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| Chapter 2 | ||||||||||||
| ��������� Over the following months, Taker�s "master" continued to try to break him, but to no avail. It took almost a full year before Taker surrendered under the beating and obeyed. The farmer, happy that he had broken the army leader, gave the most difficult farm tasks to him. Taker willingly complied, happy that he had tricked the farmer. He would never surrender to the farmer and was close to snapping the man in two, but his army spies broke into the village and informed him of their kingdom�s plan and his rescue, although Taker would have to stay in the village for some time. A year and a few months had passed and the chains were removed from his limbs, but the farmer now carried a sword with him, foolishly thinking that it could protect him. The first time the Taker saw him with the sword, he almost laughed. The sword was his, taken from him when he was captured. The farmer was short and the tip of the sword drug on the ground when he walked around. | ||||||||||||
| ��������� Taker sighed as he patted the horse one last time before covering it with a blanket and moving to the next stall. As he began cleaning the horse, he looked toward the house. All of the windows were dark, save for one on the top floor. He watched the silhouette of the girl move around the room getting ready for bed. The girl, who the farmer addressed as Lilly, he assumed, was the daughter of the farmer. He guessed she was around the age of nineteen or twenty. He had caught her looking at him many times after the first couple of months he arrived. Ever since he arrived at the farm, he had caught her sneaking quick glances at him. After six months had passed from his capture, he allowed her to look at him without him looking back. He yearned for a woman and three years was too long for him. | ||||||||||||
| ��������� Although she was much different from the women he was used to. The women in his homeland were tall, sometimes as tall as he was; he guessed Lilly�s height was just past his waist. The women were large, burly almost, with loud voices and willing bodies. Lilly was a tiny girl, quiet and meek. She shyed away from him whenever they were required to work near each other, but there were times when her curiosity about the army leader won her over. | ||||||||||||
| ��������� She was in the barnyard feeding the chickens. As he was struggling with a stubborn branch near the barnyard fence, he saw out of the corner of his eye her looking at him. Even though chickens were squawking around at her feet, she seemed lost in staring at him. He ignored the girl for a second and with one last pull, the branch broke away from the tree and fell to the ground. He stood there for a few seconds looking down at the branch and trying to catch his breath. After wiping the sweat from his face with the back of his hand, he looked at the girl. He swore that he heard her gasp from where he was standing. Her mouth opened slightly and she took a step back. He turned away from her to hide his slight smile. As he picked up the tree limb and carried it to a burn pile, he briefly wondered if her gasp was out of fear or supurise. | ||||||||||||
| ��������� From that moment on, her wonder of him seemed to grow every day. Though he wouldn�t admit it, he was starting to grow curious of her. What was it about it that made it him so interesting to look at? Was it his looks? His history? His strength? What in the world was so remarkable about him that she tried to look at him without getting caught? He often found himself thinking about that question when he rested for the night. He searched his mind for a logical answer, but found none. Did he mind that the farmer�s daughter found something pleasing in watching him do farm work? Not really, although he wished she would tell him why she found watching him work was so fascinating. Not really a chance of that was happening since they had yet to say their first words to each other. He had been on the farm for three years, and for three years he had remained silent, and he planned on keeping it that way. There were only the three of them on the farm so the only person Lilly talked to was her father, unless she went into the nearby town. For some odd reason, he wanted to hear her voice before he left. He could only imagine what a voice coming from a small girl would sound like. | ||||||||||||
| ��������� He shook his head to clear the questions from his head. They were unimportant. He had to concentrate for the battle would happen tonight, as soon as the moon reached the top of the sky... | ||||||||||||
| ���� Copyright 1999 by Lady Serria � |
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