His Fangs on My Neck

03 | Taken

We reached the end of the dark hallway and there's a grand carriage clad in crimson and gold waiting for us. The carriage was guarded by royal knights and they immediately stopped me in my tracks as soon as they saw me. They drew their swords and pointed them at me. "Where do you think you're going, slave?"

I gulped when I felt the cold tip of the sword touch my neck. I looked at Prince Vladimir and waited for him to say or do something.

"Sheath your swords. She's with me," he said and the guards looked at me, completely baffled. They are probably wondering how a filthy, lowly slave like me is with a powerful figure like him.

"Come forward, slave," he ordered without looking at me. He entered his luxurious carriage and I did not waste a second and immediately followed him.

I walked forward and the guards had no choice but to lower their swords. I can feel them looking at me with intense disgust. I know it does not only stem from the mere fact that I am a human slave, but because of how disgusting I really look and smell right now. I couldn't help but commend the prince for being able to withstand being so close to me.

I halted when I reached the carriage. I had my eyes locked on the ground and stood there, waiting for his order.

"Are you just going to stand there?" I lifted my head when I heard him ask. His luminous crimson orbs stared at me blankly. "Get in."

"B-But, your highness..." I shook my head before staring at my dirty feet and then at the flooring of his carriage that is covered in dark red, high-quality fabric. I didn't have to ask to know. I can tell just by looking. Everything inside his carriage is something bound not to be touched by a mere slave like me. It's worth more than my life. "I...I couldn't afford to dirty your carriage."

I immediately lowered my head after declining his offer. My heart started to pound as my body acknowledges fear. I held my hands tightly together, firmly hoping I wouldn't anger him. I can only imagine the worse things that could happen to me.

"Don't make me repeat what I said, human," he firmly said and I flinched when I felt his piercing gaze seeping deep into my core, intensifying the fear that has been eating me up ever since he took me out of the arena.

I had no choice but to nod. With trembling feet, I took a step inside but I didn't touch anything other than the parts my feet did. I stood up in the corner and lowered my head. I made sure to stay at the farthest corner as possible. I don't want the prince to catch my smell, but I doubt he won't. We're in an enclosed vehicle.

I wanted to look at the prince because I wasn't really able to memorize his face, but it would be so disrespectful of me to stare at him up close, so I settled with his metallic boots. Up until now, it still wouldn't sink into me. I am still processing everything. I am still asking how could a powerful figure like him take a lowly slave like me. I couldn't help but wonder about his reasons.

"Sit down. Seeing you stand in the corner hurts my eyes." I can feel him looking at me. I can feel the warning in his eyes so I had no choice but to sit down while keeping my eyes low.

My eyes widened in surprise when I felt my bútt slowly sinking into the soft seat. I feel like sitting on clouds. This is the first time I have ever felt this comfort.

So this is the comfort that nobles and royalties grow up with?

"Raise your head and look at me, human."

I slowly lifted my face and the first thing that I saw was his bloody red lips pressed into a line that looked even brighter over his cold, pale skin. His features were sharp and striking, especially his prominent jaw and piercing eyes.

Gorgeous. That's the first thing that popped up in my head when I thought of something to describe him. He looks so regal in his white and golden royal suit that matches his dark blonde hair.

I blushed when I realized I was staring for too long. "I...I apologize for staring, your highness."

He didn't say anything, but I can feel him looking at me. "I will ask you again, human. What did you do back there?"

I looked up and met his gaze. "I did nothing, your highness. I...I am also wondering how I survived. Up until now, I still couldn't process what happened."

He stared at me for a few seconds before he slowly nodded his head. "I don't believe you."

"I am telling you the truth, dear sir. I have no reasons to lie to you," I sincerely told him, lowering my head.

"We'll see."

After our conversation ended, dead silence reigned over us. I kept my head down and didn't bother moving from my seat, afraid to sully more spaces.

After a few minutes, the carriage stopped. The royal guards then opened the door for the prince. "We have arrived, your highness."

"Follow me, slave," he said, getting out.

I quickly stood up and followed him but the royal guards stopped me. "Keep your distance, you slave! How dare you taint the royal carriage with your filth."

"Enough," the Prince spoke in his deep, dangerous voice. "Let her through."

The royal guards had no choice but to let me go. I quickly dashed to catch up to Prince Vladimir but I kept my distance since we are now entering the royal palace. I don't want to draw attention and cause his highness such shame.

My mouth hung wide open as I had my eyes wandering around. This is the first time I entered the royal palace, and it exceeded my expectations. I have always thought of this place as the most beautiful place in the Silverray Kingdom, but it's grander than what I had in mind. Everything is clad in crimson, black, and gold. I thought we are heading to the grand hall but we took a detour.

Anyone we bumped into looked at me with disgust and wonder, probably thinking why a vermin is following the second prince. But I chose not to mind them because I am not here because of them.

I still don't know why the prince has decided to take me here. No matter how hard I think about it, I couldn't come up with an answer.

I continued to silently follow him until we reached a dark, quiet hallway. We stopped in front of a dark passage guarded by a group of royal guards. "Let us through," the prince coldly said, passing through the guards.

They looked at me the same way others did, so I just lowered my head while passing through them.

My heart started to thump as scary thoughts flooded in my head.

Am I going to be tortured?

I heard from my former master that there are places in the palace where slaves are brought to be tortured to death. She also told me that even high-ranking nobles have those kinds of places in their households, and I was lucky she didn't consider getting one.

My heart pounded harder when we started going downstairs with just a single torch to illuminate our path. My body started to tremble and I almost tripped after taking a wrong step, but gladly, I was able to hold onto the rocky wall and regained my balance.

The air surrounding us started to thin out. I am finding it a little harder to breathe.

The path is beyond eerie. The silence is deafening. Without the prince's metallic footsteps, the whole place will sound deafeningly dead.

As we go down further, I am starting to hear faint noises. I couldn't distinguish what it is. But as seconds pass by, it's getting clearer to me. The random noises soon sounded like growls and gnarls.

My eyes widened in shock and terror when I realized what the noises were. And I was able to confirm it when we reached the end of the stairs. Right in front of me is a massive cage made of iron, keeping the sources of the noises I heard.

The prince turned to me with a devilish grin. "Now, we will finally see if you were telling me the truth," he said, putting the torch aside and started walking towards me with his gleaming bloody eyes.

"Y-Your Highness..." My voice broke as fear started to engulf my whole system. "W-What are you doing?"

"Testing my hypothesis," he casually answered, grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me near the cage. He took out a key and slowly opened it.

The piercing metallic sound the gate makes scared me even more. I am starting to tear up. I saw how the beasts looked at us with fury. They gnarled at the prince, showing him their fangs.

But with just a single stare from him got them tucking their tails between their legs.

I tried to pull my hand away, struggling to escape his grip, he was way too strong that he didn't even bulge.

The prince turned to me with a dead stare. "If you manage to survive again this time, I'll take you under my wing. But if you fail, then you're dead," he coldly said, throwing me to the group of rogues.