You were chosen for me
1520 Words
ISABELLA'S POV
By the fourth day, I had reached the end of my patience. I was tired of being in this place and what made me feel worse was the fact that I didn’t even uderstand why I was here. Nobody had told me why I was here, nothing had happened that could have given me an idea as to why I was here. No one would explain what Lucien wanted from me, every answer led to more questions. Every conversation ended with someone avoiding the truth.
I was sitting beside the window when a sharp knock sounded against the door., before I could respond, it opened.
My stomach immediately tightened. Lucien stepped inside. I guess I should have been expecting him to come into this room ast some point but I had refused to think about it. I refused to think about him. And yet here he was and the room seemed to shrink around him. I felt myself shrink as he walked in and my would wimpering even before he said anything to me.
He closed the door behind him and surveyed the room with a brief glance before his eyes landed on me. The silver gaze that had haunted my thoughts since the day he walked into my packhouse.
Cold.
Unreadable.
Intimidating.
I stood slowly but neither of us spoke. The silence stretched long enough to become uncomfortable. Then he finally broke it.
"Get ready."
I frowned…. was that it? No good morning…no questions of how I had settled in or is I was adjusting at all. Just a command that didn’t make any sense much like everything else in this place.
"For what?"
"The council wishes to meet you."
For a moment I simply stared at him and then I laughed. Not because it was funny but because I genuinely couldn't believe what I was hearing. To me, it sounde dlike he was aksing me for a favor, but I couldn’t understand what his counsil matters had to do with me.
"The council wishes to meet me?"
"Yes."
"And?"
His expression didn't change.
"And you will be ready within the hour."
I folded my arms.
"No."
The word came out sharper than intended, Lucien remained completely unaffected. Almost as if this was the reaction he was expecting from me, almost as if he expected me to obe despite the fact that hee had already known that this would be my reaction before he even walked into this room.
"You misunderstand."
His voice was calm and measured.
"This is not a request."
My jaw clenched, every conversation with this man felt like running headfirst into a wall.
"I don't care what your council wants…I don’t care what you want"
"You should."
"Why?"
"Because their opinion matters."
I stared at him.
"Not to me."
"It will."
The certainty in his voice made my blood boil, who did he think he was? Actually, I already knew the answer, the problem was that everyone else seemed to agree with him. They had made him think that he could rule over everyone and order them around. But that wasn’t who I was and that wasn’t something that I was willing to do for him and there was nothing that he could do that would make me do it. I took a step closer.
"Then explain it to me."
His gaze remained fixed on mine.
"Explain what?"
"Everything."
The frustration I had been carrying since my arrival finally spilled over.
"Why am I here?" I asked but got nothing from him
"Why did you choose me?" there was silence, and no clear intention or willingness to clear things uo for me.
"Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?"
Not even a flicker of emotion crossed his face, the lack of reaction was somehow worse than anger.
At least anger would have proven he was listening. Instead, he looked at me as though I were asking questions with answers that no longer mattered.
"Those questions are irrelevant."
My mouth fell open.
"Irrelevant?"
"Yes."
I let out a disbelieving laugh.
"My entire life was turned upside down."
Still nothing.
"My parents handed me over to a stranger, with no explanation or a chance to say good bye to them properly"
Again he said nothing.
"You dragged me across the kingdom."
Not a single reaction.
"And you're telling me my questions are irrelevant?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, not enough to show anger but enough to show impatience.
"The situation exists whether you understand it or not…you need to accept that its not for you to understand but to do as you are told."
I stared at him, the arrogance. The absolute arrogance.
"You don't get to decide what matters to me."
"No?"
His voice remained calm but his eyebrows slighly raised
"I decide what requires an explanation."
The words hit harder than they should have because I knew he meant them. There was no cruelty in his tone. No malice. Just certainty, the certainty of a man accustomed to authority. A man who had spent years giving orders and having them obeyed. I hated it, I hated him.
"You are impossible."
"That is not a concern of mine."
I threw my hands up.
"Do you ever answer a question directly?"
"I am not fond of being questioned…you will soon learn that"
I blinked, for a split second I wasn't sure if that had been sarcasm. The possibility irritated me even more. I pointed toward the door.
"If you're expecting me to sit politely in a room full of strangers while everyone stares at me, you're mistaken."
"You will attend…and you will do as you are told"
"No, I will not do anything that I do not want to do and you will not make me"
"You will." he said calmly…way too calm for someone who was being challenged and I took that as a sign that I wanst fighting hard enough. I took another step forward.
"So what happens if I refuse?"
For the first time, the room seemed to grow colder, not because his expression changed because it didn't. That was what made it unsettling. Lucien didn't look angry, he didn't look threatening. He simply looked certain of the outcome.
"You cannot refuse …you do not have the luxury to."
The confidence in those three words infuriated me even more.
"Its my body and my decision and you do not know what I am capable of."
"I do."
"How?"
His gaze remained steady.
"Because despite your objections, you understand the reality of your situation."
I opened my mouth and then closed it because I hated how close to the truth he was. I couldn't fight him, I couldn't overpower him….I couldn't even leave if I wanted to and he knew it. The realization sat between us. Unspoken. Ugly. His expression softened slightly. Not with sympathy. With finality. The conversation was over as far as he was concerned.
"You have one hour."
I glared at him.
"And if I spend that hour refusing to get dressed?"
His eyes swept over me. Taking in the simple dress I already wore. When he spoke, his voice was completely indifferent.
"Then you will attend dressed exactly as you are…it makes no difference to me"
I stared at him. For the first time since he had entered the room, I found myself caught off guard. Most men in his position would have demanded obedience. Demanded perfection. Demanded appearances. Lucien simply didn't seem to care. The realization was oddly frustrating before I could think of another argument, he turned toward the door.
"Wait."
He paused…a nd I instantly regretted stopping him, I hated myself for speaking because I already knew I wasn't going to get an answer. Yet I couldn't stop myself.
"Why me?"
The question slipped out quietly, not angry this time. Not demanding. Just honest. Lucien's hand settled on the door handle. For several seconds he stood there. The silence stretched. Hope rose despite my better judgment. Maybe this time. Maybe I would finally get something. Anything. Then he looked over his shoulder, his silver eyes met mine. Cold. Distant. Impossible to read.
"The answer would not change your circumstances…."
”I didn’t choose you, your parents chose you for me and I hate unpaid debts”
And just like that, the moment was gone, the door opened. Then closed behind him. Leaving me alone. Again. I stood motionless in the center of the room. My heart pounding with frustration. I had learned nothing that I didn’t already know. I already know that it was my parents that had chosen this fate for me, I already knew that they had used me to pay some debt that I didn’t even know about. But what I didn’t know was why he had accepted me as patment when there were so many other things that he could have demanded. The only thing I knew for certain was that arguing with Lucien Nightbane was like arguing with a mountain. He wasn't interested in winning. He simply existed. Unmovable.
And somehow that terrified me far more than if he had shouted.
- Writer
