I did not pick her up, everyone tried to stay away, and the old woman Helga sent her back home, saying that she would cope with the dinner herself. At dusk, having covered a sleeping foal, she habitually hid in one of her hiding places, away from the soldiers. As it turned out not in vain. Garth, who had forgotten about her existence, suddenly came to her cart with a bottle in her hand, singing drunken songs. Not finding her, he got angry and in anger began kicking things, waking up a foal who had jumped up and plaintively pinched.

- And you are here, vile brute! - In a frenzy, he shouted, waving a heavy bottle at the baby. The foal bounced off quickly, and Garth, too heavy and drunk, fell awkwardly to the ground, cursing obstinately.

Friends ran up and helped him up, persuading him to leave his horse alone.

- Yes, what does he care about this Mudblood! - did not calm down Garth. - To him, these cattle are more precious than people! - his words were becoming increasingly incoherent. - I, I am her master! I honestly bought it, this frozen whore! I have every right to strangle her if I want ...

The soldiers hardly managed to get rid of a friend standing on his feet. Alessia, who was watching the whole scene from her shelter, shrank from fear for herself and the abandoned baby. Over the past few weeks, she has become accustomed to being forgotten, accustomed to this supposed calm, that she was no longer a toy in men's hands. They played with her like with a doll and threw it away. Now the familiar wave of panic and helplessness flooded her again, not allowing her to breathe.

She didn’t manage to fall asleep that night. As soon as she fell asleep, like nightmares flooding her thoughts, they immediately pushed her back into reality - with her heart pounding in horror and then streaming down her temples. Unable to fight fears anymore, after feeding the foal, she got up and quietly left the camp, hoping to relax a little.

It was completely dark, the month had already disappeared over the horizon. The girl quietly trudged across the mutilated field, without dismantling the road. The corpses had already been removed and, having thrown off a dug pit, hastily thrown stones and loose earth in order not to attract predators and vultures to the camp. Lord Rado said that the camp would be removed only after a week, probably the Great Assassin wanted to give a break to his army before going home. The soldiers said that the detachments sent forward, to the foot of the Far Mountains, did not find any more centers of resistance, so there was no sense for the whole army to finish off the villagers who had fled like rats, a small battalion was enough for that. So, soon she will have to go with them to the south, to excel, to survive, to somehow find brothers and sister. But how? Suddenly, this whole idea seemed to her absolutely insane. How can she - a captive, be able to find three young children in a vast, unknown to her distant country?

Alessia, immersed in these gloomy thoughts, did not notice the break under her feet, and crying out of surprise, flew head over heels. Fall was not high. She found herself in a trench, which was usually dug out for land reclamation in the middle of the field, so that there would be runoff for rain and small streams, which often made the land of the foothills too wet for grain to grow. Typically, these pits were overgrown with small bushes, but the battle that swept over two days ago destroyed everything in its path with a hurricane. Therefore, she did not notice the cliff. The big pit was full of water. The murmur of a stream breaking like a thin stream on the surface of the pond was barely audible. The dark water glittered softly in the pale light of dying stars.

The girl still lying on the ground on the ground touched the water cautiously — she pressed her fingers in response, caressing her tender coolness. She also forgot this feeling - this is unity with nature, which she used to love so much, splashing in the creek of the river near their home.An unbearable desire to plunge, wash away all the sorrows of the experience, seized her whole being. Frightened by this surging melancholy, Alessia looked round quickly. There was nobody around. Only silence. Yes, the first rays of the sun, painting the sky in a pinkish color.

Deciding, she quickly took off all the tatters, and naked, slowly went into the water. It turned out to be cooler and deeper than she expected, apparently fed by underground cold keys. Just a couple of meters from the shore, the bottom abruptly went from under their feet, and the girl had to rake her hands and feet like a dog in order not to drown. Frightened by the depths, she quickly swam to the shore and lay down there, wrapped in blissful purity and coolness. Dozing off under the brook song, she plunged into a familiar nightmare.

In it, Askolt tied her hands behind her back, tightly tugging at her body, pinching her breasts, stomach, wrapping her legs and ankles so that she could only kneel, open to his whims. He liked her helplessness, liked that she cried when he painfully twisted her nipples, when he penetrated her mouth, or threw his face on the floor, methodically stretched her from behind. At some point, she simply ceased to feel, ceased to perceive reality, moving away from what is happening. He was still trying to bring her back with new humiliations, but quickly gave up. Such - broken and silent, she was not interested in him.

Waking up sharply, Alessia felt herself shaking with a massive shudder. She still felt pain in her body, the sticky fingers of the torturer in her bosom. Unable to cope with the memory, she dived into the depths, hoping to find comfort. The water, illuminated by the rising sun, was transparent and sparkled with golden specks. Suddenly, the thought came that all that needs to be done is to close my eyes, stop swimming and let the pond tighten itself ... There, at the bottom so calmly, there is no need to fight for every breath, everything will end ... The lungs are already sore, from lack of oxygen - just need to breathe and the water will merge with it, fill it, take away all the anxiety ...

Alessia jerked convulsively, preparing to give up ... and abruptly rose to the surface, spitting and loudly drawing in the air with her mouth wide open. Not! She's not like that! She won't do it! Yes, it is not enough that it can, but it has no right not to try! The sobs, which she held back for these long weeks, broke through the tightly built dam and burst out. She cried and cried about everything that she had lost — about her home, her land, her father, her brothers, about that naive, joyful girl that she was and who would never be again ...

When the tears subsided, leaving her exhausted, but calmed down, she gathered sandy silt into her palms and began to rub her skin with frenzy, as if trying to wash off all the memories of the outrages she had been through. She is strong, she can, let her have to sell herself to survive, but she will not allow anyone else to take her against her will! Never!

Having washed, the girl once again dived into the cool waters of the pond, thanks to him for this cleansing. Her soul was reborn, a goal reappeared in life. She is not alone - she has something to fight for - brothers, sister, her foal.

Remembering the foal, instantly brought her back to reality. The sun is almost up! He probably already woke up a long time and wants to eat! How long has she been gone? In a hurry, with difficulty overcoming the resistance of the water, she wandered to the shore. Wet hair floated in heavy veil over the water, wetting his wet back and thighs.

Reaching out at last, she grabbed a shirt from a pile of rags and, unbending, thinly screamed in surprise. Above her, on the edge of a low cliff, stood Radovan and gazed at her without stopping.

Her first impulse was to cover herself, but his eyes, though burning with the fire of desire, were not threatening. As if capturing her with this gaze, he would not let her move, gazing at her, taking her very essence.He greedily absorbed the luster of her green eyes, the silkiness of wet hair, light, slightly golden skin, the beauty of tender, small breasts with pink nipples, the roundness of her hips and abdomen with reddish hair down, long, strong legs.

Alessia stood, unable to walk, letting herself look at her, feeling her cheeks light up like a flush. She felt safe now, that he would not harm her, but she internally shook with anxious foreboding — as if her fate was being decided here and now, and that she would be inseparably dependent on this man with cruel eyes.

Her lips trembled, as if she wanted to say something, or to ask for something ... But he suddenly turned away sharply, and without deigning her with a word or a look, he left. The spell was asleep. The girl quickly pulled on her clothes and ran to the camp. He was nowhere to be seen, only in the distance she thought she saw a black horse galloping.

The foal was already jumping from impatience and loudly squeaking its "iii-iiii" when she ran to her cart. Having fed him, she sat down on the edge of the wagon, inspecting the awakening camp without fear. The groom said that Lord Rado would call in today, and she was just waiting for him. She felt different. Free. Despite the captivity ...

Something irrevocably changed in her this morning. For good or not, she had yet to understand.