Bargaining With A Beast

If Van Merikh was enraged by Lady Karina's comment, he did not show it.

The beast of a man simply stared at her with no reaction whatsoever and she was suddenly filled with the fear that she had spoken too boldly.

She should have curbed her tongue when he ordered her to do so.

However, she did not back down. She returned his intense stare, waiting for Van Merikh to explode and then all hell would break loose.

He continued to gaze steadily at her.

Then the most unusual occurrence came forward: the corner of his mouth twitched.

And then the other corner twitched.

Soon, Van Merikh had broken out into a full-blown smile and deep dimples carved ruts down each cheek.

His teeth, from what Lady Karina could see, were straight and relatively white.

Had the man not been such a dark and terrifying specimen, it would have been a rather pleasant smile.

"Nay, I did not expect that my boasts would impress you," Van Merikh replied, his thumb and forefingers rubbing over his hollowed cheeks as if the smile had somehow hurt."

Lady Karina intended a reply, but the man continued to speak.

"That does not break from the fact that you are a young and naive girl. You must understand that you are now a part of this world. My world," Van Merikh emphasised. "It is best that you adjust so that there are no mistakes in the future."

"Mistakes?" Lady Karina repeated, not fond of the way it sounded. It made her frown. "What sort of mistakes exactly?"

Van Merikh's smile vanished. "As I have said earlier, you are confined to this keep. You are forbidden from straying away from its walls without an escort."

"I have also warned you of my wrath if you were to become disobedient," he continued. "And I will not warn you again."

Lady Karina had well overstepped her bounds many times thus far, but she was wise enough in the moment not to argue with him.

She could feel the return of the intimidation she experienced upon their first meeting, but she fought against it.

She averted her sight, her gaze falling on her hands steepled on her lap.

"I will not venture beyond these walls, my Lord," Lady Karina affirmed, casting him a hooded glance. "If you would bring the women from the chapel back into the keep, then I swear to you that I will keep them in check and we will resume our duties as normal, which are necessary to the function of Moonveil."

"You cannot do without us," she added.

Van Merikh set his hands on his hips, his expression bordering on glare.

"Do you actually think to bargain with me?" His jaw twitched unnervingly.

"May I? She smiled sweetly.

That goddamn smile.

Must she be such a temptress?

Van Merikh's brows rose. "God's blood, your tongue has no sense of danger. I have cut down men for less than what you display, Lady."

Somehow, Lady Karina was not unnerved by his statement. For as exasperated as he seemed, there was a lack of force behind it.

"Will you cut me down then, my Lord?"

Van Merikh turned away, his gaze lost in the crackling flames again.

"Perhaps, but not today." His eyes narrowed at the flames, contemplating her offer. He couldn't deny that she spoke logic and he required Moonveil to function efficiently.

"Very well, Lady Karina," he said, turning around again. "If you can guarantee that your women folk will not stir trouble and not venture beyond this keep, then I will release them to your custody."

Her pretty emerald eyes lit up with relief.

"But make no mistake," he added, his tone firm. "If one of them creates even the slightest disturbance or smallest infraction, my wrath will fall upon you. Do you comprehend, Lady?"

Lady Karina rose from the bed with a small smile on her lips.

Van Merikh watched her approach, realising that there was something undeniably attractive about her smile. 

The way the small dimples formed and her eyes crinkled at the corners did unspeakable things to his mind.

He could have gazed at that smile for a thousand years and never grown weary of it.

"Thank you, my Lord," she voiced her gratitude just as she stood before him. "I am deeply grateful for your show of mercy."

Van Merikh didn't view it from that perspective.

He wasn't fond of his decision being regarded as mercy and that unbalanced him.

The lady herself, in fact, unbalanced him.

Everything about her was beginning to shake him.

Without another word, Van Merikh circled around her and marched for the door.

"My Lord?" Lady Karina called out after him.

Van Merikh paused, his hand on the latch. "You must want something else."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the only time you address me formally is when you want something. I have never heard you address me so any other time."

Lady Karina pursed her lips regretfully. "Forgive me. Does that displease you?"

Van Merikh considered it for a moment before answering, "Nay." He shook his head. "I suppose it does not. What else do you require this time?"

Oddly, Lady Karina's confidence seemed to vanish. She began wringing her hands together and Van Merikh dropped his hand from the door latch.

"What else do you want?" He repeated.

She cleared her throat softly. "If... I ask you a question, will you answer honestly?"

"That depends on the manner of your question."

"Please, my Lord?" Her innocent eyes flashed with something sweet that he couldn't refuse.

Van Merikh lifted an eyebrow. "You must want to know very desperately if you are addressing me formally again. Out with it then, Lady."

"My father," she almost whispered. "May I know where he is?"

"I ordered for him to be taken to SilverHart fortress."

"Where is that?" She asked, unfamiliar with the location.

"My seat, to the west, or Bronwyn," Van Merikh told her. "Is there anything else?"

Now that she was aware of her father's location, she could breathe a sigh of relief. It was better and worse at the same time.

"Aye," she said. "There is one more thing."

Truth be told, Van Merikh had grown weary of Lady Karina's demands, but God knew as well as he did that would entertain her fiery spirit regardless.

"And what do you dare to bargain for now?" Van Merikh questioned, shifting around to face her.

Lady Karina walked towards him again, wringing her hands. She was such a tiny little thing, so sweet, lush, and feminine in all the deliciously right ways.

Van Merikh knew well enough that he should move away, not understanding why. But in the same breath, her presence brought warmth and desire as she drew closer.

A fairly odd combination that was foreign to him.

"The women," Lady Karina uttered in a tight voice; she realised she was on the verge of tears as she spoke. "There are those of them who have husbands that you have... those knights are strung up on poles in the bailey and... well, may we please bury them? If it were my husband out on one of those poles, I would not be able to bear it."

Van Merikh gazed down at her vulnerable form. If he wished it so, it would take only minimal strength to grip her by the throat and silence her insolence, but every cell in his body instinctively screamed at him not to.

Strangely enough, he began to feel torn by her soft plea.

It was part of his nature to remove the bodies of his enemies until they had rotted into shrivelled corpses once. 

After all, unlike the usual preservation properties of ice, van Merikh's Black Frost magic was filled with something dark that usually ate away at a person's flesh.

Until that moment arrived, they would serve as a reminder to all those who could dare to oppose the will of Orpheus Van Merikh.

He was the conqueror and they were the conquered.

Removing that which represented his victory would bring shame upon himself.

"Nay," Van Merikh answered quietly, turning around again to lift the latch and open the door.

Lady Karina didn't argue any further as the man stepped through the panel and shut it softly behind him.

In fact, she stood there silently for a long time, staring at the door, struggling to come to terms with the past few days.

It had all appeared like an awful nightmare until moments ago.

Now, it truly was a nightmare and she would have to adjust if she was going to survive at all.

They all had to. Whoever was left.