Dreams of Steel - Part 10

Yay for sections with large amounts of quotes!  This was way easier to translate that the last few sections.  Enjoy!

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A movement in the mirror caught his attention.  In it was reflected the bed; Shayre, his concubine, was still awake and was seated with her back leaning against a pillow and the blanket barely covering her breasts.  She usually protested the light when Kratos opened the shutters of the windows to shave, as she was naturally indolent and liked to sleep well into the morning.  But now she held both eyes wide open and looked at him intently.

"Does the warrior need his humble servant to shave the back of his neck?"

Kratos smiled.  Shayre could be anything but humble, but he liked her provocative purr.

"I have spent many years doing it alone.  I prefer cutting myself over anyone else cutting me."

"When will you trust me?"

"I trust in you blindly, my beautiful lady, but not in the steadiness of your hand."

"You haven’t stopped tossing and turning all night.  What's bothering you?"

It was typical of Shayre to abruptly change topics.  Kratos turned to see her better.  She seemed as desirable as ever, with shiny black hair, almond eyes, those full lips that seemed another face unto themselves, and all the rest that the blanket hid.  She was still young and when she woke she didn’t have bags under her eyes, and she smelled of baking bread instead of sour milk.

"Sorry if I have not let you sleep well."

"It’s because of Aperión, right?"

"Why should Aperión worry me?  Now he is the leader of the Horde, as Hairón was and as another will be even later.  I owe him my discipline, not my life.  I am a free warrior."

"I don’t like how he looks at me."

"What do you mean?"

She stretched, extending her arms.  Then she pushed aside the blanket, stood up covered only by her own hair, which fell to her waist, and approached Kratos as if tiptoeing on a wire.

"You know I'm yours alone," she said, circling his neck with her arms and giving him a fleeting kiss.  Then she stepped back.  "But that man looks like a wild animal.  When he stares at me, I feel like he wants to destroy me with his teeth, and it’s because I’m with you.  He hates you."