The Girl from the Valley

Chapter Nine - Adrian

Serena was Dragonborn! Only dragonborns have glowing eyes when they cast magic and her glowing emerald eyes said it all. But if she’s using magic, why doesn’t it feel like that? Magic radiates heat but besides the magic I was using to glamour her, there was nothing that indicated that she was using magic besides her eyes. Serena was getting more interesting. I was definitely going to bring her to Brimsworth with me and my new recruits, but first, I had to deal with the annoying knocking at the door.

I stood next the bed, blinking a few times to end the cast of magic as the glamour masked Serena. Her eyes reverted back to their normal non-glowing green once I moved to open the door.

“Where is she?!” The sandy-haired human shoved past me, lighting up the moon-lit room with a torch as he mounted it to the wall.

I tried to hold back my anger but a growl escaped me, “Get out of my room.”

The tavern lady gasped, taking a step away from the room and bowed her head. I internally groaned as I had informed her several times that she didn’t have to be overly polite just because of my status.

“I’m sorry, Sir Kaiser. I didn’t see you return. I warned him about disturbing our guests but he rushed past me.” Kathy apologized but it didn’t bother me. What did bother me was the bloody-nosed human rummaging through my gear and belongings inside the closet.

Serena and Roan made eye contact when he checked under the bed but he quickly disregarded her. I knew the trick would work but the i***t human was still in my room, which had irritated me. I leaned my back on the door, crossing my arms, when I noticed Serena eye-f*****g me. Her eyes drank my shirtless chest up and down, biting her glamoured lips. Maybe it was a bad idea to glamour her as Trina. I’ve had my fair share of action here in Penin but seeing Serena as Trina bite her bottom lip made me want to tear that bed sheet off her and drink the juices between her legs until she cried my name.

Roan let out a loud frustrated groan, stomping out of the room toward the tavern lady, “She’s not here! Where did you hide her?!”

The human raised his arm and swung his fist, targeting the lady of the tavern, but before he could make impact, I caught his arm, shoving him away from the door and lady. Roan landed, crashing into one of the cushioned chairs, breaking off 2 of its legs.

“What is your problem?!” Roan shouted at me, giving me a good look at his broken nose with clotted dried blood around the swollen area. “This has nothing to do with you, so bug off!”

He got back onto his feet and tried to throw a punch at me but he was too slow. I swerved to the right, dodging the punch. Clenching my fist, I swung it upwards, landing my fist on Roan’s abdomen.

Roan fell to the ground clutching his lower torso, groaning.

“I told you that Serena isn’t here, Roan.” The tavern lady spat at him. “I can see why she would want to get away from you if you’ve been acting like this. You ought to never come back here or I’m reporting you to the guards.”

The human glared at me through his shaggy hair with a snarl on his face. He slowly got to his feet with one arm wrapped around his waist and moved to stand just a few feet away from me, then spat on the floor at my feet.

Every inch of me wanted to smash that broken nose of his for spitting at me, but I held myself back. I didn’t need to create more noise this late during the night than he hadn't already done. I just watched him turn around and walk down stairs until the tavern doors slammed closed with a loud bang.

Glamoured Serena quickly wrapped the bed sheet around her and ran to peer out the window on the opposite side of the room, watching Roan walk away until he disappeared. Once he was gone from sight, she sank to the floor and let out a quivering breath before curling herself up into a small ball, sobbing.

“Sir Kaiser,” the tavern lady peered into the torch-lit room, “Where is Serena? Did she not come in here?”

I walked to the small closet in the corner and grabbed one of my tunics, pulling it over my head, then down my torso. I combed my hand through my hair and sighed at the lack of sleep I had gotten. I needed to make sure that Serena was fine before I decided to go back to bed.

“She is Serena.” I pointed at her small crying figure balled up beneath the window.

The tavern lady looked confused but cautiously approached her. “Serena? Is that you, sweetheart?”

Serena lifted her head, the magic of the glamour had already worn off although it shouldn’t have worn off until morning. Her eyes were red and puffy, the her cut lip and bruised face had reappeared.

”Aunty Kathy.” She sobbed and, apparently, ‘Aunty Kathy’ rushed to embrace her.

“Serena, sweetheart. That lady on the bed was you? You looked so different, I almost thought you ran from me too.” Kathy began soothing Serena by stroking her back with soft shushes. “Dear, dear, it’s alright now. He’s gone.”

“I was so scared,” her sobbing continued. “I thought he would get me. I thought he would drag me back to the house.”

I moved to sit on the bed, resting my elbows on my knees, listening intently as they continued talking.

“What happened to you, sweetheart? What did Roan do?”

Serena wiped her tears with the back of her hand as she cleared her voice with a slight anger in her voice. “He attacked me after he confessed that he wanted to marry me.”

Kathy gasped, “He forced himself on you?”

“After I told him that I would not marry him because he was my brother, he got angry and tried to force me into being his wife.”

“Did you do that to his nose?” I cut into their conversation.

Serena nodded. That must be how she managed to escape from Roan. Breaking his nose would have been so painful for him that he probably staggered back, giving her the opportunity to run away.

“Look at you, dear.” Kathy took in Serena’s appearance, “Let’s get you out of that ripped dress and into something more comfortable. We can clean up your wounds as well before giving you a nice warm bath.”

Serena and the tavern lady walked out, leaving me alone in the room to my thoughts. I was leaving Penin soon and I needed to ask Serena if she wanted to leave with me. She would be able to get away from Roan, who would probably attack her again once he found her, if he was truly obsessed with her. If she didn’t leave with me, would she survive living with Roan constantly bothering her? Would he attack her again? What if she just kept rejecting him and he killed her? No, I can’t allow a dragonborn to stay here in Penin where life is mundane. There is nothing here to offer her. She is better than these people and needed to leave Penin.

I don’t know how long I sat on the bed but I couldn’t sleep knowing that I had to talk to Serena. The sun had begun lighting the night sky when I decided to find Serena. I didn’t sleep after they left. All I could think about was how I would approach and convince her to leave with me. I walked out of the room toward the stairs and was about to take a step down when Serena appeared, taking the last step to the second floor, nearly bumping into me.

Serena was wearing a light, dusty-green, long-sleeve tunic with a mandarin collar that stopped above her chest. The tunic hugged loosely around the curves of her waist and hemmed at her hips. She also wore leather pants a size too big for her. The blood from her lip had been clean and the bruise on the left side of her face had turned a deeper reddish-purple color but was clean.

“Oh, Adrian,” Serena spoke first, “I was about to go to your room. Do you have a moment to talk?”