Chapter 24. Do you know if I'll take you as a concubine?
***
Hulkhan opened with a war cry.
The sound of his well-sharpened sword slicing through the air was chilling.
Doa, who had intended to end the fight with moderation, looked Hulkan squarely in the eye.
The speed of the blade had far exceeded his expectations.
It wasn't just speed.
Every time their weapons clashed, the hilt of Doa's sword sent a heavy vibration through the air.
It was an attack that would have broken the blade if it had been parried without thought.
Doa was taken aback, but he kept his face stoic and quickly shifted to a more defensive swordplay.
The corners of Hulkan's mouth quirked upward as he read the look in Doa's eyes.
Hulkan's weapon traced a more dangerous path in the direction of Doa's movement.
Kayan's eyes sharpened as he watched.
Hulkan's sudden change was unnerving.
In training and in battle, Hulkan's performance had never deviated from Kayan's expectations.
It was impossible for a player to improve to this level in secret.
'Has he been hiding his true self all this time?’
To unseat Doa?
There was no logic to it, but something about the reluctance grated on Kayan's nerves.
The mouths of the onlookers twitched at the unexpected turn of events.
"No, no, no!"
"What the hell is going on, Doa is being pushed!"
"We don't know yet. Let's wait and see."
A wicked grin appeared on Hulkan's face as Doa fell further and further back under his pressure.
Just a little more, just a little more.
Soon, he hoped, he would be able to subdue Doa once and for all.
But against his wishes, it wasn't long before the tables were turned.
Initially, Hulkan appeared to be pushing Doa around ferociously, but it was a ploy to gauge his opponent's skill.
Once Doa learned the direction of Hulkan's movements, he finally sheathed his sword.
His strength and speed were certainly greater than before, but his skill with the blade hadn't changed.
In his impatience to win, Hulkan had focused all of his energy on spectacular attacks, leaving him vulnerable to sudden attacks.
Doa calculated Hulkan's movement speed to be about one and a half times faster than before and attacked in earnest.
Kang! Kang!
Hulkan's stance was disoriented by the lively blade.
Hulkan's puzzled expression had already revealed his hand.
The fight quickly turned in Doa's favor.
Doa seized the opportunity.
After barely blocking a flurry of punches, Doa snapped Hulkan's wrist as he began to struggle.
Having lost his composure, Hulkan now forgot to perform basic defenses and began swinging his sword fumblingly.
Bystanders clicked their tongues at the sight of the fallen Hulkan, foreseeing Doa's victory.
Just as Hulkhan was about to make an overzealous attack, Doa's blade, which had lunged with such ferocity that it looked as if it would slice through his thighs, flexed and deflected to meet him at the nape of his neck.
By the time Hulkan raised his sword above his head with both hands, Doa's blade was already at his throat.
"...."
Hulkan stopped breathing and froze in place.
It was his complete defeat.
"What are you doing, not finishing it?"
Kayan whirled around like he was watching a clown show and gave the winner a grim look.
But Doa, recognizing the subtle pressure in it, swallowed dryly, unable to find the words to reply.
He wanted Hulkan to pay for provoking his superior.
At this moment, Hulkan's life was Doa's.
According to Anut tradition, it was only fitting that the victor should breathe the last.
Moreover, before the duel, Hulkan had already vowed to accept any outcome.
If Hulkan begged Doa for his life, he would be disqualified as an Anut warrior and hunted down, not to mention his reputation would be ruined.
"We'll see what you bring.”
Hulkan chewed on his lip, remembering the secretive comrade who had challenged him to prove himself.
He'd made a mistake in underestimating Doa's abilities.
Doa's mouth dropped open as Hulkan's grip loosened and he dropped the sword he was holding.
It was Anut tradition, but this was not a battlefield where every minute counted, and he did not want to take a man's life here.
"Master Kayan, I just wanted to......."
"What are you doing!"
Netira, who had meanwhile finished her errands and reappeared in the ballroom, gasped at the situation before her.
"Kayan, stop it!"
The only one who could go against his wishes boldly took Hulkan's side.
When Kayan still refused to comply, the tendons in Netira's neck rose.
"No matter what Hulkan has done, this is against my late father, Kayan."
As always, she invoked the presence of the one thing that made Kayan's heart weak to get her way.
Then Kayan snickered and laughed coldly.
Then, as if for all to hear, he turned to his left and spoke loudly.
"I don't want to spoil the mood of Lord Bayate, who has taken the trouble to prepare a grand banquet for us, so let's call it a day."
Doa sheathed his sword with a sigh of relief.
Soon, Hulkan was shuffling back to his seat, feeling the stares of disdain in people’s eyes.
Ihedia's palms were sweaty as she watched.
She was overly nervous, wondering if the man's blade would do Doa harm.
Ihedia breathed a silent sigh of relief, her job done.
Before leaving the banquet hall, the red-eyed man took a seat in the far corner and downed his drink at an alarming rate.
***
The banquet went on for a long time, and the tired kitchen workers slowed to a crawl.
Ihedia, too, had been working herself to death all day, and her limbs were now numb.
The only saving grace was that the pace at which the food was emptied slowed as more and more people got drunk.
There were plenty of empty seats in the crowded ballroom, and the deafening noise had died down.
Some people were slumped over in front of their tables, snoring, and others were begging for more drinks in stilted tongues.
Ihedia's head tilted toward the head table.
The faces she recognized had already left the ballroom.
She placed her plate on an empty seat and turned to leave, as she had done before.
"Hey, you, come here for a second."
The gravelly voice, laced with liquor, sent a shiver down Ihedia's spine.
When she turned to look, the red-eyed man was pointing at her.
Ignoring him would only incur his wrath, so she took a shaky step toward him.
"I heard Elmir sent some poor products this time."
"..."
"The rest of your face is pretty forgiving, though."
The flushed man looked Ihedia up and down and let out a nasty laugh.
"I was bored because the chick I was playing with died, so why don't you take her place?"
The words were barely out of his mouth before the man grabbed Ihedia by the waist and pulled her into his lap.
His breath was thick and ragged against her ear.
"Do you know, if your flesh tastes good, I might take you as a concubine."
Ihedia was too stunned to scream, and her whole body went rigid.
The man's thick hands tightened around her slender waist.
The indescribably unpleasant touch made her skin crawl with goosebumps, like bugs crawling on her skin.
She met the man's red gaze in a straight line.
Eyes as sinister as sticky gore.
The man shook his head as he looked at Ihedia, whose will to protest had vanished in the face of raw terror.
"Hold on, you look familiar......."
What would happen if she screamed or ran away from here?
Would she be killed on the spot for offending an Anut warrior?
Would she be taken to an outbuilding and tortured?
Even in the short time she'd been here, horrifying thoughts had plagued her.
In hindsight, Ihedia looked at the people around her and sent them a pleading glance, but none of them looked back at her.
Even the women in the outbuildings carrying food turned away from her, doggedly focusing on their tasks.
Just as the man's rough hands were moving toward her breasts, a sharp object flew across the table from nowhere.
"Ugh!"
"Ahhhh!
She turned her head to see the dagger on the floor, glinting coldly.
An errie silence fell over the ballroom at the sudden commotion.
The man who had been groping Ihedia was now covered in blood.
Everyone in the room turned to look in the direction where the knife flew.
Kayan had returned to his seat and watched impassively as Hulkan stalked away.
"This is a banquet prepared by the Lord of Bayate himself for the Black Wolf, and it's not fair to spoil the mood."
Kayan's deep voice drifted through the air like a black fog, like a leisurely conversation.
His eyelids slackened slightly, as if he, too, had gotten drunk.
Still, his empty blue eyes were keenly focused on the man's hand on Ihedia's waist.
****
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my personal kofi page
Join my discord to get notifications for updates https://discord.gg/MKWnASzDFB
(If the link is expired, message me for a new link)
Write a comment