Chapter 57: Tara

I entered the bedroom from the bath wearing only my towel, I found Tara waiting for me wearing a diaphanous blouse that matched her pants. She was about a foot and a half shorter than I was and this girl with her self-assuredness had me on edge. She found another towel and offered to dry my hair. I sent her to see if my luggage had been brought up yet. As much as I wanted her, I didn't feel right doing so now. I didn't oppose casual sex. There were just too many unknowns to this situation. Besides, I reminded myself, she was too young.

She returned adroitly with the news that two bags had been deposited in the atrium, she asked if I had anymore luggage that hadn't arrived yet.

"That's all I have. I traveled light and most of what I have is soiled. Will you separate the soiled garments from the clean?" I stretched out face first on the bed while she opened the first bag. I was going to have to get used to having her in my room. I'd put my boxers back on but still felt exposed. Tara startled me out of my drowsiness with a scream as she backed away from my bag.

Did something crawl in there while we were traveling?

I didn't want to move but figured that I would need to kill whatever it was that scared the girl. "What is it, did something crawl into my bag?"

"Master, there is blood all over your clothes!" She cringed in the corner trying to get away from my blood soaked shirt. That was the one that I was wearing when I rescued the girl from the wizard.

"Oh that. It's just dried blood, toss it in a corner or something." From her continued shaking, she was obviously still scared, and the way that she slowly inched forward to the offending garment. "Hold on, I'll get it." I went through the bag and tossed the worst of the offenders in a pile.

"Throw those out tomorrow, the rest are just spotted with blood. See if you can have someone remove the blood. If they need advice, ask at the temple of Kassandra. They should know how." She was looking at me in a new light. Fear warred with duty in her face. I went from a tall mysterious stranger to a mass murderer in one simple bag of clothes.

I was down to three outfits that didn't have any blood on them and none of those were clean. "Tara, come here." I pointed next to the bed. She approached cautiously.

I pointed to my scars across my stomach. "See these? I received them from a very bad wizard. He was killing girls like you. I stopped him, and received this scar from my efforts. I also rescued a young girl and brought her home so that she could be with her parents again. That is where most of the blood is from. OK?" She nodded and then remembered herself with a 'Yes, Master'.

"Good, I promise that I won't hurt you. OK?" I studied her face, I wanted to see if she believed me.

"Yes, Master." She seemed to believe me but was still scared of me. I don't expect miracles but I hoped for them.

"Master, if you put your clothes outside your door before you go to bed they will come and clean them while you are resting." That sounded like a good idea.

"Then do so, I'm tired and about to fall asleep. Where are you supposed to sleep?"

"Wherever you would like, Master."

Bright Lady, give me strength.

Glancing around the room, I didn't see anywhere for her to sleep besides with me. The bed was large enough for four, the two of us could fit easily. "Fine, you can sleep with me if you want." Even slave girls know the "Mars' look, I found out.

"That's right, I am just going to sleep. You can do whatever you want. Just remember to extinguish the lamps." With that I crawled into bed and tried hard not to think about the body that was snuggled up against me.

I had a harder time falling asleep that I hoped for. The girl took me at my word and did fall asleep. I don't know how long I was going to last. Chandra, Tara and Yolanda all expressed more than a passing interest. Then there was Megan, who said no.

I didn't even have the foggiest clue why I was resisting any of them, I just knew that I needed to. It wasn't a never, just a not now. I had a sneaking suspicion that Kassandra was guiding me again and I wasn't about to go against Her wishes. Even if they sucked.

Bright Lady, thank you for the safe delivery of my charges to this place. Please help me keep them safe and happy. Forgive my doubts, I will try and do better for You. As always, my sword is Yours.

I didn't think that anyone would bother me yet. I'd only made one enemy so far today and I did not believe that the Guildmaster was about to try and murder me in my sleep on the first night here in the prince's guest rooms. That thought made me crawl out of bed, and check the doors and windows to see that they were barred. The windows faced the bay and had wooden slats that opened, they were far enough away that I figured that I would be safe in bed. Besides the cool breeze that flowed through the slats felt wonderful.

Tara looked so young sleeping like that. She was a slave and probably born to serve. The poor child most likely never knew anything different. I wonder how Chandra was doing with hers?

Not a good thought. I was tired but not ready to fall asleep yet. I needed to get some soon, I knew that this next week was important. I returned to bed and tried to ignore the presence beside me. It had been two years since I slept with anyone. I stretched out and tried to remember everything that the prince had said. There had to be a chink in his armor somewhere. I just hoped that I stayed on his good side. Megan would hate me if I did something to harm her father, even if I had cause.

I finally fell asleep once I sought my center. I had not been seeking it as much as I should.

I awoke before the false dawn with a very warm and soft presence wrapped around me. I slid her off of me and tucked her back in, giving her my pillow to snuggle against. One of us should be able to sleep in. Besides, she looked too cute to disturb.

I washed up and then checked to see if my laundry was done. It wasn't. I ended up wearing the same clothes that I wore the previous day. I wanted to work out and believed that the prince would let me use his garden if I promised not to defoliate it. I retraced my steps to the entrance of the palace, there I found a couple of soldiers and after a bit of persuading they told me where to find a garden since Konnor did not have a real practice yard, he used Kassandra's.