Chapter-5

The heaviness of sorrow in my heart made me ponder over the memories, be it good ones or worse ones, neither my heart cared nor my mind but I could feel a void of nothingness in my chest, which seemed to enlarge with passing breath escaping my mouth. The trivial thought of only me being alive made me swim in the ocean of guilt.

It wasn't my fault, but I couldn't battle with my heart and head, at this moment, I only found myself the culprit. A shiver danced down my spine as a cold midnight breeze touched my bare arms. The upper including lower regions of my dress seemed to be torn off by Cassius. Humiliation, fear, anger, and worse, the truth clawed my soul.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I tried to remain still, trying not to get their attention on me but it wasn't working a bit. From the corner of my eyes, I could feel Veles's grin, which was indirectly telling me to run for hills, the man dared to make me cower away in fear. On the other hand, I could see Cassius's slight smirk on his god-craved lips.

The hand that rested on his lap was clenched, and with another one, he was stroking his slight beard. If I could, I would have stopped breathing so that they wouldn't notice me. The thought of having their bare attention was enough to make me feel extremely scared. I couldn't decide if I should mourn for losing my family, and my people, or be on my guard around them.

One thing was sure, I couldn't do these things altogether, it felt scarcely difficult. Though my head was lowered, I could faintly see the legs of men sitting in front of me, the motion of their movements, and the twitch of their muscles. Cassius and Veles were sitting in front of me with Ezra on the extreme left side while the one with blue-green eyes sat on my left side and Theodore on my right.

Even though there was enough space to fit three of us, one on my left had decided to stretch his legs enough that they were brushing over my thigh. I might have not said this earlier but there was another fear that was slowly clawing at me, the fact that they were all men, warriors of Nithilorc, sons of the great emperor, I couldn't help but think of worse.

Now and then I think of when we would reach their kingdom, what would happen to me. There were so many possibilities, one of them scares me the most. Living my whole life in higher society, I had seen what warriors do to the spoils of war, keeping shame and humiliation on another side, the versatility of losing your soul along with your heart, mind, and body was the trembling idea. I hadn't seen many wars but the amount that I was acquainted with was bone-chilling.

And maybe this was the reason my father never allowed the women of the kingdom to face reality. There was this one time when I accidentally slipped past guards and encountered the brutal savageness of my people.

The one guard I saw was holding a woman by her hair, her clothes looked shattered, like someone had purposely torn them off, the scars and fresh wounds on her body made me jump and I nearly forgot to breathe. I still couldn't wipe the image off my mind when the guard, who was supposed to protect the women of his kingdom, dragged a woman from another kingdom and pinned her to the wall before roaming his hands all over her chest.

If it wasn't for Dominic finding me there, I was sure I was bound to faint. And now when I think of that, I was no exception. The only difference was that now there would be no Dominic to save me. The reality was harsh but the truth was harsher.

"I still don't know why we are doing this." My thoughts stumbled, and my ears twitched. Though I didn't look up I could feel their eyes on me. I could sense their gazes. Lord help me, but these men were more dangerous than looking.

Someone sighed, it was Cassius, he was right in front of me, his knees brushing mine now and then. No matter how much smaller I anticipated to be, they would find a way to touch me. Either by their touches or words. Judging my situation, neither of them was convincing.

"The discussion's over, Ez." I nearly jumped from my seat, I couldn't help but feel scared. His voice was powerful, exclusively raw. The depth of his voice was terrifying. Whoever or whatever his name was, I didn't wish to know.

I took a glance towards Ezra, he was sitting farther than me, not that I was complaining, his body looked tensed, and the slight twitch of his lips indicated his annoyance. He was looking over me, probably at the man sitting beside me. I was about to look away when his eyes snapped towards me. The pigments of his light green eyes slightly darkened in a shade of emerald green, I shook for a second.

Mumbling something under his breath he clenched his jaw and looked away, I looked confused at him as he pulled the fabric of his pants from his thighs.

"She's bad news, Claus," Ezra muttered looking outside the carriage.

"To your dick, Ez." Veles threw his head back as his laughter boomed in the carriage. Cassius chuckled. Ezra threw an accusing glare towards Theodore before looking away. The man seemed to have a serious problem with me, I could see hatred in his eyes for me.

"Silence," Claus growled and that's all it took for them to lower their voices, made me wonder if Claus was their head.

The environment around us became strangely quiet, and I liked it that way, it gave me a sense of invisibility. I again tried to keep myself busy by mourning over my loved ones when I felt something tickling the side of my thigh. Almost immediately my body tensed, and my mind went into alarm mode.

Gulping nervously, I glanced to my left, Claus's hand was on my thigh. My breathing seemed to stop, receiving a slight squeeze in response from him. My hands fidgeted in my lap, the sudden insecurity of being dressed inappropriately washed over my burning senses. I couldn't scream, or call for help.

Closing my eyes, I pondered over the possibility if I yank his hand away. First was very obvious-they would kill me for disobedience, rape was second but worse than first. Sadly, I couldn't think of any more casualties.

Rape wasn't an option and dying at the hands of foreign men was utterly disrespectful to my subconsciousness. I took a deep breath before opening my eyes. Maybe if I didn't react much, he would let go.

I reminded myself that being touched over clothes was better than being molested in the middle of nowhere, with their hands all over my naked body. As much I hated them, I knew the power, I had seen enough to rationalize my thoughts along with my irresponsible actions.

Gulping down the lump of nervousness, I let him rub circles over the fabric of my thigh. There was another problem, I was touched by a man like this. The strictness of my kingdom didn't allow any of the royals to finalize their futures.

We were simply bound to marry the man of our parent's choice. Simple as women. My eyes didn't leave his hand, my fingers fidgeting in my lap, and hair fell all over my face as I looked down. Now that I was keeping an eye on his hand, I noticed how slender and long his fingers were, beautifully crafted unlike for a man who was a warrior.

One of his fingers suddenly twitched. "Is my hand more appealing than my dick?" I blinked. Once. Twice.

The voice came just from my side. I didn't understand his words as I looked clueless at him.

"Huh?" I narrowed my brows in confusion. What did he mean? Veles chuckled.

"She looks clueless." Veles grinned, leaning towards me, his face just a few inches away from mine. "Wanna see what a dick is?"

The proximity made me back away but that wouldn't seem to be my option as I felt an arm circling my shoulder and in one harsh tug, I was hoisted from my seat. A small scream left my mouth when I realized how effortlessly Claus picked me up before settling me over his lap.

"What're-"

"Don't move." My body acted to his command, not that I wanted to, but his raw voice made me fear for myself. Even though the shame and humiliation were evident, I didn't miss the fact of how much larger he looked from this position. His broad shoulders looked muscular, he looked even taller with me sitting in his lap, his arm that circled my waist looked thicker than the armrest.

In simple words, he could just kill me by crushing me between his arms.

"Someone's impatient." Veles whistled lowly, his eyes not leaving my actions. A flash of darkness swept across his gaze as he eyed me, I noticed as he slowly bit his lower lips before groaning.

"Don't move!" I nearly jumped as Claus growled in my ear, biting it in the process.

My breathing wasn't normal anymore, my heart pounded like someone had been hammering it forever. Now that I had changed seats, Claus's muscular body pressed against mine in a torturing manner.

He didn't try anything after that, no one muttered a word, nor did anyone try to say anything despite Ezra who would call me 'bitch' now and then.

Setting my fear aside, I also wanted him to tell me that my feelings were mutual. Claus's hand stayed by his sides, only his arm was smacked around my waist, my head rested on his chest, and I could faintly hear his heartbeat. My hands fidgeted in my lip nervously. The serenity of the carriage made me believe how peaceful it was, the soft cold breeze, the dancing of moonlight. Or maybe it was exhaustion making me believe a fatal lie.

Whatever the reason was, I was feeling myself drowning in it slowly. My lids got heavy, the alarm in my head vanished, and unconsciously I put my guard down, and soft lullabies echoed in my head, telling me to submit myself to my exhausted mind.

Reality lifted off my shoulders like feathers, replacing its cruelness with soft touches of lies. Darkness swept my mind away as I soundly fell into beautiful slumber, forgetting how brutally my family had been murdered a few hours ago.

Warm. Cold. Devastated.

The warm rays of the sun hit me directly on my already burning skin, and the coldness of the sheets around me balanced the chaos. And then, the devastation of last night's events came flowing like water. Sheets? Sun?

It was probably too late for my mind to understand my situation as I opened my eyes. At first, the sun made it nearly impossible but after a few seconds of constantly trying, I finally succeeded. Confused, I looked around the room, a small, almost empty, completely white room.

With my unfocused vision, I could make out a small window right in front of my face, covered by sheer white curtains. The bed seemed to be quite comfortable with the same coloured white sheets and a few pillows.

I pushed against the soft mattresses to sit up. I looked down at my body when I felt fabric brushing against my arms. White, sheer fabric was draped over my body. Realizing that someone had changed my clothes gave me a panic attack.

Another realization, the attack, the ball, the murders. Holding back my tears I tried to suppress a sob wracking through me like a painful squeeze. I had lost everything. I was so engrossed in my non-existent world that I didn't realize someone had entered the room.

"A sight to sore eyes." I nearly jumped startled. Snapping my head in his direction, I immediately panicked. Veles looked nothing like yesterday, he was now cleaner than yesterday, looked more powerful, more dangerous. Following him were his other brothers, I recall their names now.

Cassius stood near the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest, the action made his muscles flex out. To the right of the door stood Theodore, he had a small grin on his lips, and his blonde hair looked a darker shade as wet droplets dropped on the maroon carpet.

"A sore sight to my eyes." Followed a voice as Ezra stepped inside, I blinked as he had to bend over slightly to cross the doorframe. He was taller than he looked. Behind him came Claus.

The room suddenly radiated more intense energy than earlier, I felt claustrophobic. The space seemed to confine my insecurities and my fears of them. My instincts caught up as Veles walked to the windows and closed the curtains while Theodore closed the door.

I panicked and immediately crawled backwards onto the bed. It brought an irritated scowl on Claus's face.

"There is nowhere for you to go. This will be your room.... when you're not in ours...." Claus said. I felt my heartbeat pick up at the subtle threats.

With a steady breath, I said. "Why can't you just let me go? I've done nothing to you."

Veles smirked amused with his arms crossed over his chest. "She still doesn't get it." I quickly backed up as Cassius leaned forward on the bed, caging me between his arms. The dark glare in his eyes completely set me on edge.

The blue of his eyes shone with darkness, the intensity choked me. "She doesn't seem to know how a conquest works," Theodore said, walking towards the small couch in front of the bed. "Allow us to lay it out for you."

"Do you know who we are, butterfly?" Veles asked and I gave him a confused look laced with fear.

"You're the L-Lords of Nith-" I hesitated to answer.

"Sons of Nithilorc." Claus cut me off. "A kingdom that every other fear. A kingdom your kind has tried to destroy since the beginning." I looked at him confused. What did he mean?

"Oh, no, no! Don't give me that clueless look! Your father must have told you about his glorious victories!" Ezra growled.

If it wasn't for Theodore lightly rubbing his arm, I might have been dead by the way his eyes were glaring at me. "Circle of excellence, your father was a part of it." I had heard about how seven kingdoms had joined their powers to create a circle of excellence.

"Faeries, elves, dark lords and kings, humans, shapeshifters, demons, who ruled over their respective domain and unified to create a powerful alliance to wipe the entire existence of Nithilorcs, our kind." My eyes widened in shock.

"No! You must be mistaken-" My words were silenced by the way Cassius roughly grabbed my neck to silence my protest.

"Do not speak unless told to," Cassius said darkly. My eyes welled up with tears. This had to be a lie. My father could never do that. Cassius caught sight of my tears and softened his grip on my throat. My lips trembled and shrieked as he hungrily pressed his lips against mine. I thrashed as he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth as a carnal growl escaped his lips.

"Patience, Cass." Veles teased with a smirk as he walked up to the couch. "She makes me hungry," Cassius groaned against my lips before he finally pulled back. My terrified looked over at him, still partially in shock.

"I forgot what I was saying, she's a fucking distraction." Veles snickered as he sat next to Claus. "You were explaining to her, her current situation."

"It's pure revenge, little mouse," Claus said widening his legs, the muscles of his thighs twitched as he eyed me before biting his lower lip. "Revenge is sweet as nectar between your legs I am so fucking ecstatic to have a lick of..."

I couldn't control the multiple emotions I was feeling at once. As usual, fear is the top followed by turmoil of mixed feelings I didn't know I had till now. And the bottom of it I had this strange storm bubbling inside me. What the hell was happening? Why were they so adamant to break me like this? Where did this insatiable hunger for me come from?

"I-I don't understand. Why me? Why didn't you k-kill me with them?"

I nearly choked on my tears as I tried to stop another pending panic attack. I felt Claus's gaze on me as he sighed before getting up. My eyes didn't leave his frame as he neared towards the bed. Though I wanted to know the answer this feeling of dejection was eating me from inside.

"You were supposed to die with them," Claus said looking at me. "We never leave anyone alive." He tilted his head towards the side as he gazed at me. "But you caught my warrior's eye..."

"He means his dick..." Veles chuckled. "Fuck, you made me throb..."

Claus rolled his eyes. The vile words leaving their mouths stirred more fear inside me. I felt caged with Cassius on my left and Claus in my front. Theodore and Veles sat next to each other, with arms crossed over their chests.

The door seemed the last option as Ezra stood leaning against the adjacent wall. I suddenly felt more trapped than ever. They had caged me well.

"I-If you hate my kind that much, why not also k-kill me?" Death seemed a better option than being a slave to these monsters. Ezra scoffed.

"Trust me, there's nothing more blissful to kill you, bitch." He muttered with ground teeth. His narrowed eyes looked at me like he was trying to burn my soul and turn it into ashes. The hatred he seemed to have for me was another world.

"Isn't it obvious," Claus said before leaning on the mattresses, his face just mere inches away from me? I could feel his hot breath framing my cheeks. I was flustered. "We found you better suited to be ours."

"Our slave," Theodore added with a grin.

"Our wife." I looked at them incredulously, and my eyes widened. Wife? Wife?!

"What?! I-You can't do this!" My breathing became more ragged. This was harsher than reality, death was more pleasurable than this. I couldn't imagine being the wife of any of them, let alone all of them.

This wasn't what I had initially thought.

"She looks terrified..." Veles interrupted.

"She's lucky...." Ezra gritted his teeth. Lucky?!

"Don't give me that look, little mouse. We're getting married today." Claus's words ignited anxiousness inside me. I looked terrifyingly at him as I felt his fingers tilting my chin up and his green-blue eyes pierced into me. The curve of his lips made me assume his amusement.

"Don't I have any say in this?" I looked up at him sceptically. His fingers gripped my chin tightly making me wince.

"No," he said as if it should've been obvious. With a smirk, he straightened up to his full height. I looked horrified like a scared deer caught by a deadly tiger.

His predatory eyes eyed me up and down before he turned around as others followed behind him. "Get ready, wife-to-be. I'm looking forward to our wedding night."