The Sultan's son

13. The Club

The place was crowded, full of strobe lights enhanced by the darkness. The design was a mixture of classical, ancient Rome style, and modern architecture, but which strangely fit perfectly together. The large dance floor was raised two steps above the rest of the lounge area, which was furnished with sofas and tables for drinks. The music pumped through the speakers very loudly, and people danced, drank, and enjoyed themselves. Most of them were guys their own age.

Regina forgot about her tiredness and threw herself onto the dance floor. She liked dancing so much. She did not mind dancing however she wanted, convinced as she was that, in that crowd, no one would pay attention to her. She was having fun, and perhaps because there were also boys in their group, the girls were not being approached by other men. People took turns heading to the bar to get drinks, with many opting for alcoholic ones. Eventually, smaller groups formed. Regina stayed with Raessa, her brother Natesh, Stefan, and Barska; Iris was nowhere to be seen and she had probably joined another group.

"It's so hot, I'm really thirsty! Shall we go for a drink?" Barska said.

Regina was also thirsty and accompanied him, but drank only water and a cola. However, Barska insisted that she should try his cocktail and ordered one for her as well.

“Mmmmm, you were right, it's really yummy! What's its name?"

"Told you! It's named Alexander, and the girls love it!"

As they chatted and sipped cocktails, she glanced at the dance floor and froze.

"Barska, are they the Prince and Charmant?"

"Where? Oh, I see! Yes! Maybe the Casino was boring and they decided to come here instead! Or maybe they lost all their money! Ha ha ha! Come on, let's go say hello!"

She had no intention of greeting them, on the contrary, she couldn't wait to cut and run.

"Go ahead, I'll order another water and then I'll join you!"

But as he entered the dance floor, she walked away to one of the exit doors. 'The evening is ruined, I'll go outside for a while to get some fresh air and I'll come back only when they call me to leave' she thought, going out into the open air, crossing a small group of people returning after a cigarette break. She leaned against the wall for a moment. 'Damn, I could've at least taken my phone ... No way, I'm not going back now. Ugh, I'll be bored to death!'

But at that moment she heard a woman's cry, followed by a: "Leave me alone!" and another scream. There was an assault happening! She ran towards the screams and turned into an alley.

There were two men who had pinned a woman against the wall.

"Hey! What are you doing? Let her go!" Regina shouted.

The men stopped and looked at her. She saw the girl's face; it was Iris! What were they doing to her?

"Iris! Are you OK? Let her go now or I'll call the police!"

One of the two said to the other: "Well, look, this chick is even hotter!"

The other turned to Regina: "Hey darling, do you want to take her place?"

"LEAVE HER, I SAID!"

"Alright, alright, but then we'll have some fun with you!"

They let go of Iris, who ran away. Regina naively thought that Iris was coming behind her, but the girl disappeared down the alley. For a moment she stood still, dumbfounded. The two men approached her. They were big and reeked of alcohol. Realizing that she was alone, she turned on her heels and sprinted towards the club too, but was joined by one of them who grabbed her arm and dragged her back. "Leave me, leave me, you bastard!" Regina struggled with all her might, but now there were two men holding her.

Her heart was racing, her skin was sweating, she was really scared.

"We hit the jackpot, look at those boobs, these surely fill your hands!" and groped her breasts. She was terribly sick with disgust, “HELP! HEEEELP!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Shut up, shut up! Otherwise, I'll silence you forever!" one of them said, covering her mouth.

She bit his hand with the intention of cutting his flesh.

The man immediately pulled his hand away. “b***h! You made me bleed!"

And he struck her hard in the face. The blow was powerful, her ears buzzed and she collapsed like a rag doll. She almost fainted. At this point, they no longer needed to hold her still, they laid her on the ground and tore the collar of her dress. She had almost lost consciousness and could only weakly raise one arm.

'No. No! Lord, please! Don't let these scoundrels r**e me ... Rather let me die!'

Suddenly, the man who was on top of her was lifted into the air and thrown against the wall. She heard scuffling noises and caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of a blond guy kicking and punching at an impressive speed, and knocking the two men out within seconds. It seemed like… Quarin?

"Gosay, Tared, restrain them and call the police," he commanded his bodyguards.

He approached her: “Regina, Regina, can you hear me? How are you?" He had a strangely sweet tone.

"I was better before," she managed to reply. She had recovered a little and her jaw ached terribly. Certainly, it had swollen.

He lifted her gently. "Look what they did to you ... I'd kill those beasts!"

He picked her up and carried her to the car.

"I can walk, I think ... let me down."

"No way, you fainted. Don’t worry, I can carry a lot of weight, even you!" he grinned.

"Hey!"

Don’t need to point out that she wasn’t a feather ... However, he didn’t seem tired at all while carrying her.

They passed near the staff members. Charmant also arrived. She didn't understand the situation because she asked the others: "Is she drunk?"

“Charmant, open the car. Take the keys from my right pocket."

"Ok, but ... you are too kind, Quarin, now you also give a lift to the employees who get drunk?"

"She was attacked. I'm taking her to see a doctor."

"Oh."

Quarin had Charmant accompanied on the ship by one of the two guards, while he stayed with Regina and made sure that she was visited. The doctor established that her injuries were minor, so after minimal treatment, he discharged her immediately. Then she had to make a statement in front of the police, and Quarin was allowed to stay with her. As he listened to the details of the attack, his face grew darker and darker.

When they finally got back to the ship, it was very late.

“Tomorrow you will take a day off, so you can rest. I'm sorry this happened to you. Animals like those should have their balls cut off!" he said.

She still felt disgusted but the relief of having escaped was stronger. She had to admit that, despite his contempt for her, he had been providential. And he was behaving with a courtesy she didn't think he was capable of.

“Thank you very much for coming to my rescue, you have been very brave. How did you get them out of action so quickly? And all by yourself?"

“I have practiced Muay Thai since I was a kid. I used to compete a lot and won many matches. Now I do it to stay in shape. But those guys were drunk; it was really easy."

'Really easy? I don't think so. He must be exceptional. Darn it! He's perfect,' she thought, somewhat annoyed. But she didn't tell him, she didn't want to compliment him too much.

"Anyway, thanks. I, too, would like to learn how to defend myself. I don't want to be in such a situation ever again."

"If you are implicitly asking me to give you lessons, you can forget it."

What a jerk! She didn't even think of that!

"Although ... I would like to kick that nice ass every now and then," he laughed.

What? Better ignore that one.

"Absolutely not! I know that His Lordship would never stoop to give lessons to an ordinary mortal! Least of all, an unpleasant person."

"Unpleasant? No. You are dangerous, that's that. But I helped you, didn't I? I would have done it for anyone, of course."

Well, that was clear.

“Good thing chivalry isn't dead ..." she said ironically.

"And don't you forget it!" he smiled. He was in a good mood, it seemed.

Strangely, she felt better too.