8 Hungry Mira

Mira sat on her bed, belly grumbling. She felt weak. She had not eaten even at Lunch. She didn't see the point. She knew it was dangerous that now there was another man that she knew of in the castle however she was thankful for his distraction during her lunch with Lanthier. The man named Damanos didn't seem happy to see her but at least he wasn't yelling at her or threatening her like the king. She had stopped looking out the window to the garden. All it did was make her sad, remind her she was in a pretty cage. She thought of where she would go if she could escape this castle, but her mind kept bringing her back to the beautiful gardens. She felt crazy for obsessing over this place, like she had stockholm syndrome with a damn garden but she knew why. Where she came from her life was s***. She had no one but her mother that could care less about her. Her mother had made her life hell since before she could remember, beating her and verbally abusing her. Things were only slightly better since she was older at some point her mother stopped getting physical and Mira could escape the verbal abuse at work. She knew however that part of the reason she felt this way about this was because this place was so familiar, like it belonged to her. As she sat there feeling sorry for herself her room door opened. She was surprised because up until now the maids had always knocked. A chill entered through the large doors as a maid entered with a tray. Mira hugged herself against the cold since her nightgown did little to help. The maid placed a tray on her bed then left quickly without saying anything and in walked Lanthier behind her. A gasp escaped Mira's lips and the formally stoic Lanthier smiled evilly. He walked up to her grabbing her by the throat. She felt heat were he touched but she also swore she felt claws.

"You would defy the me?" Before his brother had arrived to lunch Lanthier had just finished threatening her. He had informed her that she would not be leaving the castle, even in death, and that she better start eating. She didn't answer him just now, she squeezed her eyes shut praying he would leave her alone. He then grabbed her by the hair shaking her a little. "Answer me"! Mira's eyes popped opened to see him look down at her with his eyes mostly red. Although he was beautiful she felt he looked more like a monster right now then a man. For the first time she believed she might be in some land of monsters and he was a vampire or demon lord or another creature from this place, she started to believe she was someplace other then the present day home she knew. It would make sense. She felt him literally change the air in a room. His brother seemed otherworldly as well, when he entered the dining hall at first she swore he had fangs. Mira took a deep shaky breathe tears streaming down her face.

"I'm not going to eat so I can wake up trapped in the same room everyday!" She yelled out. She was scared of this Lanthier but he had yet to really hurt her. She had easily been through worse as a mere child then someone pulling on her hair or some pressure on her neck. Lanthier released his hold on her and seemed to be thinking. She turned away from him willing her tears to stop falling.

"You will eat."

"I will allow you to roam the gardens, for now."

He said this so gently she turned her head to look at him to be sure he wasn't mocking her. She wished she hadn't because she locked onto his eyes which for the first time didn't look sinister, all traces of red seemed to be gone, he was serious. He brought a piece of fruit from the tray to her lips. She thought for a moment then took a bite and chewed. His expression remained stoic however she was looking into his eyes, they looked hungry. All of a sudden she felt like she herself was starving. She gulped the fruit down and his eyes followed her throat then moved back to her eyes again. Lanthier licked his lips grabbing another piece of fruit carefully placing it to her lips again. She took a bite and as she did the fruit juice dribbled down her lips a little. He followed the wet trail with his dark eyes then got up to leave her room.

Damanos watched his brother exit the witches room and he was not happy, not at all. She looked like a harmless girl but that aura was telling and he knew his brother felt it.

'what the hell is Lanthier thinking'.