It's dark...cramped...and smells like...fish?
Laughter can be heard in the compartment beside me. I try to get a good idea where I am, but I can't see anything. I bang on the walls trying to find a way out or a source of light, but I'm shut down by a rumbling roar.
"Stop making so much noise, little girl," the voice grumbles. "We are almost there."
I can't believe I actually got kidnapped on my first official day. I think the level of how disgraceful this is is worse than the danger that I'm actually in.
The vehicle stops, and I hear the kidnappers inside getting out. I listen for their footsteps to see if they are going to walk away, but their steps come towards me when suddenly the door opens, blinding me with the sudden light. Recovering from the light is apparently a luxury that I don't get because one of the kidnappers grabs me from the vehicle and slings me over his shoulder before my eyes can adjust.
Calming down, I close my eyes to let them get used to the light. They probably won't do anything to me yet, so I can take my time for now. When I open my eyes, I see a pride of felinoids in front of me.
Ah~ I see what's happening now... The marriage proposal. I kind of figured that they weren't going to let it go just because they were threatened. I mean, they technically threatened me first but whatever.
"You can put me down now," I tell the massive felinoid who's carrying me. "I won't run if that's what you're thinking."
"Hmph! As if I'm going to believe you. You're just going to use your power to knock us down and run straight for the door," the felinoid remarks.
"If I was going to use my powers on you, I would have done it already. However, there are like five of you huge lions and just one me. I think it's safe to say that I won't be able to make it out unscathed if I try to run now." I prop my elbow on the felinoid's shoulder so that I can rest my head on my palm instead of letting it hang.
Annoyed by my relaxed nature, the felinoid drops me onto the floor. "You will follow right behind me. Don't deviate from the path."
"You could have put me down gentler, you know. Wouldn't your boss get mad if you damage the goods?" I condescendingly bark as I rub my now aching butt. The felinoid just huffs and starts walking.
When we make it to the room that is assigned to me, I am greeted by a pack of lionesses. They usher me into the bathroom and begin removing my clothes.
"What are you doing?" I question jerking my clothes out of the lioness's hands.
"We have been ordered to wash you of your impurities and clothe you in better attire for your early dinner with Master," one of the lionesses replies.
"What do you mean wash me of my impurities? I am perfectly clean."
"You have been touched by several men today. Master does not like the idea of having dinner with a bride who has been touched by other men."
Touched by several men? Is she referring to Delic, Alex, and Xander?
"I never agreed to become your master's bride. I distinctly remember my secretary telling one of your master's men to inform him that I declined his proposal. Now, please unhand me and leave. I do not wish to be touched by people I am unfamiliar with."
"But Young Mistress, we have been ordered to prepare you for dinner!"
"I am not your 'Young Mistress'. I am the master of the Winter Family," I declare glaring down at the lionesses on the floor. "I can prepare myself. Now, leave me."
The pack of lionesses gather their things and exit the room. Exhausted, I fall face first onto the bed and cuddle the pillow when a red shine from the corner of the room catches my eye. I turn my head to find the 'better attire' that the lioness was talking about.
The stark contrast between the simple geometric shapes and the tethered strings hanging off the end give resemblance to their pride land. It pays tribute to their ancient Ciqoo heritage when they were blessed by the God of Transitions who granted a pitiful lion and his lionesses legs to walk with, hands to grab with, and a voice to speak with. They became the first felinoids almost 500 years ago.
The room is comfortable... I don't like it. I cuddle the only pillow on the bed harder. When will the guys come and get me?
Meanwhile back at the Mayor's Hall…
"How did we let this happen?" Xander asks as he punches the wall in the parking garage. "She was right next to us!"
Delic bends over the car burying his face in his hands. "The one time I'm not by her side. She gets taken from me. Why didn't you save her?!" Delic slams his fist onto the car.
"It happened so fast," Alex responds. "We literally just made it to the bottom of the stairs when those lions came out of nowhere and took her."
The trio each agonize on what they could have done to prevent the kidnapping from happening. Tears trickle down each of their faces. Some more than others but all with overwhelming disappointment in themselves.
Alex is the first one to break the silence. "We have to save her."
"Save her? We were barely fast enough to react in that situation. How are we going to save her from something that's faster than us?" Xander grills, fighting the urge to cry more than he already is.
"Alex is right," Delic says, recollecting himself. "We have to find a way to get Viola from the Golden Lions."
"And how do you suppose we go about that? Those lions were huge. Just one punch from them can knock me out in an instant if not kill me," Xander panics.
"We should be able to get better information back at the estate," Delic answers. "Viola's father's office should have any and every piece of information regarding all of the organizations in the city. The Golden Lions should be included in that information since they were the closest partners with the Winter Family."
The twins agree with Delic, and the three of them jump into the car heading for the house.
Back in the room that I'm trapped in, I use the ample time that I have been unfortunately given to hone my snow and ice abilities. I'm still kind of getting adjusted to using it more and more without getting tired so easily.
It starts with one snowflake trickling down onto my open palm. If I can manipulate where each individual snowflake goes, I might be able to do more damage than just hurling a massive amount of snow at someone. I call forth another singular snowflake and attempt to move it to the wall across from the bed. It doesn't even make it past the edge of the bed before melting away in the setting sun's light.
Delic... Where are you?
'Master! Can you hear me?' Delic calls through the mind link.
The mind link! How did I forget about that?! Happy to finally hear a familiar voice, I answer, 'Delic! Where are you? When are you going to get me out of here?'
'We are working on it,' Delic replies.
'We? Are the twins with you?'
'Yes. The three of us are in your father's office looking for clues on how to get you out from there. Do you know the direction to get to the Golden Lions' estate?'
'I don't know. They stuck me in their trunk, so I couldn't see outside.'
'Damn.... Just sit tight okay. I think Alex found the directory of the organizations in Eshea. We will look through it as fast as we can.'
'Okay.'
A sudden knock on the door startles me. "It is time for dinner with the master, Young Mistress," the lioness states.
'Delic, it's time for me to meet with the leader of the Golden Lions. I will inform you when I return and relay any information from our meeting,' I tell Delic through the mind link.
'Alright then. Please stay safe, Viola,' Delic advises before fading out.
He called me by my name. I notice that he does that sometimes. I wonder why sometimes he calls me 'Master' and other times calls me 'Viola'.
I glance back up to see the lioness still standing by the door, so I get up from the bed and make my way over.
"Are you not going to wear the clothes that we have provided to you?" the lioness asks.
"No, I will not be wearing that. I do not plan on joining your pride. I am perfectly content with my Winter Family attire," I state as I walk past the lioness.
A little while later, we arrive at the dining hall where the leader of the Golden Lions is sitting at the end of the table, while some of his men are standing by the closed doors.
This must be his way of keeping me from running. Don't they get tired from being so cautious?
I take my seat adjacent to the leader. "Good evening" is all I say. Nothing more. Nothing less. I said my greetings which should be more than enough. Soon after my greeting, dinner is placed in front of us.
"Good evening to you as well, Viola Winter. It must have been quite the shock that my men gave you," the leader mentions. I continue to stay quiet. "I saw your announcement this afternoon. You are quite the courageous one for stepping out into a leadership role. Not many women have the strength to do that."
I'm so tired of hearing that. The retainers, Abigail, the politicians. I certainly don't want to hear it from a man who just kidnapped me.
Noticing that I haven't started eating, the leader gestures to the food.
I guess he wants me to eat. At least he isn't a complete lunatic.
I partake in the food in front of me, still not saying anything. This must have angered one of the leader's men because I hear a quick step behind me.
"Our leader is being gracious enough to feed you. Why don't you say a piece of gratitude to him?" the angry lion demands.
"Now, now. She is a guest and my soon-to-be bride. You should not treat your future mother like that," the leader casually states.
I choke on my food when I heard those disgusting words escape from his mouth. These men really think they can talk to me however they like because I'm just a high school girl. I might not be strong enough to fight all of them, but I'm not going to just sit here and take all of this.
Annoyed, I abruptly stand where I was sitting. "Look here you lion king wannabe. I am not and never will be your bride. I will never be joining your little pride. I understand that you were my father's closest connection in this city, so I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt of being civilized enough to talk it out. But apparently, you are still being forceful about marrying a girl who wants absolutely nothing to do with you. I was hoping to restore that connection that you once had with my father as a business partner since he seemed to trust you a lot, but now I see that I would rather sever that partnership if that means that I won't be having to deal with a narcissistic prick like you."
The leader roars such a disastrously loud laugh from his chair. He gets up and stands right in front of me. Compared to his body, I'm nothing more than a twig he could easily snap, but I need to keep my composure. That's when the leader takes my face in his hands.
"You're a stubborn one. Aren't ya?" he says, throwing my face from his hand. "Tomorrow afternoon, you will become my wife, and you will use your abilities for the sake of the Golden Lions. The Winter Family will be no more, and I will become the strongest organization in the city, and there is nothing you can do about it," the leader declares walking to a door in the back. "Don't try to do anything funny tonight like escaping. I will have my men standing by your door to keep you from leaving. Have a good night, Viola."
The leader disappears into the doors, and the room falls silent. The large felinoids just stare at me with contempt in their eyes when one of the lionesses taps me on the shoulder.
"I will be guiding you to your room tonight. Please follow me," she quietly says.
I take a deep breath and follow her into the hallway that leads to my room. By the time we get there, there are already two huge felinoids standing on either side of the door. I wasn't expecting it to be easy, but I also didn't expect it to be annoying.
I walk inside my room, and another lioness enters the room from the bathroom.
"I have prepared the bath for you to wash up. I have provided a simple nightgown for you tonight," the lioness adds while setting the clothes on the table in the room.
The two lionesses say their good nights and disperse from the room.
Once again, I am alone in the room. Too tired to care, I decide to take a bath despite wanting to reject everything about this place. I call on Delic while I am soaking in the water in order to update him on what happened.
'Delic, are you there?' I ask through the mind link.
It takes a few seconds, but Delic responds. 'I'm here, Master. Are you okay?'
'Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired from this whole ordeal.'
'Where are you now?'
'I'm in the room they gave me to take a bath. This is probably the most relaxed I'm going to get, so I thought I should update you about what happened.'
'Oh-ho? The Lady is taking a bath by herself? You don't have other men there washing you, do you? That would make the three of us very jealous, you know.'
Even when I'm in a situation like this, Delic will always find a time to mess with me. Gosh, he better be happy that I'm satisfied with hearing his voice at the moment.
'I'm here by myself. I didn't want the lionesses touching me. Unfamiliar people should stay unfamiliar until they are recognized,' I snap. 'Anyways, there is something that you need to know that will help you get me away from here.'
'What is it?'
'That prick of a leader is going to hold a wedding ceremony tomorrow afternoon. I don't know where yet, but as soon as I do, I will let you know. In the meantime, you three formulate a plan that will help fight off the multitude of felinoid that will most likely be there.'
'My dear daughter is getting married already? It makes a father want to cry.'
'Stop joking around. Do you understand the orders that I have given you?'
'Yes, Master. They will be carried out as you wish.'
'Good.'