Cultural Exchange Ch. 04

The next time I opened my eyes, Ralya was up, with her hair messy and using her discarded dress to cover her front while she looked at the dawn through the open window. Thanks to our new link, she noticed that I was awake and she turned to me with a broad smile of satisfaction and said, "Good morning, Nue'He."

*******

Aventhal was alone at his studio, drinking again when he felt the presence. "You made a Hell of a ruckus, Sha'zella." As always, there was no emotion in his voice.

From her corner, she answered, "I only followed a contract. It was your son who ordered me to make a direct attack if your subtle approach didn't work."

The man tasted his wine, as if he was pondering something, and with a sigh he decided to follow her game. "But you also failed in your direct action, and not only you haven't made a new attempt on the outsider, but you also protected him when Dodger tried to stab his back during the wedding. My personal physician has said that Dodger died from a poison called 'Dragon Kiss.' A nasty substance that confuses the heart and makes it send all the blood of the body to the head."

Sha'Zella tightened her grip on the handle of the last throwing knife she had left. "Are you going to look for revenge? There is no longer a contract binding us. I willingly took that man's seed in my womb, so now he is my Lord. Your son received what he was looking for when he tried to kill him."

Aventhal let out a long chuckle. "Revenge? I see no use or purpose in that. He was just the bastard one of my widow maids gave me. I raised him as if he was from one of my Seconds because I thought I could put him to good use, but he was an unrefined, self-centered scum who didn't know his real place. I suppose I shouldn't have had many expectations from him knowing where he came from. After all, cattle will always be cattle. Now he is dead and I have made sure his widows and the advantages from their families remain under my control. My main plan remains unchanged, although I could have made good use of the influence and assets I could have gotten from that union."

He drank again from his cup and asked, "On the other hand, I feel curiosity towards your change of heart. A man beats you silly with lightning and you fall in love with him? Are you a masochist?"

She sighed in exasperation. "It's not masochism; we fall in love through submission, either by submitting to a strong partner, or by being made to submit by a stronger or sneakier partner. That's the main reason for one of the most important rules of our code: never take a contract over someone who has already defeated a member of the Clan. Now I will be leaving to my country to register that my Lord has beaten me and that I have received him inside me to prove I am his."

He chuckled again. "Do you think that he or his First are going to accept you just like that?"

Sha'Zella shook her head. "I said I belong to him, not that this would be a road of two senses. I'll be the happiest if he and his First welcome me in their House as one of his Seconds, but it doesn't matter. If he wants me to be his bitch, I'll bark. If he wants me to be his sex slave, I'll spread my legs when and where he wants it. But watch out," she said while opening the window to get out, "even if he doesn't want me for any of those tasks, I'll be his sword in the shadows. Anyone who tries to hurt him or what he holds dear will beg for Dragon Kiss compared to what I'll be making him suffer."

Sha'Zella was on the way to her homeland, so she couldn't hear Aventhal's laughter