Becoming a Lady Read Online Free Page B

and coughed, “Thank you.”


    He lay back down.  “It will hit you hard.”


    Anna tried to adjust her body against the blanket beneath her but her arms were beginning to ache.  The flush had turned to a flame that was licking along her consciousness.  “I am in an odd spot.”


    He glanced over as he took another sip.  “Are you talking about the spot on the ground?”

Anna felt the heat rise to her head and she felt dizzy.  “I am in an odd spot in my thoughts, Sir,” Anna huffed, and tried to think.  “I was attacked when I was a child.  I am physically a woman, but I do not know much about other things.”
    “ Tell me what happened.”
    Anna looked at the man sitting there in front of her.  He had followed through with his promises so far, and though she could not tell if he were honorable or not, she felt herself wanting to trust him.  If he were truly a wicked man, she believed he would not be so quick to guide her in the right direction.  There was a gentle spot in this man.  She felt it when he touched her face and saw it when he looked at her.  Anna took a deep breath.  She had never repeated this story to anyone, as no one had ever asked.  “These horrible men came to my village,” she shuddered then and bit her lip.  “I do not know if I can continue.”


    The man sat up so that Anna could see his face.  “Can I assume that this is the first time you are about to tell it?”


    “ No one has ever asked, Sir.”   Her voice was soft and slightly slurred.  She took another deep breath and began:  “I was working in the barn one night.  My sister had just headed back towards my house.  I heard something in the distance.  It was a strange sound.  My father used to tell us about men who would raid from far away villages to gain information, animals, and coin but I always thought they were to scare my sister and me from venturing out at night.  My father did not make up these tales, and I immediately knew that something awful was about to occur.”   Anna blinked back tears.
    

She closed her eyes and opened them.  “They came in force.  I could not tell you how many, but I can remember every thread of the tabard those barbarians wore.  It was a golden yellow with a crest done all in black.”   Anna sniffled again.  “These men came into the barn.  I was scared and hiding behind one of the horses.  They saw me and pulled me out into the hay.”   She blinked several times to try to stop the images that were flooding her.  Tears began to flow freely down her cheeks again.  “They kicked me.  They kicked my legs.  They pulled at my arms.  I was terrified.  I cried out.  I screamed.  They laughed.  I could smell their horrible breath and sweat stench.  They were in my face.  The louder I screamed, the more they laughed.  They were all around me.  They went under my skirts.”  
    Anna sobered suddenly.  “They pushed things inside of me.  It was deep inside of me.  It hurt more than anything I had felt.  They used their fingers, the handles of their swords, their manhoods.”


    “ Do you remember what they looked like?”


    Anna nodded.  “I remember every detail.  I can still picture their hateful eyes and the sneers upon their lips.  I could taste the sweat upon their brows as it dripped into my mouth.  I hate them!”   She could not brush the tears away.  “So I screamed.  I screamed louder than I ever have and that boy - that boy that you might have killed – he came and he brought help.  The men of my village scared them away.”   She sobbed harder.  “I was still crying long after those men left.  No one would touch me.  They left me in the barn all alone.  My sister came later to bathe me and help me home.”   Anna began to cough.  “I was destroyed that night.  I am no longer worthy of marriage.  I am no longer worthy of living.”


    “ After the story that you have