Blame Aphrodite - SAMPLE-

Orso

On the ground, surrounded by a group of men, was Valencia. It seemed they had stripped her of her clothing and let her lay in the dirt as they threw insult after insult her way.

She didn't understand a word they were saying.

Tears fell down her face as they made a mockery of her, spitting at her and kicking up dirt in her face. She was terrified and all they could do was laugh at her.

I pushed through the group of men, fighting with myself to not kill each and every one of them. When Valencia saw me, she crawled towards me quickly, hiding away behind my legs. Still, the men reached out for her. Everyone was shouting so loudly that I wasn't able to put sentences together.

Traitor, rat, whore were a few words I caught in the midst of the riot. There were too many people here to try and reason with so I reached down and helped Valencia to her feet. I swallowed back my anger and forced my way through the crowd to get Valencia away from everyone.

"You were the son of a leader!" One of them called out to me. "Yet, you lay with the enemy?"

"Traitor!"

"She's a spy-!"

I stopped and picked her up. I wrapped her legs around my torso and turned towards the mob.

"Wait until your father finds out-!"

"Until he finds out what? That you all tried to hurt someone who is completely innocent? She doesn't know anything!" I shouted at the mass.

"Yeah, right. Mr. Gibson told us what you've been up to! Relaying all of our plans to the enemy? What kind of man does that?!"

So not only did that bastard burn down her home, ruining everything she'd worked so hard on, but he lied to everyone and said she was the enemy.

She whimpered, digging her head deeper into the crook of my neck and wrapping her arms around me tighter. I felt her tears run down my shoulders.

"Son?" I heard his voice call from the crowd. When he pushed past the front line, he went still, clearly unaware of what was going on. "What is this?"

"She's an enemy spy-," A voice emerged from the mass but I cut him off.

"No, she's not. She's innocent." I looked at my father, pleading with my eyes that he would believe me. Moments passed and then finally, he nodded at me, telling me to get out of the middle of the camp. I sighed and quickly brought her back to my tent.

When we made it back, I had to pry her away from my body. When she looked around and realized that no one was around but me, she loosened her grip on my arms.

"Valencia, I am so sorry." I apologized over and over again as I searched for something that would clothe her. I checked her over for injuries but couldn't find anything. They were only trying to make a mockery of her for their own entertainment. As if ruining her home wasn't enough.

The flaps of the tent opened and I turned around, ready to tell whoever it was to leave but when I realized it was only Peter, I settled down. With him, he brought a bucket of water and a cloth.

"Something to bathe her with," He offered, setting the bucket down next to us. "Everett, I had no idea they'd do that to her."

I dipped the cloth in the cold water and started wiping away the dirt from her arms. Peter stood with his back to us as he spoke, giving Valencia the privacy she needed.

"They burnt down her cottage," I said, looking up at Valencia's tear-stained face. "It's all gone."

"Everett-,"