"I am not sharing a room with you." Samantha looked up to meet his crimson eyes that remained unfaltering to her deadpanned decision. Instead, he took a step forward, leading Samantha to naturally take a step back.
"How demanding," he said tersely, "I would take this into consideration if I was concerned about your choices, little lamb. Don't forget, I call the shots, and you have no power to defy me. You're just a plain peasant, my plaything."
"Call me whatever you wish, but that is still inappropriate." Samantha candidly spoke up, and she wasn't lying about that particular fact either, but her main reason for trying to sway his mind from that direction was so she could gain more opportunities to escape. If he has her in his chamber, escaping from his sight would be more difficult, and more threatening since he already made it clear he would use her brother as the scapegoat for her stubbornness.
"What an ironic thing for a Courtesan to say," He mused, and then took another deliberate step forward. "I have no intention of touching you except when I need to feed off your blood. But let me remind you, you're in a Palace, not a Brothel. I'm quite proprietorial, and keeping my belongings elsewhere for others to see and touch, infuriates the beast in me. Be warned when I say, I won't hesitate to rip someone's arm off when they touch my things!"
Samantha didn't even realize her back had met the wall till he slammed his palm beside her head. It wasn't harsh, but it was enough to jolt out a frightening reaction from her.
"So you see, I tend to keep them within my reach, where no one else can see, or touch them without gaining my consent first."
As he explained to her, there was this madness in his eyes that told her his statement was referring mostly to her. Her heart uncontrollably sped, and she swallowed hard, unable to escape from the wall where she was trapped with both his hands beside her head. Samantha could hear her heart drum, and her dizziness spontaneously returned.
"Is that…. Is that why you didn't reveal my name to ...."
"Don't misunderstand the game, I did reveal it," he corrected as a matter-of-fact, "I was only keeping to my end of your request, remember? But I also have a request, scratch that, I have a demand for you which I shall reveal in due time."
"D...Demand?" Samantha barely blinked, unsure of what suitable reaction would fit his allusive retort.
The young prince looked deep into her emerald green eyes and observed how she didn't bat her lashes at his word; he still remembers how his eyes made her shiver in fear five years ago, but looking at it now, the difference was too obvious to ignore.
Ivan had other plans in mind for his little lamb, and his visit to the Brothel last night was mainly to catch an irritating mole that dared to gather personal information about his empire, one he, nor his uncle, was willing to take lightly and risk the safety of their people.
When his envoy returned with the news and relayed Harvory's location to him two days ago, Ivan didn't know he would be welcomed with the sight of an auction taking place when he personally decided to come see things for himself.
He would have spared that Woman named Cerise since he needed to gather more valid information concerning the location where the rest of the slaves were held, but alas! Fate gives him a second option, and it turns out to be no one else but his enemy's daughter.
The one he spent five years searching for to no avail.
It wasn't because he developed some sort of pity towards her, killing her wouldn't be a problem but he'd be stupid to not see the advantage of her presence.
To keep her by his side, he had to buy her legally. A big mistake Madame Cerise made was selling her to him, cause when something or someone becomes his, he wouldn't hesitate to kill whoever made his new property suffer, so he got rid of her.
The slaves he knew were pertinently obedient and never went against their Master's orders without being reminded of where they stood in the society, or his empire to be more precise. From a Courtesan to a slave, he had studied her enough to know she had been through hell. Her horrid appearance gave enough hints, but in her eyes, there was a fiery spirit that refused to be broken.
She didn't sob, plead, or wail in front of him. Her grief was horribly discreet, but as persistent and almost as silent as bleeding from an unstitched wound. She looked nothing like the girl who helplessly went on her knees in front of him five years ago, the fire in that girl's eyes died that night.
"What a lovely scene to witness for the sore eyes." A deep rich voice suddenly interrupted them. Turning their heads to where the alluring voice came from, a young dark-haired man was leaning his shoulder against the wall with his arms crossed, nicely dressed in a black royal outfit.
He was tall and lean, but then he had a masculine beauty that made her eyes widen at the mere sight of the stranger. Samantha didn't put all that into consideration at first, what shocked her most was how this person was deviantly bound to several chains around him.
His wrist, his legs, his waist were wrapped with chains all the way up to his neck. It was a very unusual sight for Samantha and she couldn't shake off the dread that tugged at her heart like a string.
They looked heavy, but he made them seem light based on how he effortlessly pushed himself away from the wall and began approaching them. When he drew closer, Samantha noticed the visible scar that ran across both sides of his face, forming an X. To anyone else, it may have been a disfigurement, but on this strange man, it only added to his mystique.
Wait! Vampires can have unfading scars??
"What do we have here?" The young Vampire stepped closer, his chains clanking in the stillness of the gigantic hall. His crimson eyes that could pierce through the inner depth of her soul, shifted from Ivan to the girl he still trapped against the wall.
"How strange," he mused all of a sudden, "I thought you hated the idea of having a blood slave, but what am I seeing? Has my younger brother gone against his very own promises? Grandmother would be displeased."
His deep red eyes glinted playfully as he shifted his attention to Samantha. Despite the horrible scar that was the only flaw to his ivory skin, he still looked otherworldly and pleasing to the eyes.
"I've told you not to meddle in my business." Ivan said coldly, his words dripping like ice, obviously irritated as he finally pulled away from Samantha. "Go bug someone else."
"Don't use that tone on me, I was being curious since you never liked humans." The one with the chains named Alistair pointed out bluntly. So far, it seemed the Chevalier family had an issue with exchanging smiles and polite greetings. Their gazes were always unreadable and hard towards one another.
Was it a trait?
Strangely, Samantha couldn't stop staring at the chains he was bound to. Isn't he uncomfortable having so many thick chains wrapped around him like that?
"Where have you been?"
As the two of them continued to converse, Samantha could feel her legs starting to cave in, and before she knew it, the long awaited buckle came, but she wasn't able to sink to the ground because in the blink of an eye, Ivan's arm already wrapped around her slim waist, saving her from falling, but Samantha's head weakly fell forward, her hair obstructing her face.
She no longer moved.
"She looks horrible, where did you pick her from?" Alistair asked, and a cynical smile curved Ivan's lips. "I have a thing for horrible people, lest you keep your hands away from what is mine."
"I have no business with your property. Did you see Father's mood before he stepped out? Better hurry up and join me in the study, there are reports that need our attention." He nonchalantly waved as he walked past them.