A Sentence of Solitude

[Lion]

Now Checkers could have some real relief, and he was happy to be unsaddled, watched with little interest as Christer and Alison were allowed into the house. Almira had told them the room was in the back, a little cubby just underneath the stairs. It was covered with a blanket on a cord, draped over the entrance.

Christer parted the curtain and revealed a small cot tucked in a corner, a pitcher of water and a bowl on a table beside it. There was a small cut out for a window above the bed, with wood coverings over it. And small threads of daylight trickled through.

"Good thinking, Alison," he said and squeezed her arm. "You can have the bed. There are some blankets in the corner. I can make a mat on the floor."

[Zero]

It was a relief to follow her master to the small cubby under the stairs. Alison had managed to sleep a little curled against Christer as they rode, but sleeping in a saddle wasn't nearly as comfortable as having somewhere to actually lie down to rest.

The room was small and the cot narrow, but it looked fantastic to her.

Alison blinked up at the man beside her when he squeezed her arm and smiled softly at being told it was a good idea. She felt like getting him to rest might be at least a small accomplishment. Tiny as it might be, she had managed to do something right for him; although she had to shake her head when he offered her the bed. No matter what he said, Christer was the master and she was the slave.

Slaves didn't sleep in a bed while their master slept on a floor.

"No, you should take the bed, Christer. I couldn't make you sleep on the floor, even with some blankets. Besides, I did get a little sleep, not much, but more than you. You need the rest more, so you should get the more comfortable place." It sounded perfectly logical to her, and she hoped he'd accept it as she started pulling out the blankets he had mentioned.