NARA
"Your Highness." They all turned in his direction at the sound of his, bowing to pay their respects.
I watched in real time as fear overtook their entire form, their bodies no better than that of trees at the mercy of the harsh evening wind.
Kaedyr hadn't uttered another word as he closed the distance between us and the guards didn't dare to move from their positions. The one guard who had pushed me immediately began rambling as soon as he realised Kaedyr's silence meant he was waiting for an answer.
"Your Highness, the lady slipped and fell, he began saying. "The earth is muddy and slippery due to the recent rain and she, um… she stepped on her dress and—and fell." He fumbled with his words as he became a stuttering mess and I doubted if he actually thought anything he said was believable in the slightest.
An awkwardness lingered in the air as Kaedyr regarded him with silence for another minute before finally speaking, "She slipped on her dress and fell?" His voice cracked through the silence with a sharp coldness.
"Yes, Your Highness, I was about to help the lady to her feet." Anyone could see through his lies, it was stupid.
My dress wasn't even that long that I would step on it and slip. I don't know how he thought whatever he was saying right now was even believable in the slightest.
But his credibility wasn't my business. My issue is trying to understand what Kaedyr js doing here right now.
Standing up, I brushed my palm over my already dirtied dress to get rid of the mud sticking to my hand. Once cleaned, I bent down, grabbing my sling bag from the ground and prepared to leave.
"Is that true?" Kaedyr asked.
I knew the question was directed at me but I ignored him. What would happen if I said the guard was lying? Would he punish him? Fight my battles?
It wouldn't be because he cared for me if he does punish the guard. It would probably be to feed his ego.
"Nara," he called in a flat voice.
I turned to glare at him. "What?" I hissed, not hiding my disdain for him.
"I asked you a question."
"Wasn't it obvious that I wasn't interested in your question when I didn't respond?" I rolled my eyes then shifted my attention back to cleaning my slingback. Thankfully, the leaves I had gathered didn't pour out.
"Straighten up," he commanded the guards.
And it surprised me that he didn't try to push me for an answer.
"Think twice before you give me an answer. Who pushed her?" He asked and despite how calm he sounded, the pheromones he was releasing was anything but calm.
The silence in the air stretched for a few minutes as none of the guards attempted to answer. Again, it was surprising to see that they weren't jumping at the chance to throw one of their own under the bus. I would've thought they gave Kaedyrr their blind loyalty. And if that wasn't the case, what could possibly make them think they had the choice not to answer him?
"Consequences, consequences," Kaedyr sang in a somewhat detached voice.
"We didn't push her." The lady in the group managed to say, but the other guys seemed
hell-bent on keeping quiet.
Even though I wanted to stay and observe his interactions with the palace guards, I wasn't all that interested in how he chose to solve the situation. So, I threw my sling bag over my shoulder and began walking away.
"Princess," he called in that mocking tone he used when he molested me in his chambers recently and my legs dragged to an involuntary halt.
"Tell me what happened, now!" He demanded.
I wore an impassive expression on my face as I stared at him. My attention shifted to the guards, who looked like deer caught in headlights. The fear in the eyes were evident, and to be honest, I get it. They were right to fear him because knowing him, this could most definitely be their last breath.
Turning to Kaedyr, I shrugged. "I don't know why it's so important for you to know what happened. I am but a lowly slave, why do you care if something happened to? Let it be," I replied as I wasn't in the mood to help boost his ego.
I wasn't trying to help the guards, and I honestly couldn't care less what he did to them. I just wasn't interested in giving him the satisfaction he'd get from showing off.
"You are a glutton for punishment, aren't you? It seems you never learn," he mused flatly, a condescending smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
I scoffed. "What will you do to me?" I asked, "Are you going to slap me? Imstruct your soldiers to beat me up and lock me in a cold, dark cell with no food? Add more chains to the ones on my legs or break my limbs? What exactly do you intend to threaten me with this time?"
He snarled, definitely feeling disrespected by my actions.
"Oh wait, I think I know what you'll do," I continued disregarding his anger. "Yes, you'll probably have them drag me back to your palace and then when we get there, you'll force your cock down my throat, or who knows, ram it down my cunt." I shook my head and shrugged as I laughed and continued. "Been there, done that. The threat of doing that to me again isn't as scary as you think it is anymore. You already broke me, Kaedyr. Don't be surprised that there's nothing more to break."
He stared at me in silence, head tilted slightly as he watched me, and then he burst out into a fit of cold, detached laughter. The guards seemed startled and alarmed by the sudden outburst. I don't know what was so funny to him, but when he had his fill, he closed the distance between us, reaching out to run his hand down my face.
"I haven't even started yet, princess. Break you? You'll know when I make it a personal mission. You also seemed to forget that I don't need to harm you to touch you. You forgot how softhearted you are. Maybe I should rip off their ears. Perhaps that would motivate you to tell me what happened."
He motioned for the guards with two fingers, and they shuffled forward. "Who should I start with, hm, him?" Shaking his head as his pointed finger moved from one soldier to another. "Her," he muttered, finger pointing at the only lady in the group.
"Start talking," he ordered in his usual gravel-like voice.
"Your Highness, I… I didn't."
"Time's up," Kaedyr growled, seconds before he wrapped his hands round her throat and pulled her off her feet.
I watched as her eyes bulged with every increased pressure. Her gaze landed on me and I saw the look of abject horror in her eyes at the realisation that he could actually kill her. I really couldn't give two shits if he killed one of them. I didn't owe these knuckleheads anything but she was the only one that had questioned the actions of that idiot and it felt unfair that she was the one to suffer for his actions.
"Let her go," I hissed at Kaedyr, gripping his bulging biceps.
"No, I want to relish the pleasure of snapping her neck with my bare hands."
"Are you insane?" I sneered at him. "Let her go. She's done nothing wrong."
"Are you ready to talk, princess?"
I glared at him before pointing to the fool that had pushed. "That idiot pushed me because he wanted to show me my place. Now let her go."
He let go of her instantly, walking to the guard that had started this entire mess and I watched as his claws elongated and he slashed both ears off in the blink of an eye. A scream tore out of the guard as he grabbed his bloodied ear. He was barely halfway through his screams when Kaedyr forced his hands into the guard's mouth, grabbed his tongue and ripped it out.
"Consequences," he sang, dangling the torn-out tongue before the other guards, who were shaking and pissing themselves simultaneously.
My gaze panned to the guard who was now face flat on the ground, writing as blood gushed out of his mouth, then panned back to Kaedyr.
"You disgust me," I declared before walking away from the scene.