Page 28 of Chosen

“I hate him least of all.”

“Why… I mean… didn’t he drag you away from the village to war with him?” I wasn’t sure exactly how it had all happened, but he’d taken Frankfort, and I knew she had been with him when he did it.

“It is true. He did.” Her head settled on my shoulder, and she finally started to talk. “Whether Ozias had been the one I was given to, or whether it was some blacksmith nobody, I would have been sold by your grandfather. There was some relief that it was Ozias. If a girl has to be given to someone at least it was someone good. He was kind to me.”

I laughed and she lifted her head and shot me a look.

“Sorry.” I raised my hand in defense.

“He was kinder than most of the people in the long hall. They didn’t like my scrawny frame and awkward nature as a young girl.”

“You’re anything but awkward now. You have this boldness… A confidence…”

“I was nothing until Ozias took me to war. Once we arrived and I realized I could speak the Frankfort language, I suddenly had a purpose. I was prized. People respected me in some small way. It might have been nothing, but to me, at the time, it meant everything.” She took a deep breath before summarizing, “Ozias is who set me on the path to being who I am today. For that reason, I cannot hate him.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, causing her to look up at me again. “I didn’t mean to remind you of your enslavement. I know that I do not own you. We belong to each other, but it is because we so vowed, not because we own one another.”

---