The First Encounter

Dimitri was in awe. The woman in front of him is the most beautiful yet. Her skin was so fair that it looked like the petals of a flower that Dimitri only say in the forest when he was young. Her outfit matched her perfectly that she seemed to radiate as the lights fall on her face. Even though she was dressed and made up the same way the previous sacrifices were, and even if she just stood there at the entrance and stared at him, he can’t help but feel his beast blood boil. 

Something about this woman is calling out to him at the primal level. It bellows within him. It is something that he has never felt before and something that he could never feel again. He tried to shake it off but he gets entranced every time he looks at the woman now standing before him. Dimitri knew then that something was going to happen, he is not sure yet, but it is bound to be something.

There was something off about the woman, though. All through the years, the women who were presented to him either stood there saying nothing, bowing meekly and waiting for him to devour them. While others stand there openly, full of smiles, and waiting for him to compliment their beauty. This girl just stared at him, no bowing her head, not smiling. She just stood there with a look of defiance in her eyes. He has found a challenge that he has never met since he was young. He wished to know her name immediately.

“What are you called?” Dimitri asked in a growling voice in an attempt to intimidate the woman and assert dominance. He has never asked for someone’s name before, at least not after that encounter when he was young. He has forgotten how to do it.

The woman just stood there, gazing. It was as if she never heard Dimitri’s question. Dimitri felt an unfamiliar feeling of distraught and irritation inside him. He looked towards the maid, and then the steward, both who merely looked towards the floor. They do not want to be asked about what the matter with the woman is; after all, it was also their first time seeing her.

“Did you not hear what I said?” Dimitri asked again, he is starting to feel irritated “I asked for your name!”

“Is there a need for you to know my name?” the woman replied with a question. “Aren’t you just going to turn me into a mindless slave like Jessica? Get on with it, then.”

Dimitri was taken aback. He has never gotten a response like this before. All his life he was revered and worshipped. Even the women who came before immediately respected him. But now this woman would even refuse to tell him her name. he wanted to speak but he cannot, the words swarm within his mind and he cannot say them as they come.

“What? Cat got your tongue?” The woman continued, “What do I do, then? Should I just lie there on the bad while you do your thing? Is that how this goes? When do you take my hypnotize me? Is it before or after you do what you are about to do?”

“You are not allowed to say whatever you want, woman!” Dimitri growled louder. He was already seething. It was the loudest that he has ever said something all his life. Even the maid and his steward were startled. “Don’t you know who I am?!”

“I assume you are the Lord of this castle?” the woman replied. “Quite obvious if you ask me. The servants here all bow down to you and they talk about you like you are some sort of a god. Looking at you, well, you could pass up as a cut above these creatures, but a god? Come on.”

“And you still dare to speak to me like that?!” Dimitri replied. He is more irritated that this woman seems to know who he is but refuses to bow down. “I could order you to be devoured by the creatures in this castle!”

“Then do so,” the woman calmly replied. She does not care anymore. She was betrayed and abandoned and there was no home that she could return to, “Do I have any choice? My life may be at your mercy right now, but I will refuse to submit to you, even if it kills me.”

“I see,” Dimitri replied and took a long pause. He seems to think about something. “So that is how you want to play it out. You will refuse to surrender to my will and submit to me. I will do everything I can to make you!”

The woman did not say anything, she just stood there smiling. It was her first smile as she entered the room but it did not please Dimitri. In fact, the smile irritated him even more. Because it was not actually a smile, her lips were curled and some of her pearl white teeth are showing, but it was more of a sneer. The woman is indirectly mocking him. Dimitri has never felt this irritated before. This is beyond irritating, he is seething. He wants to hit something but he could not dare to hit the woman.

Dimitri has no choice. He wants to get on with the ritual this night but he could not dare to look at the woman any longer. The woman invokes a lot of different emotions within him and he has been stirred quote as much. For the first time in his life, he has felt excited, awed, irritated and then enraged in one single night towards one single person. He has yet to know the name of the woman who has caused all this.

“Take her away from this place!” Dimitri ordered the maid, “Take her anywhere just don’t let me see her face while I decide her fate!”

“Understood, milord” The maid replied and escorted the woman out of the room. The room was slammed shut behind them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Amanda was shaking as they left the room. She did not plan to say those things but the moment she entered the room, something inside her suddenly snapped. Of course she has always refused to submit to the will of the men. The one of the reason why she has still yet to find a lover despite having a lot of suitors was because most of them would like her to settle down at home and not allow her to pursue her passions.

Amanda hates being caged and the irony of it all is that she is incarcerated right now in this huge cage of a castle. The hallways were long and the walls were high and Amanda is expecting some creature or another to pounce on them as they walked through the halls. She might be attacked and die, or be eaten and die. Either way she would die but she does not care about it that much anymore. She was just betrayed by the people that she trusted, the people in the village, and was sacrificed.

Amanda decided to get to the bottom of this. The reason why her father sent her to this place; is that man even her father in the first place? Are her friends in on this as well? What about Jessica? The woman who helped her take a bath earlier, or was it just someone who looked like Jessica?

“You should not have said that to the Lord, human child,” the Lamia maid’s voice pulled Amanda’s mind back into reality. They were already in front of a room with a closed door. “The Lord was furious. That was the first time that he was that furious. Even Alex was frightened. Oh, Alex is the man who was with the room with us, he is the Lord’s steward but he is much kinder.” 

“Is he going to kill me now?” Amanda asked, her voice is still shaking but she is trying to hide her fear.

“I don’t think he will,” the Lamia maid replied, “He will decide what to do with you tonight. Expect for a call tomorrow morning. For now, you will retire in this room and await judgment.”

“Got it,” Amanda replied and looked as the door suddenly opened into a gaping darkness. “Is every room in this castle besides the Lord’s this dark?”

“Wait and see,” the maid replied and as she did, a sudden flash of bright light came awash. Amanda closed her eyes and covered it with her hand to shield the extreme brightness away.

She was awestruck; the room almost glittered and shimmered. The chandelier was full of shimmering orbs and crystals that reflected the light in all directions. The bed was made and covered with silken linen and the curtains were drawn to expose a glass door that leads to the porch – as if there was something worth looking at outside.

“The light was made by magic from the very first Demon King himself.” The Lamia Mad explained, “We have maintained this castle for 500 years to wait for the new Demon King.”

Amanda was silent, except for the fact that this was actually the castle were the infamous Demon King lived and was defeated 500 years ago, it would have been a pretty decent place to hang out with her friends; if they really were her friends and if she would not be reduced to someone like Jessica. All she could do for now is to try and get some sleep.