Chapter 275

“Then sleep for a little while,” she said as I drifted off.

The men came back to me late that night looking dirty and scuffed, but relieved. They stripped out of their dirty garments and I saw bruises on them, but no bad wounds.

As I watched them disrobed, they watched me. None of them said anything though. They looked relaxed despite their disheveled appearance.

Their actions spoke for them. They took me off my tether and they didn’t put one back on. When we left the apartment, no one restrained me. I took these as signs that had relented and were forgiving me. Since they didn’t talk about it, I didn’t either. Instead I commented on their appearance.

“Was there a fight?” I asked as we walked down to the bathhouse.

“Men from the compound on the other side of the great barren stretch,” Christof told me. “They were bandits and have been raiding the traveling men. We found them after the midday meal. It was quite a battle. Several groups escaped, but we br