I closed the window and pulled down the curtain in my room. I can't let them see Leela. Leela was playing in the small makeshift forest I made and quickly went and picked her up. I needed to hide her. I quickly changed my clothes while Leela played, and I washed up. I noticed the blood on my clothes and put them in my hamper. I put the basket of unwashed clothes in the shower area and pulled the shower curtain. I cleaned my face a bit and threw on a fresh pair of shirt and pants. My baggy clothes hid my bandages and I threw a shawl over my head and body to cover myself.
I cleaned Leela's plates and dishes and stored them in a cupboard. I put any toys and stuffed them in a bag. I was hungry, but I would eat later with my Leela. I held her and started to get scared. I didn't know where to put her. There was no space in my room. I had only one other option.
"Leela, I know how you don't like dark areas, but is it okay if you hide in my clothes for a while?" I asked her.
She tilted her head and I took her to my bathroom. I pulled the shower curtain and put Leela in the clothes bin.
"Leela, please stay in my clothes here, okay?" I put her in my clothes and she looked up at me worried.
"Hush, Leela. They will take you if you are not quiet. I promise I will come back to get you," I kissed her snout and she cooed.
I felt a bit worried so I left the window open in the bathroom to let some fresh air in. Leela would just need to stay here for a bit. I put some other pieces of clothes on top of her. Mainly, underwear and underclothes. I hope they would have the decency to keep their hands out of someone else's unwashed clothes.
There were holes in the basket so Leela was able to breathe. I sighed and prayed for the best and left the bathroom. I quickly cleaned up pieces of paper and dirt off the floor and stored it in cupboards. I looked at my room and was pleased with how fast I cleaned the place. I glanced at the clock and my eyes widened. I took ten minutes, but still, they came by at a busy time so it was obviously going to take some time to clean up.
I went to a rope on the wall and pulled it. It was attached to the elderly couple's room upstairs. If I pulled it, a bell in their room would ring. There was another one in my room that allowed them to do the same. It was only used for emergency purposes though.
Two minutes passed before a knock sounded at my door. I opened it and the two men were standing there looking down at me. Grandpa Ulaan also came as well. I was pleased that he came as well. Even though I only worked for them part-time, they still had the compassion to come and watch over me at such busy times.
Grandpa Ulaan looked angrily at the two mages for invading my space and I couldn't help but smile at him. He smiled back and I couldn't help but feel lighter on the inside. The two men were tall and they took up a lot of space in my room. The red-haired man looked at my outfit again and I had to stop myself from snapping at him to stop looking at my clothes.
The brown-haired guy looked around the room and I waited patiently. They were probably detecting to see if there were traces of magic. There weren't. I made sure of it. I'm confident in my skills since I learned from the best, but it still makes me uneasy having them snooping around like that. Grandpa Ulaan started to get angrier as they pulled apart my bed.
"Excuse us," the red-haired man said.
Before I can even blink, the two men start opening and messing up my entire room. They flip my bed, quite literally, and look underneath to check for something. The brown-haired dude is making a mess of my kitchen. He starts opening all the cupboards and roughly inspects through the plates and glasses. He then shoves everything back to its place and opens jars and containers from my food rack. He puts this type of stick in the foods to check the product. I watch in shock at how these large two men tear my room apart and leave it in such a mess.
My hands shake as I try to force myself not to blast them apart as they tear at papers and mess up my clothes. Grandpa Ulaan is yelling at the red-haired guy so I follow the brown-haired dude to stop him. He slams a container down, and some spices fall onto the ground. What the hell?
"Fuck!" he puts down objects and doesn't even bother to clean up the mess he made.
I am so angry that I felt like screaming. But I couldn't, doing so would only put me and the elderly couple into more trouble. I grabbed his hand as he sifted through my small fridge.
"Why are you making a mess in my house like this?" I ask as I grip his arm firmly.
He ignores me and continues to look through my fridge. What the hell is he looking for? There's barely anything in there anyways! I grip his arm tighter and pull it away from my fridge, making him face me.
"Let go," he ordered.
"Get out," I replied as well.
He tried to shake my arm off, but I held on.
"Get out, sir," I gritted out through clenched teeth.
He moved his face close to mine.
"I don't give two shits about what you want," he said and smiled.
He arched his eyebrow up and I wanted to stick a fork in his eyeball. He tried to get rid of my arm but I shoved him against the wall. Grandpa Ulaan was yelling at the other man to stop messing up my room. The man had now started to dig up the plants and run his hands through the soil and Grandpa Ulaan kept pulling at his arm to get him to stop. He was pushed away by magic to another corner of the room and he fell on my messy bed.
My vein popped.
"Get. Out. Of. My. House," I said sternly, in the brown-haired dudes' face.
The two men continued to do what they were doing. I started to pull the brown-haired dude towards the door.
"Is this a secret room?" he asked.
I looked at what he was looking at. He walked to the bathroom in two steps and flung open the door.
"HEY!" I yelled after him.
I tried to stop him from messing anything up. Leela was in there. I felt myself tremble, and I tried to look neutral as he looked through my cupboards. I slammed it shut and stood in front of the shower curtain.
"Move while I am being nice," he stood in front of me and I held my ground.
"Explain why you are acting like a dick, messing my room up, and then I'll move," I took a step forward.
He didn't move back and instead leaned down.
"What would a little girl like you, understand anyway," he smirked as he went to move the curtain.
I held his hand.
"Enough is enough, respect my privacy," I pushed him back.
"You dare raise your hand against an Imperial Mage," he fumed, "I am the property of the Crown Prince and I have specific orders that I need to carry out. I won't let your petty problems get in my way. Now, move."
He waved his hand at me and I was plastered against the wall. The bathroom was already too small with the two of us in it, it didn't help that the other mage came in as well. I was in front of the toilet and I couldn't do anything. Leela was going to be discovered if they checked through my clothes. My eyes started to water and I blinked them back. I can do this. I can get through this.
The red-haired mage pulled me forcefully and threw me out of the bathroom. I still couldn't move my body. Grandpa Ulaan was still on the bed in pain as well. Why must everything I care about have to be taken away from me? I tried so hard to move. The bindings didn't yield. I couldn't use magic. It would get me revealed. But at what cost?
I could have used magic to help Grandpa Ulaan and cover Leela. But why? I only think about myself, and nobody else. But if I had exposed myself, then the elderly couple would get taken away as fugitives. Leela would either get killed or taken away for use as well. I am most likely going to get killed too.
I bite back a scream. I fell back on a bruise from before and my side was stinging with pain. The red-haired dude stood up and I moved my body to trip him. He didn't fall, but he kicked and stepped on my knees forcefully.
"Stop! She is just a child!" Grandpa Ulaan shouted from the bed, trying to get up.
The dude just stomped on my legs and he kneeled down.
"I know you are affiliated with black magic, fugitive," he laughed and I laid on my side confused.
"Black Magic? What the hell are you-"
"Shut up," he ground out.
He squeezed my face in his hands and my voice was muffled by his hand.
I couldn't speak. I couldn't do anything. I had no options left, both of the former options will only harm everybody around me.
What do I do?