As her feet touched the floor her arms wrapped around Roric and she buried her face against his chest soaking in the comfort of his familiar smell and the radiant warmth of his body, even as his powerful arms closed around her tightly.
She felt him kiss the top of her head and she leaned against the security of his chest finding a place of peace from the humiliation she had been made to suffer. She grew aware that he was talking to her. She reluctantly dropped her arms from around him and stepped back as far as his arms still around her would allow.
"Honey let's get out of this hell hole!"
She nodded her head vigorously and he turned to make a way through the crowd that had gathered as spectators to watch a show that illustrated a concept and a range of emotion that was completely foreign to them.
There was one thing she had to do first though.
"Roric."
He turned back to her questioningly. Krista knelt down onto her knees before him and extended her hand up to him with her palm up in a sign of submission.
"Master I promise to never run away from you ever again! I swear it! I will serve you all of my days faithfully! My body is yours to enjoy as you wish and my heart will be obedient to every word you say, but my spirit I give to the Creator, who has used you, my master, to save me from the darkness of these people and the hell that resides within them. My Creator has given me a better master in you than I could have ever wished for, but one thing I beg of you master is that you would never allow me to be parted from you again, because I love you with all of my heart!"
Throughout her impassioned speech tears had been streaming down her face, and her voice was choked with the strong emotions that she felt for the man risking his life to save her.
I couldn't stand to watch her blurt out her heart in promised slavehood to me for one more second. Her head had fallen forward in yet another sign of submission that I was sick of seeing from the woman I loved.
I kneeled down in front of her. This had not been where I was planning to do this, but oh well.
I flipped her still upraised hand over and held it with mine tenderly and with the other hand I tipped up her teary face and my eyes met her beautiful blue eyes, "I love you, too!"