The blood in your veins pumps as if a fire has been lit beneath your heart. Nobody moves. Not a flinch, not a step, as if the room is holding its breath on purpose. Even Rania doesn't bother to dodge. She could avoid your punch with ease, yet shock is written across every face.
Then, with your fist inches from her, a powerful tug from behind rips you off balance before it can land.
"Nox! No!" Lina's soft cry cuts through the silence, and in that instant, the suspense snaps. A brutal force drives you down, your knees slamming into the hardwood. Steel bites against your throat from every direction, and the fire of betrayal burning in your eyes tugs at Lina's heart.
You know she only wanted to help. You understand that. Even so, it feels like the thin trust you managed to build in the short time you spent together has been cut down by a single, sharp blade.
"Hold him tight. I'll cut down the very thing this trash treasures most in his pathetic life." Rania steps forward, twisting into something ugly, hatred lacing her eyes. Her fingers snap around the hilt, and she draws a sword white as snow from its sheath. The blade tilts lower as her gaze drops, slow and deliberate, making the threat unmistakable.
"Stop this at once. If you hurt him, the princess will execute us all in public!" Lina's cry freezes the room. Even Rania stills mid-step.
"Explain yourself, warrior." Rania's lip trembles. Inside Luna's borders, there is only one thing every living soul fears, and that is the wrath of their spoiled princess.
All eyes turn to Lina. Her grip tightens for a split second, and her throat works around a swallow, as if she's already felt the noose settling there.
"I found him on the battlefield, alone among the corpses. When I brought him to Commander Maria, she said…" Lina's voice cuts off. She doesn't know if she can say it here, not in front of so many women. That's why she wanted to speak to the Gate Captain in private, to get approval to escort him straight to the main palace.
"Speak. What did Maria tell you?" Your eyes catch Rania's face whitening. The more you watch it happen, the more you start to like the role you seem to have in this world, but something in you warns it won't be that simple.
Otherwise, Lina wouldn't have stopped your fist from causing more trouble than you can afford. The thought still leaves you bitter. Your gaze crawls over Rania's face anyway, memorizing every feature.
I'll make you cry for my mercy, you slut.
As if she can taste the intent, Rania glares back, her expression a twist of hatred and fear.
"He… he's one of the fertile ones." It's like a snapped cord releases the tension in the room. Blades pull away from your throat so fast you barely register the movement. The women surrounding you step back in unison, breaths suddenly heavy, eyes wide, as if you've turned into something dangerous they're not allowed to touch.
"You!" Rania barks in Lina's direction. "What is your name, warrior?" Ever since the word fertile filled the room, her gaze hasn't fallen on you even once.
"Lina." A soft hand touches your shoulder, pulling you back up to your feet.
"Lina, huh?" Rania's voice turns sharp. "You're very brave, walking around with someone who could shatter this city's peace with a single look." The meaning behind her words makes your stomach tighten. Your hand brushes Lina's away from your shoulder despite the way her eyes beg you not to be mad.
"Take him to the princess right this moment. Don't stop even for a second." Rania's voice rises into a shout. "And the rest of you…"
"Yes!" Every woman in the room answers like trained soldiers, and it sinks in fast that this world isn't a playground. It's a battlefield that never truly ends, and everyone here has been forged for it.
"Not a word escapes about what happened here, or else…" Immediately, the room snaps back into motion. Paperwork returns, boots shift, pens scratch, as if nothing ever happened.
"Good." For the first time, her voice softens.
Is she still the same bitch? You wonder.
"Not even going to say sorry?" Your question lands like a rock in still water. Despite the act of normalcy, every woman in the room steals glances between you and their captain.
"Nox, don't push it. We must go now, or else the princess…" Lina tries to intervene, tugging at your clothes.
"No. I want to hear her say sorry, or I'm not leaving." Your chest feels heavy, and the only way to rip that weight out is to make the beauty in front of you bend. Her round, heavy breasts look especially delicious now, and your eyes linger a second too long. A filthy thought flashes through you, the idea of warming her in your bed as an apology.
Then pain snaps you back to reality.
Rania's handprint burns bright red across your cheek, her face flushed with rage.
"Who died and made you king?" Her voice is poison-sweet. "Do you think you're special just because you carry seed? Wake up, boy. You're nothing but a tool for us to breed. A mere slave to the royal court."
Your body tenses as cold steel presses to your throat, the tip kissing your Adam's apple until you can taste metal. "Step over the boundaries and even the princess won't be able to protect you from my blade, and trust me…"
Her lips curl into a smile. She pulls the sword away, almost gentle about it, like she's finished playing, and you're the only one who didn't realize it was a game.
"Take him away now," she says, voice dropping low. "Before I change my mind."
Those eyes dare you to try her.
Rage almost overruns your logic, but Lina's grip tightens around your hand, and the way she looks at you, pleading, teary, drags something uneasy through your chest.
Don't look at me like that. Don't look at me as if you'd be sad if I died.
Your stare holds hers, and something inside you snaps, forcing you back into reality.
"Let's go, alright?" Lina asks quietly, her other hand closing around yours, too.
"Fine…" Reluctance tastes bitter. You give Rania one last murderous look and start toward the door.
The door slams open.
A woman with blue hair and armor white as snow storms in, breath heavy, eyes wild.
"It's an emergency! I need all males on the walls, now!" Before you can say a single word, she grabs your arm and yanks you forward. "You will do!" The strength in her grip is absurd, dragging you so hard you almost stumble, and for a second, you wonder if there's a bull hiding inside the petite frame of this beauty.