Chapter 36: Chapter 36Rose rubbed her arms when the cold night air nipped at her skin. It wasn’t cold like this when she spent the night in the mountains. The dress she wore now wasn’t thick enough to protect her from the cold, but she was bearing with it because food was more important than being warm.

    "Good night," Rose greeted the two guards after Zayne. It looked like they had worked hard doing the cooking so she thought of cleaning up after them.

    Rose was disappointed by the lack of response or even a look her way to acknowledge her presence. It was the same way when she was at the camp. They didn’t want anything to do with outsiders so it was best she stayed to herself.

    It wouldn’t be good to make enemies where she was staying now.

    Zayne noticed how they ignored her. He couldn’t leave Rose in the hands of two fools who wouldn’t pay her any mind. "Have you forgotten how to return greetings or must I teach you?"

    "Good night," the guards returned Rose’s greeting.

    Rose thought Zayne stepping in might have made things worse for her. This was no different from when the women in the brothel troubled her and Graham stepped him. Graham stepping in did more harm than good.

    "Is it done?" Zayne questioned the two. It was too cold for Rose to stay outside unless she would sit before the campfire.

    Rose stood back, watching as a pot was opened releasing a wonderful smell. She didn’t understand why they cooked it outside instead of using the big kitchen she saw inside. Though she liked that she wouldn’t be startled seeing them inside, Rose didn’t want them to have to trouble themselves by cooking outside.

    "It is," Soren, one of the two guards, answered. He looked behind Zayne at the woman meant to work there. Everything about her screamed that she was not one of them. He did not want to get close to anyone from this land. "The rice is in the small pot like you requested."

    "We will do it for you," Brian, the second guard, offered. When would they get another opportunity to serve Zayne like this? "We spotted a few rabbits running around the back of the house. There are a few other animals. We plan to go hunting again."

    "Avoid the rabbits for now. I don’t want to shoot the wrong one," Zayne said, looking directly at Rose as he spoke.

    Rose wished he would stop talking. She was nothing like a rabbit and failed to see what he did.

    "I placed a lot of the meat for you," Brian said, filling the bowl to the top. Zayne of all people needed to be well-fed while he was here.

    Zayne took the bowl from Brian and immediately handed it to Rose. "You are to eat all of it."

    Brian and Soren shared a look. They had not done all this cooking just to spoil her. It was for their general.

    Rose took the bowl, careful not to let any of it waste by spilling over. "It is far too much. You should have this one." sea??h thё n??el Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Not only was it too much but Rose could not ignore the stares she received from the two guards. Zayne was facing her so he could not see the hate in their eyes as she was handed the bowl meant for him.

    While the house was pretty and she would be here alone, Rose sensed there was going to be some trouble once Zayne left. Should she need any help and Zayne was not around, she could not come to the guards.

    It was fine since Rose was already used to taking care of herself but their glares made her want to return inside. It was far scarier to have men looking at you with so much hate as opposed to the stares of women. They had the means to hurt her far worse than any of the women in the brothel.

    Rose lowered her head so her gaze would be on the ground instead of meeting their eyes. All she wanted to do was return to her room and eat what little she had left of the fruits and vegetables she had wrapped up. The guards did not need to share their food with her ever again.

    Zayne noticed the fear that filled her eyes once more before she bowed her head. Something had scared her and seeing that she was fine when they walked alone to come outside, it wasn’t him who did.

    Zayne looked over his shoulder at the two men who shared Rose’s fear now that he looked at them. When were they going to listen to his command? First Lucy and now these two fools. "Eat what you can and put away the rest for the morning. What is left back can be kept over a small flame to last the night."

    Zayne filled another bowl with rice for Rose and set it aside for her to come back for. "Take the stew to your room. You need to come back for rice and water to drink."

    Rose nodded her head and spun around to return inside.

    Zayne watched as she walked as fast as she could whilst not spilling the stew. He sighed as he rolled up his sleeves. He had a small window to lecture the two men standing behind him. "Didn’t I tell you to treat her well? With my back turned, how were you looking at her?"

    "Forgive us but she is an outsider. I do not see why we must feed and guard someone who isn’t like us," Soren spoke up.

    They were here for a truce but that didn’t mean he was ready to be protecting anyone from this land. It didn’t matter that it might be a woman Zayne was infatuated with for the time being.

    Brian shared the same sentiments but knew not to speak of it out loud. They were not to go against Zayne’s orders even if they didn’t like them. It was just hard to be warm to the woman staying here when they did not care for her presence.

    Zayne kept his attention on the front door so he wouldn’t hit Soren just as Rose was walking out. She didn’t need to see such violence on her first day. "I have told you what you are to do while she is working here. I will not tell you about it a second time. Regardless of the land she was raised on, she is my guest. Would you like to see what punishments await anyone not treating my guest well?"

    "No sir," Brian and Soren answered.

    "She is not deserving of your cold glares when she has no involvement in the war. I have told you time and time again that we are to leave the innocent. It is the king, his court, and army who you can turn your glares to, not her," Zayne said, not allowing her fear to be caused by men under his command.

    Rose’s life in her homeland was already hard. She didn’t need outsiders to be adding to making her life miserable.

    For some odd reason, he felt angry seeing how quickly she had to shy away and back away in the room which had become her safe space like he thought. There was a small part of him that wanted to snap Soren’s neck for ruining the night, but he held back as he still cared for his guards.