THE KING'S SLAVE BRIDE

YOU DISGUST ME

NA’IMAH

“Your Highness.” They all turned in his direction and bowed.

I watched in real time as fear overtook their entire form, their bodies no better than those of trees at the mercy of the harsh evening wind.

Kaedyr hadn’t uttered another word, and the guards didn’t dare to move from the bowing position they held. The one guard that pushed me immediately began rambling as he realized Kaedyr’s silence meant he was waiting for an answer.

“Your Highness, the lady slipped and fell. 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. And I doubt if he actually believed what he was saying.

An awkward silence lingered in the air until Kaedyr finally spoke, “She slipped on her dress and fell?” His voice cracked through the silence, sharp and cold.

“Yes, Your Highness, I was about to help the lady to her feet.” Anyone could see through his lies. I don’t know how he thought that whatever he was saying right now was even believable in the slightest.

But that wasn’t my business, though. I don’t understand why Kaedyr was here. I stood up, cleaned my wet muddy palms on my dress and I grabbed my sling bag from the ground.

“Is that true?” Kaedyr asked, and I ignored him. Was he asking me? Because now that he is here, I don’t really care much about whatever he intends to do.

“Imah,” he called in a flat voice.

Raising my head to glare at him. “What?” I hissed, not hiding my disdain at the fact that he dared to use my name.

“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 and went back to cleaning my slingback. Thankfully, the leaves I had gathered didn’t pour out.

“Straighten up,” he commanded the guards. I am surprised that he didn’t try to push me for an answer.

“Think twice before you give me an answer about what really happened. Who pushed her?”

Silence stretched for a few minutes with none of the guards willing to answer. I guess it was obvious that they wouldn’t readily throw one of their own under the bus.

“Consequences, consequences,” Kaedyr singsonged in a somewhat detached voice.

“We didn’t push her.” The lady in the group managed to speak, but the other guys were hell-bent on keeping quiet.

I wasn’t all that interested in how he chose to solve the situation. So, I threw my sling back over my shoulder and began walking away.

“Princess,” he called in that mocking tone, and I stopped. “Tell me what happened, now.” He insisted.

I wore an impassive expression on my face as I stared at him; my attention shifted to the guards, who all looked like deer caught in headlights. It was impossible not to see the fear in their eyes. Of course, they were scared of him, and they probably already resigned their fate.

Turning to Kaedyr, I shrugged. “I don’t know why it’s so important for you to know what happened. I am just a sl*ve; why do you care? Let it be,” I replied in a bored tone, because I honestly wasn’t going to do anything to help boost his ego.

I wasn’t trying to help the guards; to be sincere, I 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.

“What are you going to do to me?” I scoffed. “Are you going to slp me, have your soldiers beat me up and lock me up in a cold, dark cell with no food? Add more chains to the ones on my legs?” I asked, looking him dead in the eyes.

He snarled.

“Oh wait, I think I know what you’ll do,” I continued. “Yes, you’ll probably have them drag me back to your palace and then when we get there, you’ll force your cxck down my throat, or who knows, ram it down my cxnt.” I shook my head and shrugged. “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 r!p off their ears; perhaps that would motivate you to tell me what happened.”

He motioned to the guards with two fingers, and they shuffled forward. “Who should I start with, hm, him?” shaking his head as his pointing 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 realization that he could actually kill her. I really couldn’t give two shxts 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 id1ot, 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 me. “That id1ot 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.