meal. When their hands would touch, and she would feel the fire leap between them. Or when he would stoke the flames in the hearth and ask her to sit with him by the fire, and they would talk for hours. He would tell her of days as a boy fishing with his father or learning swordplay. He spoke highly of the man. He told her of how his father went off to war. To fight the rebel uprising and died shortly after. “This is why you fight?” She asked the night he told her.

            Titus had been stretched out on the floor with his legs crossed and propped up on his arm. “It is,” he admitted. “I wished to fight the cause he died for,” he said, staring into the flickering flames.

            “That is very noble,” she said, seated beside him with her legs tucked under her bottom. “But how do you know that his cause is just?” She asked. “Do you not ever question it?”

            Titus stared at her as if offended that she would suggest such a thing. “My father fought and died for the Empire. I will do the same. It might not be perfect, but it is what I have been commanded to do.”

            “Do you ever question your orders?” Jade asked, seeing the conflict in his eyes.

            “Who am I to question the wisdom of the crown?” He said, smiling at her. Titus reached out and caressed her face. “I am but a simple man with simple wishes,” each night when he stared at her with those dark eyes, Jade could feel her resolve begin to wither a little more. Slowly he was chipping away at her resistance, and Jade could not deny that at times, she wondered if he might try to kiss her. At times she might have actually hoped he would. And each night, when Titus took her to his bed, she could not fight the longing deep inside to feel his strong arms around her.