He found me.
The beast that killed me six weeks ago with such agile grace I almost doubted he was human. The man that had tried to make sexual advances on me based on the person this body no longer had in it. The prince that should be with his beloved princess right now was instead with the likes of me... was here.
Lysander was here, there was no doubt left. I wasn't crazy this time. He found me.
"Are you not pleased," he questioned. I honestly couldn't believe it. Like, why the fuck would I be pleased?
"And why should I be," I retorted. I wasn't going to be scared of his calmness. I chose not to be.
"I let you run. Let you play your little game of scullery maid for well over a month. I was willing to forego having anyone tend to my needs and wants. So, I believe that you should be pleased with my allowing you to have such freedoms." I couldn't see the definitions of his face, but I could tell that he seemed pleased with himself, as his teeth showed a lot while the words filled the air. Clearly, he was smiling.
The nerve of this man.
I sighed, "Why are you here, Lysander?"
The two red orbs then levitated, like he was standing up and then cocked themselves close to the wall, so I assumed that he was then leaning into the corner of the room. The teeth showed again, as if he was humored by this question, and gave me the answer, "Why is anyone truly... here?"
What the fuck?
"Why am I here, Demetra? Was it for the fun of the hunt? The sweetness betwixt your legs calling to me? Or is it that I find it so curious that you and your lady-in-waiting were the only ones to end up missing from my castle when there had clearly been a plot to kill the Princess?" He paused, and I knew that it meant that he knew something. I started worrying for Cypress when he broke my train of thought again, "But I believe that the biggest question of them all is... why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the Malvaine manor within the confines of the Capital?"
Maybe I should've hid farther away, this guy is clearly fucking unhinged. I had to think, because I knew that Lysander didn't like waiting. My first encounter with him taught me that.
But what could I even say?
Because it was Demetra who plotted against the Princess, and it was Cypress who poisoned the cup on her orders, but it was also Demetra who saved the Princess. This shit could seriously be in one of the telenovelas that Papá likes to watch.
I didn't let myself linger on what to do next, my instincts took over this body's desire to stay. I rushed to the door, heart pounding, lungs inhaling and exhaling with the dread of knowing: I can't get caught. I need more time. I want to go home.
Except... I did get caught.
One moment, I was trying my damndest to get to the door. The next, I was flung across the room, falling into my bed with an intensity that made audible cracks in the bedframe. Fuck.
I didn't have time to process how I got there when just seconds before I was running, when his hands were running themselves over me, and the truce I had with this body immediately broke as it reacted to his touch.
"Still trying to play games with me," he asked as he got over me with a speed that was undoubtedly inhuman. He looked at me with a face I couldn't understand. Lust, craze, danger... every possible description was running through my head when he kissed me.
WHAT THE FUCK?!
This body moaned, and I felt all of the things that you feel when this happens, except... I didn't want this. I don't want this. I need to get away.
I was trying my hardest to fight, two people mind you. Demetra and Lysander, all at once, and I was losing. Then I felt one of his hands caress my head, pulling me closer, as the other reached for something... below my skirt.
Oh HELL NO!
I needed to break away, to get this under control. I felt his tongue enter my mouth, sweeping in a beastly motion I had never experienced before. Bingo.
I bit down. Hard. As hard as I could, until I tasted the iron heat of blood. He winced, releasing me immediately. I was breathing heavily, blood still in my mouth as he looked at me with a disbelief I never knew he could feel. For extra measure, I spit that blood in his face.
"Don't you dare! Don't you dare touch me!"
This body tried to force me to apologize, but I wasn't having it. I couldn't have it. I won't allow it. He got up, wiping his face before snarling at me. And I continued to look at him. Defiantly. He had no dominion over me, and I was going to make that clear.
Then his eyes got wide again, and he lunged at me in a craze before stopping abruptly, retracting himself as he pondered his next moves. He scared me, truly terrified me, but I refused to let him see it. This face would be that of steel.
Then he smirked, "The inn keeper... what is his name?"
All of the blood drained from my body as I felt my strong facade crumble at the mention of Braggen.
"Leave him alone. He's done nothing wrong," I said, faltering in my speech as my throat began choking up.
"Well, he did hide you for what seemed like forever, so technically, he did do something wrong."
He's winning. What do I do? FUCK!
"He didn't know it was me! I went by an alias. He has no part to play in this. It's just you and me, Lysander."
I was desperate. I didn't want anything to happen to Braggen. Not after everything he had done for me. Not after what happened to him.
"So, if it is between you and I, as you mentioned... you will follow me back to the castle of your own volition. Or he will die." He said it with such indifference, I was barely able to process it.
"Why," I asked, feeling defeated, "why me? Why come after me like this? Let me stay here for as long as I have? Why only price me at 200 silver fucking coins?! What do you want from me?!" I was breathless. I was angry. I needed to know. What was his motive?
Then he scoffed, getting closer to me as I inched back on the bed, and his eyes widened as he delivered the most silky sweet yet menacing three words I had ever heard in my life.
"Because I can."
He then kissed me before backing away, leaving me there to feel utter... loss.
He won.
I couldn't refute him. No one can negotiate with a crazed man. And my options were never really there in the first place. He was toying with me the entire time. He wanted me to feel a sense of self, just to rip it away at his leisure. He was playing the game, and I had lost this round, and I knew it.
"I will go with you," I barely got out, tears falling down my cheeks. I didn't want this. I want to go home. "Just... leave Braggen out of this please. I beseech you."
I was crying at this point, and as if knowing that he had unequivocally won, he smiled.
"That's my girl."
The words were like chalk on whiteboard to me. I couldn't believe it. But it's not like I had any options either.
"Please allow me to say goodbye," I pleaded. I didn't want Braggen to wake up and kill himself with worry because he couldn't find me. I wouldn't do that to him.
Lysander thought about it, taking what felt like minutes to finally respond, "One sentence. You get to write one sentence to him. Nothing more. Try to disobey me, and I will kill him and take you anyway."
I was dumbfounded. One sentence? How am I supposed to write everything I want to say to him in one sentence?
But I couldn't disobey. Braggen's life was on the line.
So I got a piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink from the desk in the room, pulled the chair out to sit in it, and used the moonlight to write what I thought would get the message across the best:
"Keep my light safe for me, and I will fight for it tooth and nail—just like you taught me."
When I was done, Lysander snatched it from me, looking it over as if he were the fucking FBI or something. I rolled my eyes.
"I didn't know you had pleasantness in you, Demetra," he said slyly. Clearly he didn't understand it. Good. I didn't want him to.
He placed the note on the desk before yanking me out of the chair.
"Wait, what are you doing," I exclaimed, hoping that Braggen could hear me, but I knew that he probably drank himself into a stupor. He wasn't going to get up from that anytime soon. I half-wished he did, but that would just make it easier for Lysander to kill him. Can't have that.
"You wrote your note. Now we leave," he said as he dragged me away from the moonlit desk. I needed to stay for a little bit longer, needed to make sure that Braggen knew I appreciated him.
"Can I at least grab some things," I asked. He paused. One second, two seconds, ten. He nodded, letting go of my arm with a shove. Like he was saying "hurry up."
I knew that I had no time to waste. I need to hurry.
I grabbed the bag that had all of the money I now had at my disposal, as well as a blanket, and then I walked myself out, willingly. But not before taking one last look at the room that brought me the most peace here. I will forever cherish it. Then I went with Lysander through the hallway, down the stairs, until I saw Braggen. Slumped, pint in hand, and snoring as loud as a speaker in a house party.
I lightly chuckled, not enough that I thought Lysander could hear, but enough for me to hear. I walked towards the snoring man. I faced him, staring at his face as he snored, then I made sure to take his boots off, prop his legs on another chair, take the mug out of his hand, and lightly, ever so delicately, placed the blanket onto his sleeping form. I stepped back, studying my work, then Lysander growled.
"I do not have the patience for you to pretend to play house with your toy." I rolled my eyes. What an entitled prick.
I stepped close to Braggen, hearing him lightly mutter, "Gerty," and I knew that he meant his daughter. I bit my lip, forcing myself to not cry. This man had a heart of gold and I hoped that he knew it. I got close to his ear, and whispered, "Thank you. You mean everything to me here, so don't look for me please."
He stirred, I backed away. Then I followed Lysander out of the entrance to what had been a safe place for weeks, my safe place, and closed the door to the inn.