Chapter 93: Chapter 93"You are bold to become the maid of our general. Aren’t there better jobs for you to do here?" Mary asked, puzzled by the decision to travel with unfamiliar people. "Do you know how to use a weapon to protect yourself?"

    Rose shook her head. "But if knowing how to throw a rock well counts then yes."

    Mary palmed her face. "Did you not have anyone around you to talk some sense into you or did you just take one look at his face and run along?"

    It would be no different from the ladies who wanted to board their ships, thinking this trip would be a pleasant one like they weren’t heading to enemy territory. Mary respected Zayne but she hated to see how all reasoning went out the window for women who wanted to be near him.

    Mary had to hear the jokes from some of her peers that she only joined the army in hopes of getting closer to Zayne.

    "I could tell that Janice did not like it but she encouraged me to travel. If I stay close to Zayne or you then I should not find myself in trouble and need to fight right?" Rose asked.

    "Well yes but," Mary started but didn’t know how to explain. She sighed. "This isn’t the best group of people you should travel with."

    "I am aware of that. Still, this is the only way I would be able to travel now. It would cost me far more to get a ride out of town by myself and one look at Zayne would have bad people turning away. I will stick close to him and when he is not around, I will be with Finn or you. Thank you for worrying," Rose said, happy to have a friend concerned for her.

    Mary cleared her throat and looked away from Rose. "I wouldn’t say that I was worried. I still think you made a bad decision to travel with him and you should address him as the general. I hope that you are honest with being here for work and not one of those women who throw themselves at men."

    Rose smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. She didn’t throw herself at men but should it come out that she came from the brothel, Mary wouldn’t believe her. The men staring and trying to figure out the kind of person she was certainly wouldn’t believe her.

    "Please do not judge me as I have not once judged you since we met," Rose requested, wishing they would move on from what she was to Zayne.

    "I’m sorry," Mary apologised. They were told what Rose was to Zayne yet she ignored it and believed what was being said by everyone. She had her fair share of being judged for things that weren’t true. "I won’t judge you before I know more about you. I am Mary," she offered her hand to start over.

    "Rose," Rose returned the greeting. "It is exciting to see a woman among soldiers. I have never seen any here."

    "It is not accepted by many yet and it is hard to join. Do you want to join your army?" Mary asked, not seeing Rose as a right fit but she could be wrong.

    "Oh no. I wouldn’t last an hour. I am a maid now but I would love to do work where I get to travel. I have spent most of my life in one town, not getting to see the world. It was boring but now I get the chance to explore which is why I jumped at this chance," Rose explained.

    "I see," Mary replied. She understood a little bit why Rose ignored the danger. She was the same way when she jumped at the chance to enter the king’s army and ignored what was said by her peers.

    Mary sat down on the soft grass they stood on. "You should sit to wait for when the food is ready. We need to wait to see if there is somewhere for us to wash up but the water will be cold. Zayne is the only one we care to give warm water to. It would take too long to warm up water for everyone."

    Rose sat beside Mary. She didn’t care about using cold water to wash up as she was only recently used to such a luxury. She could bear with such things if she got to travel more.

    Rose looked in the direction Finn and Zayne went off to. She hoped Finn could cheer Zayne up from whatever she said wrong. "Is it hard to put up a tent?"

    "No. It is quite easy once you are used to doing it. The general’s tent is larger than others so he will need help. He already has enough people by his side to help so do not think of going there. You will not be of any use if you have never put up one," said Mary.

    "Okay. You are good at riding a horse, aren’t you?" Rose asked, suddenly having a good idea. She wouldn’t bother Zayne if she had someone to teach her.

    Mary thought it should be obvious since she rode on a horse just like many others. "I can."

    "When we get to the other camp, can you teach me how to ride a horse? It looks fun so I would like to learn," Rose said, crossing her fingers that Mary would say yes.

    "I can teach you," Mary agreed. She had nothing to do while Zayne went to the palace.

    "Thank you. I will try to learn quickly to not bother you. It is exciting," Rose said, bringing her feet closer to her chest to hug them. Zayne would be happy to learn that she did not have to ride with him anymore.

    Mary could not understand Rose. It wasn’t every day that the women around her got excited over learning how to ride a horse. Rose had the chance of riding with Zayne, a spot many would kill for yet she wanted to learn to ride. ’She truly doesn’t care for him,’ she thought, feeling more guilty of what she thought about Rose.

    The comment Rose made about her being pretty was still stuck in Mary’s head. She didn’t have many girly friends since her interest in the army didn’t suit what her peers liked. Mary was considered to be mean because she had little patience for nonsense yet Rose sat comfortably beside her.

    It was a breath of fresh air to not be viewed as mean by someone and oddly enough, it came from an outsider.

    Rose kept her focus on Zayne and Finn putting up the tent together. They moved quickly to get it done since the light from the sky was going away just as fast. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Oh," Rose gasped, surprised by the sudden view of a man without a shirt walking by her. She quickly looked in another direction to not see his body only to find that others were taking off their shirts.

    Rose was left with no choice but to look at the grass. She played with it as it was suddenly more interesting than what was around her.

    Mary didn’t miss Rose’s reaction to the men. "They do that quite often when they are working or training. Be careful what time you go to bathe so you don’t see any of them naked."

    ’Naked!?’ Rose did not want to see that. She had to wash up and go into Zayne’s tent before these men started stripping to bathe.