Riona pov

He took my hand slowly as everyone paired up with their partner, the music slowed its pace but for some reason, my heart didn’t. It wouldn’t. The slow sweet rhythm was something straight out of a fairy tale and straight out of a memory I buried so deep into my heart. But here it was coming to haunt me once again. 

“It's a beautiful song is it not?” Adonis said as he pulled me close. 

Once upon a time, I would’ve said the same thing…

“Vinny, what are you working on?” I asked as I crept behind him as he sat on the stump grumbling to himself.

“Nothing and I told you to stop calling me Vinny” he said as he folded his arm

“You know if you keep on whining like a baby you are gonna get wrinkles and be an ugly prince Vincent,” I told him as I pulled faces.

“The only thing ugly here is you,” he snapped back while leaning by the river checking his reflection.

I rolled my eyes as I gave him a little nudge causing him to nearly fall in as he let out a shriek. 

“Ree that is not funny!” He yelled backing away from the river

“Well there is something bothering you so tell me,” I demanded 

He stared at me for a brief moment before letting out a sigh.

“I wrote a s-song for Audrey,” He admitted as he turned away hiding the sight of him turning red

He handed over his music sheets with care as if he was giving me some part of his feelings for Audrey. Did he want me to read it? 

“You have a nice voice for someone who is ugly… So perhaps you can sing it while me and Audrey dance,” he mumbled looking away, running his hand through his hair nervously.

And since they were both my dear friends who I viewed as siblings I agreed. It was a beautiful night seeing the two dance and I was curious how the dance was so I asked Audrey but she simply said…

“You’ll know the feeling when your heart beats so fast that you think it's going to explode as they hold your hands,” she responded.

I felt that feeling but probably not the feeling she felt…

-

The inn was cramped as the damp added to the smell of the unpleasant odour of the men gathered there. It was my first shift as a slave. My body still aches from last night’s discipline. The nights where the cold chains hugged my ankles and wrists so tightly I thought my hands and feet were going to fall off. The nights where they tore my body apart with the hot iron rod leaving me to slowly repair myself painfully as the star worms that bound me to these humans tore me from the inside and ate my mana. 

I could barely walk straight let alone see as far as my arms stretched out. The red bloodshot eyes of the drunken men followed me as if I had some thought of leash on them when in reality they had the leash on me. Though it was probably their first time seeing an elf. An elf that was alive. It was summer but my body trembled and shivered despite the amount of times I was beaten for just trembling. For expressing my fear. My job was to simply clean and to take orders. I wasn’t a harlot. I still had my chastity and that itself gave me some thought of hope. They could torture me but as long as I kept my chastity I was fine. 

As I gathered the plates and rubbish heading toward the backroom a man walked in through the door. He wasn’t exactly tall but he looked rich and I knew that simply because the master of the inn scuttled towards the man with lust for money gleaming in his eyes. I didn’t really care as I took the plates into the backroom to wash since standing around would get me an earful and lashes.

-

As I was washing, the door swung open as a voice said “Oh this is not the privies,” while looking around and pausing when his colourless eyes met mine. “So there is truly an elf in this inn and I thought those men were telling drunken lies,” he chuckled as he took a step forward while I took a step back falling into the water bucket drenching my white rags. He stood there in front of me, staring with a newfound joy. 

“Martin!” A name was called and with that, he left. He came by often leaving me with tips I did not benefit from and he always stacked up his plates neatly before he left. He greeted me with a small smile. But I didn’t pay any attention to that.

-

It was raining heavily as the clouds cried, causing me to be drenched as I held up the inn’s sign outside for people to come in. My throat felt so itchy and it felt like my nose would run a river of snot. I wanted this to be over with. And just when I thought of that Martin appeared in front of me with a warm mud-looking type of tea which he called ‘hot chocolate’. 

“I insist you take it or you may catch a cold,” He pleaded, taking the sign from my hands and pressing the tea in my hands. It was ever so warm and tempting. 

Accepting the tea was my first mistake.