“You will do well to remember your status here Elara,” he warned, leaning back on his chair.
A small smile lingered on his lips. He was enjoying this, pushing me to my limits, seeing how far he could push until he broke me. Seeing his game I took a deep breath. Standing and daring to walk around the desk until I stood in front of him, staring down at him as I tried to keep my composure.
“A slave. I am aware. Bound to you. The Fae King who clearly could not give a shit whether I live or die.” I said, trying to keep my voice level, one deep breath after another. He would not win, I wouldn't let him.
“You are where I place you,” He mused, fiddling with a piece of lint on his desk as if that was more important than me standing in front of him.
“I am not afraid of you,” I told him, my body rigid even as the words left my mouth.
It was true, Rhael Sorenthis didn't scare me, not in the way he scared others. But there wassomething in him I could not place, something that drew me closer even when I knew I should be pulling away.
“I know. That is exactly the problem.” Rhael laughed, more to himself than to me. As if there was some kind of inside joke, I was not a part of even though I was the subject.
“I warned you when you came into that market, I would not be what you want.” I told him, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Yet here you still stand. Alive and treated well,” he mocked, standing so he now stood over me. Forcing me to look up at him. My eyes narrowed, this was a power play, a battle of wills.
“And here you are. Angry at the world, yet still expecting it to yield to you.” I laughed, the sound cold, I was used to this. A master thinking they hid things no one else would notice.
Rhael was harder to read than most, but there were some things, whispers lingering beneath the surface of his perfect facade that I could see peeking through. Like the crack of a curtain in the early morning sunrise.
“You mistake control for anger,” he said, looking down at me again, stepping closer until my chest was almost against his. The proximity makes my breath still in my chest.
“I doubt very much what happened last night was you in control,” I retorted, daring to challenge him about what I had heard. Looking around the state of the room, my eyes lingering on the smashed glass for good measure.
“You saw nothing,” Rhael warned, his face edging closer to mine. It was supposed to be a threat but instead it only tightened the coil of delicious tension that threatened to unravel in my stomach.
“I heard enough.” I smirked, leaning back slightly so I could keep eye contact. My hands trembled as I leant them onto the desk trying to steady myself.
“That is not relevant.” He snarled, turning away from me for a second looking out the window, scrubbing his hand down over his face. His body rigid, which sent a thrill through me. I was getting under his skin, good, he deserved it.
“Fine. Tell me then, oh great master. What is expected of me this time? In what capacity shall I serve you?” I mocked, bowing into a low curtsey not caring that at this angle he could see directly down the bust of my dress. He had seen it all once before, and it wouldn't surprise me if he did in fact demand to see it again.
“You will sit by my right hand. You will speak only when addressed, you will not contradict me. You will not provoke him.” Rhael informed me turning back to face me once more, his chest rising and falling with physical effort.
“I am afraid I have a knack of provoking people.” I shrugged as I stated the obvious, letting out an overdramatic sigh.
“That is why I am warning you.” He said, his hands clenching at his side as he stepped forwards, only half a step, butenough for me to have to crane my neck to keep my eyes on his. I dare not look anywhere else.
“If I do?” I ask stepping towards him once more. Steadying myself as I prepared to challenge his sanity once more.
“The Dragon King values dominance, he respects strength, certainty. Any hint of instability, that I cannot even keep a human under control will be exploited,” Rhael whispered, his throat bobbed as he stood taller, looking down at me, those usually blank eyes now full of fire as he warned me of the dangerous man coming to his home on his own invitation.
“So, I am a decoration. A toy once again.” I frown, despite my ability to piss him off, he would always be my master. The man who held the invisible chains.
“You are proof that I am not isolated, you are to listen, to report to me anything that seems out of the ordinary, and when he tests me, you will be the one to calm me down.” Rhael explains his hand raising and for a split second I thought he was going to touch me, to run his hands down my cheek.
Before he could even bring it close enough, he lowered it again, letting out a steady slow breath which lingered between us.
“How will he test you?” I asked, my words slower now.
“By provoking me in only ways he knows. He will watch you, watch us, looking for a way inside your head.” Rhael explained seeing my breath rise and fall faster. My mind was racing as I realised that theDragon King would not be like Magnus. It would be harder, whilst the Wolf King had just wanted to hear us, I now understood the Dragon King would want to watch.
“So, you expect me to sit and look pretty whilst he stares at me?” My eyes grew wider at this point. My hands trembling for an entirely different reason, fear joining the anger and other emotions running through my body.
“Yes,” he nodded the single syllable, the only answer he deemed necessary.
“And if he insults me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow crossing my arms over my chest.
