Chapter 13

Hey guys I'm back with another chapter! I hope you guys are all still liking this story! Sorry it took a while for the romance to get started but I really wanted to have Rupert's feelings build up as he interacted with Lilla more instead of him just coming out and saying his feelings much earlier because I felt that would be more realistic. PLEASE REVIEW and let me know what you guys think of this chapter! God Bless! :)

-Innocentia999

Lilla's POV:

When I awoke in camp the next morning, Heim had released me to return to camp last evening, I hurried out of the barrack and waited in line with the other prisoners to use the bathroom. When it was my turn I pinched my noise as it was all I could to shut out the foul smelling odor of the latrine. Rats scurried around my feet and I tried my hardest not to scream because I knew if I did, Volkenwrath might come to investigate.

I did my business as quickly as possible and practically raced out of the latrine. Roll call was the same monotonous routine it had been for the last three months. Afterward, I silently made my way to Volkenwrath without argument. After all, I was not in the mood to be on the receiving end of another flogging or worse.

Her perpetual penetrating scowl suggested that today she was not in a particularly good mood.

Oh great.

When I reached her she spoke softly but her words were as icy as one of the snowflakes I used to catch on my tongue as a girl.

"I know what you're doing."

I was slightly taken aback, not exactly comprehending what she was referring to.

"And what is it that I am doing?" I inquired, my voice emotionless.

"Don't think for a moment that he cares for you."

"Who?"

"You know very well who. Rupert Heim is to be mine, not yours. We are going to be married after all, did he tell you that?"

"It's funny then that I don't see a ring on your finger and that he seems to avoid you every chance he gets. But even if he were I couldn't care less as I am not interested in having anything to do with him beyond accomplishing my tasks. Which I think it best I get to, because as his fiancé after all you above all people should know that he doesn't approve of lateness" I snipped calmly, daring to throw her a quick glare.

Her face practically grew red with rage.

"If Heim wasn't ordering me to leave you be, I would torture you in ways you couldn't even imagine."

"I'm sure you would, but today is not that day so I believe we must go."

Her posture remained rigid and her expression absolutely livid all the way to the Heim's.

I was grateful when we finally reached the door and Heim took me from her presence and towards his office.

When he paused at the door and turned to me I knew there was something up.

"I must ask you not to scream or make any loud noises of any sort."

"What's going on?"

"I have a guest. I thought you might like to meet him."

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion at his mysteriousness.

"Come" he said and opened the door. I stepped into the room and there stood Papa.

When his eyes alighted on me the biggest grin I had ever seen him give broke out on his face. We raced towards each other and grasped one another in a tight embrace. Papa made soft choked up noises and I soon figured out he was crying.

"Papa don't cry. Everything will be ok." I whispered softly, heeding Heim's warning.

"I have missed you so much. I didn't know what happened to you or where you were. I've never been more scared" he whispered back. Obviously Heim had given him the same order.

As we pulled back from each other I felt my own tears glide down my face.

"Oh Papa" I said, wiping one of his cheeks with my thumb. He had grown thinner and his striped pajama-like outfit with the golden star of David sewn onto it could not conceal that fact.

"I will give you ten minutes alone, and no more" Heim said, astounding me. I certainly did not expect to be able to converse with Papa alone for any length of time no matter how short.

Heim stepped from the room, and closed the door, not forgetting to lock it of course.

"What's going on L-"

"Shh, don't say my name. Just trust me."

Papa appeared thoroughly confused but nodded nonetheless.

"I have so many questions. Where have you been? What has happened to you? Why am I here all of a sudden?"

"Sit down Papa and I'll tell you everything."

Rupert's POV:

I sat outside the door listening, watching the clock as the minutes ticked by.

She told her Father everything from her experiences in the women's camp, to how she was brought here.

"Why weren't your Mama and Veronica in the women's camp with you?"

My stomach tightened as I wondered whether she would tell him the truth.

"I…don't know. Perhaps they are someplace else in the camp" she lied.

Other than that single question her Father seemed to listen patiently without interrupting or criticizing her or telling her she was weak and to hold everything inside.

Despite myself a sliver of envy crept into my heart. I wished I had such a person to confide in like that. A person who I could trust with my deepest, darkest secrets without fear of judgment, a person who would understand me, a person I could always run to who would make me feel better.

"This Heim, do you think he is sincere in what he has declared to you?" he asked once she was finished. To my bewilderment there was no disgust in his voice when he spoke of my love speech the other day.

"I don't know. All I do know is that I don't trust him at all."

"While I am incredibly angry at him for how he has treated you, he did keep his word in bringing me here and he has seemed to have shown at least some kindness to you. Saving you from that beating was no small matter, though I agree with your assessment that he is a rather puzzling man and that you are wise in not trusting him."

That wounded my heart more than I would have preferred it to.

Lilla's POV:

Shortly after Papa and I had finished our conversation, Heim came in through the door.

"Time's up."

He glanced at Papa.

"You are to attend to the garden" he jerked his head in the direction of the garden at the back of the house.

Papa stood up and made his way to Heim.

"Alright but one thing."

"What is that?" Heim inquired.

"This!" Papa snapped before striking Heim in the eye and sending him tumbling to the floor.

"THAT'S for hurting my daughter!"

Heim clutched at his eye with his right hand and slowly got up.

I expected him to fly into a rage and have Papa punished, but instead he simply stood calmly. He sent a glance my way before replying kindly "I understand your anger perfectly. My behavior was unacceptable. I would've probably the done the same in your situation. I apologize to you as well as again to your daughter."

Papa was obviously taken aback by this response but he still snapped in a clipped tone "You hurt her again and the next time, I'll tear you to pieces you understand!"

"That's fair and yes I do. It won't happen again. I give you my word."

I was flabbergasted by his gracious tone. It seemed almost that I was in the presence of a stranger instead of Heim.

"Good" Papa replied more calmly this time, bewilderment permeating his voice.

"The garden is this way" he began to lead Papa away.

"Oh please wait here until I get back" Heim said to me.

I was once again astounded at the politeness of his tone. Was it give Heim a magic potion of politeness day?

I did as he asked and he soon returned.

"So what's it to be today? More laundry, scrubbing floors till my arms hurt?"

"Neither. Today you are taking Artur and Kedves out for their walks" he held up two dog leashes.

"Why? I'm not allowed to go outside camp anywhere alone."

"Precisely why I'm coming with you."

"What if Artur attacks me? He doesn't seem to like me one bit. How am I supposed to walk him then?"

Heim whistled.

"Artur!" he called.

Artur soon came scampering in, but growled when he saw me.

Heim then whispered something in his ear and all of a sudden he relaxed and loped towards me, rubbing against me, begging to be petted like any other household dog.

Wow this day was turning out to be full of surprises.

"What did you do?" I inquired.

"I told him the safe word only I know. Now he knows your not a threat. He'll let you pet him now."

"Thanks but I think I'll pass on that." I irritably grabbed one of the leashes and hooked it to Artur's collar, just as Kedves came scampering in too, wanting to be apart of whatever was happening.

I grinned when I saw him.

"Good morning my friend" I kissed his head as he gave my chin a warm lick. I hooked on his leash and the two eager canines pulled me towards the door, straining to roam outside and explore the new smells that the outdoors had left for them to discover.

The sun shone warmly on my face as we stepped outside. The canines continued to tug every which way, having to smell every blade of grass and flower as we headed towards the road outside of camp.

Someways down the road to the right I knew lay the town the Poles called Oświęcim.* I wondered what it looked like now as I could only imagine what the Germans had done to it already after the past five years.

After I had been tugged for several minutes, my arms began to feel sore and my still weak legs soon followed.

"The Sola river is only a little ways off the road into the woods. If you care to rest it would be a nice spot" Heim spoke up.

"Fine" I begrudgingly replied, still puzzled as to why he was acting so gentlemanly today.

As we entered the woods, I was grateful for the respite from the sun the beautiful, tall green trees provided. Birds chirped and darted in and put and woodland creatures scrurried in the undergrowth.

Only you God could make the darkest of places so beautiful. Thank you.

The Sola river was rather shallow as it ran over the rocks underneath it but the water was a deep and sparkled in the sunlight and I found it quite a beautiful sight.

"I never thought I'd ever see something as stunning as this ever again" I said aloud, more to God than to Heim.

"I come here often alone to think" Heim replied, breathing in the fresh aroma of nature.

I was taken aback at how relaxed he appeared to be out here as opposed to at camp.

I looked down somewhat awkwardly, not entirely knowing how to respond to his confession, so instead I simply lowered myself down on the bank of the river. Heim soon did the same.

Kedves lumbered over and placed his paw on my lap. I grinned and pulled him onto my lap. Artur soon approached and put his head toward me.

"No Artur go away" I grumbled gently pushed him away.

He seemed to get the message and instead made his way to Heim, who allowed Artur to lie down and rest his head on his lap.

"You know I'm sure he just wanted the same affection you were giving to Kedves. I think you hurt his feelings" Heim said as Artur whined softly.

"Well, maybe I don't want to be around him because he's mean and dangerous" I replied, bitterly.

"Maybe if you took the opportunity to know him you'd think differently."

"Well, maybe I have no interest in knowing him."

"Are we still talking about the dog here?"

"Will you please just leave-"

All of a sudden Kedves scurried off my lap and took off down the bank to the right.

"Kedves!" I called, scurrying after him without a moment to lose.

I thought I briefly heard Heim calling after me but I didn't give it much thought.

"Kedves stop!" I called, but it was no use as he dashed into the woods until I stopped dead in my tracks as I came to a small clearing.

Kedves barked and startled a small boy who looked to be about eight or nine-years-old dressed in a dirty white shirt and brown trousers who had been sitting on a log crying.

He scrambled away frightened, snatching up a stick to drive Kedves away.

"Wait!" I called in Hungarian, rushing over and taking up Kedves leash.

The boy scrambled away even further, firing off words in rapid Polish. I didn't understand a word of it but I could tell he was incredibly frightened. He must have been one of the nearby Polish villagers.

"przyjaciel" I said evenly, which I knew was the Polish word for friend, as I tapped my chest, gesturing to myself. The phrases friend, Jew, and my name is were pretty much the whole extent of my Polish vocabulary.

The boy still held the large stick ready to swing but his posture had relaxed somewhat.

"Żyd" (Jew) I continued, gesturing to myself once again, so at least he wouldn't think I was a German.

I observed that he didn't appear well fed, but was still in better condition than I was.

Finally, he lowered the stick and said something else.

I shook my head to show I did not understand.

He made a gesture of putting a hand up to his mouth and chewing. It wasn't hard to guess at that point that he was asking for food.

"I'm sorry I don't have any.' I shook my head again to say no.

Before he could respond Heim came crashing through the trees with Artur.

"Oh finally I found you" he said, exasperated.

An utterly terrified expression came over the boy's face when he spotted Heim in his grey uniform, before he zoomed away back towards town, running as if his life depended on it.

I didn't blame him at all.

"Who was that?"

"A young Polish boy asking for food. It seems to be in short supply. I can't imagine why" I replied, sarcasm dripping from that last sentence.

"What was his name?"

"He didn't say."

Heim stood gazing in the direction the boy had run in for a good minute or two.

"If we're finished here I'd prefer to return to camp" I spoke.

Heim glanced at me as if coming out of a daze before simply nodding. I then tugged on Kedves's leash and we headed back towards the Heim's.

* The Polish town of Oświęcim lay near Auschwitz concentration camp. The Germans annexed it in 1939 and the towns population shrunk dramatically during the war as many Poles were forced by the invading German forces to leave their homes.

Please review and let me know what you think. God Bless :)