The Warrior’s Gift by Bonnie Dee

The Warrior’s Gift

Bonnie Dee

Medieval/Fantasy/Erotica

Published in 2007

H/h - Turan/Katya

Setting: Once upon a time in a Medieval fantasy land.

Read in Aug, 2011.

My rating:

                                                                     [spoiler alert]

A short read by Bonnie Dee. The premise was interesting and there was a lot of sex but it didn’t really grip me the way I expected it to. Maybe because I had questions about things and wanted some more background. But, I guess I should be happy that this one had a virgin hero. Yup, and I have to say Turan was sweet, as any other BD hero.

The whole story takes place in a fantasy land as far as I could understand. There was no indication about the era or anything else. People of this little village called Geveldon and the surrounding ones are guarded by the Guardians and their Warriors for many centuries. They think they’re safe from the enemies for them and nothing sort of worship the Guardians. They give them food and a few times in a year, give them one of their healthy, strong daughters to them- to be the bride of one of the Warrior’s bride. I’m not sure but I think the Guardians select the girl. It’s an honor for the girl, according to the villagers. The Guardians and their Warriors live in the remote hills, with big, gray walls surrounding the whole property. Nobody really knows what goes on there. But this much is sure that any girl who passes through it, never comes back. There are many bad rumors flying but the people are scared of the Guardians too, so no one ever dares to say anything against them.

When Katya was selected to be a Warrior’s bride she is mad and scared at the same time. Mad because this is surely injustice and sad because she knows she won’t see her parents ever again. She even talks to her mother about it but what can her parents do? If you don’t give into the Guardians’ demands, life would be hell for you. Katya had a relationship with a boy in the village but he cheated on her so they broke up. She thinks if she could marry him, she wouldn’t have to go through this. So Katya vows she’ll not give up without a fight. Her parents, with the villagers, accompany her to the doors of the Guardians’ domain. A Guardian wearing red robe comes out to escort her. He’s had his hair shaved, but weak in stature, with a pair of cold blue eyes. Katya accompanies him inside, sees the place for the first time, with the Warriors training- big, hulking brutes, the lot of them. Katya is very apprehensive. She knows what she’ll have to do with one of them very soon. The Guardian takes her to a barrack and through doors, stops at one and attacks her! I mean groping, saying vile things which scare the hell out of Katya. It’s very apparent he’s in lust. Soon, he pushes her through the door, saying something like “Don’t break her” and bolts it. When she sees Turan for the first time, Katya wasn’t sure what to think. Though he’s as big as the Warriors training outside, he looks at her as if he’s seen a woman for the first time in his life. And, he has. To Turan, Katya was a puzzle, a beautiful, soft puzzle. When Katya asks him about sex, Turan admits he has no idea what a man and a woman do together. He only knows fight, train, eat, relieve himself, take care of his weapons and sleep for a few hours. Nothing short of an animalistic existence. Katya is very surprised knowing it. And, there is something about Turan, this child like stares, the way he looks at her, is not scary at all. So she makes a decision to give in, to show him the basics of what to do. Personally, though I thought sex scene happened a bit sooner than I had expected, the loved the 1st love scene- the way Turan discovers the pleasure of having Katya, holding and kissing her. The first time he kisses her, it’s so good, he pleads to her for more. It was sweet and heart tugging. Katya just couldn’t say no. I thought he was adorable.

And, their time is spent making love. Soon Katya learns that The Warriors are trained like dogs, can’t say ‘no’ to the Guardians. Their dormitories are very Spartan too. The Guardians control them with a stick that shoots blue lightening; if anyone doesn’t abide by their command, they shoot it. The one who had a taste of the pain, never thinks about defying them ever again. Turan tells Katya he’ll save her when the time comes. It seems like, he doesn’t know what happens to the women who have no use to them anymore. He has heard about (they don’t let the Warriors talk to each-other but they communicate with subtle gestures) the men having women but nothing else. When the Guardian who escorted Katya to Turan, Slavac comes back the next morning to take her away, Turan can’t say anything to him. He has the lightning stick with him, which Slavac uses on Turan for the first time because he sensed some rebellion within him. When Turan is unconscious, Slavac takes Katya to an empty room and tries forcing her to give him a BJ but someone calls his name and he has to let her go. It was Dragon, another Guardian. Katya is appalled by it all, but Dragon seems has a pair of kind eyes. Slavac takes Katya to another building and threats her with an ‘it’s not over’.

Inside the building is another world. She meets Leah, a very pregnant woman, close to her age. She lived in another village close to Gavaldon. From here, she learns what happens to the woman who has lost their usefulness, the girls and other useless children. They are all sold to the slave traders. No one knows about it because the transaction is done in the middle of the night. As long as you’re fresh and bearing a child or have some other utility like domestic help and so on, you’re safe. It’s a total nightmare! Katya already talked about freedom, a concept very very foreign to Turan and explained it to him. Turan doesn’t even know a lot of words to communicate since he never needed to. I hated the way the Guardians subdue young men to make them their Warriors. The women inform Katya that the young, healthy male children are taken away after a few months from the mother so that they never form an attachment. After they reach an age to train, they’re trained in the Guardian style to work for them. At first, it was started with the children from the local villages but now, they breed them here, inside this place. The Guardians want more and more power and nothing else. Some of the women have good relationships with their men but some, like Matthilda, are scared of them because she was raped over and over again by the brute who was meant for her. There are women like Andrina, who warm the Guardians’ beds. But Andrina is with Dragon and has a very close bond with him.

All the information is certainly overwhelming for Katya. When she’s taken to Turan that night, they talk, among other things. And, their wish to free themselves as well as the others takes root. Turan shows Katya a little place behind his bed, where he drew very mundane things of life, things that are denied to him. He is very repentant, now knowing Katya and the concept of ‘mercy’, about what he’s done to them. They soon realize they love each-other. Slavac, in a training session, sets the greatest of the warriors, a brutish giant called Baraff to kill Turan. But Turan kills him, to defend himself, otherwise Katya won’t survive. They subdue him with the lightning stick. Then, he goes with a band of Warriors to raid another village. Katya, at the same time, was taking notice of the places where she was assigned to clean and dust. She tried talking to the women about the rebellion but most of them think it’s stupidity. Katya doesn’t give up though.

Turan is scared what might happen to Katya in his absence. He knows about Slavac now, also what if she’s given to someone else while he’s out here? He tries to talk to some of his fellow warriors about a rebellion, even defies the Guardian command, in return gets a blow from the lightning stick. But, Turan isn’t scared of the pain anymore. The elder Guardian, Elan comes to visit him. Turan is quite surprised to see him since the man never shows himself to anyone. This man, with his closest cronies, lives with such opulence in one of the buildings, about which most of the Warriors do not know. He does nothing but reap his luxurious life from it all. There are rumors about it but in the later part of the story, his lifestyle is revealed to everyone. Elan makes a bargain with him; Katya will be his forever, in return he’ll have to stop his nonsense (rebellion). Turan doesn’t answer him so Elan says he’ll know from his behavior.

When Katya comes to see him, they make love but Turan takes time to tell her that. After a few days, when Katya learns of it and that Turan did nothing to further their goal, she’s very angry. She knows without freedom they can’t live together and all of them in this accursed place have a right to live free. Yes, there might be repercussions about the Warriors and how to control them and so on but first and foremost, it’s freedom! They have to subdue the Guardians, for it they have to take control of the lightning sticks. This is the only thing with which they control because physically, the Guardians are very frail. Turan says sorry for this and they make up. At dawn, Slavac barges in and takes Katya from Turan. He wanted to attack but Katya says ‘no’. I wasn’t seriously expecting this but Slavac rapes Katya, though he couldn’t finish it. Since Katya wasn’t screaming in fear but bit her lips shut, his arousal dies. That man was nasty. When he attacks Katya again, somehow in a scuffle Katya grabs hold of his lightning stick and blows his crotch. Oh boy, that sure gotta hurt! In Turan’s room, hearing him make noises, Dragon comes to check up on him. Turan’s blow renders him unconscious as Turan goes to save Katya from Slavac.

From there on, it’s how they fought through their rebellion, as both Katya and Turan knew it’s time. It was a bloody battle, with wins and losses. But, in the end, freedom came for the ones who wanted it. The epilogue was another love scene, a pregnant Katya with very little of the life after the Guardians. So as I said, I wish there were more plot development as well as background information. Also, characters, I would’ve loved to know some of the secondary ones. I wanted to know if there were others who loved their women as Turan did Katya. Overall, I give this book a 3.75. It was good but there wasn’t just enough for me.

Favorite Quote:

When the Warrior pulled her half onto his lap and she felt the hard bulge of his erection thrusting up from his groin pressing into her hip, Katya grew nervous. She pulled away, gasping, and pressed him back with her hand on his chest. “Wait! Wait.” She licked her tingling lips and touched them with her fingertips, wondering what she’d been thinking to awaken this sleeping giant. What had happened to her vow to fight him off with all her strength?
Turan’s dark eyes glowed like two banked coals ready to ignite into flame. “Please. More,” he begged hoarsely. “Please.”
She suddenly realized that, despite the fact he could snap her in two if he wished, she was the one with the power. He didn’t intend to hurt or force her.