A Warrior's Redemption (The Warrior Kind) (51 page)

Throughout her impassioned speech tears had been streaming down her face, and her voice was choked with the strong emotions that she felt for the man risking his life to save her.

I couldn’t stand to watch her blurt out her heart in promised slavehood to me for one more second. Her head had fallen forward in yet another sign of submission that I was sick of seeing from the woman I loved.

I kneeled down in front of her. This had not been where I was planning to do this, but oh well.

I flipped her still upraised hand over and held it with mine tenderly and with the other hand I tipped up her teary face and my eyes met her beautiful blue eyes, “I love you, too!”

She gave a half sob that I took to be a good kind of sob.

“I had a different arraignment planned out for this, but I don’t want you to go on like this one moment longer. Krista you’re not a slave. You’re as free as I am right now.”

I watched her eyes grow expressively large and more tears threatened to cascade out of them at my words.

“Now I have a request for you. As a free woman with the right to make your own choices would you please honor me with your choice and become my wife? Would you please share my life, share my heart, share the desire I have for only you and be my companion through all the years of our lives to come as my friend, my lover, and the other half of my heart?”

Her eyes had grown huge as I had watched her beautiful tear stained face go through the emotional comprehension of my words.

She launched forward and fairly knocked me over backward as she screamed, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

As she hugged me around the neck tight enough to cut off my air supply.

I laughed and pulled her back off of me for a moment, “One more thing.” I said with a smile.

I picked up her left hand and pulled out my grandmother’s ring from my cloak with my other hand. Her eyes got big again. She was so pretty! Not just physically, but inside too. My heart swelled within my chest at the knowledge that my emotions and desires would be in her tender safe keeping from now on.

The beautifully molded diamond ring slipped perfectly onto her finger and she melted again into my arms.

She pulled back and said mournfully, “I don’t have a ring for you!”

I leaned forward and whispered into her ear, “I have one, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to put it on right now. You’ll see why later. What do you say we get out of here?”

She nodded her head her face all smiles and I rose to my feet and took my cape off. I extended out my hand and she took it and rose with the grace of Eve.

She had knelt be
fore me as my slave and she rose now as the queen of my heart. I took my cape and whipped it around her shoulders covering up her near state of nakedness from the sight of all the men around us.

She looked up at me gratefully for the covering and then leaned up on tip toe to whisper into my ear, “I’ll be your liv
ing breathing fantasy and satisfy you’re every desire so long as breadth remains within me to please you. I’ll bless you with my beauty that so many have desired to have, but that only you will ever possess and my heart will forever be yours to care for as you wish.”

My eyes met hers as she slipped back down to stand on her feet and I saw the promise of her words reflected in the smoky depths of her sapphire eyes. This day had been long
in the coming, but well worth the wait and I felt shaken in
side at the depth of the Creator’s understanding of me and His willingness to give me more than I could ever have asked for much less could ever have deserved.

The crowd was still thick around us, as they watched the tableau of something beautiful unfold that their worldly eyes could not understand, even though they clearly saw it. I drew my sword and they parted before me at the sight of the shimmering blade that snapped with color.

Striding out the way I had come in with Krista’s hand on my arm I knew something the rest of the denizens of this unhappy place did not know. All the other doors had been closed and barred by a group of dark clad men number
ing twelve. The door I was heading for was the only one left open.

“Sir! Sir!”

Rang out from behind me. I turned to see the auctioneer run up to us out of breath.

“You almost forgot this!” He said holding out the bill of sale to me.

They still didn’t’ get it!

I snatched it out of his hand, “Thanks!” I growled and he fled back down the aisle, as he saw the sword in my hand.

Arriving on the boardwalk outside the slave market house I whistled loudly and Flin bolted out of the side alley, where I had left him and mounted up onto the boardwalk.

The timbers shuddered loudly as he ran up the boardwalk to pull up in front of us.

“Roric?”
Krista asked.

I turned to her, “Yes?”

“You forgot something in there.”

I for the life of me couldn’t imagine what that was. “What?”

“This!” She stood up on her tiptoes and threw her arms around my neck and kissed me with all the passion that I had remembered from our encounter on the beach and more.

I was just about to return the kiss, when she pushed away from me. I looked at her not understanding why she’d stopped things, yet again. Was she now going to slap me again?

I didn’t think so, because she was looking up at me with a saucy little grin on her face, “There’s more where that came from, but you’ll have to wait till later!”

I shook my head smiling, as I lifted the little tease up be
hind the saddle. I got into the saddle and her arms closed tightly around me, which was a very good feeling.

My sword was still drawn for a specific purpose. I handed the bill of sale to her over my shoulder.

“Hold this please.”

As she took it I backed Flin up against the side of the building.

“Zarta!”

On my command Flin lashed out with his back hooves and crushed in the side of a barrel full of lamp oil.

As the oil spread out across the dry boardwalk Esmeralda stumbled out of the auction house shrieking, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Flin out of his own volition lashed out a hoof and sent her toppling backward into the building. I extended the point of the sword over my shoulder.

“Your papers my darling?”

With a giggle of pure joy Krista shoved her bill of sale onto the end of the amazing sword her husband wielded. I pulled Flin forward and reached the sword upward to the lantern overhead.

The papers caught flame and I swung the sword in a downward arc to shake the burning shards of the bill of sale off into the spilled oil so that they could burn up with the past. As the boardwalk and the front of the building burst into flames I heard shouts of alarm from inside. Let the fool’s burn up with their blood money in hand!

I let Flin have his way and we busted through the railing of the boardwalk and headed northward for home as fast as Flin could carry us. I was free to be content now wherever I lived and through whatever I did, because I had the girl of my dreams, that I loved more than anything else, holding on tight to me.

Krista buried her head against Roric’s back loving the solid feel of the man she held onto, knowing that the solidness she felt was more than just something that went skin deep. This amazing man had come back for her!

The slave buyers had wanted her body, but he had wanted her heart, and the Creator had freed her soul. A slave no more, but the wife of a proud warrior she would forever be.

Life’s journey for her may still hold valleys and mountains to cross, but she could do it with her husband by her side and God showing her which way was up. Life was worth the living after all, because the Creator had made it so.

Guy S. Stanton, III

A few things about me

I live in the country. It’s the best place to be I’m

thinking. I share my life with my beautiful wife, Beth,

my three children and one cat named Herman.

When I’m not lost in a daydream the most likely

place you’ll find me at is flower gardening

or at the movie theatre. I use to think I was strong, but

now I freely admit that I’m weak. My new reality is

okay because Jesus Christ has me covered.

It’s better that way trust me!