“Sire, you’re subduing me into what I don’t like,” Lina said, her voice a thin, shaky whisper. She fumbled with the hem of her simple cleaning dress, her fingers twisting the cheap fabric, a sign of her unease. This girl, this insignificant human, had a mountain of nerve to make me repeat myself. It was an insult I rarely tolerated, especially from someone so utterly beneath me.
I drew back a little, my fists coiling into tight balls at my sides. My knuckles were white, a tell-tale sign of the rage bubbling just beneath my skin. I paced a short distance beside her, the soft Persian rug in my private chambers muffling the heavy thud of my boots.
“Do I have to remind you that you’re my property now?” I asked, my voice low and laced with a disgust I didn’t bother to hide. I stopped, turnin
