The Devils Daughter

Chapter Six: Lord Rene

The fourth morning, I could barely move.

My body was a map of Valdin’s possession.

Bruises layered upon bruises, bite marks in various stages of healing, an ache between my thighs that had become constant. Exhausted in a way that went beyond physical. Three nights of his brutal claiming had left me wrung dry.

But I had no choice. I had to go to market.

The eggs I'd gathered over the past week represented my only income. Without them, I couldn't buy flour, couldn't buy salt, couldn't survive.

So I forced myself out of bed. Dressed in my high-necked gray dress to hide the marks, and carefully packed two dozen eggs into my basket with straw.

Each egg was precious. Each one meant the difference between eating and starving.

The walk to Thornhaven felt longer than usual, my legs weak and trembling. I kept my head down, my basket clutched tight against my body.

The morning was bright and clear, almost too bright. It hurt my eyes after so many dark nights with Valdin.

The market was already busy when I arrived. I found my usual spot near the edge of the square, away from the other vendors, and set my basket down carefully. The eggs were perfect. Brown and speckled, still warm from the morning collection.

"Two coppers for six," I said quietly to the first customer who approached, an older woman I didn't recognize.

She looked at me, at my black hair and lavender eyes, like she knew the stories. She made a warding sign before hurrying away.

I swallowed the familiar shame and waited.

An hour passed.

Then another.

A few people bought eggs, though they wouldn't meet my eyes or let their hands touch mine during the exchange. I'd sold perhaps half my basket when I heard the voice that made my stomach drop.

"Well, well. The devil's w***e is back."

Thomas. The blacksmith’s son.

I looked up to find him standing over me. His face twisted with that particular cruelty that some people wore like a badge of honor. He was a large man, thick with muscle from his work, and he knew how to use his size to intimidate.

"I'm just selling eggs," I said quietly, keeping my eyes down. "I don't want trouble."

"Don't want trouble?" He laughed, and several other young men gathered around him, drawn by the promise of entertainment. "You are trouble. Everyone knows it. Your w***e mother cursed this village, and now you're here, spreading your devil's taint."

"Please," I whispered. "Just leave me alone."

"Leave you alone?" His boot moved, deliberately casual, and nudged my basket. "Why would I do that? You don't belong here. You shouldn't even be allowed in Thornhaven."

"Thomas, don't-"

His boot came down hard on the edge of my basket, tipping it over. Eggs tumbled out onto the cobblestones and before I could grab them, he stepped on them.

Deliberately. Methodically. The sound of shells cracking, yolks bursting, filled my ears like thunder.

"No!" I lunged forward, trying to save what I could, but he kicked the basket away. More eggs spilled out, his friends joined in, laughing as they crushed them underfoot.

"Stop! Please stop!" My voice broke as I watched a week's worth of income destroyed in seconds. "Those are all I have!"

"Should've thought of that before you spread your legs for whatever demon you're f*****g," Thomas sneered, grinding his heel into the last intact egg. Yellow yolk spread across the stones like blood. "Everyone can see it, you know. The way you walk. The way you smell. You reek of sin and sulfur."

I knelt in the ruins of my eggs. My hands shaking, tears burning behind my eyes. This was worse than the usual cruelty. This was calculated destruction. This was taking away my ability to survive.

A crowd had gathered, some laughing, others watching with expressions ranging from satisfaction to uncomfortable pity. But no one helped. No one ever helped.

"Look at her," one of Thomas's friends said. "Crying over eggs like they're worth something. Like she's worth something."

"Devil's daughter," another spat. "Should've been drowned at birth like her mother should've been."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. The cobblestones were covered in broken shells and yolk. My basket lay on its side, empty. A week's worth of work. Gone.

"That's enough."

The voice cut through the jeering like a blade. Deep, commanding, with an edge of danger that made everyone fall silent.

I looked up, my heart stopping.

A man stood at the edge of the crowd, and he was massive. Nearly seven feet tall, with shoulders so broad they blocked out the sun. His hair was long and black, pulled back in an intricate braid that fell past his shoulders. His clothing was expensive. Dark leather and fine wool. The kind of garments that spoke of wealth and power. But it was his eyes that made my breath catch.

Pale. Almost colorless. Eyes that seemed to see everything, through everything.

Eyes I knew.

My body recognized him before my mind could catch up. Heat flooded through me. My core clenching with sudden, visceral need. My skin flushed, my n*****s hardening beneath my dress.

It was impossible. He looked nothing like Valdin, nothing like the demon who claimed me every night. This was a man, human, standing in broad daylight.

But my body knew. Every part of me that he'd marked, claimed, possessed. It all responded to his presence like a flame to oil.

"Lord Rene," someone whispered, and the crowd parted like water.

He moved forward with predatory grace, his gaze fixed on me. The crowd shrank back from him and I saw fear in their faces. Even Thomas stepped back, his earlier bravado evaporating.

Lord Rene stopped in front of me, towering over my kneeling form. Up close, I could see the angular planes of his face. The harsh beauty of his features. He looked human, but there was something wrong about him. Something too perfect, too intense.

"Stand up," he said, but his voice was the same. That deep rumble that I felt in my bones.

I obeyed on trembling legs, unable to look away from those silver eyes.

He glanced down at the destroyed eggs, at the yolk and shells covering the cobblestones, then back at Thomas. "You did this."

It wasn't a question.

Thomas tried to hold his ground, but I saw him swallow hard. "She's devil-marked. She doesn't belong-"

"I didn't ask for your opinion." Lord Rene's voice was soft, but it carried a threat that made Thomas go pale. "I asked if you did this."

"I... yes, but-"

"Then you'll pay for it."

Lord Rene reached into his coat and pulled out a leather purse. The sound of coins clinking made everyone's eyes widen. He opened it and counted out coins into his palm. Gold coins, more than I'd ever seen in my life.

"Two dozen eggs," he said, looking at me. "What's the cost?"

"I... four coppers," I whispered. "For all of them."

His lips curved into something that might have been a smile, but there was no warmth in it. "Four coppers. And yet this fool destroyed your entire week's income. Your ability to eat. To survive." He turned back to Thomas. "That seems worth more than four coppers, doesn't it?"

Thomas said nothing, his face white.

Lord Rene turned back to me and held out his hand. In his palm were ten gold coins. Ten. That was more than I made in a year. More than I'd ever held at once in my entire life.

"Take it," he commanded.

"I can't… that's too much-"

"Take. It." His eyes bored into mine and I felt that same compulsion I felt when Valdin commanded me. My hand moved of its own accord, accepting the coins. They were heavy and warm in my palm.

The crowd murmured, shocked whispers spreading like wildfire. Lord Rene giving the cursed girl gold. Lord Rene touching her hand. Lord Rene looking at her like... like...

"My lord." A new voice cut through the whispers, and I saw Father Benedict pushing through the crowd. The priest's face was grave, his eyes moving between Lord Rene and me with something that looked like concern. Or fear. "My lord, surely you don't mean to-"

"To what, Father?" Lord Rene's voice was cold. "To ensure this woman isn't robbed of her livelihood by thugs in your village square?"

"She is marked," Father Benedict said carefully. "Cursed. I would not waste your breath or your coin on her, my lord. She is beyond help."

Marked. Cursed. The priest knew. How did he know?

Lord Rene looked at the priest for a long moment, and something passed between them. Some understanding I couldn't grasp. Then he turned back to me, his hand came up to cup my face. His thumb brushed over my cheekbone. The touch sent electricity through my body.

"Beyond help," he repeated softly, his gaze holding mine. "Perhaps. Or perhaps she's exactly where she needs to be."

Then he released me and stepped back.

No one spoke. No one moved.

Lord Rene turned and walked away, the crowd parting before him like he was royalty. Or something worse.

I stood there, clutching the gold coins. My face still burning where he'd touched me. My body was trembling, aroused and confused and terrified all at once.

"Elara." Father Benedict's voice was quiet, almost pitying. "Whatever you've done, whatever bargain you've made... may God have mercy on your soul."

He walked away, leaving me alone in the square with my destroyed eggs and a fortune in gold.

The crowd dispersed slowly, whispering, staring. I gathered my empty basket with shaking hands and fled.

I spent the rest of the day in anxious confusion.

Lord Rene.

That's what they'd called him. The priest had known him. Had warned me away from him. But Lord Rene was Valdin. I knew it with every fiber of my being. My body had recognized him. Responded to him the same way it responded when the demon claimed me in the dark.

But why? Why had he appeared in daylight? Why had he given me gold? Why had he protected me?

None of it made sense.

I paced my small cottage. The gold coins sitting on my table like an accusation.

Ten gold coins.

I could live for a year on that. Two years if I was careful.

But what did it mean? What did he want?

As evening fell, my anxiety transformed into something else. Anger. He'd humiliated me in front of the entire village. He'd made a spectacle of me, drawn even more attention to the cursed girl. And he'd done it without explanation, without asking, without giving me any choice.

Just like he did every night.

The shadows in the corner of my room deepened, and I knew he was coming. Heat pooled between my thighs, my n*****s hardening, my breath quickening. But this time, I fought against it. This time, I had questions.