Page 26
“Do I really need that much cream?”
I asked Karisha as she moved over to the small wooden shelf to pick up a third cream to lavish my skin with.
“Everything needs to be perfect,”
the tribe lady replied, and following her lead, Mira nodded as well while they proceeded to cover me with the cream and make me smell extra nice. Not that the two rounds of soap and shampoo and the two other creams they had used for my body hadn’t already done that, but the women were adamant to make me look perfect for the day.
It hadn’t been my preference to stand naked in the middle of the tent and have them adorn my skin with anything and everything, but one look at Karisha’s worried expression told me that today was not a day to be toyed with.
Captain Xadom was here.
Summoned by Markos’ pleas or Dahr’s threats, no one knew. He made his visit announced the night before, without giving the tribe enough time to prepare for his arrival. I assumed that was the desired intention.
The entire tribe started running around like headless chicken, all of them terrified by the upcoming visit of this man. Dahr and Markos spent most of the night and early morning outside, preparing everything and giving organisational commands. Apparently, everything needed to be perfect. As this was the man that had their lives in their hands.
Needless to say, my presence there did not help, and even though I offered to make myself scarce, I assumed my prolonged stay was what had generated this to begin with. Which was also why Dahr did not shy from inviting the captain for dinner. Since his tent was the largest, we had started planning at midday, cleaning everything and making sure everything was perfect for the captain’s arrival.
Including me.
Hence, standing naked in the middle of a tent while everyone around was buzzing to get things ready. I was one of the things that needed to get ready, so, after I said my piece, I conformed to Karisha’s rules and bathed how she told me to, used whatever creams necessary and agreed to be dolled up and look the part.
“You need to be in pristine condition,”
Karisha declared after she covered me in another line of perfume before she finally allowed me to get dressed.
Even the dress I wore looked more fit for a queen rather than a drake camp. When Mira first brought it in, I thought they would be sending me to the prom rather than dinner, from the waves of orange palettes of organza making the dress that covered most of the bed. It matched the shade of the corset encased bodice with embroidered shades of darker orange and fashioned to look like flames.
“Can’t we go to the meeting instead?”
I sighed when they started rounding up the waves of organza around my leg and that corset went up my torso to announce the pain I would be facing once the straps were fully pulled.
“Women are not allowed, same as the training area,”
Karisha reminded me with a slightly apologetic tone when she started pulling at the corset chords and taking my breath away bit by bit. I had to hold onto Mira, because the pressure against my ribs grew to the point of making me squeal. I didn’t know how I was supposed to breathe in this thing, let alone have dinner. Or even sit at the table.
But I pushed through the pain and sucked in my tummy to help with the process, which only stopped when my boobs threatened to touch my neck. I had to admit, I was slightly curious about the dress’ design, so I turned slowly to see my reflection in the mirror, under Karisha’s and Mira’s excited small claps.
I needed only a second until my pride completely deflated.
“I look like a peach cupcake,”
I sighed, unable to reign in my disappointment.
“A peach cupcake caught on fire,”
I pointed at my tummy, where designs of burning flames engulfed my midsection.
I couldn’t say the dress was bad. It was an odd design, that was for sure, and the colour choice hadn’t been the most inspired but… it wasn’t a bad dress.
I was just bad in it.
I couldn’t move, couldn't breathe, and my olive skin against the soft orange tones did everything but match.
“Is there any chance I can go back to the leathers?”
I pressed my lips in a desperate plea and looked at Karisha with puppy-eyes.
“I need to go get ready, I’ll be back soon,”
she blatantly ignored me and started walking away with Mira in tune.
“Don’t do anything to mess up your look till I’m back,”
she threatened before she left me in the company of my image in the mirror.
Left to my own devices, in a brand-new looking, shiny tent, I had nothing to do but wait. The anticipation of the meeting started to crawl onto my skin, blanketing a heavy gust of anxiety over me. It was happening. It was finally happening. Whatever I did, it worked. Dahr was taking control over the attack and hopefully, he would manage to reach an agreement with this captain and stop taking the lives of innocents. He was becoming a new man, my heart thumped at the understanding. For me.
I took a long moment to look at myself in the mirror, and to observe what I had become in such a short amount of time. Whether I wanted it or not, I had become a part of this tribe, and if Dahr kept his promise, my life would soon be entwined with his.
I would have never imagined myself to be living in a tribe, a camp of faeries nonetheless, even with my fascination with their kind. But now, I had someone who cared for me, I had friends. And I had plans.
I was going to save my town.
And I was going to save many more.
Dahr and I.
Together.
I was so enthralled in my daydreaming and staring at that mismatched dress in the mirror that I did not see the shift of light. I was so concerned with the future that I let go of the present too soon.
“So you are the one ruining my plans,”
a heavy voice filled with rage drew my attention towards the tent entrance, where I saw a tall man in military uniform making his way in.
Involuntarily, I took a step back at the sight of him.
He was massive.
As tall as Dahr. As wide as Dahr. And fully clad in armour.
He wore a heavier version of the men’s rakis I had seen through camp, only his were made of a dense fabric that did not mould onto his skin, but rather, remained tense when he walked.
Instead of the small shoes everyone in the camp wore, this man stepped in with muddied boots that cracked against the fur-lined carpets. His entire torso was clad in some sort of armour, something that reminded me of mediaeval times, only shinier and designed to provide more comfort and ease of movement. Though, I assumed, just as effective. Just like Dahr, he wore a large belt sheathed with various knives and daggers, placed easily within reach.
The final thing I noticed were dark eyes under bushy furrowed brows and a long scar across his lip that became more prominent when he sneered at me.
“Who are you?”
My feet took me back and away from this man without me having to send them a command. Instinct told me that something was amiss, and that I was about to face whatever this situation was.
In a dress that barely let me breathe.
With no one around to calm the rage of this man.
His brow arched deeper as he continued sneering, showing me yellowed teeth and a crooked grin.
“You should know who I am, you filthy whore. You’re the one who forced me to come here,”
he growled as he continued to step in my direction.
Again, I moved back a step or two. I did not want to seem like I was running from him, but I also did not feel safe in his presence. My best bet was to reach the dining table and try to grab a weapon, though I didn’t think a steak knife would help much against full armour and a trained captain.
The disgust on his face was reverberating through his features. This man was looking at me like I was an insect. One that had just landed in his food and ruined his day. One that needed to be exterminated.
“How did you manage to do it, huh?”
he spoke as he continued approaching, his steps heavier and moving quicker, like he’d already caught a whiff of my intention.
“How did you scramble Grannicus’ brains to make him want to stop?”
I shook my head and stepped further back, my hands fumbling behind my back, desperately trying to reach the dinner table. Whatever this man was referring to, he had already pinned me as the root of all evil and by the burning hatred in his eyes, he didn’t plan to let me off with a simple conversation. I didn’t hide my intention when I took the final steps towards the dining table and moved to reach for a knife. While making the mistake to turn my back to him.
Before I had a chance to reach the table, my hair was yanked back as rough fingers twisted on the braids Mira and Karisha had wasted hours twisting into my hair. My entire head burnt from the searing pain that tight grip created around my scalp and tears shoved their way out, blurring my vision. I reached my fingers and tried my best to find… something, anything that I could use to defend myself with.
My hope for freedom was quickly extinguished however, when the captain’s hand wrapped around my throat and squeezed so tight that a small line of air remained trapped in my trachea. I tried to move to get myself free, but every motion only managed to twist the knot he created around my neck even harder.
“How easy would it be to make your neck snap right now, you disgusting cunt? How easy would it be to make you fucking go away forever?”
he spat into my ear, his hatred and the grip on my neck growing by the moment.
“Let me go…”
I barely had enough air to demand. To plead. The edges of my vision started to turn blurry, a rope of black catching my eyesight and pulling it away.
I was fading away.
This was it.
My heart thudded inside my chest with desperation, barely able to throw a pulsation or two that twisted all over my body. I felt the strain of the blood washing away from my veins, simply giving up. Just like I was. I hadn’t even had a chance to see Dahr today. To look at him one last time.
“Say goodbye, little bitch!”
the captain grunted into my ear.
“Get your fucking hands off my mate!”
That voice! I could recognise it anywhere, even in the world of dreams I was stepping into. Dahr was here. Maybe I had enough air left to see him one more time. One blink of goodbye. It was all I could hope for.
“Or what?”
The word twisted and my body spun around. Into the sunlight and the wide shadow that moved towards me. Not a shadow, I realised. Dahr.
Xadom’s hand around my neck did not loosen, and no matter how much I tried to struggle against him, I remained defenceless. My muscles were already shaking from the lack of oxygen, my eyes barely blinking Dahr into focus. At least I got my wish, I smiled to myself. I saw him one last time.
“I think you know what,”
Dahr howled as he started running towards me. Towards Xadom. My neck twisted to the side in the captain’s hand, and I felt unbearable pain.
Pain that vanished as soon as it came.
I was falling.
Falling with new air in my lungs. Air that burnt my throat coming in. Air that I inhaled with desperation.
It took me a few full breaths to recover my senses, for the dizziness and sharp pain to pass, for my body to gain enough strength to keep me upright again.
I looked over to where the captain had kept me prisoner to see his limp body on the floor. And Dahr, covered with blood. Hacking away at something.
No, not something.
The captain.
The warrior kept pushing a dagger into meat and bone while blood spurted on his face and torso again and again to create a puddle of rouge-like texture around them.
A puddle of blood.
“Is he…”
I couldn’t say it. I shook my head as, on their own accord, my hands moved up to my neck. Where muscles and tendons throbbed in pain. Where the lingering grasp of the captain’s hand still remained.
“He knew what he was doing when he came here,”
Dahr rasped as his dagger cut through the final layers of tissue until Xadom’s head parted from his body.
“When he touched you,”
his eyes darted to mine for a moment, letting me see the sheer revenge burning into them. The ire of a man possessed.
Dahr stood then, holding Xadom’s head by the hair, letting it spurt the final remnants of blood on the furry carpet.
“No one touches you,”
he said it as an order, as a command that needed to be shot into the sky for all to obey.
“I’m fine…”
I barely mumbled. My stomach twisted at the sight. At the vision of Dahr, covered in blood. At the knowledge that he did all this for me. At the love I felt for this man.
“What have you done?”
Markos’ voice sliced through the connection Dahr and I had built, drawing our attention to the entrance, where the tribe lord made his way in.
“What I should have done a while ago. Take back our freedom,”
Dahr replied with the calmness of someone who had spent their life planning this very moment.
“But…”
Markos’ eyes moved from Dahr towards me and stayed longer than they were used to. Analysing my heavy breaths and the hands that still wrapped around my neck, a reassurance to my body that air was allowed to freely flow through me.
“What did he do to her?”
the tribe lord’s expression hardened.
“He tried to kill her. In my home,”
Dahr’s breath hitched.
“In my camp!”
He made his hardened voice reverberate through the entire tent. Rage exploded through him, filling up the entire world as Dahr started pacing like a tiger in a cage, the head he still gripped tightly splashing the echo of his steps. Until he stopped. Back straight and head high, fixed on a sudden decision.
“Take the best warriors and go clear out the town. We’re going to plan C. Evacuate everyone,”
he ordered as my heart jumped out of his chest.
Did he mean my town?
Did he mean Enderflagg?
“Make sure you destroy all their comms, I don’t want any reinforcements to get within reach.”
he took another step, then fixed his fire-raged gaze to Markos.
“And make sure they know that we will hunt them down to the very edge of the earth if they don’t keep their mouths shut and try to alert any of the other villages. Get the town records as insurance.”
My bones shivered with the threat, but Markos nodded grimly. A cape of sadness fell over the tribe lord and, no matter how hard I tried, I failed to understand the reason. After all, this is what we wanted. And, if I were to believe their promises, this is what they had been collectively working towards. I doubted he cared much about the captain, so that wouldn’t be too much of a reason for his features to become so grim.
Until Dahr clarified it for me.
“Give us a few minutes to say goodbye, you can prepare the ride in the meanwhile and assemble the warriors.”
Goodbye?
Why would this be a goodbye?
With the corner of my eye, I watched Markos dip his chin and make his way out, the same sorrowful expression that was starting to draw itself on my features following him out.
“Dahr?”
I hoped this was some sort of joke, some sort of sick twisted lie, because there was no way in hell Dahr and I had any reason to say goodbye to one another.
“Nora,”
he finally dropped the severed head and rushed towards me, as though time had become of essence.
“My little flame,”
the warrior pressed his lips together as he blinked sadness away, then forced a smile. His hands gripped my face on either side and started caressing my skin softly, just like he’d done so hundreds of times before.
“Dahr?”
I barely dared to question, tears rapidly filling my eyes to make his expression blurry. The warrior lowered his head to level me and pressed his forehead to mine for a few moments, allowing the both of us to breathe the same air.
“Take life into your own hands, my sweet. I am sure you will do wonderful things,”
he whispered to me with a plea, his voice breaking with every syllable.
“No!”
I shook my head to get away from his grasp.
“Wherever you think I’m going, I am not.”
I continued to shake my head and the tears that started springing from my eyes. I wouldn’t take this offer, I would not. No matter how hard I pleaded with him to let me return to my town at the beginning of the month, I would not go back there now.
Not when Dahr was in trouble.
Not when he was risking everything.
“You have to, Milenora. I may not be able to protect you.”
The hurt in his voice as he released those words told me everything I needed to know. Dahr was scared. Scared for me. And in order to protect me, he was putting himself in danger. Himself and everyone around.
“I won’t let you do this,”
I tried to shout but the corset I had been shoved into still did a perfect job at keeping my ribs tight and preventing too much air from flowing. “I won’t…”
I shook my head and blinked away more tears.
“I’m giving you what you asked for, Nora. A chance to follow your dreams,”
he nodded and moved away from me to reach the table. I was surprised by his action, but too weak to follow him. Still wrestling my feelings and the breaking of my heart.
I watched how Dahr crouched under the table and jiggled something inside the wood to pull out a small case. If I didn’t know better, I would think it was a large book, but when Dahr carefully placed it in my hands, I felt a weight heavier than paper. Surprised and curious, I opened the leather-bound wooden box to find jewellery. Dozens of precious gems bundled up together: from diamonds to sapphires and rubies, along with strings of pearls, gold brooches with emerald designs and so much more.
“What is this?”
I looked back at Dahr with wide eyes, my hands already shaking under the weight.
“I have been saving into it for years, in case I ever managed to escape. It’s a ticket to a new life. Any life you choose for yourself,”
Dahr leaned in again to press a kiss on my lips, which ended before I had enough time to respond.
“Run away with me, Dahr. You can escape this. Come with me, somewhere far away, where they can’t find us. Somewhere where you can start a new life with me, away from this place. Away from the burden you’ve been forced to carry for so long,”
I begged him, but one look in his night-sky eyes told me that this battle was already lost.
“Don’t you dream of something else? Something better?”
I asked in between sobs, understanding that there was no other end to this conversation but my departure. Dahr pressed his lips to mine again, to brand me with a final goodbye.
“I am all out of dreams.”
“All ready,”
Markos popped his head into the tent and when I shot him a threatening gaze, he looked at me apologetically.
“Take her to Karisha first. Make sure she has something to eat and changes into better clothing,”
Dahr ordered and started to step away from me. His legs moved with heavy weight, as though they too wrestled against this decision.
“Dahr!”
I shrieked, begging him not to go. Not to leave me.
It caused him to turn back. Just for another stolen moment. Just enough to press his forehead to mine again and let me taste his lips one final time.
“Burn bright, little flame, and fulfil all your dreams. Reach your destiny. And know… know you would have been the one.”
With a final goodbye, the warrior left the tent without looking back. I heard his voice in the distance, barking annoyed orders at the camp. Leaving me a suddenly-wealthy pile of a mess, fallen on the floor next to a decapitated corpse and a future I no longer wanted ahead of me.