The captain says she seems to be a brave girl, anyone instead would have cried when she was alone.
These words reach the heart of OKE.
She thinks she never felt more at peace.
The captain approaches the bedside table with food too close to the bed for the girl to use.
He invites her to lunch.
OKE, a little dubious, starts eating, is excited about how delicious the food tastes, this makes the captain happy.
He says yes, the castle cook, delicious cuisine.
While eating, the captain wants to clarify the girl's situation.
The captain, I ask him, if he was lost and/or where was his home?
she stop eating, her gaze was clouded, the man after a moment, understood her situation, possibly fled from home.
Judging by her clothes, she had a bad life, the captain, reassuring her, guarantees that, she decided not to ask again, the girl looked a little helpless but not scared, in fact, something annoying, the man assumed that he had been through a lot, invites her to make the passes and that she continues to eat because, they will have to do other things afterwards.
OKE looks at him questioning.
The captain tells her that one of those things is to go buy clothes for her, now that she's in the castle, she'll have to wear proper clothes.
The captain, he took her in as his squire, she had to learn many things to please him and be of help to him, to become a good soldier.
OKE, you feel gratitude to that man, now you've given him a job and with it, a home.
He doesn't know what it's like to be a squire, but he'll do his best.
He later discovered that the captain has no family, he only knows that if he had a wife and children.
The captain doesn't talk about it either.
But sometimes he tells her things she lived with her children when they were little.
He didn't say they were his children, he just called them by name.
And when he spoke and remembered moments, his face was lit up, there was love in those memories, although some of them ended up making him cry.
Sometimes they would leave the castle and visit his father's home village (where he died), he watched for order in the village and helped in what he could, he was a widower, as much as his wife, his children were killed in revenge towards him.
He knew this from the villagers.
They consider it, it has been their greatest pain, and, adopting OKE, was like a new opportunity to have a family... a daughter, OKE, by her side, was happy, she didn't imagine a father could be like that.
That a father cared for, loved and educated with respect.
Her father, the captain, was constantly training for battles, for her, her job was to help her with her armor, food and horse, as well as her uniforms and weapons.
In addition to watching her back, he trained her for battle.
He was wise to counsel and strict to teach to fight.
Suddenly, her memories change, you see at war, OKE running in the middle of battle near her father who comes on horseback, to whom she is buried in the spear from behind, the spear, pierces her body, she sees that horrified, she is breast-feeding as, she was on her way to give her a weapon by which he would pass mounted.
That scene freezes.
OKE becomes hysterical, talks mentally, says herself that it is not happening, fear takes hold of her and shrinks as a child.
She cries hysterically, that's the scene where her father died in the battle of the village.
His father was his everything.
OKE hears her father's voice calling her by name and tells her that, she is as strong and tough as he is, that she comes into her life to give her the strength to grow up with her.
That, you must let go of your past, that you do not live in the past.
She's as strong as I propose, he knows it, and so does she, he has faith in her.
OKE, crying tells him that, he misses him so much, too much.
She's crying.
The stage is lost in the dark, out of nowhere, a large plant comes out with tentacles of thorns that envelop OKE, the picudos tentacles stick to the skin causing a lot of pain.
OKE has no will to resist and fight.
She screams in pain, the thorns rip her skin into bleeding, but, she, she no longer screams and although she wants to let go, she seems to lose strength and will, until she no longer feel pain.
OKE thinks (closing his eyes) that, if that's death... it's very warm.
When he's about to lose his senses, he hears his father's voice: daughter, I believe in you... will you let us die?! Oke!!!
She hears the cry, opens her eyes like waking up from a dream and with strength, almost fury is achieved by troting her ties and screaming with great courage.
Despite tearing his flesh in the process.
He let go, falling to his knees, taking his breath.
A dim light floods her and OKE awakens from her tear-drenched sleep, INKU is nearby, runs to her, kneels and hugs her, she mourns all her accumulated anguish.
INKU comforts her in silence.
INKU looks where the others are.
END CHAPTER 45