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Chapter Three

Visla

Khol tossedme onto a pile of pillows and slammed the door. We were closed up inside someone’s living quarters, just him and I. My only two escape routes were back through the front door or the window. From looking around at the dozens of maps hanging on the wall, I figured the place was lived in by someone other than the imposter standing before me. I wondered if he even knew how to read a map since many had rumored that most hordesmen could not read or write. From a very early age, they’d only been taught how to fight and pillage. They were violent and reckless.

I looked around for a weapon. “How dare you bring me here? Did you steal someone’s home during this unwarranted raid?” My fingers wrapped around a pillow filled with soft beads and I hurled it at him. “Who’s home is this?”

Once again, he didn’t even flinch when the pillow hit his back. Apparently, these hordesmen couldn’t feel pain or maybe they had been taught to ignore it.

I thought I heard him chuckle under his breath. “You like throwing things as well,” he said.

He grabbed a cloth and ran some water over it and then proceeded to clean his thigh wound.

“They say Tirizar warriors self-heal like gods. You haven’t, so you must be an imposter,” I said.

My comment must have disturbed him. He turned and and stared at me. “We bleed and die just like any other being on Planet Xalxa 5. Don’t tell me you still believe in little girls’ fairytales?”

I frowned.

He moved closer and I pressed myself back into the pillows. “Don’t come near me. I’ll finish the job next time,” I warned.

His lips twitched. “You make me want to laugh, little kitten. You have not apologized for stabbing me like-so. Furthermore, you show no remorse and you show no fear. This is a dangerous game you play with me…and I do not like games.”

“You still haven’t answered me. Who’s home is this?”

“It is mine. I own everything now. Or have you not been listening?” he replied, yanking open a cabinet and pulling out a tube of salve. After dressing the cut, he turned his sights back on me.

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked.

“I have not decided.”

“If you’re going to punish me for cutting you, just do it. Get it over with.”

The heat of his dark gaze ravaged me. “An assault on a King yields the ultimate punishment.”

Heat rose up my body as his statement angered me. Fear for my life should have been my reaction. Begging for my life should have been my response. Yet, all I could do was meet his stare with defiance.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you,” he said.

“Then what are your plans for me? You can’t just keep me here.”

“I do not make plans with those who are troublesome.” He said this with a straight face. “I am a Tirizar commander, little kitten. King of my horde. You will soon understand that the laws as they once were have changed. And therefore, I can keep you exactly as you are.”

What a smug son-of-a-bitch. We’re all kings this conceited?

“You cannot do that. Only King of Kings, Oderas, can do that. He is the king of all Xalxa, not you,” I stated.

“But I can. King Oderas gave me the power to do anything here. What is your name?”

I paused, wondering if I should even reveal who I truly was. As if my revelation would make a difference or not. I was alone. No one would come for me. No one would mourn me if Khol were to snap my neck here and now.

“Visla,” I said.

“Visla.”

The warmth that spread up my spine as he said my name chased away all thoughts of my misgivings. Why did Khol have this affect on me? I hated what he stood for yet felt curious about his intentions all at the same time. Oh, but what was I really thinking? His intentions were made clear. He would punish me for stabbing him. If my knowledge was correct, hordesmen kept women as prized possessions just like they did their spoils.

There was a code when it came to hordesmen and their women in general. Rather than courting and coming together through a mutual union, they ravaged and claimed. Many were promiscuous, promising their love interests no commitment for they might very well meet a swift end at any moment during battle. Pure-blood Aurrakian women saw absolutely no problem with this. Many would be honored to bear a child for a warrior—even when they knew they were marching right towards their death. Even half-bloods lusted after warriors like Khol and his men. Some of the humans like myself have been known to couple with them, putting themselves in places where they knew a horde would mingle. But whenever these Tirizar bastards visited in the past, I kept away from them, locking myself in my room and occupying myself in my work. Based on the situation here, my assessment was correct. They took whatever they want as if they were entitled to everything.