The mansion was bustling with life. There were only a few days left before the Yule Ball and the mansion was getting ready to accommodate guests that may be staying for the night.
Kilian was finishing up his daily exercises and felt good in his body. The pains in his legs and feet were minimal, and he was able to endure standing for long periods of time.
He walked across the room and tapped Dante on his chest with the back of his hand, standing proudly on his feet.
"Not bad huh?"
Kilian had decided to share his training with Dante, who had become somewhat of a personal trainer to Kilian, guiding him through exercises, making sure Kilian was doing it correctly without putting too much strain on the body.
"Yes, not bad," Dante replied, smiling at Kilian, enjoying the youth having a good mood.
Lately, the maids had avoided him, now when Stella and Dante were around to take over their chores.
Kilian appreciated this, as it gave him more time to prepare his plan to leave.
The head maid suddenly barged into the room as she always did without knocking, and Dante stepped in front of her, to give Kilian a few extra seconds to get in his chair before the old lady noticed he was standing.
'I have gotten too laid back,' Kilian irritatedly thought, scolding himself.
It seemed as if he hadn't needed to bother hiding anything, as the head maid gave of a cheerful mood and addressed Dante instead of Kilian.
She had a smirk going across her face and even gave one of her calculating smiles when she spoke to him.
"The maids will be at the main building tonight and tomorrow, for the finishing touchups for the Yule ball, do not expect anyone to be here, so take care of yourself".
She turned and left the room just as quickly as she had entered, ignoring Kilian as always.
'Why did she even bother telling us,' Kilian wondered, shrugging it off as some crazy old lady and her need to put them down, even if she had no ammo to do so.
Kilian looked over at Dante who had made sure there was more space between them.
'How cute,' he thought while admiring the man who had become a close ally in such a short time. He was invaluable to Kilian now, he was now dependent on the strength of this knight, to protect him.
"What would you say if you were to be assigned to be my personal Knight?".
Kilian casually mentioned his thoughts out loud, meaning to request that same thing from his father after the Yule Ball.
Dante stumbled into the table, which was one of the very few pieces of furniture in the room, stumbling as he looked at Kilian.
"Yes, I would like that, Young Master Kilian," was all he could say while trying to stand back up straight.
Kilian studied Dante for a bit, satisfied with the surprised but grateful look he received when asking.
"Alright, then let's leave it at that for now".
"I need to rest," he finally said after a pause, slowly starting to undo his clothes as he sat in the wheelchair.
The setting sun illuminated the room in soft light, and the orange-yellow colors from the window laid over Kilian like a blanket, enhancing the delicate look of his fingers fondling with the buttons in his white shirt.
Dante turned around and left the room to give Kilian some space, as the thoughts from the night in town still lingered in his mind.
That night he had had to do some unspeakable things after getting back to his room, and he didn't want to let Kilian know of the thoughts he had buried deep in his mind.
Dante stood outside the room, in the same way, he had done that night letting out a deep sigh.
How could he even have done that, thinking of a man? He brushed his fingers through his red hair, pushing it back.
He finally left the hallway, leaving the building for the Knights's quarters, finding his bunk bed to lay down.
In Kilian's room, Kilian had loosened his shirt and pulled off his pants, he was in a good mood as his legs seemed to be working with him today, letting him rest his body in the bed without too much pain.
The next day was the day he would receive the cane from the shop, and he had already arranged for Stella to pick it up.
This was another step in his plan to get away from this place, and he was looking forward to showing off at the Yule Ball.
He needed to give an impression of a confident young man, not a cripple.
The window was opened slightly to let in the cool wind, bringing an earthy smell as it was raining outside.
Kilian listened to the calming sound of the rain, breathing in to take in the smell, that seemed sweet to him. His eyes closed and his mind started to waver soon falling into a light sleep.
"Is this it?" The whisper came from outside his door.
"Yes, the old hag said this was the room". Another voice whispered.
The door opened unhindered, it had not been locked, and in the shadows of the night, two men entered the room.
The rain was still falling outside, and they stayed as silent as possible, while moving across the room to the bed near the window.
"You think we can get good money for this one? When we saw him in town, he was in a wheelchair".
One of the men grabbed Kilian's legs quickly, instantly starting to tie a rope around the ankles, pulling him down from the bed.
Kilian woke up and let out a yell in confusion and shock, but quickly realized what was going on, and kicked at the man who was trying to tie his legs.
He was unable to do much and before he could yell again, a hard punch hit his stomach, causing him to cough badly, unable to let out another sound.
The other man in the room grabbed his hands and pushed his upper body up against the side of the bed.
"No one can hear you boy".
The words were followed by a small deep chuckle, and Kilian stared up at the man, still trying to catch his breath from the punch to his stomach. His insides were hurting, and his lungs didn't seem to want to breathe in air.
A hand covered his mouth, pushing his head back down on top of the bed, as the other man finished tying both his legs and arms, so he couldn't move.
The hand had a foul stench, making Kilian nauseous, and he tried to bite at it, only to fail and get hit in the stomach again.
"Don't move!".
The man holding his mouth moved in closer, sneering at Kilian.
"Ohh have you seen this Maarken, look at this kid, we might get more than we thought".
The hand moved Kilian's face into profile and back, while the two men studied his face closely.
"I think him being a cripple is a plus, he won't be able to run away".
The one called Maarken commented and the other continued.
"I doubt whoever buys him will waste that pretty face, I've seen high-born ladies uglier than this one".
A creepy smile and greedy stare crept closer to Kilian, who was frantically trying to wiggle his way out of the tight ropes, but nothing he did worked.
'How did they get in?'
He remembered the head maid specifically saying no one would be in the annex at night, and now he knew that also meant the guards that were normally stationed outside.
His mind was enraged, and he gave the two men one of his intense stares, as all he could do was curse them with his ice-blue eyes.
"Do you think he is actually a guy? Shouldn't we check, you know, just to be sure".
Kilian froze but didn't stop staring them down, his mind was silently screaming for them to let go, for Dante to show up, for anyone to help him in this world.
But even if he could yell out loud, deep inside he knew, no one would come.
"Stop glaring".
Another hand reached out and covered his eyes.
"He feels so soft, what a treat tonight, let's just get out of here fast, I don't trust that hag".
Pieces of fabric replaced the hands over his eyes and mouth, and Kilian felt how one of the men was groping him up, till the hands got a firm hold on him and lifted him up over a shoulder.
He should have tried harder to gain strength, he had been lazying off hanging out with Dante and Stella, thinking he had time to prepare.
Kilian was both frightened and angry, he needed to do something, but he couldn't see his surroundings any longer, and his body was tied.
He hated this feeling of helplessness and cursed inwardly at his own weakness like many times before.
'Is this why Miss Olive let me go to town... did she sell me off?'
His mind was screaming silent profanities at the head maid, at the two men in his room, and at the family who would let all this happen to their own blood.
'I need to get to Dante!'.
The one who was carrying him seemed to be the one called Maarken, and as he was placed over the shoulder, Kilian bent his body with a fast motion and kneed the man with all of his strength, causing Maarken to lose his balance, and let go of Kilian.
"Fuck...what.." The sound got muffled as a loud crash resounded in the room.
Kilian's body fell back against the open window, causing it to flung outwards and bang into the outer wall, the glass breaking off and falling together with Kilian towards the ground below.