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With that, he makes a swift exit, not giving me a chance to ask why. Yet I don’t want to know. There is an air of mystery surrounding that man, an unknown magnetic force that keeps me drawn.
He looks back over his shoulder at me as he walks away. I more than like the look in his eye but it only makes me hungrier to know why he wishes to see me.
Does he know what’s doing?
I wonder if he does as I try to brush aside the feeling between my legs. The rest of the shift passes by frustratingly slowly. Finally, though, the day is done.
I wait at the end of the forge, sitting on a wall as I dangle my feet in the air. The heat of the afternoon sun has vanished and in its absence is a low evening breeze.
“Krista!” calls out Lasta.
I look up to see him approaching me. The sight of him inflates a feeling of joy, and it feels as though I’m floating on clouds when I jump to my feet to greet him.
“Thank you for waiting,” he says. “Let’s take a walk, shall we?”
“Of course.”
For the first time, we’re going to be in one another’s company outside our place of work, the thought of which fills me with so much excitement that I almost lose my breath.
“By the way, I’m sorry I’m not dressed better for the occasion of… Well, whatever this is.”
“Worry not,” he says reassuringly.
At that moment, a strong chill runs through the air. I throw my hands to my arms, rubbing myself to combat the cold.
“Hmm. I did not anticipate the wind tonight. Take this, it’ll keep you warm.”
He removes his coat and throws it around my shoulders. I don’t know what to say as I become enwrapped in it.
“Sorry,” I gasp. “I mean, thank you.”
“Don’t fuss about it. Let’s head to the gardens. The foliage and bushes there will provide us with some cover from the winds.”
Smiling, I peer up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time since we started walking.
“You sure speak like you’re in the military.”
He raises a curious eyebrow at me. We walk by another naga who makes the mistake of slapping me on my ass.
I stop abruptly, rattled but unsure what to say. I don’t even get a chance to decide. Lasta lunges for the man. It almost frightens me to see the sudden change of expression on his face as it ignites with anger.
He grabs the stranger by the throat and lifts him into the air, slamming him against the castle walls.
“If you touch her again, I swear to the gods, I’ll rip your head off myself!”
“Captain Lasta, I didn’t know it was you, I’m sorry!”
Lasta throws the naga aside and points in the opposite direction. The man quickly scrambles to his feet and runs away. The captain turns back to face me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Just doing my duty.”
He lays a hand on my lower back as he gestures for us to keep walking. I keep replaying that moment in my head. No one has ever stood up for me like that. There’s never been a choice to do anything but take it, at least in the year that I have spent here.
“So, why are we here?” I ask.
