"Are you well?" The smell of blood grows thick.
"Stay away," she demands.
I pause. Biting my lip. Then I reach and tear off the mostly clean shirt under my coat. I begin tearing off the hem.
"Stop that," she says from her spot beyond the tree. "I have clothes back at the cabin.”
"But you can't have them until you return. Take this," I hand out the strips to her, waiting for her small hand to reach out and take them.
A moment passes. "Mierda. Gods damn it all."
"Melisa," I insist.
"Fuck! Fine," she says, snatching them away from me.
I listen to the sounds of night until she emerges. Her face is pinched, and the corners of her mouth are downturned. I unhook the gourd on my belt and hold it out for her to wash her hands.
“Better?” I ask.
“I could be worse,” she replies.
"I tended to you," I say. “While you slept.”
Her chest rises and falls as she grits her teeth. "Why?"
I can't believe it. "Why? Was I supposed to let you rot in the filthy space?"
She lets out a frustrated breath. "You need to be more careful. If someone had caught you?—”
From behind us, the laughter and footsteps get louder and louder. I grab Melisa and hold her close, expecting her to resist but pleasantly surprised when she melts into me. The tenderness of the small action makes my heart swell.
"She's down there... waiting," a solo giant slurs to no one.
I angle the both of us so we watch him as he moves toward the space at the entrance of the pit. Something sour coats my tongue like the sweetness of poison. It’s the giant who whipped me and executed my fellow slaves. He peels back the lid I'd carefully replaced and sticks his head in.
"Come out, come out little whore. Eneko's nowhere to be seen, and I'm ready for a rut!" he calls into the space.
I freeze at his crass words, my arms turning into a steel cage around Melisa.
"Where are you? I'm ready to sink into your soft little quim. Eneko shows you off too much for his own good,” he continues to ramble drunkenly.
Melisa is still. Her heart races. Then she lets out a shaky breath.
“I’ll be right back,” she says.
“No,” I fume.
This haughty woman, the one who teases all and flirts with every man, the one who appears as an open book, could hide secrets, fiercely protect what she loves, and... be afraid. She was afraid of these men.
If she thinks that I wouldn't defend her honor, she's a fool.
I can kill a man easier than blinking. I've done it.
For the first time, she looks up at me with large, terrified eyes. Her eyebrows are drawn together, and I smile at her.
He'll find I'm gone,she pants.I have to go back. I have to...
Not this time. I can't save you from everything, but I will save you from this.