Chapter 3: A Compromise

“Absolutely not!” I cry, stepping away from him.

Dominik cocks his head to the side, looking at me with wide, curious eyes. “Why not?” he asks.

“I hardly know you,” I answer. “And you’ve basically kidnapped me!”

“You were given to me freely,” he says. He stands up from his kneeling position, once again towering over me.

I scoff. “Someone who was sacrificed is hardly freely given,” I say. He continues to look confused, and I roll my eyes. “If I had come here of my own accord, then it would be fine.”

“What difference does it make?” he asks, his voice becoming gruff.

“A world of difference!” I fold my arms over my chest and look away. “I absolutely do not consent to marrying you.”

From the corner of my eye I can see his face contort, and I assume he’s scowling. “You will do as I say, for you are my sacrifice,” he growls.

“Under the pretense that I would be eaten,” I retort, “not to be married.”

I look back at him and his eyebrows are raised in amusement. “You have quite the vocabulary for a mere village girl.”

My cheeks burn scarlet. “I’ll have you know that I have read many books and taught the village children everything they needed to know.”

He snorts and rolls his eyes. I glare up at him in return. The two of us stand there, staring daggers at each other, hoping the other one will relent first. But there’s a fire in me that will not subside. I will not marry this stranger, my captor, as long as I shall live.

Finally, he gives in. “Fine,” he says, holding his hands up in defeat. “Then let me make a counteroffer.”

I raise one eyebrow and wait for him to continue speaking. He says, “You will be betrothed to me. A promise that you will marry me, once you learn that I am the best mate for you.”

“No,” I state.

Fury fills his features, and when he speaks again his voice booms and echoes around the room. “Why not?”

“I can’t promise such a thing,” I say. “I will not promise such a thing, let alone to a stranger like you.”

“You don’t even know me!” he shouts.

“And that is exactly why I won’t do it!” I reply, raising my own voice to match his.

He glowers at me, orange eyes flashing against the flickering light above. “Then what would you like me to do instead?” he asks. “Burn your village down? Slaughter all your people? I can assure you, if you do not obey me, there will be retribution.”

I feel a cold wave wash over me once more. Images of my family, of the children who I taught in the village, flash through my mind. My resolve is weakening in the face of this monster, and while this isn’t the sacrifice I thought I would be facing, it feels like a sacrifice nonetheless.

“I will date you,” I say, issuing a compromise. “I will spend time with you, until the time comes that I am…comfortable enough to be wed to you.”

“Date…?” he says, cocking his head to the side again. The gesture reminds me of some of the kids of the village. “I don’t understand. How is that different from being betrothed?”

“It’s not as serious,” I say. “Dating is…a test to see how compatible we are. If everything works out, then we can become betrothed, and eventually wed.”

He ponders on the idea for a moment, rubbing his hand against his chin. I notice he’s completely clean-shaven, not a speck of hair marking his skin. His fingers look calloused, and the hint of his forearm that I can see beneath the robe’s sleeve is still dotted with golden sparkles. Finally, his eyes lock back onto mine.

“Understood,” he says. “We will be dated then, and eventually you will come to see that I am a person worth being married to.”

“Dating,” I say. He furrows his brows. “When two people are together, they are dating, not dated.”

“I see.” The faintest hint of pink crosses his cheeks, and I wonder if I have embarrassed him.

But before I can say anything, he steps forward, closing the space between us and wrapping a strong arm around my waist. His other hand gently touches my hair, becoming caught in the tangles that occurred while we were flying. I gasp, feeling the heat from his skin envelop me, and look up to see his face coming closer.

“What are you doing?” I stutter.

His eyes, now gentle compared to the fury they showed before, dart around my face. His free hand moves to my cheek, thumb delicately brushing against my blushing skin.

“Is this not how two people act with each other?” he asks, voice low and soft.

My stomach tumbles around beneath my skin, and I quickly push him away from me. “Not so soon!” I say. “We have to give each other time! We have to get to know each other.”

“I want to know you intimately,” he says simply.

“First, I have to know you at all,” I reply.

He looks at me silently, scanning me once more. He then shrugs. “Fine. Then you will guide me through this process.”

“Thank you,” I say, still feeling breathless from his actions. “I…I would like to rest now.”

“Of course,” he says. “I’ve heard humans don’t do well with flying. I’ll lead you to our room then.”

I turn to follow him and then stop. “Our room?” I repeat.

“Yes, that is how two people live, correct?” he says.

“Not if they don’t know each other,” I say.

He sighs, running a hand through his thick brown hair. “How are we meant to get to know each other then?”

“Through talking,” I reply, “and learning. But rushing things…it will only make someone hate you more. I demand to have my own room.”

He snarls, nose curling up. But still, he says, “Fine.”

Leading me through the door in the back of the room, we enter a dark hallway. Doors line the walls, leading to either side of the castle, and at the far end there is a staircase leading up to the second floor. I follow him down the hallway and up the stairs, and soon he stops in front of a plain wooden door.

“This can be your room, then,” he says, pushing the door open. “It’s the only other bedroom that’s still furnished.”

The inside is dark for a moment, but then a light fills the room, emanating from an oil lamp on a table nearby. The furnishings are sparse, a simple wooden bed, a small chair that looks like it was for a child, and the table by the door. A window is carved out of the wall opposite the door, but it seems to stare directly at the cliff outside, allowing very little light through.

“Will this suffice?” he asks, still sounding grumpy.

I nod and step inside. “Thank you, it’ll be fine,” I say.

“Fine,” he says. “Then rest up, and we’ll talk more in the morning.”

With that, Dominik wanders off down the hall, his bare feet padding against the stone floor. I close the door behind me, resenting that it has no lock. With a heavy sigh, I collapse on the bed, the old wood creaking beneath me.

How could things have ended up like this? I think to myself about how being eaten would have been a mercy at this point. To be in the captivity of this strange man-beast…I think of how my parents were mourning my death at this moment. Guilt rakes through my body, and I wish I could tell them I am still here.

Throughout the night, I toss and turn, unable to settle into slumber.