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Chapter 3: Teresa
"You can go home now Teresa."
I stared up at my employee in disbelief. "But we're in the middle of a war, sir."
"It's holiday time. We've decided to let each other have a two-week truce, meaning you have ten days of rest if you desire to go back home for awhile."
I tried not to sound too eager as I spoke. "Yes, I do desire to go back home, but my job is to stay here with you and protect you and your family."
"Don't worry about it. It's a family feud. No need to worry too much about it."
"But-"
He smiled at me. "Teresa, don't worry. Go home and have a good time. I expect you to be back here in fourteen days." And with that, I was dismissed.
I smiled a great deal for the next couple of days, riding back to the village with a handful of other warriors who'd also longed to be back home. It had been a month since I last set my eyes on the village and I sorely missed Kim and the daily routine of training the upcoming warriors. I guess most of all though, I missed Marc. It had been way too long since I had last seen him and spent some time with him.
Two days of horseback riding and we arrived back in town, surprising the village. As the crowd assembled and the other warriors began to tell the tale of the fight abroad, I scanned the crowed for the two people I cared for most. I nodded to myself after seeing that Kim was nowhere in sight. I knew that she wasn't one to be drawn into crowds and would find out later from one of her few friends what had happened. She was probably working on the cleaning out the cellar anyway.
I was a little disturbed to not find Marc there though. I knew that he wasn't on patrol today and there was no training to be going on for the next couple of weeks because of preparations for the holidays. Unless he had fallen ill recently and was not able to go about, I did not know what to think.
A little disturbed, I walked the horse to Marc's house. On the way, I passed a couple of villagers and asked where he could be. Each of them replied hat they hadn't seen him leave his house. If I hadn't been in such a rush to see him though, I would have noticed that everyone gave me a strange look. Someone else had even tried to stop me from going on. Soon though, I was there and I absentmindedly tethered the horse to a small tree outside. Worrying, I went to the door and knocked. After a minute of waiting with no answer, I opened the door.
I was not prepared for the next sight. Scattered around here and there were items I knew didn't belong to him. On the contrary, I knew they belonged to one of the women of the village. To be exact, Bianca.
I didn't know what to think. I knew I should have just turned around and left right then, but something caught my attention. A sound came from his bedroom and I found myself walking to find out the source. I gave a short pause outside the slightly open door and felt my throat catch.
"Mmm. That feels great Bianca," I heard Marc murmur.
"You're welcome," she replied cheerfully.
Quietly, I opened the door a little further to see what was going on. There, she was with him. He lay sprawled on his bed, eyes closed with contentment. She knelt over him, slowly massaging his bare back. I felt the sick feeling in my stomach grow as she knelt closer to him… and start kissing him. Marc quickly turned over but didn't stop her. She went on kissing him. She bent down to kiss his stomach and slowly worked her way up his body, covering him with her kisses.
Then the unbelievable occurred. When she bent down to kiss his face, Marc turned her face down towards his and kissed her. Not once or twice, but repeatedly. Those two went at it. Deep down, I knew what was going to happen and so I finally turned to leave. Tears streaming down my face, I left. Quietly, I shut the door behind me. I mounted my horse and let him find his own way home. I couldn't think. I could feel the pitying stares of my fellow villagers but I didn't feel like talking.
Soon enough, I was back home. "Kim! I'm home!"
"Tess!?" She ran out of her room and came over to hug me. "I missed you so much! What are you doing home? Is the feud over?" Suddenly, my quiet mood hit her. "Hey, what's wrong?"
I gave a weak smile. "I missed you too sis." I took a quick look at the house and saw everything neat and orderly like always. "Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to check up on you and the house."
"Liar. What's going on in that head of yours? Wait. Let me guess."
"Don't. Just leave it. Listen, I just wanted to say hi and happy holidays."
"You're not leaving already are you? Tess, don't let him get to you like this. Please listen to me!"
That hurt me. The fact that even she knew what was going on about Marc brought me down that much further. I walked straight out and mounted my steed once more. Before I could listen to her protest anymore, I went off and rode back to join my employee. I was a warrior. I didn't have time for petty things like love.