Jasmine gasped for breath as she remained in the air while trying to push away the man's hand. The light was behind him, casting a dark shadow on her, and she couldn't make out his face.
"P..please," she pleaded with him.
"Who sent you here?" His baritone voice rang out in a question, and Jasmine tried to shake her head.
"N..no COUGH.. no.. one," she struggled to say. The man continued to look at the girl struggling for breath while her legs kicked in the air. His ears picked up the hurried steps on the stairs and inside his quarters, and a knock came on his door.
"What do you want?" His voice sounded sharp as he asked the question to the person behind the door.
"Sorry to disturb you, Prince Nikolai, but has any maid come into your room just now? She committed a crime and ran in this direction," His hold on Jasmine's neck had loosened, and he looked at the girl whose eyes widened and quickly shook her head.
He turned back to the door and grabbed the knob, hearing the girl's whispered plea. Opening the door, he brought half of his view to look outside, and Jasmine could now see the man clearly.
With long silver hair packed in a low ponytail, he was the man she had seen the first day they came here, but his eye patch was again, and her eyes widened seeing his black eye and dark red pupils. Only this side of his face was visible to her as she was behind the door, his hand still tightening around her neck but he had brought her back to the ground.
"She's not here," she heard the second prince say to the guards, and she almost breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes fell on the hand around her neck, she could see tiny writings on his muscled arm, but with the little light she could only make out the word DEATH from the writing.
"But she-" The guard started to say when Nikolai crooked his head to the side and looked at him.
"She.." he prompted, but the guard quickly shook his head and walked away, fazed by the Prince's piercing gaze. He couldn't see the other half of his face, which only made him look more dangerous. All the guards always avoided crossing paths with him; the Prince was like a devil, silently waiting for a prey to walk into his deadly den.
Nikolai closed the door and looked at the girl he had almost strangled, her blue eyes gazing back at him. He noticed how she avoided looking at his left eye, and both of her eyes stared at his grey one.
Releasing her from his hold, he walked back to his desk, carrying the bottle of red wine and gulping it down. With his back facing her, Jasmine could see the black inkings on his skin. It looked like a drawing that wasn't completed, leaving half of his back without inkings, but she could see the long ugly scars that ran deep to his lean waist. His trousers rested just on his hip bones.
Looking up, Jasmine saw the prince looking at her, and she quickly looked down. Nikolai stared at the girl and raised the bottle to his lips again, downing the content. The girl was lucky he wasn't in the middle of his usual killing spree; otherwise, he would have killed her before she even had the chance to plead.
As for those who discovered what they weren't supposed to know, he disposed of them swiftly, particularly when his bloodlust hadn't been satisfied. The maids were aware of the importance of staying out of trouble and generally avoided this part of the quarters. This particular girl was new and unaware of the rules.
"Thank you, Prince Nikolai," he heard the girl say and then moved to open the door.
"Who said you could leave?" he asked and dropped the bottle on the table, seeing the girl freeze in her place.
"What you saw tonight," he started, and Jasmine turned to see he had worn his eyepatch and surprisingly, the half drawing behind his back had disappeared as well. It was only the writing on his arm and his scars that remained.
She doubted if this man was a real human.
"I will never speak of it to anyone, Prince Nikolai," Jasmine quickly said, having an inkling of what he was going to say.
Nikolai snickered and walked closer to the girl, his eye glaring at her. "I don't believe you." He deadpanned.
"I have killed six to seven nosey maids right on the spot. Breathe a word of any of this to anyone, and I won't have to wait to be sober before killing you," his words were laced with so much venom that Jasmine shook, and she bowed her head as low as she could. The man couldn't even take pity and coated his words for her.
Thankfully, she had only one more day left, Jasmine tried to assure herself and quickly dashed out of the room. Nikolai sighed and ran his hand through his hair, pulling the ribbon from his ponytail. He had no idea why he was letting her go; he had almost changed his mind, but she had dashed out of the room, missing death by a hair's breadth.
Jasmine could only barely escape being caught by the guards who were looking for Prince Lucian's maid. She had ended up following one corridor after the other, going in a maze until she could reach the servants' quarters. Throughout the next day, Jasmine had avoided going near the main hall, or meeting Peter or Mrs. Molly. Matilda had informed her the two of them were looking for her earlier.
"You don't seem well, Jasmine," Matilda said concernedly as she noticed her friend fidgeting or zoning out every second.
"Oh.. I am fine, Matilda," she managed a smile before she continued helping her with her work.
By the next morning, Jasmine could finally breathe a sigh of relief that she would be able to return to the slave market and wouldn't have to avoid anyone.
"You look more than happy to go back," Matilda commented. Of course, she was, Jasmine thought as they stood beside the back door waiting for the guard to finish with the butler inside. Now she won't have to bother about Prince Nikolai's threat.
Or his secret.
Just as the guard returned to them, Jasmine quickly moved forward to get in the cart first. Before he could chain her feet with the metallic chains, one of the in-maids of the castle came running towards them.
"Jasmine, you have been summoned to the dining room," the maid relayed, and Jasmine's heart sunk.