02: It all began with a Chain

•And the chains held her still, only him could break it•

AIDA

Chain rattles.

The first thing her subconscious registered was the chain rattles as she struggled to find her bearings. She groaned in pain, feeling the sharp sting of it on her neck, she was chained like a dog. And then the coldness of the floor. She looked around to allow her eyes adjust to the the very lighted space she was in, it was then she realized she was locked in a cell, not like the chain did not already tell that.

The events that had led to this started replaying in her head, from the attack to the death of the King at the hands of that man called Ruvan, and of course he was the one that had her chained here. He was king now and there was nothing anyone could do. She could only imagine what had went down after he had almost drained the life out of her. What had happened to Lady Ellis and her family? What had happened to the Queen and her daughter? She could only imagine, no one would tell her.

Suddenly, she heard the shaking of the door knob. She trembled in fear of whoever was coming in. Had they come to kill her? Was this how she would meet her end? The door was forced open and Aida inched back as someone entered. Heavy boots sounded on the floor. She raised her eyes to see who it was and realized that it was a guard, he had a sword strapped to his side and his eyes perused over her with menace.

"Come with me. You have been summoned" He said.

Aida raised her chained arms up. "I am chained, how do I walk with these on me?" She asked. Fear gripped at her heart and threatened to claw out but she stood still trying to appear very bold. The one thing her mother had taught her before she died was that fear was the one weapon that anyone could wield against a weak vessel, and she would not give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her fear.

The big guard scoffed, his eyes scorning her, but he proceeded to unlock the chains. Aida breathed a sigh of relief as the irons fell to the ground, making a cackling noise, slowly and painfully she stood up and followed the scowling guard. She had no idea where she was going. Perhaps to her death, only the heavens could tell.

•

RUVAN

Ruvan knew they had brought her, the human woman who had dared to defy him when even the vampires could only watch. The guard walked in with her, she was dressed in rags while he had changed his clothes to something more befitting for a King. Power thrummed in his fingers, unused power, after twenty five years... It was finally nice to have Vesper at the tips of his hands.

"Here she is, Sire." The guard said, once the lady now stood before him.

He nodded. "You may leave." He dismissed the guard with a flick of his finger, not missing the fear in the said guard's eyes. They all worked for him now because he was the new King and no one could do anything about it, they could only wish that he died which was nowhere near impossible. He could not wait for the next council meeting, after all Vesper laws were clean and clear. If a man succeded in killing the present king, he could ascend the throne. It was that law that made Callos the King in the first place. Or the late King rather.

Ruvan finally regarded the human standing before him and when he did he realized that even in rags, she was a pretty little thing. Her dark hair cascaded down her shoulders, though matted it still did enough to frame her bruised but beautiful face.

Defiance was what he saw in her. She stood stall even with her five feet two height , and she was even more bold than the vampire guards themself. She amused him, and nothing had actually done so in the whole thirty years of his life.

"Are you always this stupid?" He asked her.

She bit her lips at his question, eyes wide. "I do not know what you mean, Sire," She replied. Her voice was soft, almost like the humming of the birds. He fancied it.

"You do. You know what I mean." His fingers tapped on the mahogany desk steadily. He could hear her uneven breath from where he sat and more so he could see the rapid blinking of her eyes that betrayed the doughty stance she tried to portray. "I could have killed you," he added.

For the first time since she got here, he saw her shiver visibly but it was in a blink that it was almost like she never did, but he saw it anyway and he relished in it. "You would kill me if you wanted to, there was no stopping whatever you would have done," she finally said.

She was right. "And what is to say that I will not kill you now? You are of no use to me anyways."

She trembled again, barely visibly but he caught on to it. "You may do as you wish, Sire," She answered readily like she already knew it was the end for her and she accepted it. Now that intrigued him and in a flash he was standing in front of her, his height dwarfing hers and his burning gaze staring deep into her. He grabbed her chin and lifted it up to face him.

"You do not know what I wish, little human." He whispered, his grip tightened on her chin earning a squeaky whimper from her. He smirked and lowered his head to her ear. "You stand with such bravery, it will be nice watching you break, do you think we should try that." He could hear as she stilled her breath when he spoke those words and he could feel her racing heart even as he backed away from her.

Her lips were pressed together but she met his eyes and spoke, repeating her statement again. "You may do as you wish, Sire."

Ruvan smirked. "What is your name, little human?"

"Aida." She replied.

"Aida." He repeated, the name rolling off his tongue smoothly like it had always meant to be said by him. "Maybe I will not kill you yet, Aida. You will be useful to me." He concluded. He got Vesper and also an human plaything, the fates were by his side he believed so.

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