Undress me

As if cold water was doused on her, lily stood frozen in shock. She watched as Aziel hungrily sucked the man dry until the very last blood.

The guard walked up to Aziel and gave him a towel to wipe his mouth before dragging the lifeless body of the man out of the room, leaving just Lily and Aziel alone in the room.

Aziel gracefully wiped off any trace of blood and faced lily with a wide smile. "You look shaken, Lily." He said as if he had no idea what he had done.

"How did he taste?" Lily asked through gritted teeth, beads of sweat decorating her forehead.

"Bland," Azeil said lazily and walked to stand in front of her. He held her chin and raised it, so she could look him in the eye.

"I bet you would taste much better," he added with a slight lick of his lips.

Lily's eyes dilated, and she thought of the next possible scenario. Was she next?

"Fret not, Lily, for I will not drink your blood without your permission." Aziel let go of her chin and began walking out of the room with his hands behind him.

Lily didn't know she had ceased breathing and took in huge breaths of air when Aziel went out of sight. Once her breathing stabilized, she then realized she was still inside this haunted room.

She looked around and felt like one of those monsters in the paintings would come to life and brutally kill her. With this thought, she scurried out of the room.

She passed the huge cage where the prisoners stayed, and she tightened when she realized they all have the same date as that man.

"Um...excuse me, young sir..." She greeted the guard, whom she recognized as the one in the room earlier.

The guard gave her a passing look and went on to mind his business.

"Why are these people in here?" The silence of the guard did not make Lily relent in wanting to find out why these people were treated in such a cruel manner.

"Prisoners," the guard simply answered.

"What crimes did they commit?" Lily questioned.

"Numerous evils, I don't keep count." The guard grunted.

"Then why -"

"I have no answers to your questions, leave." The guard cut her off. Lily knew the guard would say no more, so she decided to leave. She gave the cage and its occupants one more loom before taking the stairs to the upper underground dungeon. The one where she once stayed.

She passed her cell and gave her former cell guards a nod before finally leaving the underground dungeon.

She was happy Aziel left her to come back on her own. She needed some space to digest all that had happened.

She walked slowly, lost in her thoughts until she mindlessly bumped into someone.

Adrian had just finished a heated argument with his father regarding his marriage and was fuming when a dainty little figure bumped into him.

The collision cost Lily to fall on her buttocks. She hastily stood up and apologized when she saw the clear annoyance on Adrian's face.

"I'm so sorry, I was lost in my thoughts when..." Lily began to apologize with her head bowed. Lily kept her head bowed when she didn't hear anything from Adrian. She dreaded raising her head to see that scary frown on his face.

"You are forgiven," Lily heard a voice say, but it clearly wasn't Adrian's.

She lifted her head to see Ethan looking at her with a huge smile. She didn't even realize Adrain was long gone.

For some reason, Ethan's smiling face was just what Lily needed to clear this weary tension that came with the air in this palace.

"Young master Ethan" Lily greeted with a bow.

"Just call me Ethan" Ethan waved his hand and chuckled. "What are you doing out here by the way? Shouldn't you be preparing for the journey?"

"What journey?"Lily asked confused.

"Aziel didn't tell you?" Ethan shook his head and clicked his tongue, "I guess he was just busy." He wrapped his hands around Lily's shoulder and began walking forward.

Lily wanted to protest but keeping quiet seems like a life-saving choice here in the palace.

"Where are we going to?" Lily asked.

"Your room, I've been meaning to pay that quarter a visit for a while now..." Ethan said. He was humming some tune unknown to Lily.

"Not that, I mean where are we journeying to..."

"Oh...curious are we?" Ethan paused his steps and stood to face Lily while holding her shoulders.

"A piece of advice from me, don't try to know too much...you may die in the process" He removed his hands from her shoulders almost immediately when he felt a burning glare from behind.

"Guess I'll visit another time," He sighed and without turning back, he left.

When Ethan was finally out of Lily's sight, Lily came face to face with a man she rather not saw right now.

"Do you like him?" Aziel asked sternly.

"Who? Ethan?" Lily asked, dumbfounded as to where that thought came from.

"TCH, you even call him by his name. I see you two have gotten quite close." Said Aziel who was clearly annoyed.

"It's not that way my Lord, he-he, Ethan had asked me to call him by his name and I didn't want to disobey him," Lily chuckled nervously.

"Follow me..." Aziel said and walked into his chambers.

Unlike before, some candles had been lit, so it was easy for Lily to find her way around the room.

"Do you need me to do anything for you?" Lily spoke after quietly closing the door.

Silence. Her question received no answer. She was left to stare at Aziel's broad back while he stared at the thick forest through his windows. They stood in this silence until Aziel spoke.

"Take off my coat."

Lily gulped and wordlessly walked over to him and did as she was told without asking any questions. She removed his thick coat and hung them on her arm as she waited for further instructions.

Aziel turned to face her, he squinted his eyes and looked at her impatiently.

Lily became worried. She wondered what she had done to earn her such a frown from him. She shifted on each foot and avoided looking into his eyes.

"Do I have to tell you everything?" Aziel used his index finger to poke her head, "Undress me..."

"What?"