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She Carried: A Narrative Fiction

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Astrid was freezing, sore and aching from the hour or two of uneasy sleep she had managed to get. Roused out of sleep with Erik's enormous foot prodding her stomach, she jerked awake, memories of what happened and where she was replacing whatever escape her dreams had allowed. She did her best to wrap the furs around her slight form, tightening her belt and insuring her small pouch was still there with it's hidden treasure. The morning fog blanketed their camp as of yet, though sounds of everyone wakening and moving around grew louder. Coughs, crude grunts and other signs of life filled the camp bit by bit.

Erik peered down at her, ordering her to get to work. He seemed to take pleasure in informing her of her place now. A slave, something to be traded or used as one would livestock, and it was clear he wasn’t sure what her role was going to be. She stood and made her way to the edge of camp, quickly taking care of her needs before scurrying to the water and cleaning up. Squatting barefoot at the water's edge she felt a sudden wave of fear and froze, looking around. Scar was a scant distance behind her, watching her every movement. When he saw Astrid had seen him, a nefarious look of desire filled his face making her feel like a hunted animal. She saw Grete approaching and was for once grateful to see the lazy camp whore. She had finally …show more content…
She was close to falling into the banked fire, but managed to just step over it before falling painfully to her knees. Grete cackled with pleasure behind her, “Get moving slave! Erik wants us on our way sooner rather than later and all you can do in drag your ugly arse! Get it cleaned up and packed away now you wretched Dane...” The vile woman returned to Scar, laughing with him like two spoiled children bullying another. She would make sure the woman knew she wasn’t as easy a target as they believed before too much time

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