Page 30 of The Warrior
“Did you fight for Laura?”
I gestured for us to walk back when I saw that Mila was shivering a little from the cold.
“Here.” I pulled out gloves from my inner pocket and gave them to her. They were far too big but she still smiled and thanked me.
“Yes, I fought for Laura. She’s much younger than me so I waited a long time for her to be ready for marriage.”
“But what about the girl who promised to marry you? Wasn’t she disappointed when you married Laura?”
“No, because it was Laura who made me that promise.”
“Like Willow and Solo?” Mila’s sweet voice rose in excitement.
“No, it was nothing like that. There was no kissing and no pact. Just a promise from a little angel to me, a big sweaty warrior who thought Laura was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.
“Was she prettier than me?”
I looked up at the sky. “The first time I saw Laura, she stood out to me as if she was the only bright and colorful person in a black-and-white picture. She was so vibrant and fascinating with her red-colored hair that I couldn’t take my eyes of her.
“How old was she?”
“About your age.”
“Ten?”
“Almost. I think she was still nine at the time. I had never spoken to a female child before and one day when I was teaching Khan some fighting techniques, she walked in out of nowhere.” Memories made my lips purse upward. “I was horrified to see a girl walking around unprotected and asked her where her father was. It turned out her parents were having tea with my parents in a different part of the Gray Mansion. She had gotten lost while looking for the bathroom.”
“Then what did you do?”
“I took her back, of course, and before we entered the door she pulled at my hand to stop me, and then she asked me if I would marry her when she got older.”
“How old were you?”
“Old enough to know she wasn’t serious.”
“And how old is that?”
I smiled at Mila. “I was around eighteen.”
Mila wrinkled her nose. “That old?”
“Yeah, ancient almost.” We shared a grin. “And I was even older the next time I saw her.”
“When was that?”
“When she was twelve and we were at a funeral. As I saw her long red hair in the sea of people, I knew it had to be Laura.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“No, but I circled around the room to get a better view and was confused that the little girl I remembered had grown so much.”
“Did Laura see you?” Mila asked, soaking up my every word.
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you talk to her? You really should have talked to her.”
“I didn’t think she would remember me and you forget that it’s not the Motherlands, where all males can talk to females. In the Northlands we watch from a distance. I couldn’t have walked over and talked to her even if I wanted to. It would have scared her and upset her family. The truth is that it was rare for girls to be out among that big a crowd to begin with, and I promise you that every male in that room noticed Laura and her twin sister.”
