Time for the main event

"Why am I treating you like this?" You repeat her question as you pull slowly out of her mouth and lift her to her feet. "Because this is what men want from beautiful captives like you." You lead her towards the bed tugging gently on her hand as she hesitates. It takes a second tug a little more firm than the first one to pull her onto the bed by your side.

"Trust me," you soften your tone hoping to still have an eager partner in your bed. "It will be even better than when you made love with your fiancé." You hoped to assure her, but the look of shame and disgust surprises you.

"Aurilius didn't 'make love' to me."

"That's right," you murmur reassuringly "You didn't like it much, but it couldn't have been all bad if you were willing to give him your virginity."

"I wasn't willing!" Alicia's retort had more anger in it than anything you've heard her say in the brief time since you took her to your tent. "He **** me." For the first time you begin to feel a little sorry for the woman on your bed. Her voice lowers a little but you can still sense the repressed emotion.

"I didn't give him my virginity. He took it." The irony of the situation would have made you laugh, but the pain on Alicia's face stops you from making that mistake. "We were in my parent's garden, kissing and stuff, when he started pulling at my robes." Her fingers twist together as she recounts the encounter with her boyfriend. "I told him I'd satisfy him with my hands like I had the week before, but he got angry." She pauses long enough to take a sip from the wine cup you had offered her a while ago before pulling her knees tightly to her chest. "He told me that if he had to go fight like a man on the walls that I had to learn to be a real woman."

"So he was a nasty little prick." You rest your hand on her knee almost gently and she smiles sadly at you.

"It was crazy." Her eyes are searching yours for sympathy or perhaps just understanding. "My parent's gardens are not large and there were other couples walking in and out all the time but he pulled me under a mulberry tree and tore at my house tunic bunching the fabric up around my hips while I pleaded with him to stop."

"Did you yell for help?" You regret the question as soon as the words slip out. Obviously she hadn't, because she didn't have that white silk ribbon that was on her sister's arm. Alicia doesn't seem to mind the implication that somehow she could or should have done something.

"Not at first," she hangs her head hiding her face behind a veil of dark hair, "and by the time I realized he wasn't going to stop his hand was covering my mouth and his cock was between my legs." Her shoulders twitch in a suppressed shudder. "It hurt so bad that if his hand hadn't been there you would have heard my scream all the way up in your Rider tower."

"I'm sorry." It is of course absurd to apologize for the actions of a man you didn't even know especially because of the circumstances under which you met, but the soft words of encouragement seem to help a little.

"The worst part is that I let him fuck me again..." and after a moment of silence she adds bitterly "... twice!" Alicia's hands clench together pulling her knees even tighter against her breasts. "I convinced myself that I loved him, and that he loved me." Alicia seemed surprised when you took her hands in yours and squeezed them firmly. "Even as he was rutting on me like a pig I told myself that I wanted him to have me before he was killed. That we were star-crossed lovers torn apart by the horrors of war." She returns the pressure of your fingers on hers and then looking you in the eye she asks for more of your blunt honesty. "That was bull-shit, wasn't it?"

"Maybe not. He might still redeem you from the auction blocks and make you his wife."

"He's probably dead." The young woman smiled ruefully at you as she stretches out her pretty legs, "I hope he is!" Seeing the surprise on your face she explains. "I'd rather be **** by a conquering warrior like you than that sniveling weasel."

"You don't have to **** at all." You smile back cautiously, "remember, the reason I chose you was because I didn't want to have to **** myself on some panicking virgin, or that damn amazon warrior." Alicia's eyes lower and her voice drops to a horse whisper.

"I'm sorry I'm not the slut you were hoping for."