The blood trickled from Cassian's nose, a stark, red line against his pale skin. His hand, still covering the wound, trembled with a rage so potent it was almost a physical thing. The air in the training yard, already thick with the scent of his pheromones, now soured with the bitter aroma of his humiliation. Arion stood frozen, his eyes wide with a cold, creeping horror. He had not just hit a prince; he had hit the King's favored son, the one man in the kingdom who seemed to believe he could do no wrong.
Cassian slowly lowered his hand, his eyes burning with a dangerous fury. "You… you dare to touch me?" he growled, the words a low, guttural threat. "After all I've shown you... you strike me?"
Arion's mind scrambled for a defense, for an apology, for anything to placate the beast before him. "I'm so sorry, Your Highness! I didn't mean to, I was just... I was just startled."
The apology was a futile whisper against the storm. Cassian lunged forward, his movements no longer a part of a sparring match, but a full-fledged attack. He grabbed Arion's face, his fingers digging into his cheeks with a brutal force. He shoved Arion against the rough-hewn wooden post of a training dummy, the impact jarring Arion's teeth. The world swam for a moment, and Arion let out a cry of pain.
"I will not be denied what is mine," Cassian hissed, his breath hot against Arion's ear. "You think because my brother put his pathetic mouth on you, you belong to him? You are wrong. He had his chance, and he lost. You are a tool, a prize, and I will have what I want."
His hands moved from Arion's face to his throat, his fingers pressing into the sensitive skin, a possessive, suffocating grip. He moved his other hand lower, reaching under Arion's tunic to grip his waist. The touch was aggressive, angry, and utterly without the feigned affection Kyon had used. It was pure possession, a brutal reminder of his new master. Arion's body, exhausted and battered, could not fight back. He was a prisoner in his own skin, at the mercy of a prince who saw him as nothing more than an object to be claimed.