1. The matter

How did I get here? That’s a good question. One I have been asking myself for the last half an hour or so. How did I get here indeed, in this dump? Well, it wasn’t a dump per se. On the contrary, it was majestic and if I wasn’t here against my will I might have enjoyed the view that was bestowed on me.

The floors were of black marble, the chandeliers were grand and sparkled even in the dim light, and the curtains in a dark red were draped beautifully from the ceiling to the floor framing the long and narrow windows. Huge, dramatic classical paintings in big golden frames hung on the walls, portraying people I did not know of.

Probably some lord of a long time ago, I thought.

I couldn’t stop my body from shivering as I stood in the middle of a ballroom in front of what it seemed to be a throne. It was a weird setting. Why would anyone have this in their home? I kept thinking as I couldn’t stop my body from moving. I didn’t know if my shivering was caused by nerves, fear or just the plain cold temperature in the room.

All I wanted was to go back home, to my small but warm apartment which I shared with two other girls. It was not perfect, far from it in fact. Our kitchen sink leaked, the window in my room was stuck, the paint was peeling from the walls and our toilet made a horrifying sound every time you flush.

Then there were my roommates. Lisa I could tolerate with her friendly smiles and polite small talks that from time to time turned into an earnest conversation where we sat down with big mugs filled to the brim with cheap black tea.

She was an art history student at the University of Ardenton. Together with her cat, she lived in one of the three bedrooms in our apartment. I think the reason I never could fully develop a friendship with her was because I was jealous of her. I, too, wanted to study. It didn’t matter what major, I just wanted to have the ability to enter a university.

Vanessa, however, was a monster to live with. She never cleaned up after herself, came home late while drunk, and brought many friends over. From time to time she also brought back lovers and she would have the loudest sex a human could possibly have and ignored the fact she had two roommates.

Lisa and I often tried to bring this up but she would either have excuses for everything or would straight up ignore us.

Her behavior was explainable. I knew she was miserable and unhappy with her life and the only way she knew how to cope was to party, drink, and have a lot of sex.

If I myself were at a better place in my life, I might have sympathized. I was not, so I despised that I was dragged into her misery while still dealing with my own. During the day I had to clean up after the rich’s asses and during the night I was dreaming of being one of the rich. Of course, I would treat my staff way better than Vanessa treated us.  

I was brought out of my thoughts by the loud sound of a door slamming shut, echoing through the spacious room. I hadn’t even noticed there was another pair of doors, like the ones behind me I entered through. Right then a thunder was heard, dark clouds had darkened the room even further and the sound of rain was playing its silent melody in the background.

Through the said doors a man had appeared. He was pleasant to the eye and seemed tall – I couldn’t really tell seeing as I was standing far away from the place he was heading to, the throne. His hair was dark in color, framing his face with its longer length. It was wavey it seemed, almost curly. His clothes were mismatched and it appeared as if he just got out of bed. But the most remarkable feature about this mystery man was his eyes. They were a bright magenta.

I was startled and took a couple of steps back, faltering while doing so. One of the goons that brought me here gave me a push in the back, signaling me to keep where I was.

Who was this man? Even better, what was this man?

Once he showed me his full face it became known that he was indeed very handsome. His sharp jaw and sharp features made him look elegant but rough. The only imperfection about him was his slightly crooked nose.

The man sat down with a grunt. “How many times must I tell you not to wake me from my sleep?!” His Scottish accent was thick.

My brows furrowed in confusion. His sleep? It must have been, like, seven in the evening. How was anyone at this time asleep? Who had the luxury? I then realized I was in a manor owned by a rich person. Rich people had the luxury to do anything they wanted, even sleeping at seven in the evening because maybe they partied until the early hours.

“I-I am sorry, my lord,” One of the goons stammered. “But it is what you requested.”

The man on the throne chuckled darkly. “I can’t imagine I would request something quite like this.” Then another man walked in, through the same two doors the previous weird-looking-eyes-man entered the ballroom. Or should I call it actually a throne room? Maybe that would be more appropriate.

The second man looked just as dishevelled as weird-looking-eyes-man. He too, seemed to just have woken up. He was more discreet though than Mr. shiny eyes over here. He whispered something lowly, something I couldn’t decipher.

“Whatever is the matter, you can ask them. Maybe you know more, Darius.”

Darius now turned to us. “What is this concerning about?” He asked politely.

“It’s about the human with his large debt, Sir. You told us to bring him before you if he couldn’t make any payments plus something to use as collateral.”

Darius’ face lit up as he remembered the matter. A matter I didn’t know about until thirty minutes ago. Seems quite the ironic honor that I knew of the matter before this lord did.

Darius turned back to the lord and pointed at me and the man next to me with his hand. “Dimitri, I know you are just awake, but I told you about him.”

“Him?”

“Yes, him, the pathetic human who dared to take too much from us. You had several plans for him last night, therefore I ordered some collateral if you wished to use one.”

It was funny to see them interact with each other. Darius was polite to both us as Lord Dimitri, yet he didn’t call Dimitri his lord. I might have smiled if my life wasn’t on the line here.

Dimitri sat now straight up in his throne. (The throne did make more sense now.) His eyes narrowed at the man next to me and then the goons. “Did the human take too much, or did we offer too much? Tell me, which one of you two imbeciles caused this annoying predicament?”

The guy behind me could only stammer, it was the other one who managed to speak up. “We didn’t offer too much per se, my lord. He went to several of us in a short time so we couldn’t check quick enough if he had taken out a loan already. Also he stole from us as well…”

This caught the attention of Dimitri. “A beggar and a thief,” He mused. In a split second he crossed the room and held the matter by his throat in the air.  

My hands flew to my mouth, covering it, trying to suppress a shriek of horror. I couldn’t even decide what terrified me more, the inhumane speed or the fact Lord Dimitri was holding my father by his throat, choking him.