He was lucky that the horses they stole were dessert ponies. They were t rained to lay when given the proper pressure with the legs. Usually this technique was used when there were sandstorms. The only thing that threatened them were the sentries posted around the outskirts of the army. The man in question was walking past them from where they lay. He was about 15 yards away.

It was close and he could see the terror in the golden woman's eyes. She did not have to speak for him to know that she was terrified they were going to be caught. Being caught wasn't an option for Garsiv. The horrific things they would do to him if they caught him if they didn't flat out kill him on the spot made him shiver at the thought.

He knew what he would do to a man if the situation were reversed. That man would pay dearly for what he did. Just like Garsiv would do if they were caught. His fate would be horrible, but the woman's fate would be far worse. They would rape her, as many of them as they could before she died. Garsiv stared at her for a moment feeling sorry for her.

He had to protect her. He reached out and touched her arm. She was shivering with fear. He squeezed her shoulder so he could give her strength. Eventually her tremors stopped and she gave him a halfhearted smile. She was beautiful in that moment. One day she would make a man very lucky to have her. He smiled back at her before turning back to look to see where the sentry was.

The thought of just killing the man crossed his mind. It would be his luck that this man wouldn't die silently like the King had. He had been lucky to make it this far, he didn't want to test that luck. The sentry was further away than he was a moment ago. His only option was to wait for the sentry to double back to sneak up on him if he were going to kill him silently.

It wasn't long before he was running through the desert sand with his dagger drawn. He was on the sentry in no time, drawing his dagger across the man's throat. The man made a slight gurgling noise as Garsiv slowly lowered him to the ground. He stayed with him until he died, making sure he didn't make any more noises. Once it was safe, they were back on the horses and were escaping.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

They had been traveling now together for many hours, both not speaking from fear that their energy would be expelled by just talking. It was well past noon, the sun was at its hottest, and he knew that soon they would have to stop and make for camp. If they were being chased, they had nearly a day on their pursuers. They had been riding so hard that they had killed one of the ponies, but they had two more that they didn't ride as hard. But they had managed to put as much distance between the army and them. He would be lying if he said he wasn't happy with their progress.

Finally they broke for camp. He didn't fully unpack the horses for they could not stay long. He unrolled only one pallet for her to sleep on when she was ready. He wouldn't sleep, he needed to stay watchful until he felt they were at a safer distance. They sat next to each other and nibbled on some bread and shared a water skin together before he would make her rest.

"I cannot thank you enough," she whispered, she was the first to speak. He almost didn't hear her. Her throat was so dust ridden from the desert that she coughed after speaking. He gave her a small smile and looked at her.

"I couldn't leave you there," he whispered.

"Why?" she asked curiously as he passed her the water skin to clear her throat. She took a few long sips from it. The water was hot, but it sated her and helped soothe her throat. She licked her chapped lips and looked into his eyes.

"They would have blamed you for his death, probably would have…. Killed you," he stated. He almost told her the truth, that they would have raped her countlessly before torturing her to death. He cleaned up the truth as much as he could. He had this need to protect her. He had to be honest with himself, he would have left her if he hadn't been so enamored by her beauty. Guilt struck him hard at thinking that way.

"I owe you my life then Prince Garsiv," she said as she gave him a sad smile.

"You owe me nothing, once I have returned home I will see you back to your home." He felt like his words were nothing more than empty promises. He wouldn't want to see her leave, but if she wanted to go back home, he would see to her happiness.

A tear slid down her cheek, streaking its way through the dust on her golden skin.

"What is the matter?" he asked.

"I have no home to go back to. They slaughtered everyone in my village except a few of the girls. I supposed they deemed me the prettiest because I was spared and was given to the king as a present."

He could tell she was holding back. She was internalizing her pain and wasn't sharing the horrors she had witnessed back in her village. Her strength wasn't the same as his wife's, but he did give her credit, she was trying her best. He tried to imagine the same thing happening to Shraga and knew she would have never allowed herself to be captured. She would fight until her last breath, or until she killed every man who tried to take her.

He nodded and understood her predicament. He looked upon her, and she was very pretty. He hated to admit it, she was even prettier than his wife. A frown plastered upon his face as he felt the stirring of desire for this woman. On impulse he reached out and tucked some of her golden hair behind her ear. Without even thinking twice he spoke and the words that came out of his own mouth surprised even him.

"I will marry you, you will have a home, and you will live comfortably. I won't be able to bring your family back, or make you forget the horrors that you have been made to witness, but I can try and ease your pain by giving you a better life as my wife. That is if you accept."

"You don't even know my name," she whispered, not even hiding the fact that he had utterly surprised her. If anything she may have expected that he would make her a servant or even a concubine, but he had just proposed and didn't even know her.

"We are a long way from my home, and we have plenty of time to get to know one another." He knew her beauty was clouding his judgment, but he simply wanted her as his wife, more than he had wanted Shraga. He felt extreme guilt bite him, but he was a man, and he wasn't immune to selfishness.

She nodded understanding his logic, but she still seemed unsure.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Iryanna, I was named after my grandmother," she replied sweetly.

"Iryanna you can refuse me you know, but if you would have me as your husband, I would be honored."

She seemed to think of her options, but she gave him a small shy smile. He knew she wouldn't refuse, this gorgeous woman was to be his wife.

AN: Okay so I know I just made all of you hate Garsiv, and maybe even hate me. Buuuuuuuuuuut, this is how the history would have been like during this time period. And despite if I have made you hate me, I still love you all! Sorry this chapter was short, I just haven't the time to really explain everything, especially when it has been a while since I have really thought about this story. But the point is made and there is other stuff I want to focus on more than how they get together.