Free Web NovelChapter 198: Episode 198.
Aire immediately understood what he wanted the moment his eyes settled on her silver hair, she knew.
He openly stared at her like she would never go beyond being just a weapon.
Aire lowered her gaze.
She said nothing.
Vaelor seemed pleased by that. That instant and absolute submissiveness pleased him, and he’d want nothing less.
For a long moment he simply studied her.
The silence stretched between them. He enjoyed the silence, and thrived in it.
Finally, he decided to break the silence at his will. "My name is Vaelor Nightbloom." He introduced calmly, as if seeing no need to raise his voice.
He adjusted one of his gloves. "You will kneel." He told her, leaving no room for hesitation from Aire.
Aire looked at him. She swallowed, to wet her throat, before responding. "No."
Cold irritation flashed through his violet eyes.
The room seemed to tighten, and the vines wrapped around her wrists shifted.
Aire felt them move. They moved slowly and deliberately, like living things waking from sleep.
Pain flared through her arms, and went down to her knees in seconds.
Aire’s jaw clenched.
Vaelor remained expressionless. "You will kneel."
Aire clenched her fists to still the pain. What was everyone’s obsession with her kneeling? She stared at him from under her eyes. "No." She repeated her previous answer, firmer this time.
The vines tightened.
Aire sucked in a breath. Still she remained seated against the wall, refusing to give him the satisfaction of her obedience.
Vaelor watched her for several seconds. He sighed, as if disappointed. Then his eyes sharpened on her, as though she had failed a simple test.
"I believe," he said quietly, "that there has been a misunderstanding." His voice flowed like dark whisky, smooth, measured, and deceptively gentle
Aire stared at him.
Vaelor folded his hands behind his back.
"You appear to believe you are a guest." He went on, choosing each word with care.
Aire’s stomach tightened.
"You are not." His gaze drifted to her silver hair again. "You are an asset."
Aire glared at him.
Vaelor continued. "An extraordinarily valuable one."
Aire felt sick from his tone, and the words he said. The way he said it sounded worse than hatred.
He looked at her like a useful and rare legendary sword. And unreplaceable only because nothing else like it existed.
Aire swallowed. She chuckled mockingly, and met his eyes. "I saw the way you were looking at my hair."
For the first time, Vaelor’s attention sharpened.
Aire lifted her chin. She smiled, and decided to take her chances. "If you want something from me, perhaps you should consider treating me properly."
A faint smile appeared on his face. His brows raised, as if she had behaved so unexpectedly.
"You believe kindness is relevant."
Aire didn’t answer.
Vaelor stepped closer to the bars. His voice remained soft. "Morrigan earned what she possesses through patience."
Aire’s chest tightened.
Vaelor’s eyes cooled. "I require no such patience."
A long silence followed his words.
He stared at her calmly, then he spoke again. "Morrigan is my sister." He disclosed after a thought. "And this cell." His gaze swept across the mud. "The restraints, and prisoners..." His eyes returned to hers. "All of it exists within my realm."
Aire felt a chill crawl down her spine.
Vaelor’s expression never changed. That somehow made everything worse. His calm expression and laid back voice remained, as if he was simply stating facts.
Facts he expected the world to obey.
"You should learn quickly, Aire." His voice dropped lower. "Most people fear Morrigan."
The faint smile returned. "But Morrigan enjoys games." Vaelor adjusted his spectacles.
"And I do not."
Then the vines exploded upward.
Aire never saw them move.
One moment she sat against the wall, and the next moment, something wrapped around her throat.
Aire gasped.
The mud vanished beneath her feet, and her body jerked upward violently. The pain now shot through her neck.
Her hands flew to the vines around her neck.
She couldn’t breathe, and the world tilted as the cell spun.
Aire kicked helplessly as the vines suspended her several feet above the ground. She clawed at the veins, gasping for air.
Air refused to enter her lungs, and panic flooded through her immediately.
Her vision blurred, and the vines tightened.
Vaelor simply watched her with his hands calmly behind his back. His expression never changed.
Aire clawed at the restraints with everything in her, but nothing happened. She couldn’t breathe, think, or move.
She needed to breathe in the next few seconds, else she might die. Aire doubt they wouldn’t kill her at this point.
Vaelor adjusted his spectacles. "Morrigan is my sister."
Aire’s vision flashed white.
The vines tightened again.
"And unlike my sister, I have little interest in games." He repeated himself again, just in case Aire might have trouble hearing him the first time he spoke.
Aire trembled violently.
Tears burned in her eyes.
She still couldn’t breathe, and still couldn’t get enough air, but she refused to let her tears drop.
The last thing she wanted to do was give this realm and the people in it another weapon from her they could use to control her.
And with how she’s being forced to bow, Aire doubts bending her knee to anyone would be considered just ordinary.
Vaelor regarded her calmly. "This realm belongs to my family." His voice remained leveled, as if he was simply educating her.
"You refused to bow to my father, so you’d bow to me." he paused, met her now wide eyes, and promised. "You’ll bow to me, by every means necessary."
Aire choked.
"Save yourself."
Aire’s body convulsed.
His violet eyes settled on hers. "Save yourself, Aire. You’ll do yourself no good refusing. You belong to us."
Aire’s vision darkened.
Vaelor continued. "Will you bend your kneel?" The vines lifted her higher. "...bend your kneel, and leave this cage."
Aire struggled to shake her head in refusal. She couldn’t speak, as she needed to save every breath she could muster.
The vines lossened a bit.
He took a calm step closer to the cage. "Bend your knee, Aire,"
Aire greedily dragged air into her lungs. Her silver hair hung across her face, streaked with mud and sweat.
A bitter snicker escaped her. She couldn’t believe that sound just left her. She was beginning to have toxins in her bloodstream from this realm.
Slowly, she lifted her head. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and the side of her neck, from the effect of vines.
She wiped it away with the back of her palm and looked at the smear as though mildly annoyed by it.
"Bend my knee?" she rasped. "You truly are pathetic." She cursed honestly. "You and your sick sister are beyond pathetic."
Her eyes lifted to his. His eyes remained calm, but she went on. "I have seen worms with more dignity than you."
The words came out rough at first. Aire swallowed hard, dragged in another breath, and straightened despite the vines wrapped around her body.
She laughed softly, but it was an out a humorless laugh.
"Look at yourself." she scoffed, glaring at him from his head to his boots. "You stand there demanding obedience because it is the only thing you’ll ever earn. Nobody follows you out of love. Nobody follows you out of respect. They follow because they’re afraid of what happens if they don’t."
She spat blood into the mud between them.
The crimson stain spread across the dirt.
"Power doesn’t make you strong. Power is all you’ve ever had, and somehow you’re still weak. Weak enough to fear a prisoner. You are weak enough to need vines to hold a woman down. Worse, you are weak enough to demand surrender because the thought of loyalty freely given is beyond you."
Aire shifted against the vines.
Pain shot through her body.
She ignored it. Her glare sharpened on him with every hateful bone in her. "You want me to kneel? I’d rather rot in this mud for a thousand years."
Her gaze sharpened.
The exhaustion in her face disappeared beneath pure hatred. "Every cruel thing you’ve done, every life you’ve broken, every soul and you’ve twisted, it all reeks of desperation. You want the world to believe you own a stupid realm..." she scoffed. "....but kings don’t beg for obedience. They don’t need to. The truth is written all over your face."
She tilted her head.
A cruel smile touched her lips. Her hair spread across her face. "You’re a frightened little creature wearing a crown that’s too large for your head."
The air seemed to freeze.
Aire smiled wider. Blood stained her teeth. "And the saddest part? Deep down, you know I’m right."
His expression darkened.
"So no," she said.
Her voice was steadier now than it had been since entering the cage.
"I won’t bend my knee. Not to you. Not now, and not ever."
She lifted her chin. "I’d sooner—"
The sentence never finished leaving her lips, as something invisible seized her. Her head slammed into the stone wall with a sickening crack.
Pain exploded through her skull, and the world tilted violently.
Aire hit the mud hard.
The taste of iron filled her mouth, and immediately, darkness swallowed everything as she lost consciousness.
