Chapter 02
LIANNA
I watched as the man's smirk faded, his expression morphing into one of disdain. The air was thick with the stench of my kind, the unmistakable scent of a human. I stood before him, feeling the weight of his gaze upon me. I could sense the tension in the room as his guards positioned themselves beside me, ready to carry out his orders.
"IS THIS HOW YOU TREAT YOUR NEW CONCUBINE?" I shouted, my voice filled with defiance. I refused to cower before him, even though every fiber of my being screamed at me to submit. 'Ah, so she's the one mentioned in the letter...' I thought, recalling the contents of the paper, which explained that in exchange for the village chief's youngest daughter, we were to treat them as allies, theoretically, compensated slaves. I found that a complete joke, but... if she was the one coming with me — even though she was a human — I could give her a chance.
"No, my dear," he said with a smirk, "I treat them much better... guards!" he ordered, and they positioned themselves beside me, "detain her and take her to my room. She's the Young lady that was mentioned in that letter." I felt their hands grab at my arms, but I refused to be manhandled, asserting my independence with every step I took.
"LET ME GO!" I exclaimed, my voice echoing through the room, "I can walk on my own feet!" I huffed and started walking with firm steps, refusing to show any sign of weakness. 'What a strong temperament for a human,' his laughter echoed in my mind, underestimating me because of my species. But even as I put on that display of defiance, his guards were still close at my heels. Once they reached his room, they opened the door and pushed me inside.
"Good job," he said after they locked the door, "Maybe now she'll stop being so stubborn and obstinate." They just nodded, while standing and guarding the door.
After that bastard had his goons throw me into his room, I searched for anything sharp enough to kill him — preferably, quickly enough that he wouldn't have time to react or seek help.
Sure, he had his good points — his face, for instance — but that wouldn't make me forgive him so easily. No. Especially not when I knew he had attacked my people, and also, when I knew he was the one who wanted to turn my whole village into slaves who would serve him at his whim.
But we were humans, not animals! And as the representative of the few remaining, I wasn't going to bow down to that little wolf just because he thought he was better than me. However, even after searching so much and thinking of ways to kill that bastard, I found nothing more threatening than a candlestick.
"How pathetic..." I said to myself with a laugh, "Am I going to use a candlestick for this? For the love of the gods!" I sighed at that, feeling defeat wash over me, causing me to lie down on that massive bed and stare at the ceiling, waiting for that furball to come to me.
It practically took all day for it to happen, and when the door finally opened... the sun was already setting, and the only light in the room was the faint illumination coming from a hatch.
"Are you awake?" The man entered while asking, me clutching the candlestick tightly in my hand, "Or did you tire of waiting for me and fall asleep?" He was mocking me with those words, which made me lunge at him, attempting to hit him with the useless candlestick. But clearly, it didn't work, as I felt his hand grip my wrist.
"Guards," he said as he tightened his grip on my hand and ironically seemed to smile, "you can leave your posts, I want some time alone with the human."
I raised an eyebrow, clearly puzzled by his words, and I could only hear footsteps retreating after his command.
"What's the matter? Surprised?" He seemed to say with a Machiavellian or even diabolical tone, "Or did you think I'd call in my guards to deal with a mere human like you, huh?"
I widened my eyes, still shocked that my blow hadn't landed, which only made him... laugh.
"You're truly a human with a strong temperament, aren't you?" he spoke, his face filled with a mixture of teasing and curiosity, "I think we're going to have a lot of fun, don't you?"
No, I didn't think so, especially after seeing his extremely strange reaction when I tried to kill him... it was frightening.
I needed to get out of there soon, and I also... needed to kill that man soon, to avenge my village, and also... before he could do something to me.
"You're sick!" I managed to blurt out, struggling to free my wrist from his grasp, "Let go of me! Sick bastard!"
"You're truly intriguing, aren't you?" He spoke as if he hadn't even heard me, looking me up and down as if appraising the value of a prostitute, "You're just a mere human, and you're trying to attack me like this? Aren't you afraid of dying?"
His nails lightly grazed my chin, and his tone was so ambiguous that I couldn't tell if it was a threat or a flirt.
And that made me even more irritated.
"LET GO OF ME! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO GET MY REVENGE!" I was saying as I struggled, but as if those were magical words to him, he let me go, taking a few steps back.
"Go ahead," he said, spreading his arms out, an arrogant arch seeming to hover over his lips, like he was about to present some kind of a show, "try to kill me, dear."