Chapter 31: Chapter 31"Does this mean you won’t teach me to read?" Rose questioned, her voice filled with disappointment.

    "No. I will think of another price since there isn’t anything that can be done about the bed. I will let you settle in. Excuse me," Zayne said, turning around to exit the room.

    Rose flinched when the door closed. "Did I upset him?" She wondered.

    It was such a simple request but Zayne had never been in her shoes to understand why she slept the way that she did.

    Rose inspected the large drawers that were on both sides of the door. If she could push the two of them to block the door every night so she could hear when an intruder was struggling to get in, then she could sleep on the bed.

    There was only one concern.

    There was a space outside of the bedroom which seemed to overlook somewhere. What if someone were desperate enough to climb up there? She had seen many do desperate things to get inside the brothel.

    "I am hopeless," Rose muttered.

    She was far out of the brothel but still living in fear. Where were the happy times going to start? How could they if she was always questioning everything around her?

    At some point, she had to stop living in fear, but at this rate, Rose didn’t think it was going to happen soon.

    "Rose, you have a roof over your head and work to do. You don’t have any time to think about how you lived in the brothel. I must show him," Rose said, pumping herself up to show her worth.

    Zayne’s decision could easily switch so before that, she had to get to work.

    Rose walked to the bed to place down the bag with the little things she had collected from Zayne’s camp. She could figure out her food later.

    Outside Rose’s room, Zayne made his way out the front door to speak to the guards. He wasn’t going to be here every day and with Rose’s fears, he had to speak to the guards.

    "General!"

    "Don’t be so loud. I don’t need anyone passing by to know that I am here. You’re aware that I have a guest. A young woman will be doing the cleaning from now and someone will be coming to do the cooking. You are not to go inside unless there is danger. If you must speak to her, try not to be so intimidating," said Zayne.

    The soldiers looked at each other. How were they to change the last part? They always looked intimidating.

    "Should we smile-" Sёar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "No. You don’t have a good-looking smile. I know you and your smile bothers me," Zayne replied. "Just stay at the gates and do not let any visitors in."

    "Yes, general!"

    Zayne reached out to straighten one of the soldier’s shirts so their kingdom symbol was in view. "She isn’t one of us and I know you aren’t keen on protecting outsiders, but if something happens to her, something will happen to you. Do we understand each other?"

    "Yes, general!"

    "Good. None of your peers know about this. Should you speak about her then I shall take it as your interest in losing your tongue. Now, what do you have to eat?" Zayne asked as he needed to solve Rose’s problem with food for the day.

    There should be food in the kitchen and some treats that he left back from the long trip here, but she needed a good dinner. One that had meat. Rose needed to be fed well so she could get to a good weight.

    "We caught a rabbit from our hunt before you arrived so we are cooking a stew later. We can pass some to the lady."

    "Of course, it’s a fucking rabbit," Zayne muttered, finding it to be some sort of cannibalism of some sort if Rose ate the stew. "Put on the stew now and some rice later. When you hunt or get rations sent from the camp, place some of it in the kitchen."

    For now, Zayne had her food settled. He shouldn’t return and find her only eating fruits or vegetables though he knew once she found out that there were fruit trees on this land, that was what she was going to indulge herself with.

    Zayne walked back to the house to see what trouble Rose had gotten herself into. Just as he closed the front doors, he heard something drop to the left and walked there. It didn’t come as a surprise to hear Rose most likely destroying something. It might have been a better idea to tell her to just sit still.

    Zayne didn’t make his presence known as he watched Rose be intrigued by something on a wall. During the little time he was away from here, Rose managed to find where he had placed the things he had yet to unpack.

    Her eyebrows were knitted as she stared at whatever was on the wall and if his memory was correct, he had pinned a map of the sea and neighbouring lands on the wall.

    Rose touched the centre of the map. It wasn’t anything like the map Zayne had given her. "Where?" She wondered, moving her finger along the map to try to find where she was now.

    "It won’t be easy to find where you are," Zayne said to end her confusion. "It is a map of this kingdom and the lands surrounding it. There is a far better map that should be around here somewhere."

    "It is huge," Rose said, referring to the world. "I knew there was life beyond this town but this is more than I imagined. Where is your kingdom?"

    "Here," Zayne pointed.

    Rose couldn’t believe where he travelled from. "All of you travelled by boat from there? How could a boat hold so many things and you?

    "Well, it is more of a ship. Not the little boat like what you might see the fishermen with," Zayne explained. "Have you seen a boat before?"

    "I have seen one when I walked through the market before. Some men were carrying one with a hole at the bottom. There is something far larger than that?" Rose asked, unable to imagine it.

    She couldn’t make out how big the boats at the docks were since the dock wasn’t close to the brothel or market. From where she could look out, everything on the water looked small.

    "It is large. Far larger than the room we are standing in and maybe as big as this house. We came upon a fleet so there were many ships to bring my soldiers and what we needed for our stay here. I was given a small replica of my ship," Zayne said, looking around for the box that should have it.

    "Your ship?" Rose asked. Being a general seemed to pay more than he was letting on. As much money as Graham was said to make from the brothel, he never mentioned having a ship.

    Rose couldn’t recall the women boasting about a customer who was so wealthy to have a ship. If the customers had a ship they would make mention of it as they liked to impress the women.

    ’His land must be far richer,’ Rose concluded.

    "Open your hands and be careful not to drop it. You can keep it," Zayne said, placing the small ship in her hands.

    "This is a ship,’ Rose said, amazed by what she was seeing. The boat she saw in the market did not have blankets on it like this one. "And the one you rode on is as big as this home. You are lucky. Where has it taken you?" Rose asked, wanting to see on the map where he had travelled.