Page 10 of Commander's Slave
Edek knocked the pitcher of wine from her hands. Before it crashed to the floor, he had her pinned to the wall with his hand at her throat, his fingers threatening to squeeze.
Rage heated his blood. “Tell us your name,humanslave.”
Chapter 5
Betsy staredat the angry giant who had her pinned to the wall. He was the largest Kall she’d ever seen and she quickly noted that he was dressed in a traditional black and gray warrior’s uniform. Her stomach bottomed out as she realized the identity of the Kall holding her captive.
Her master.
This angry Kall warrior was her master.Oh God. No no no.
Immediately, she sought Draken’s eyes across the table and sent him a silent plea for help. Draken and the giant began yelling at each other in their native tongue.
Draken had informed her of his brother’s dislike for humans, but she’d never imagined her new master would react so violently the first time he saw her.
The pungent aroma of wine permeated the room.
Tears burned in her eyes and icy cold fear filled her veins.
As the yelling continued, Betsy’s mind raced for a solution. She had no wish to be crushed to death. Nerves twisted her stomach, her vision blurred, and terror overcame her when she couldn’t inhale more than a small breath at a time. As the argument carried on, her master—she recalled his name was Edek, Commander Edek—dropped his hand from her throat, only to push his chest against her body, trapping her further and almost completely cutting off her air.
“Master,” she whispered. “Master, please.” The counselor had advised her to call her owner ‘Master.’ Was he angry she hadn’t greeted him properly? Or had she forgotten to keep her eyes completely downcast? She’d been terrified when Draken had briefly located her in the kitchen earlier and informed her that his brother had arrived home and she would be attending them both at dinner.
From the corner of her darkening vision, she noticed Draken limping around the table, shouting with his fist raised. Sweat rolled off his face, and she hoped the deep wounds on his foot didn’t reopen. He shouldn’t be moving so fast. Concern for Draken prompted her to do the unthinkable. She twisted her body in Edek’s grasp, managing to bring her knee up. But her attempt to knee him square in the groin failed, hitting his massive thigh instead.
Her heart raced. Oh God. What had she done? Surely, he would kill her now.
Edek stepped back and welcome air rushed into her lungs. He captured her by the shoulders, much more gently this time, which surprised her to her very core. She’d expected him to strike her, particularly after she’d kicked him. But remorse flickered in the depths of his dark eyes for the briefest second, and he scanned her body as if making sure he hadn’t caused her harm.
“Is it true?” he asked in perfect but heavily accented English. “Have you been taking care of Draken?”
Words failed her as she became lost in his powerful gaze. Edek was deadly. Draken had told her about his feats in battle during alien wars she’d never even heard of. And about his wife and twin sons. The accident. The grief that had turned to anger. The anger that had hardened his heart. That he’d been on his way to Earth, hoping to kill as many humans as possible, only for the war to end before Sumlin District’s fleet arrived.
“I asked you a question.” Edek’s intense glare burned into her and his grip on her arms tightened, though not to the point of pain.
“Yes, I’ve been taking care of Draken. One of your Holy Ones taught me the exercises he must do each day to recover more quickly. I help with his physical therapy every day, and I bring him his meals and make sure the proper herbs are readily available, in case he needs a special tea brewed to help with his pain.” Her mind spun as she tried to think of other things she did to help Draken, but in her fear, she drew a blank. Surely there was more. She kept busy every day, even if the servants did frequently push her out of the way and try to make her duties more difficult.
“That’s not all she does. She’s become an invaluable member of this household.” Draken had wobbled over and placed a hand on Edek’s arm. “She’s also my friend, brother, as hard as that might be for you to believe. A dear friend. It is my hope that you will treat her well.”
Draken had explained his motivations behind her purchase, but it still riled her that he couldn’t forsake his honorary brotherhood with the Holy Ones so she could belong to him. The idea of belonging to Edek made her heart quake in terror, and calling him ‘Master’ left a bitter taste in her mouth.
He wasn’t the one who’d saved her from the pervert.
He wasn’t the one who’d taken her into a shop and clothed her before leaving the town, sparing her further humiliation on the day of auction.
“You know I despise humans. Why gift her to me instead of another? You have many friends, surely you could’ve given her to another.” Rage infused his voice, causing a new shiver of fear to course down Betsy’s spine.
Edek’s eyes continued to bore into her. She knew she ought to look down. She wasn’t supposed to make eye contact with her master. The counselor had warned her to keep her gaze lowered at all times. His eyes darkened further, his nostrils flared, and his muscles tensed. Why couldn’t she look away?
“You know I have feelings sometimes,” Draken said, patting Edek on the arm. “I didn’t just buy her because I wished to save her from Teyya, but also because I had a feeling that she would be good for you, brother.”
This information shocked Betsy and she trembled harder in Edek’s grasp. There was an unmistakable wisdom that surrounded Draken, but she couldn’t help but think he’d made a grave error in believing she would be good for a human-loathing Kall warrior.
Without speaking another word, Draken left the room with slow, uneven steps, disappearing down the dim hallway that led to his chambers.Please come back. Don’t leave. Save me.She wanted to scream these words to Draken but fear held her tongue. She worried if she begged Draken to save her, her pleas might anger her new master.
The last thing she wanted to do was anger him, though she supposed that ship had already sailed. After all, she’d fought him and kicked him while he’d had her pressed to the wall.
Slaves weren’t supposed to look their masters in the eye, let alone fight back when attacked.
