My Soul?
HEAVY gasps had fled from the ministers and present royal guards, their breath held.
The king's face slowly scrunched, and a deep frown settled on his forehead.
"What is the meaning of this, captain?" he questioned.
All eyes rose, shifting to the captain, who now stood in front of the guillotine with a pained expression and his arm outstretched. His gloved hand had intercepted the sharp edges of the blade, halting its descent just a few inches away from Eira's exposed neck.
"Captain," one of the ministers mumbled, unable to comprehend why he'd taken this action.
What was he thinking, interfering with the king's command? Treason? He couldn't be attempting treason with the enemy, right?
Eira, who was still waiting, breathed and gradually opened her eyes.
Why hadn't the blade hit her neck yet?
She felt something liquid drop unceasingly on the nape of her neck and twisted her head, only to come face to face with a bleeding hand—one that belonged to the captain.
Wide-eyed with shock, she stared up at Valek in disbelief, a mixture of confusion and loss in her eyes.
"May I speak, Your Majesty?" Valek asked, his eyes rising to meet the king.
The king was conflicted, still fixated on what he'd just done. But he was his most trusted royal guard—a captain who'd led five hundred men into battle with the enemy kingdom of five thousand soldiers, yet arrived back with little men but victorious.
Such a man was of importance to him. Allowing him a minute to explain himself did not seem too much.
"Give me a valid reason why you did this, or I shall have you beheaded," he warned.
"I like to take her," said Valek.
An uproar instantly rose in the whole court. Murmurs between the ministers were all over the place, but they could not say a word as the king had not permitted them to speak yet.
"You would like to do what?" the king asked. He wanted to make sure he heard the man correctly.
Valek still hadn't let go of the blade. Eira was absent-minded toward the blood that was dropping on her. She was dumbfounded, just staring at him with parted, broken lips.
"I think it would be a shame to get rid of her like this," the captain said. "She is talented with skills beyond anything we've ever seen in our soldiers. Her skills are above what they possess, so I'd like to keep her."
The king uncrossed his legs. "What makes you think I'd let you?" he questioned. "Do you realize the weight of what you've just asked of me?"
Valek bowed to him while still holding onto the blade. "We'll be going to war with the Tecrenians in a few months, Your Majesty, and she can be a human shield for your men. I'll train her, and I'll keep her. She'll be under my watch for you to use when the time comes."
"May I?"
The king's face remained unreadable. He was thinking, and his eyes moved over to Eira, who attempted to lift her neck off the block.
She tipped back her head and laughed. "You want to use me as a shield?"
"That's disappointing," she said, raising her brows at the captain. "Do not tell me your men aren't so capable you would need me to-"
"Shut up!" the captain snapped at her.
Everywhere went deadly silent, and she watched him break apart the guillotine blade with just his hand. She was too dazed, moping at him with wide eyes.
He broke... He broke a blade with his hand? She was aware the captain was strong. But that shockingly strong?
No!
"I have a proposition for you. A yes, you'll live, a no, you'll die." Valek took his bloody glove off and tossed it on the floor. He stepped onto the guillotine and squatted to be at the same eye level as her.
Eira kept her attention on him with vigilance, but she noticed that the entirety of the glass court had gone silent. This prompted her to take a look around, and upon seeing the view of the court that suddenly appeared to be a graveyard, her heart dropped to her stomach.
She felt something eerie prickle along her skin, and she wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold.
"Where am I? What is this place?" She met Valek's red eyes with a deep frown, as if she could tell he was behind the changes. "What are you?"
"This is an illusion. It is not real." Valek studied her tensed body before he raised his dark eyebrows. "And as for me? I am half a demon and half a werewolf," he said, too casual about it, and rested his elbows on his thighs. "I do not have the luxury to hold a conversation with you, so I'll get to the point."
Eira was not hearing the rest of his words.
'Hybrid' Over and over again, that word rang like a bell in her head.
How could the captain of the royal guards be a hybrid? Did the king know about it? What about the ministers and the soldiers?
Gavaria was not a kingdom where creatures other than humans existed. Yes, demons, werewolves, faes, and lots of others used to be present in the kingdom, but the year the current king of Gavaria rose to the throne, he had them all exterminated.
It was impossible that the captain was a royal guard. The king would never allow it. Hybrids were the strongest among all the creatures out there, and the chances of a demonwerewolf was too rare, she'd never seen one like it before.
The only conclusion she could come to was that the king was unaware. If he knew, the captain would have been exterminated just like all the creatures from eight years ago!
"They do not know, do they?" she asked, giving him a mocking smile. She wasn't exactly sure why she found the discovery amusing.
The king, who'd burned her family for once housing a demon, currently had one—a hybrid, living under his royal roof. His trusted captain, as he always said,.
Ha! Fucking hell!
"Are you done?" Captain Valek asked. "If so, shall we get back to the main subject?"
Eira's chest tightened, and she narrowed her eyes on him. "You said you have a preposition? I'm listening."
"I want to go into a contract with you," Valek said.
She gave a blank expression at first before she closed her eyes and sighed dramatically. "NO!"
"No?" Valek repeated.
"Why would I go into a contract with you?"
"You need me," he muttered. "You'll die at the hands of the man you desire to kill without ever tasting that revenge burning in your soul. But I can change that. I can save you, and I can help you get what you want. I'm sure you are aware it's what my kind does best. In return, your soul is all I ask for."
Eira's silence was not his desired effect.
"My soul?" she said at last, the amusement on her face gone.
She knew demons only went after souls they found appetizing enough. What did he, a hybrid, see in her soul to desire a contract with her? And why her?