Hi everyone, I have officially opened commissions :)
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hii guys quick question, if i were to open up writing commisions, would anyone be interested? it would be all sorts of writing tbh, so fandom related things as well as original! let me know :)
trigger warning: mentions of babies dying and/or being eaten
Chapter 12: Ryoumen Sukuna
The glow of the early morning sun muted through the paper windows illuminates your reflection from behind as you observe your careful acts in front of the mirror. Already having slipped your gown over your head, you close the lacing in the front of your bust, pulling tightly enough to create a prominent cleavage, as the golden rings hanging from your ear glisten prettily. Though you enjoy the image of yourself in the clothes of this country, these robes are your own. They remind you of yourself, of your life prior to this haunted palace, before the wreck and the Lord’s presence. As well as his touch.
When your hands finish tying the lacing properly, you move them up into your hair to make your mane look proper. The thought of the Lord waiting for you in his chambers is an exciting one, you can already feel your heart wish to beat a little harder.
His insults and threats lay dormant in your mind. Of course you have not forgotten them, though his insistence on the more frightening words being teases have mellowed out their negative effects on you.
I hope I look proper enough for him.
You lean a little closer to inspect your face. After flicking the sleep out of the corner of your eyes, as well as rubbing away any stripes of sleepy tears and saliva-trails, you assume you are presentable enough.
He told me to be on time, but I do not wish to be too early.
It might upset him.
Though he did not mind yesterday…
You nod at your reflection for encouragement, before turning and moving to the entrance. The man’s façade did not visit you in your dreams this night, nor did his actual self appear in your room. As you walk through the palace, you can feel a small smile begin to paint your face at the thought of nearing his chambers.
How silly of me.
You shake your head at your visible weakness.
He is the King of Curses.
I have seen him kill people.
Eat people.
Why must he make me feel this way?
Traversing the stuffy, dark corridors as your inners begin to stir with anticipation, your socked feet patter softly over the floor. The image of the Lord’s nude body flashes in your mind, the touch of your fingers on his bare skin while undressing him heats you up from the inside out. You remember only glancing down briefly at his privates, but it was still enough time for the image to burn itself into your mind. Both of them were large, with ink bands wrapping around the girth. You can feel an itch arise at the thought between your thighs, you swallow away the rising saliva in your mouth to suppress any signs of arousal.
As you wade through the wide hallway leading up to his room, your hand raises swiftly to knock on the wood as soon as you near the door.
“Enter.” His deep voice sounds before you knock, just like the night prior. You do not suppress your smile at his attractive voice, and slide the door open smoothly. With a lowered gaze, you enter the room and swiftly close the entrance behind you. Turning back around, you observe the man sitting on the bench, leaning forward.
The Lord’s head turns to greet you, you bow properly. No hum follows, making you hold your bend posture for a long enough moment to allow him to observe you thoroughly. He takes his time, those hot red eyes roam over your whole being with precision.
“You are wearing your own gown.” His deep voice breaks the silence, finally allowing you to raise yourself straight. His crimson gaze immediately falls upon your chest, more specifically the cleavage your dress has created.
“Yes, my Lord.” You respond with a soft voice, a smile still resting atop your face.
“This one is new.”
“I made it in your absence, my Lord.”
“Mmh…” He hums deeply, eyes still lingering on your bosom. When they roll up to meet yours, he nudges his head for you to come closer. Without having to be told verbally, you nod and begin to move.
“Go grab me some clothes.” His new command stops your tracks after just a few steps, your brow furrows ever so slightly at his words.
“Yes, my Lord. Where can I find those?” He does not respond, instead he simply holds his stare. You understand that he has no intention of telling you, when your head begins to twist and turn to scan the room, you can see a smirk settle on his face in the corner of your eye.
You look at the other side of the room, the messes all stuffed away in bookcases and cupboards. When your eyes find the screen divider, you understand that must be the location of his clothes.
Your feet begin to move towards the area with a quick pace, not wanting to keep the man waiting for too long. That, and the prospect of helping him dress is rather exciting for you.
When you reach past the screen, you’re met with a wall covered with hangers. Each of them contains a set of robes, all clearly made specifically for the Lord, given their size and the addition of an extra set of sleeves. The contrast between the stuffed cases and cupboards behind you, compared to this rather empty area is prominent, though you do not let it distract you. Stepping closer towards the garments, you remove yourself out of sight from the Lord. The departure of his warm eyes observing your figure makes you wish to return to him as soon as you can.
There’s many sets ready to be worn; crimson with black, different shades of blue, white with dark blue details. You choose the latter, remembering how the Lord wore something similar when he both departed and returned to the palace.
Reaching your arms up to grab the hanger, you must stand on the tips of your toes to reach properly. When your fingers finally graze past the top edge, you swiftly close them around it and remove the robes from the wall. Making sure to scoop up the bottom of the long garments with your other arm to not let it brush over the floor, you step away from the screen.
The Lord’s gaze meets you the moment you step back into view. He glances down at the set you chose, before rolling his eyes back up at you. A single nod of his head encourages you to step closer, a soft smile settles nicely on your face.
“Proper choice.” He speaks contently as he raises himself to stand.
“Thank you, my Lord.” Your cheeks begin to heat with a blush at the praise as you near him. You put the robes down on the bench, while the Lord pushes down his pair of hakama trousers. After separating all the layers from each other and laying them in order, you turn to face the nude man properly. “Do you wish for me to dress you, my Lord?” You ask regardless of your assumptions.
“I command it.” He corrects your choice of words in a manner befitting of him. You nod, before reaching beside you for the nagagi. Unsure how to reach his shoulders properly, you fold open the long garment at the middle seam and step behind the man. You present the two armholes on one side to the corresponding set of arms, he sticks them through with ease. As you pull the sleeves upwards, you must reach your arms high above you to lay the fabric down onto his top shoulder somewhat properly.
You repeat the process on the other side, nearly straining your traps in the process. When you step back towards the front of the man, you can feel your breath hasten as you grab onto the edges of the robe. Your eyes glance up at his for only a short moment, yet enough to allow your gazes to meet each other. Though his expression is as neutral as ever, his eyes graze past yours warmly, familiarly. You swallow some air at their touch, before moving your focus back to the garments.
Closing his nagagi properly, you make sure not to pay any attention to the Lord’s privates, no matter how hard they appear to be growing in the corner of your eyes. You reach for the hakama, and kneel down before the Lord to allow him to step into the trousers. After he does, you raise yourself up slowly, pulling the waist upward as you do. As the band brushes passed the hardened bulge, you can feel your cheeks burn an even brighter red than before.
To your surprise, the Lord does not comment on your visible weakness, instead allowing you to continue with your movements. After retrieving the haori, you repeat the same steps you did with the nagagi; moving behind him and pulling his arms through the sleeves. You step back towards his front, and look up at his eyes.
“Is there more I can be of service of, my Lord?” You speak with the neat tone you have copied from those in the kitchen.
“Stop speaking as if you are a servant.” He moves to sit down on the bench once more, leaning forward.
“…My Lord?” Confusion riddles your voice at his command.
“Act befitting of your station.”
“Am I not?”
“I do not dine nor break my fast with maids, do I?”
“No, my Lord. You do not.” You suppose.
“I do not.” He reiterates once more, forcing the fact to bore into your skull.
But…
What am I, then, if not a servant maid?
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound from the door catches your attention, though you know to keep your gaze fixed onto the Lord. He seems pleased with your awareness, a twitch at his lips tells you so.
“Enter.” He bellows before you, the regular sounds of folk entering the room and placing down things rings through the space. Never do you take your eyes off of him, as his roam all over your body once more. He does it so shamelessly, it almost feels normal to you. Though that rising heat between your thighs betrays the notion quickly.
“Come.” The Lord speaks once the servants have left the room, standing up as he does. You follow the man obediently, before sitting down in your spot while he does with his. With large and eager eyes, you observe the breakfast set out before you. It’s not the usual mixture you took from the servant’s cauldron every morning. Instead, there’s your favourite broth with extra seaweed, rice, fruits and pickled vegetables. It’s similar to supper, though the presentation makes it appear much different. There’s even a cup of what you think is tea placed on your tray.
“You will eat this from now on.” His deep voice sounds at the opposite side of the table. Your eyes roll up to him, a content smile has pulled at your lips.
“Yes, my Lord.” You respond gladly, before lowering your eyes once more the moment the man begins to consume his food.
You cherish these new flavours caressing your palette. Though it truly did not appear that different from dinner, the tastes are all changed. You can tell more salt has been added to every dish, to your delight. You save the broth for last, of course.
After putting the soup bowl down, your hands reach for the small cup of tea. While looking inside, you can see some leaves and branches float within. Smelling the substance carefully, it’s clear the drink is more like a tincture, though the sweet smell of honey attempts to mask most of the bitterness. Glancing up at the Lord’s tray, there is no such cup resting atop his.
Perhaps that strange woman made it for me..?
“Drink the tea, girl.” The Lord tells you as soon as he notices your apprehension. You take a careful sip in compliance. As assumed, the sweetness is the dominant flavour, grassy green leaves and woody herbs beneath it. Only when you finish the full cup and put the empty vessel back onto the tray do you dare speak.
“May I ask what it is for?”
“Your ailments or such.” The Lord answers rather disinterestedly.
“I see.” Your brows frown slightly, currently not suffering from any monthly bleedings or other discomforts. “Why am I given it?”
“Uraume insisted.”
“Uraume?” Though they have helped you with your struggles in the past, there is no reason for them to do so now. Especially when there is no problem to speak of. The Lord does not respond to your question, instead raising himself onto his feet.
“Be absent from this part of the palace until supper.” He changes the subject as he walks towards the armchair besides his bed. “There will be visitors, do not let them see you.”
“My Lord?” You ask him for clarification as he grabs the kiseru from the small table.
“Do not question me, girl.” A flame escapes his finger, alighting the substance in the pipe.
“Yes, my Lord.” You suppose these guests are what Uraume had to make preparations for yesterday.
“You can take your leave, now.”
“…Is there no more you wish from me, my Lord?” A deep chuckle escapes the sitting man.
“Not at the moment, wench. I have things to do.” He waves one of his free hands in dismissal, accentuating his words.
“Yes, my Lord.” You respond with a soft voice, before raising yourself up. His warm eyes follow your movements as you leave the room. Only when you close the door behind you do you glance at him one last time, observing another twitch pull at his lips as your eyes meet his for but a second.
---
“There she is.” The old woman by the counters exclaims as you enter through the door, not even turning around to look at you. You see the two others sit at the table already, you move towards them with a steady pace.
“The Lord’s favourite.” The young woman throws you a playful smile.
“More like his pet.” The man scoffs in response. You smile softly at both.
“Perhaps still just a girl.” You correct both while sitting down, though are unsure what your true position is, especially after the Lord refused you to be a servant maid.
“Not according to the tales.” The young woman tells you as the older one sits down as well.
“What tales?” Your voice asks with care as your elbows rest on the wooden surface before you.
“There’s been talk.” The elder lady sighs, seemingly annoyed at the young one. “Servants passed your study yesterday. Reported certain… suggestive noises.” Her words make you exhale audibly, before your head drops into your hands.
Of course they heard.
Of course they told.
They’ll think I am securing my safety through intimacy.
They’ll think me a whore.
Gods, I’m ruined…
“There, there.” The young woman beside you pats your shoulder in an attempt to comfort your discontent self.
“It is not our place to ask, but…” The older opposite you speaks.
I am no servant, he told me.
I must not act weak or ashamed.
I must keep my pride.
“No.” You raise your head back up out of your palms, holding it high, regardless of your rising sense of shame. “It is not.”
I must hold my head high.
The words repeat in your mind, as they did so many weeks ago. Though this time it is not regarding the notion of your early demise, rather your position here in the palace in context of being the Lord’s possession.
The old woman looks at you with slightly widened eyes, aghast at your sudden stern voice.
“I apologise, but the matter of the Lord is not to be discussed.”
“I see.” She responds somewhat quietly. “Though you must know people will speak regardless.”
“They will. There is nothing to be done of that, nor does it mean I must entertain such gossip.”
“…So it is true.” The man speaks beside the old woman, his voice as taken aback as hers. “He has claimed you.” The exact choice of words nearly makes your reclaimed composure shift, though you manage to stop it in time.
“Claim?” You respond, feigning ignorance. The man simply nods, seemingly unable to see through your lie.
“You are truly his.” The woman beside you speaks.
“You are cursed.” The old one continues.
“Cursed?” This time, your unknowing is not false, your eyes squint at the wrinkled woman before you.
“He is a sorcerer, girl.” She tells you information you already knew. “He knows all of curses and pacts. It is most likely he has placed one on you.”
“And what would that entail?” You attempt to keep your voice stable, though slight worry begins to seep through.
“I do not know, though I can imagine it means you must not leave his side, lest you wish to be… harmed.”
“No.” You shake your head with furrowed brows after letting the words marinate within your mind for a moment. You know if he truly has cursed you, it was before his departure. “I was okay while he was away. It must not be true, then.”
“It could be the palace, too.” The man interjects with his thoughts. “Perhaps it is either distance from these grounds or him that would truly harm you. Or both.”
Though you do not wish to believe such folly, remembering Uraume’s apprehension to let you stray too far from the palace grounds rings in your mind. It seems the others at the table observe your thinking eyes.
“Do not fret, girl.” The old woman’s kind voice tells you quickly, seemingly already having forgotten about your strict tone earlier. “Perhaps it is not true.”
“Perhaps.” You agree, though cannot help but think it is certainly not out of character for the Lord to bestow such a torture on someone. You do not believe you are an exception.
“Perhaps not.”
---
The pleasant breeze of the late afternoon blows against your skin, the fresh scent of grass and green brought to you on a platter. The gazebo is the most pleasant place to spend your afternoons after studying, you have found. Though today you skipped your trip to the study, obeying the Lord’s orders of absence carefully, and went here straight after leaving the kitchen. The cat is here to accompany you, as per usual, laying stretched out beside you on the bench.
Turning the page of your poetry book, you keep the words inside of your head. It’s much easier to read this way, not having to focus on the pronunciations of difficult words and symbols.
“That one is different.” The voice of an old man calls from before you, causing your eyes to flash away from the paper and into his direction. The gardener stands by the wooden stairs of the structure, a pleasant smile painted across the elders face. His wrinkles are sunk deep into his skin, as he leans his frail body against the rake he’s holding with trembling hands.
“Yes, I grew tired of reading the previous one so many times.”
“Good, that means you are learning.” You flash him a soft smile as you lower the book onto your lap, text-side down so you won’t lose track of where you were.
“May I?” He asks while pointing at the other bench in the small structure, you quickly nod in agreement.
“Of course. No need to ask.”
“Is that so?” His ages voice asks somewhat playfully as he traverses the steps. “That is not what I have heard.”
“I see…” You respond with a small sigh. “So the rumours reached even your ears.”
“Yes, despite my failing hearing, the conversations are loud enough to hear.” He rests his body onto the bench with care, using the rake as a stabiliser.
“How bad is it?”
“In what way, girl?”
“How I am portrayed, I mean.” The man shrugs to your careful words.
“I assume it is what you expect.”
“So the servants truly believe me to be a harlot?” You nearly scoff as the words exit your mouth, never having done anything to offend those that now think so little of you.
“That as well.” He nods his head carefully as to not crack his weak neck. “But perhaps mainly his object of desire.”
“…An object?” Though you know you are his possession, perhaps even his slave, to be named an object takes it a bridge too far.
“You have always been seen as odd, you know that. What difference is there between a strange apparition and an inanimate one?” You swallow at his words.
“I am still a person. I am still me.”
“Is that wise?” His question makes you frown. “Would it not be better to lose yourself? To protect what little of you remains by locking it away?”
“No.” You shake your head quickly after he repeats the notion that strange woman spoke a day earlier. “I will not allow to be stripped even further from who I am.”
“A valiant thought.” He leans his hunched body slightly closer to you. “But do you truly believe he will let you?”
“Why would he care?”
“For the same reason you eat with him.” The man leans back again, his eyes roaming you up and down. “It is why you learned his tongue. Drank that tincture. Read his poetry.”
“And why is that, then?” You choose to not get stuck on the details, rather focussing on the bigger picture.
“That is a question only the Lord is able to answer, so ask him.” The man raises himself to his feet once more, turning his body to walk away and reattend to his duties. Before he departs the gazebo, however, he glances you one last look over his weak shoulder. “He is awaiting your return, after all.”
You watch the man leave on the dirt trail with slightly confused eyes, unknowingly squeezing the book’s papers between your fingers.
The Lord does not care.
The old man clearly does not know what he is speaking of.
You close the book in your hand with a sigh, before glancing at the sweet feline beside you.
Though he did know about the tea…
How could he?
Perhaps the servants who collected the dishes could see I drank it..?
That must be the reason.
You raise yourself onto your feet, ready to return to the man who is waiting for you.
These walls have much more eager tongues and ears than I had envisioned.
Are the servants not frightened of the Lord?
Though I suppose he does not care for gossip…
The notion makes your head raise higher once more, as you traverse the path headed for the nearest entrance to the palace.
Nor should I.
---
After walking through the dusty corridors for a moment, you pass the kitchen. The smells seeping through the walls are familiar to you, they remind you of your supper with the Lord these past two days. You feel inclined to open the door and greet whomever is cooking, wishing for it to be Uraume, though you know if the food is already being prepared, the Lord is most definitely expecting your return sooner rather than later. Not wanting to keep him waiting any longer, you hasten your pace as you traverse the familiar route.
As your quick steps near the area of the throne room, you can hear noises begin to rise in the distance.
…Am I too early?
You swallow at the rising worry within you. If you turn back now and the Lord has truly been waiting for you, he will be upset at your absence. But he did tell you to stay out of sight, and if his visitors are still here…
Your brow furrows at the confliction.
What am I to do?
The sounds seem to approach you fast, not allowing you much time to think. Looking at the walls of the hallway, your eyes locate the nearest door. Without hesitation, you rush your feet towards it and slide it open quickly, before entering the dark room. You close the door behind you, though your curiosity keeps it from shutting completely. A small slither remains, just enough for your eye to peak through and observe the Lord’s guests. Their sounds seem to have entered this specific corridor, meaning you were just in time to hide.
A few pairs of footsteps ring out, you guess there must be four or five people in the group. Your eyes focus on the small visible area before you, as their voices ring out closer and closer with every step.
“I must admit, his decision surprised me.” One of the voices speaks, it sounds rather deep.
“Nonsense, Lord Sukuna has always been known to gain interest in such offers.” A different voice responds, this one sounding more higher pitched.
“Yes, but to refuse the offer of those two for one?”
“It is not one. It is a pregnant one.” An ominous sounding voice chuckles. “A more luxurious delicacy is not to be found.”
“Yes, my lord.” The first voice agrees.
“Yes, my lord.” The other sounds as well. Now that the party has reached closer, you can hear soft, muffled cries accompany the rest of the noises.
“I am well aware of Sukuna’s preferences.” The sinister voice speaks once more, sounding nearly beside you. “We go far back, he and I.”
“Then why bring these two?” The higher voice asks.
“Best not to arrive empty handed, no?” The ominous one chuckles.
Only a short moment after his last sound, the figure passes your small bit of view. His appearance is quite uncanny, the scent lingering to him reminds you of the throne room. Decay and rot.
When your eye glances up at his face, you can barely make out any distinguishable features. Only a scar running across his forehead is visible to you, before the figure leaves your sight. Two others pass, they must be the voices you heard. After them, two young looking girl follow, bound and gagged.
They’re leaving.
Good.
I won’t have to butcher them, then.
As the footsteps gain more distance from you with the seconds, you await their full departure from the hallway with slight impatience. Though the time does allow their conversation to settle in your mind.
The two girls were not accepted.
Instead he wanted a pregnant one.
The thought makes your forehead strain.
A mam and her babe.
The image of the cook you so appreciated flashes into mind, holding his little girl he could not watch grow up.
He wishes to eat both.
…Will I have to slaughter them?
The prospect makes you nauseous, though you quickly push it down with a swallow of air.
No.
I am no servant, he told me.
Regardless of what I am instead, I will not butcher a mother and her unborn child.
No matter the punishment.
The sounds seem to leave the hallway, only a short moment after do they disappear from your hearing completely. Deciding it is safe enough to continue with your journey, you carefully slide the door open. Sticking your head out of the entrance to look around the hallway, nothing but empty space greets you back. With a soft sigh escaping your nose, you depart from the small, dark room. Only when looking inside before closing the door, do you see it’s just a storage room with buckets and brooms.
You continue your path towards the Lord’s chambers, not hearing anymore noises apart from your own patters. When you reach his hallway, you can feel your face wish to smile, though those words from the ominous figure repeat through your head.
“Enter.” The Lord’s deep voice speaks the moment you stand still before his door. You repeat the same process as always; sliding open, stepping through, closing and bowing.
“You did not obey.” His voice speaks, rather than his usual hum. You raise yourself regardless and find his hot eyes with yours, his posture slumped back in that chair of his, appearing as though he has not moved since you departed this morning.
“My Lord?”
“You met my guests, did you not?”
“No, my Lord.” You speak the truth, though assume he must not believe you. “I hid from them, unaware they were still here. I thought-”
“Did I tell you to think?” His deep voice interrupts your explanation. His choice of words makes is almost seem as though he was waiting for something, anything, to reprimand you for.
“…No, my Lord.”
“They did not see you?” The Lord speaks after a moment of held stares, his voice low and genuinely asking.
“No, my Lord. I am certain.” Unsure whether you should tell him, you do anyways, knowing he’ll learn in one of his many ways regardless. “I did see them, though. And heard their conversation.”
“Did you?” He chuckles deeply at your honesty. “And what did they say?”
“That you wish to eat a pregnant woman.”
“Does the notion disturb you?”
“Yes, my Lord.” You admit truthfully, though the reasoning being more selfish than you’d wish to admit. “I do not want to butcher them.”
“You will not. Though I will eat them for supper. Perhaps I will give you a taste.” His words linger in the air for a moment as you think of an appropriate response to such a troublesome prospect.
“Such a luxurious delicacy would be wasted on a peasant, my Lord.” You remember how the strange man referred to the meat, and repeat the words.
“It would be. Though you are not.”
“Than what am I?”
“Whatever I desire you to be in the moment, wench.”
So that is what I am.
His property, indeed.
An object whose purpose is to be changed at his wish.
What a sad reality…
You remember the other girl who arrived here shortly after you, a sudden rush of shame comes over your selfish thoughts.
I suppose it could always be worse.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Enter.” The Lord responds immediately, you step to the side as the door behind you opens, allowing the servants full passage. You watch as two put down the table, before the others place the trays on top, not having your gaze on the Lord anymore. Though he does not command you to return, the intensity at which his eyes burn into you tell you he is not happy, forcing you to look at him once more. He squints at you from the distance as three of them leave the room.
Uraume stands still in the entrance, only shortly removed from you.
“Drink the tea, girl.” They tell you quietly, even though you know that they are aware you have done so.
“Yes, Uraume.” After your confirmation, they exit as well, leaving you alone with the Lord once more.
The Lord raises himself to his feet, signalling for you to move towards the table as well. With his large pace, he reaches the destination much faster than you and sits down comfortably. You follow suit, your eyes watching the meat on his tray.
A delicacy.
I wonder if he wishes to taste me as well…
“You will eat your supper, unlike yesterday.”
“Yes, my Lord.” You look down at your own food while speaking the obedient words. The sounds of him beginning to dine make you follow suit. The flavours are just as pleasant as this morning, clearly having been salted more than two days prior. You save the broth for last, like always, before washing it down with the tea Uraume made for you.
I wonder what it is for…
Even after raking your mind about it for a while, you still have no clue. Asking the Lord proved fruitless this morning, so perhaps looking for Uraume tomorrow to ask them will provide you with more answers.
The sound of your cup being put down onto the tray rings in unison with the Lord’s chopsticks being let go as well. Your eyes roll up to gaze upon him, his arms cross before his chest as he looks back at you, eyes squinted.
“Is something the matter, my Lord?” You ask with a soft voice, hoping it is not the case. He takes a moment to answer, his eyes dart between yours.
“You will be staying.”
“…My Lord?” You sound confused, unsure what it is he means.
To stay in the palace? I already knew that.
I have nowhere else to go, anyways.
Or does he mean…
“You will not be leaving.” He tells you as commanding as before.
“Do you mean your chambers, my Lord?” A smirk begins to paint his face at your realisation.
“What else?”
A swallow of air is pushed down your throat at the notion, a furrow twitches at your brow. A pleasant surprise builds up within you, accompanied by that usual excitement when it comes to him.
“You said what I am depends on your wishes, my Lord,” Your voice begins to speak, you attempt to steady it, though your pounding heart makes it a little difficult. “What do you desire me to be now?”
His red eyes dart over the features of your face, before glancing down at your sitting body. Slowly, they roll up from your chest back to your eyes, that smirk still pulling at his lips.
“A bold question, girl.” He tantalises with a deep voice, clearly amused by your daring ask.
“So I am ‘girl’, then.” You engage with his playful tone, responding with your own teasing voice. It earns you a deep chuckle from the Lord.
“Settle down, girl. The night will be long.” He raises himself up to a stand, you follow his movements carefully with your eyes.
“I do not doubt it, my Lord.”
“Go do what you wish, as long as you stay here.” He speaks rather disinterested as he walks back towards his chair, retrieving his kiseru as soon as he nears it.
Do what I wish?
In his chambers?
Your eyes begin to glance around the room, head turning as required. Though you wish to snoop through every item in the space, hoping to learn more about the Lord, it would be disrespectful to do so.
He is testing me…
You realise as you look at the smouldering fire place, while the sound of the kiseru’s contents being lit crackled behind you as those hot eyes burn into the back of your skull. Your mouth contorts into a small smile, you know exactly what it is he wants you to do. What it is you need to do, in order to appease him.
You rise onto your feet, before turning to face the man. With a steady pace, you walk towards him, his crimson gaze following your movements carefully as he blows out some smoke.
You reach a short distance from the Lord, before smoothly stepping towards the edge of the bed and sitting down gracefully, right in front of him. His mouth twitches as your eyes plant themselves back onto his.
“What do you want?”
“I wish to converse with you, my Lord.”
“I have no interest in entertaining you, girl.”
“Then I will enjoy the quiet of the evening in your presence.”
A scoff escapes the man in response, a small shake of his head averts his gaze from yours, instead looking off to the side. Your eyes remain stuck on his face, however, roaming over all of his handsome, defined features with pleasance. He takes another puff, keeping his head turned to the side to keep his eyes away from you. As the smoke escapes through his nose, you can see the lower one closest to you roll back to observe you, pulling your smile tighter.
His head rolls back straight, he looks you up and down for a moment, before nudging towards the nightstand beside the bed you’re sitting on.
“Grab me that book.” His deep voice breaks the peaceful silence between you.
“Yes, my Lord.” You nod, reaching your arm towards the table beside you. It proves to be much further away than you had calculated, forcing your whole body to lean towards it, nearly laying you flat on your side. You can feel his warm eyes observe your stubbornness to not stand. When your fingers finally reach the leather casing, you grab it eagerly and pull yourself straight. Your gaze finds the Lord, and with a soft smile you hand him the object with both hands.
After observing your still body for a moment longer, one of his arms reaches to take the book from you. He pulls his eyes away from you while opening the object, before beginning to read without speaking another word. You observe closely as they begin to dart over the paper from left to right. Port to starboard. Every now and then, he takes another puff, before releasing the smoke from either his mouth or nose, or both. The silence lingering between you is pleasant, the warmth of his body seems to increase over time, caressing your front kindly.
Though the more time passes, the more tired you grow. You keep your posture somewhat decent, though notice yourself slump more and more.
Your eyes continue to caress him eagerly, every so often they pull away for a change of scenery. When they find him again, you can barely make out the lower set rush back to the paper, almost as if they were sneaking a peak at your not-looking self.
“Where am I to sleep, my Lord?” You ask with a voice clearly growing tired, as you suppress the third yawn in a short period of time.
“Where do you think?” His response shoots at your heart, you can hardly believe he will allow you to sleep beside him, in his very own berth.
“May I rest?”
“Do as you wish, I told you.” He responds to your fatigued voice, never moving his eyes off of the paper.
“Yes, my Lord.”
You slide your body off of the soft mattress, and begin to make your way to the other side of the Lord’s bed with a rather slow pace.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The familiar sound shocks through your body with surprise, not having expected more visitors.
“Enter.” The Lord responds with disinterest. The door opens, before two servants rush into the room. They make their way towards the table, and smoothly pick it up.
This must happen every time after eating.
You come to realise, as they rush back out of the room with that same learned speed and control. It amazes you how well behaved they are, considering the heavy load of rumours drowning the palace walls. You glance at the Lord as the door closes, curious to ask him about his knowledge of the things the servants speak of, though you assume it to be better to not disturb him anymore.
As you stand beside the unused side of the mattress, your hands find the lacing at your bust. Undoing it as quickly as you always do, your eyes observe the Lord closely, waiting for his gaze to roll up to your actions. It never does, not while undoing the laces, nor while you pull the dress over your head. Not even when you drop the garment on the floor and move to take off your socks, leaving you completely bare apart from your thin undergarment.
A soft sigh leaves through your nose, though you doubt he heard it. Looking at the bed before you, your hands move over the soft fabric carefully, before grabbing the edge of the duvet and pulling it apart.
You lower your body onto the mattress and pull the heavy blanket over you. Your body sinks into the soft mattress pleasantly, both the rich fabric beneath and above you hug your being pleasantly. As your head drops carefully onto the pillow, it feels as though a cloud embraces your noggin with love.
A pleased exhale escapes you as your eyes close to enjoy the sensations further.
What a luxury.
Your thoughts ring truthful, you pull the blanket a little higher to encase you nearly completely, only your face remains exposed to the outside world. The rest of you is blanketed in this world of plush and comfort.
What a dream.
It takes you but a few moments before slumber steals you away from reality, your mind not even bothered by the presence of the Lord so near you.
The man who so confuses you. Who scares you, though only a little. Who your heart desires, nearly desperately so.
Though your mind is far in the abyss, no dream of note keeping you busy, your ears perk up at a shuffling noise beside you. Slowly, your consciousness moves back to the surface, while your being remains asleep. You can feel your physical self roll a bit with the motions of the moving mattress, before a pleasant heat nears you further.
It creeps closer, increases in hotness, before a burning surface places itself on one of your breasts. The massaging motion it commences is familiar to you, you can feel a smile form at the memories of the Lord.
…The Lord?
The thought rings out in your unaware state. The hand begins to move down over your clothed body. It travels across your stomach first, the plush skin beneath the fabric dipping slightly at the heavy weight. The closer it gets to your intimate area, the more your body begins to tingle with pleasure. The heat emitting from the palm encourages your own body to burn up as well, a wetness accompanies the rising temperature between your thighs.
When the hand moves over your thighs, the large fingers begin to creep under the hem of your underdress, before moving upwards again. When one of the thick digits places itself against the slit between your legs, a shock rushes through your whole body, awakening you further.
Your eyes carefully open, nothing but darkness greets you back. It takes a moment until your vision gets used it, and when it does, you can see the Lord’s ceiling stare back at you. Your head turns towards the source of the heat beside you, letting you observe the Lord resting on your right.
Your tired gaze meets his burning red one, you can feel the fire within his eyes caress yours. Speak to yours. In that language neither of you truly understand.
“My Lord…” The whisper leaves you softly, his finger pushes firmly against you in response, a twitch at his lip accompanying it.
“Turn around.” His deep voice commands you, want dripping from the syllables.
“…Yes, my Lord.” Though your voice may seem apprehensive, it’s utter excitement that makes your speech slow as to not lose your composure too obviously. Immediately, your mind has awoken fully, adrenaline rushing through you accompanies that rising pulse and heat right where his finger is placed.
You obey his command, turning your body to lay on your other side so your back faces the Lord. His hand removes itself from you at the motion, the departure of his hot skin on yours has dissatisfaction replacing it.
The warm hand begins to rub one of your buttocks with a pleasant pressure, reminding you of his punishment the day prior. As you lay your head down comfortably, the massaging increases in intensity while the Lord moves his body closer to you.
“You slept so deeply that other night.” His hot breath pushes against the skin of your neck, sending a wave of pleasance through you. Your eyes close at the wonderful sensations, making you able to enjoy them better, while want for more creeps up within. “A shame none of my acts awoke you.”
“I was aware, my Lord.” You whisper in response, remembering the odd dream-state you found yourself in that night.
“You were?” A chuckle follows his surprised words. “Playing pretend, then?”
“I was asleep, though my dream felt too real to be just that.”
“Mmh…” He hums teasingly. “You dream of me often?”
“Nearly every night, my Lord.” You speak honestly, your head turning a little to the side so your face is closer to his behind you.
“How desperate of you.”
“Do you, my Lord?”
“Hm?”
“Dream of me?” Another deep chuckle escapes the man who pushes himself even closer to you, his large, hot frame now rubbing against your backside. You can feel the growing hardness press against your rump, his face moves closer to lower his mouth beside your ear.
“You truly do not know your place, do you?” His low voice rumbles against your shell, forcing you to swallow air to offset all the delight rushing through you. “Do you believe a mere peasant such as yourself could make such an impression on a lord?” You can feel one of those sharp canines graze passed your soft skin. “On a king?”
“I do not know what to believe in this haunted palace.” You turn your head towards him, forcing his face back before meeting his crimson gaze with yours.
“A haunted palace?” The warm palm moves itself lower towards your thighs, before creeping beneath the hem of your undergarment again.
“Yes, my Lord.” Your eyes begin to caress his in the darkness of the room, the shimmers of red shining brightly before you.
“What a fitting description.” The hand places itself on your hip, before giving your round feature a pleasant squeeze. “Do you wish to leave?”
“No.” You answer perhaps too quickly. “This is my home, now.” That familiar smirk of his pulls at his lips, as he leans his face closer to yours.
“Correct answer, wench.”
The grip on your hip tightens, before a sudden pressure hits against your backside. One of his large lengths forces itself into you from behind, your walls strain painfully at the girth. A gasp escapes your throat, while your widened eyes remain stuck on his. Those four red ones glint with amusement as your brows bend due to the nearly unpleasant tension you’re experiencing. It feels as though he’s growing larger with every millimetre he pushes into you, the stress inside of you almost tears your channel apart.
When the length reaches all the way, and his pelvis collides with yours, you feel as though you can breathe again. A strained exhale leaves you quickly, you need a moment to regain a regular rhythm. The Lord does not let you, instead retracting himself nearly all the way with a quick pace, before forcing his entirety back into you faster and harder than the first time. A pained moan escapes your throat at the vigour, your eyes squeeze shut at the aching pressure.
The free hand on his top side reaches for your face the moment he notices your lids obstructing your gaze from his. The thumb and index squeeze into one cheek each, forcing your mouth into a pout and your eyes to reopen.
“Don’t you dare look away, girl.” His deep voice rumbles beneath his fastening breath.
“My Lord.” You face winces with discomfort at the disturbing pain within you.
“What, you cannot manage?” He nearly mocks your incapability, yet his movements cease.
“I…” The sound barely escapes you, as the lack of motion allows you to attempt to regain your breathing once more while your insides begin to adjust themselves to him.
“Are you refusing this gift of mine?” His fingers pinch your face, before letting go of your cheeks and moving to your chin instead.
“Never, my Lord.” Your voice sounds more confident now, less strained and discontent.
“Then be a good girl, and accept it with pleasure.” His thumb begins to caress the soft skin of your chin, as he tends to enjoy doing.
“Yes, my Lord.” You can feel his words force your being to regain its composure completely, the moment of inaction on his part allowing your walls to have adjusted to his monstrous size completely. “I will.”
“Mmh.” He hums amusedly once more, slowly retracting himself. “Rather a fast change of tone.”
“I simply needed a moment to regain myself, my Lord.” You speak truthfully, the sensation of him rubbing inside of you now much more pleasurable than painful. “I apologise.”
“How pathetic of you.” After he retracts nearly all the way, he begins to push back in, just as slow. “You will not need such a moment in the future, do you understand?”
“Yes, my Lord.” His words make it clear this will not be an anomalous night, rather another addition to your ever changing routine. “I will be ready for you. Always.”
“Always? That is quite a promise.” His grin flashes that sharp canine of his while the rubbing of your chin continues in unison with his push.
“Yet one I dare to make.” Your words begin to sound more airy as his caressing of both your face and inside continue.
“How bold of you.” He chuckles deeply, clearly not minding this pledge of yours. When his pelvis pushes against yours again, he retracts, slowly picking up the pace.
“Such a sight you are.” His deep voice grows quieter as his motions continue to move faster. “Taking your Lord so obediently.”
“Yes, my Lord.” A smile pulls at your lips as he retracts from you in quick succession of his pushing, the vigour behind his movements slowly increasing.
“No.” His head shakes a little as his a twitch caresses his mouth. “Your King.”
“Yes, my King.” Your correction earns you one of those deep groans of his you are growing to love, your body flutters at the sound. The grip on your hip tightens, his fingers dig into you with bruising force, before he thrusts harder, faster. A moan escapes your throat at the pleasant force tickling your insides just right.
“Mmh.” He hums contently at your noise, strain growing in his sounds as well. “Do that again, wench.” A hard thrust into you earns him another moan, loader than the one before, though most definitely just as genuine. A chuckle sounds out in response, before being usurped by another groan of his.
“My King…” Your voice whispers in between soft yet audible moans, the grip of his hand on your hip keeping you in place tight enough to not be launched off of the soft mattress due to his vigorous thrusting inside of you.
“Not done already, are you?” He teases your wanting sounds, removing his hand from your face, before placing it on the shoulder exposed to the air of the room. “I am not nearly finished with you, girl.”
With a smooth motion, he pushes you fully onto your stomach while one of his lengths remains inside of you, his hips forcing you in place as he mounts on top of yours. A hand holds onto the empty hip, your pelvis now being held in place on both sides. The two other hands push your back down into the soft mattress, though not with too much pressure to cause an ache.
Your face is forced to lay on one cheek as to not choke on the pillow, your hands reach up to hold onto the cloudy cushion for a sense of grounding, as the pleasant weight of the Lord’s body pushes on your lower half.
He retracts himself from you with a fast pace, before plunging back into you with enough force to cause the heavy and thick wooden bedframe to creak. Sounds continue to wash out of you at his resumed force, tears of nothing but pleasure well up in your eyes at the wonderful strain within you. Though the sensation of pure extasy overwhelms your whole body, you can still feel those hot eyes of the Lord search your head to find your gaze. A groan with irritation lingering beneath it sounds out from him at his inability due to the position he has put you in.
The friction of his hardness rubbing in and out of your slick, warm flesh sends you both into an intoxicated state of unawareness. The pleasured sounds of your throats ring in song with the wet slapping of your privates. You can feel your buttocks dance with the Lord’s motions, his hot gaze now fixed onto your rolling skin. Your eyes roll into the back of your head as he continues to pound into you with nothing but want. Your hands tighten their grip on the pillow, you roll your head back straight to push your forehead down into the soft surface with enough pressure to add to the overflowing sensations within you.
A tight pressure begins to build withing you rapidly, your strained moans and breathing become muted by the fabric pressed against your face. Another irritated groan releases from the Lord, the two hands on your back slide upwards over your skin as his large torso falls forwards, blanketing you entirely. One of the arms snakes beneath you, before the hand sandwiches itself between the mattress and your breast, squeezing your soft fat as soon as he holds it proper. The other limb pushes beneath your neck, forcing your head upwards a little. On instinct, you turn your face towards the side the most heat seems to be emitting from, your half-lidded and boozy eyes find his deep crimson ones nearly immediately.
“My Lord…” The words escape between your breathless moans, earning a deep groan from him in return. With how close his face is to yours, you can feel his fast, hot exhales push against your skin pleasantly. You lean in closer as his thrusts grow even faster, yet they appear to be less controlled. Your back arches in response to his bucks, offering him a better angle into you. You can feel the other hard length lay against your bare skin, encouraging your hips to roll in unison with the Lord’s rhythm to allow that monster it’s release as well, rubbing it against your plush skin ever so slightly.
“My King…” Your eyes roll upwards once more, all of the wonderful sensations becoming almost too much for you to handle, forcing that pressure within you to nearly break already.
“Look at me.” His deep voice growls but a few centimetres removed from your face, a moan of yours responds to him. You force your eyes to meet his again, though your eyebrows curl in order to offset the flooding of pressure at least somewhat. “Good girl.” His breathless praise forces more pleasured sounds from you, your hips begin to buck rather than roll in search for more of that glorious delight he is giving you.
“Lord Sukuna.” His title sounds from you with hitched breathing, his grip on your hips and breast tightens at your words. A strained groan sounds from him, before the speed of his pace increases even more. Even if you’re mind weren’t as hazed over with pleasure, you would still not be able to understand how this man is able to use such force and speed.
With a loud gasp, you can feel the knot within you break as your walls clench and pulse as tight as possible around him. Your knuckles grow white with how hard you are gripping the pillow, as the Lord continues to plunge into you with the same relentlessness, clearly unbothered by your climax.
“Ryoumen Sukuna…” You whisper with a strained exhale, a loud groan of his responds as all of his grips on you tighten enough to leave marks. The bucking of his hips falters as his fluids begin to leave him in unison with the sounds of gratification escaping from his throat. His milk of intimacy fills up your pulsing walls with warmth, the revealed length of his pumps the same liquid all over the skin on your backside. His hot breath is forced out of the man right onto the red and flushed skin of your face, as the movements of his lower half finally begin to cease.
Your eyes remain fixed onto his, all six of them shared between you are drowning with satisfaction and desire. The urge to caress the handsome face beside you is nearly overwhelming, though you force yourself to resist.
Instead, content pushes your lips into a soft smile, as your hands grip the pillow beneath you just a little tighter, perhaps even pretending it’s the man still inserted into you that you are embracing with nothing but affection.
---
notes: hii we have now caught up with everything that's posted on AO3, so from now on there will be a new update every friday on both platforms ! thanks for reading :)
The fiery bruise that has settled on your buttock has made it rather impossible for you to gain any sort of rest, especially combined with your still aching bosom. After laying on your futon for just a short while, the pains increased exponentially. You waltzed around your room for hours, attempting to suit the ache with movement and your own palm, though it did not prove useful. Reluctantly, you gave into your weakness and departed from your sanctuary, looking for the nearest cupboard filled with medicinal plants and creams.
You remember Uraume showing you the place during your first bleeding here in the palace, though you never needed to return, as the kind older woman in the kitchen always insisted on making you some tea herself.
It must be around here…
You think as you enter the corridor you assume to be the correct one. Distant scents of herbs and spices linger in the dusty air, affirming your assumption of the place being near. As you slide open the door you assume to be the correct one, you’re met with the pungent scents of nature.
All the walls are covered with cluttered cupboards and shelves, and there’s a wooden counter resting in the middle of the small space. The surface is nearly hidden by all the roots and plants and books laying strewn about. A mortar and pestle sit at one of the edges, manned by a peculiar woman.
She glances up at you with a raised brow, the grinding of the stone immediately ceases.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” You rush to speak. “I did not think anyone was here.”
“Enter, girl.” She speaks after you’ve barely finished your surprised sentence. Then, she continues the grinding while keeping her eyes on you. “And close the door.”
“Y-Yes.” Quickly, you step through and shut the entrance while stumbling over your words. Her energy is nearly as frightening as the Lord’s used to be, before that one night of him lingering behind your door…
“Why are you here?” She asks with a stern voice, you quickly return your gaze to her. Her messy and knotted black hair contains streaks of silver, yet her face bears no wrinkles whatsoever. One eye is clouded white with age, the other as black as the night. When you look down at her hands, you can see the creases of elderdom have all seemed to collect there, yet her fingers are not bend and pained as aged ones usually are. “Speak, girl.” Her strict words interrupt your observation.
“I was looking for some herbs.” You quickly respond, raising your eyes back to her peculiar ones. “I have an ache.”
“I know.” She looks down at her work.
“…You do?” You ask almost fearful.
“Of course.” A rather sinister smile pulls at the corner of her mouth. “Come here.” She nudges her head for you to come closer.
“You are the stranger.” She states as you step closer, though somewhat reluctantly.
“Yes.” You respond, your thumbs beginning to twiddle to offset the anxiety building up in her overwhelmingly dark presence.
“You are familiar with herbs?”
“Yes.” You nod slightly. “I used them back home.” You withhold the fact you misused them, making sleeping potions for the men you wished to rob.
“Are these the same?” She raises her brow cockily, already telling you the answer.
“…I suppose not.” You respond carefully.
“No. They are not.” She adds another stem to the stone bowl, before resuming the grinding. “None is the same.”
“It is not that different.” Though it may not be wise to go against such a frightening person, you refuse to swallow your tongue. “We are all humans, are we not?”
“Are we?” She giggles. “That is quite an interesting observation.”
“Is it a wrong one?”
“You tell me.” She turns her head to look at you, before leaning a little closer. “Is Lord Sukuna human? Is Uraume? Are the servants?” She sniffs the air between you two, clearly intending to observe your scent. Your brow frowns in response.
“Are you?”
Her ominous eyes stare right into your soul, you feel a nausea accompany the rising sense of unease. Though the burning ache in your rump reminds you what you are here for.
“Are you?”
You repeat the question back to her, earning you a grin that fleshes her browned teeth.
“I have not seen you before.” You ask as she leans straight again, continuing the blind grinding while her eyes bore into yours. “You are not a servant.”
“Observant.” She lowers her gaze back down to her work, adding a leaf to the bowl.
“Who are you?”
“Who are you?” She returns the question as the grinding continues.
“I…” You feel a rising strain in your forehead, the intent to respond with ‘girl’ only nearly being swallowed. “You said it yourself, I am the stranger.”
“How pathetic.” The woman sighs as she reaches for a cup filled with a clear liquid. “Is that truly all that is left of you?” As she empties the bowl into the cup, she glances as you standing beside her. “Did it really take but two moons to lose yourself?”
“No.” You respond quickly. “I am not lost.”
“So tell me, girl.” She grabs the cup and begins stirring in it with her wrinkled finger. “Who are you?”
Your eyes dart over the peculiar features.
With a reluctant voice you tell her your name.
“That is all?” She scoffs at you.
“No.” You shake your head. “I am a kitchen maid, I am a stranger, I am a student.”
“And?”
“And…” You repeat slowly, unsure what else to add. She turns to face you and reaches the cup upwards. You look down at the dark liquid inside, before rolling your eyes back at her.
“You are his.”
She flashes those teeth again, pushing the cup closer to your face.
“He claimed you, did he not?” With reluctance, you grab the dish from her. “You are his property.” You stare into the deep liquid, before taking a small sniff. The scent is that of a medicinal tincture, nothing out of the ordinary. “Perhaps it would be better for you to lose yourself after all, if that is truly the case.”
Her odd words make you glance back up at her.
“So it is true.” She cackles with amusement. “Well, this tea will help you, then.”
“What is it?”
“It will soothe the pain.” She sighs as she turns around. “Nothing more.”
Though you are certain you should not engage with anything this woman tells or gives you, the prospect of your aches finally being relieved makes you ignore your rationale. Slowly, you bring the cup to your lips, before taking a small sip. It does not taste any different than the usual herbal teas, just as bitter and earthy. You sigh to yourself, cursing at your weakness, and gulp the whole thing down.
“Good girl.” She teases as she messes around with some material in one of the cupboards. “It will take effect shortly.”
You put the cup down on the table, the bitter taste lingers on your tongue.
“In time for supper, I am certain.” She banters some more, forcing you to take your leave. As you turn around to head back to the door, you can hear her tell you one last thing.
“I look forward to meeting you again, girl.”
---
You wade through the corridors with a somewhat leisurely pace to head for the Lord’s chamber, ready to meet him for supper. Your aches left you nearly immediately after leaving the herbal room, no other symptoms have shown themselves yet. You do not feel as though the woman is trustworthy, however you are glad your pains have finally subsided.
Passing the ominous doors of the throne room, you glance at the intricate wooden carving in them. You can see the scenes be depicted clearly. Violence, war, murder, torture. All of the Lord’s favourite subjects, you are certain.
As you enter the large corridor adjacent to his chambers, you can feel an excitement build up within you at the prospect of reuniting with him. The woman’s words left no mark on you, not when she called you his property, nor when she told you it would be best to lose yourself.
She was just messing with my head.
That is all.
You assure yourself, as you raise your hand to brace the wood.
“Enter.” The handsome, deep voice calls from within the room before you can knock. You cannot help but smile softly at his eagerness, and slide the door open gently. Stepping into the entrance, you swiftly close the wood behind you, before turning around to face the Lord.
He is not on the bench, nor his chair. After searching for a moment, you spot the hard to miss figure standing by the fireplace at the other side of the room.
“You are early.” He speaks as soon as you notice him, not allowing the proper bow-and-hum routine.
“Do you wish for me to leave, my Lord?” You ask softly, hoping he tells you no.
“No.” He grants your wish, a pleased smile forces itself more prominently onto your face. He turns around to face you, before moving closer. It seems he has changed out of his crimson robes, now wearing navy, just like you. “Come here.” He nudges his head to accompany the command.
Lowering your gaze while forcing that smile to subside, you step closer into the room, hearing his loud thuds continue to traverse as well. Meeting him in the middle, you resist the gnawing urge to glance up at the man.
“Look at me when we are speaking, girl.” You can hear the grin clearly resting on his face. Slowly, almost teasingly, you raise your head and roll up your eyes to observe the man standing in front of you. The distance is close enough for you to feel the pleasant heat emitting from him.
“Mmh…” He hums, reaching one of his hands towards your face. Grabbing your chin like usual, he begins to caress it with his thumb. “You are acting quite obedient.” He smiles pleased, flashing the sharp canines in his mouth. “I suppose the punishment set you straight.”
“Yes, my Lord.” You agree, almost pathetically so. His hot skin on your face feels more than pleasant, it leaves you hungry for more.
“What did you do afterwards?” His interest surprises you, yet you do not let it show. Instead, a soft smile paints your face once more.
“I washed, my Lord.” You state. “And I wrote of yesterday.”
“That is all?” You blink once, unsure whether you should tell him of your engagement with the strange woman.
“I drank a tincture to sooth the pain, my Lord.” Your words cause a twitch to pull at his brow.
“The pain?” His stern repeating of the words makes you wonder if it was your weakness you should not have told him of, rather than the lady. Though now that you have, you know it’s best not to lie.
“Yes, my Lord.” You swallow some air as you confirm the pitiful words, wishing to avert your eyes from his with shame, but you know you mustn’t. The grip on your chin leaves abruptly, the Lord’s expression is as unreadable as ever. His eyes burn hot as they dart between yours.
“Undress.”
He commands. You keep your stare for a moment to let the word sink in, your brows begin to furrow with strain.
Will he punish me again?
This time, the notion is much less pleasant than earlier today. With reluctance, you avert your eyes from his and move your hands to undo the bow on your back. As the fabric belt falls to the ground, you move to open your gown, hands begin to tremble slightly. You can hear a quiet sigh escape from the Lord’s nose, you are unsure whether he is irritated with you or not.
As the robe drops to the floor, you stand in your recently changed underdress and look back up at the man.
“Where?” He stares at you with that usual inexpressive face of his. One of your hands reaches for the strap on your shoulder on the side of your bruised bosom. Lowering it, the breast reveals itself. Though you feel a sense of unease at revealing yourself, the thought of it being the Lord that watches soothes the discomfort.
“Tsk…” The noise escapes the him with another twitch at his brow, one of his large hands reaches forward to place itself on your marked fat. The hot touch of his skin feels more than pleasant to you, especially with the pain still relieved thanks to the tea.
The heat increases rapidly, burning into your skin. You remember when Uraume healed your feet with their magic so many weeks ago.
Is this the same thing?
With a sudden rush, the pain returns in an instant, before increasing rapidly. The abruptness makes a pained gasp release from your throat. The Lord firms his grip on your breast, the burning ache makes your face contort with displeasure.
And then, just like with your feet, the horrible sensation disappears completely. You release your breath, unaware you were holding it due to the hurt, and glance down at the area. As the Lord removes his hand, you can see the bruises have disappeared completely.
The ache in your buttock rises rapidly once more, clearly the magic has had some sort of effect on the tincture you drank. A sharp pain shoots from it, twitching your face uncomfortably in response.
“Turn around.” He speaks deeply, nudging his head to the side while you pull the strap back up on your shoulder. You turn to face your backside to him, he reaches for the hem of your undergarment immediately. Pulling it upwards, he places a hand on the painful spot without hesitation, nearly pushing you forward with the force.
The same sensation repeats itself; a burning increase of the pain, followed by it’s complete removal. You are unable to look at your behind, though you are certain any redness must have disappeared with the act. The Lord’s warm hand lowers your underdress, before he steps away.
“Get dressed.” He commands while walking towards the cushioned bench. Knowing the servants will be here soon with the food, you waste no time and rush to grab your robes off of the floor.
The man sits down comfortably, leaning back to rest one of his top arms on the footboard behind him. You can see his legs spread wider, as his warm eyes closely follow your movements of clothing yourself. When you bend forward to grab the obi off of the floor, you can hear a deep hum escape him. You glance up to meet his eyes, before straightening yourself back up. It’s clear that he’s enjoying this sight of you, it makes a blush creep onto your cheeks. As you messily tie the fabric on your back, you can hear a scoff release from him.
“Come closer.” He holds up a hand and curls the index finger to enhance the command. Naturally, you obey and move towards him. “You know how to work with herbs.”
“Yes, my Lord.” You respond to his statement, halting your movements when at a comfortable distance.
“Odd for a peasant.” He begins another interrogation of his, a slight discomfort creeps into your stomach.
“I was only taught a few things, my Lord.”
“Such as?”
“Tinctures for pain and sleeping.”
“Sleeping?” You can feel the redness on your cheeks increase at the question, knowing you mustn’t reveal your sins, nor should you lie to him.
“Yes, my Lord.” Is all you respond. Not a lie, nor the complete truth. You are unsure how the man would react to your acts of your past; perhaps he will find them amusing, perhaps he will see them as a reason for more punishment.
“Mmh…” He squints his eyes at you as he hums in thought.
“Do I frighten you?” He asks you the same question as yesterday, you respond once more with shaking your head. “You are not lying to me, I hope?” You swallow some air at the notion, your mind races between the tales of those slaughtered women, the punishment, his self-pleasuring.
“I…” You respond quietly, your thumbs begin to twiddle with stress without your awareness. “I do not wish to die, my Lord.”
“Hm?”
“Like those women you made an example out of, I mean.” Your gaze lowers away from his, down to your hands. Only now do you realise the tense motions, you quickly pull the thumbs apart from each other.
“You will not.” He speaks with a sure voice, as if he is most certain of it. Though you cannot shake the internal worry.
“I will not?” You cannot help but pry.
“That would simply be a waste of effort.” You glance back up at him, your eyes dart between his amused ones.
He’s enjoying this worry of mine, isn’t he?
“Uraume has worked hard to teach you proper.” He continues, flashing the canine in his mouth once more as his eyes burn hotly in yours. “Let us not disappoint them with the early demise of their student.” The thought of the Lord caring for anyone’s letdown rings foreign to you.
“But…” Your brow furrows slightly. “Why did you kill them, then?” A deep sigh escapes the man’s nose.
“They were more fit for supper than anything else.” He shrugs. “Though they did not have as much skin on their bones as you, they were still a pleasant bite.” As his grin pulls wider, he leans forward to close the space between you two. “Especially the marrow.” His eyes burn into yours hotly as he speaks.
The memory of butchering the thigh resurfaces in your mind, you swallow at your own repulsive acts. A deep chuckle escapes the Lord as your brows bend with worry.
“You knew of it.”
“Yes, my Lord.” You speak as quietly as before, unease rising rapidly within you.
“Have you tasted it?” The question forces the strain in your forehead to increase even more.
“No.” You respond quickly with a rapid shaking of your head.
“Do you wish to?” He nearly teases, cocking his head to the side. “I’ll gift you some, as long as you do not insist it is forced into you like the other present.”
“No.” You repeat the word with as much worry, forgetting your manners and station completely due to the affliction.
“Ts ts.” He shakes his head while releasing the disapproving sounds. “You refuse my gratuity with such rudeness.”
“No, my Lord.” You correct yourself swiftly, but it appears the damage has already been done. He stands up and takes one step closer to you, invading your space. Though your body wishes to step away from him, your rational knows to stand in place as to not upset him further. When you bend your head to look up at the man, you can see his expression is that of sinister amusement.
“You have much to learn, wench.” One of his hands rushes to grab the back of your neck, a shock runs through your body in response. Gripping you firmly, he bends his head down towards yours. “Do you think I will take kindly to a peasant maid refusing my gifts?” You can feel his gaze burn into your frightened, widened one, as he gets closer and closer.
“Make no mistake of your station, girl.” His face grows near enough to feel his hot breath push against your skin. “Though I will not kill you, there are fates worse than death.”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The abrupt sound interrupts the terrible tension that has grown between you two. A final twitch pulls at the Lord’s wide grin, before he releases his hold on your neck while straightening himself up smoothly.
“Enter.” He bellows with regular disinterest while sitting back down, his expression quickly mellowing to the usual neutral one. Though yours remains white with anxiety and shock at his ominous demeanour and words.
A fate worse than death?
Does he truly mean it?
The door slides open, your head turns towards the commotion on instinct.
“Did I tell you to avert your gaze, girl?” His deep voice tantalises, forcing your wide eyes back on him. He nods in response, a hint of a smirk wishes to change that cold expression back to the pleased one, though he does not let it. “Good.”
You can hear people entering the room, one of them must be Uraume’s, judging by their specific steps. As the small group makes their way behind you, the thud of a table being put down is followed by the soft clinging of dishes on trays. The patters move behind you again, their destination seems to be the entrance.
“Uraume.” The Lord interrupts the fluid movements, one pair of steps breaks away from the group continuing to leave the room.
“Lord Sukuna.” The one with white hair speaks from beside you, though they are too far back for you to spot them in the corner of your eye.
“I assume you succeeded.” Though his words are not directed at you, his stare into your eyes remains.
“Yes, my Lord. Everything has been prepared.” Uraume’s familiar voice sounds from beside you. Though it was only this morning you spoke with them, their absence today has been rather upsetting.
“Good.”
“I will take my leave for the night, my Lord.”
“Do.” He speaks somewhat sternly, the departing shuffles sound out immediately after.
Only when the door is closed do you finally avert your eyes from his. Though it is nearly always pleasant to observe him, and be observed by him, your current state of discomfort makes his hot stare almost too much to handle. He raises himself back up on his feet, and immediately moves past you with his usual large stride.
Hearing the man sit down on the floor behind you, you finally manage to turn your stiff body around. You move slow, all the strain he has caused within you has created a rather unpleasant vibration to rush through your insides. You can feel nausea rise with it, making you unsure how you can possibly finish the meal awaiting you.
Sitting down behind the tray intended for you, the Lord has already begun eating. A pair of chopsticks in both of his right hands, he moves with a graceful intention only befitting of his gluttonous nature. You look down at the food before you, it is the same as yesterday. The fish has not been replaced by a different meat, to your relieve.
You grab the bowl of miso broth with both hands, certain this is the only form of nutrition that will not cause you to hurl. Taking careful and small sips, you take a good breath in between every one of them to push down the anxious discomfort in your stomach.
When you put the now empty dish back down on the tray, you glance at the remaining food. None seem appealing to you, but you would feel terrible to leave it all to waste. You decide to wait for the discomfort to pass, simply keeping your gaze fixed on the tray before you, knowing if you glance up at the man eating his piece of human, you will lose the soup you have just consumed in less than a heartbeat.
The Lord’s teasing torment of you repeats itself in your mind. The thought of him wishing to torture you does not fit the act of him healing your aches just now. And his promise of your new life not bestowing you any more scars does not align with the notion either.
A fate worse than death…
What could he possibly mean, then?
Was he even being truthful?
Did he just wish to scare me into submission even more?
‘Perhaps it would be better for you to lose yourself after all.’
The strange woman’s words repeat in your mind.
I cannot let it happen.
He mustn’t break me.
I must not lose myself.
“Girl.” The man’s deep voice breaks you away from your thoughts. With hesitation, you look up at him, your jaw clenches in worried anticipation. Instead of the sight of the human meat consumption you had feared, you see all of his dinner has already been finished.
…For how long was my mind elsewhere?
“You are not eating.” He states factually.
“I am feeling unwell, my Lord.” You respond with a low tone, not much prowess behind the words due to your ill insides.
“How pathetic.” He slides his large tray towards the side of the table while speaking the insult without much care. “The mere thought of genuine reprimanding makes you sick.” As he speaks, he reaches one of his long limbs towards you, and pulls your supper closer to him. “Did you feel this ill when you showed Uraume you knew of the marrow? When you accepted the delicacy?”
“Yes, my Lord.” You quietly admit your infirmity as he begins to eat your food.
“Weak.” He speaks after swallowing, before taking another large bite.
“Yes, my Lord.” It would be foolish to disagree with the fact. He does not respond, instead continuing to eat your supper with a fast pace.
“Let this feebleness not show again.” He speaks after emptying the bowl of rice in silence. “You must eat.”
“Yes, my Lord.” You can feel the nausea within you begin to subside.
…Wait. What?
Your eyes squint a little as you continue to observe him.
“Why do you care for my wellbeing, my Lord?” Your voice regains it’s strength little by little.
“I do not.” He scoffs after swallowing about half of your fish.
“Truly?” Your insistence makes his top two eyes roll up to observe you. “You healed me. And now you insist I continue eating.”
“I believe I told you already, girl.” He sighs with slight irritation. “I do not intend on letting your grooming go to waste.”
“Would a terrible fate not also lead to that?”
“You will not die.”
“I will not by your hand.” You tell him something you had never envisioned yourself to be able to do, were the fate truly too terrible to handle with a sane mind. The other set of eyes roll up to meet yours as well, squinting as they do.
Then, an ominous grin pulls at the corners of his mouth, slowly revealing his sharp teeth.
“You will not die.” He repeats in that same tone, your words of prospected defiance clearly not meaning much to him. You swallow at the notion, you don’t know much of his magic and abilities, so keeping someone from granting themselves mercy is not entirely out of the question.
You lower your gaze away from his as he continues eating, clearly not intending to continue this worrisome conversation.
This man confuses me terribly.
You think to yourself, his many words entangling in your mind. That discomforting nausea has finally left you completely, now being replaced by the slight turmoil the man is responsible for. His words and acts seem so conflicting with each other, it confuses you greatly.
Those aches were not lethal, why would he heal them if his only intention is to keep me alive?
I am to break my fast and dine with him nightly, why must he reiterate I need to eat?
Why does he refuse to be honest with me?
The sound of an emptied dish being put down on silver drags your awareness back to you. You observe the man pushing your tray away from him.
“Follow.” He speaks plainly as he raises himself up to his feet. You follow suit obediently, though perhaps a little slower than he would like, as he takes his large strides towards the door.
He opens the entrance as roughly as ever, before stepping through. Your feet begin to rush to follow him at a comfortable step, as his pace remains unrelentingly large and loud. Closing the door behind you properly, you begin to wonder what his intentions are.
Where is he taking me?
What does he want from me?
You keep your eyes fixed on his backside. His confusing nature begins to relieve its grip on your mind, the pleasant side of his behind distracting you well enough. Your gaze runs through his pink locks, before trailing down his broad back, those prominent shoulders. When your eyes reach the small of his back, you stop them from wandering further.
If he can feel my gaze like I can his, it would be wise not to pursue.
You resist the urge to gaze upon his buttocks, instead replacing your stare into his soft looking, spikey hair.
He halts his movements in front of a well-known door, before sliding it open. Steam escapes the room as he steps through the entrance, you follow behind him at a descent distance, before closing the bathroom door behind you.
When you turn around, you observe the Lord standing beside the bath, nudging his head for you to come closer.
“Undress me.” He speaks sternly, his face inexpressive yet inviting. You nod, before moving close to him.
As you place yourself rather close to his large frame, your hands carefully reach up to grab the edges of the navy haori. Pushing your hands as high as they can reach, you barely manage to pull the overcoat off of his top set of shoulders. When you glance up at the Lord’s face, you can see an amusement begin to affect his expression. You avert your gaze quickly, moving to the side while folding the garment properly, before placing it on the dry ground. Stepping back to face him, you try to swallow away a newly rising blush, knowing what part is next.
Your hand carefully reach for the waist of his hakama. Hooking your fingers behind the band, your breath fastens as you gently push the trousers down. When the waist band is pushed over the Lord’s bulge, a deep hum releases from him. You ignore the reaction, instead lowering yourself down with the trousers, kneeling before his feet. He steps out of the garment with ease, allowing you to fold it properly and raise yourself back up to put it down with the haori.
When you turn back around towards the Lord, you can already see him undoing the closure of his nagagi. You reach for the edges once more, before pulling the fabric to the side. Your eyes cannot help themselves and roam around his exposed chest. The dark ink lines contour his pronounced muscles, trailing downwards. The slit in his belly lay prominent, you wonder how a man as glorious as him could’ve ever been scarred. When your eyes meet his privates, a sharp gasp releases from your throat.
Between his legs, two large monsters hang atop each other. Your eyes widen at the sight, brows furrowing with wonder and shock. The man releases a deep chuckle as his robe falls to the floor, before he turns away from you to move to the bath.
“Do not feign you have never seen a man before, girl.” His voice speaks amused as he steps into the steaming liquid.
“You have two.” You sound almost bewildered, attempting to shake the surprise and keep your composure while bending down to grab his garment.
“I have two of everything.” He shrugs as he wades through the water.
“You only have two legs.” You speak with a slight questioning tone, while folding the nagagi and putting it with the rest.
“Of course. Four would be ridiculous.”
“That would be ridiculous?” You cannot help but laugh breathily as the mocking question releases from you.
To your astonishment, the man laughs in return. A deep, hearty sound you were unaware he could release. Your head turns towards him with marvel. You observe the pure amusement on his face, his smirk wide and true.
“Join me.” He nudges his head with the command, though you take a short moment longer to observe his pleasant expression. You understand he wishes for you to expose yourself in the same manner as he has, so once more this evening your hands begin to untie the obi with an expression that has grown surprisingly comfortable, given your state but a few minutes ago.
Folding your gown neatly and placing it beside his, you pull off the undergarment and repeat the process. When you turn back around to head towards the bath as well, you face the man full frontal. You can feel his hot eyes eagerly run over your bare skin, as your curves roll with each of your steps. His gaze does not make you uncomfortable nor shy, though it does cause that blush to intensify.
The man has placed himself against the back wall by a corner, so you decide to sit beside him on the other side of the bend. It seems he appreciates your thinking, as he hums deeply when you lower yourself to sit. His two top arms rest atop the ledge, the other two unaccounted for, his head turned to face you fully.
“Did you bathe here while I was gone?” The surprising question leaves him as you rest against the wall, submerging even your shoulders in the deep bath. Though the top half of his torso remains above the liquid, despite him sitting as comfortably as you.
“I did once, my Lord.”
“Only once?”
“Yes, my Lord. Your absence made it less pleasant.” He chuckles amusedly at your truthful response, that blush on your cheeks heats up even more.
“You are honest.”
“Lying would be foolish, my Lord.”
“Indeed.” He leans his head backwards, resting the back of it right on the floor behind him, bending his neck all the way. “Clever girl.” His now protruding Adam’s apple bops as the praise leaves him.
You take the removal of his gaze as the sign to not engage in further conversation. Instead, you choose to enjoy the warm liquid encasing you. And the near presence of the Lord, of course. You begin to wade your hands through the water before you, watching them with content, the pleasant pressure pushes between your fingers as the waves of the ocean used to when you dared to hang over the edge.
The distance between you two is perhaps a little too grant for your preference, though you can still feel his heat spread through the shared liquid.
…He has two.
You remind yourself with awe.
Not only that; they were huge.
They must be the largest any man has ever wielded…
Your redness worsens at the thought, saliva gathers in your mouth hungrily as the image of his privates sticks in your mind.
My want for him is embarrassing.
How dare I desire a lord who treats me so foul?
Who insults me with such enjoyment?
Your eyes roll back up to him as you remember his hurtful words. His confusing demeanour. As your gaze roams all over his strained neck, sharp jaw and pronounced muscles, a deep sigh releases from the Lord.
“You are staring.” He states deeply.
“Can you feel my gaze, my Lord?” You reply with a soft question.
“As you can feel mine.” The fact makes your mouth pull into a slight smile.
Good thing I did not glance at his rump, then…
You keep your eyes on his tan skin, observing every visible inch of him in the muted light. The steam lays a shimmering sheen over his whole being, you are sure you must look the same.
“May I ask a question, my Lord?”
“You dare?” He teases, you can hear a grin grow in his words. His playful tone makes you sure he has given you permission.
“I was told important men in strange lands have concubines. Uhm… lovers, you could call them.” You respond to his teasing with that similarly soft voice, attempting to explain the concept without knowing the proper word in his tongue. “Do you?” He rolls his head back up straight, allowing you to observe his wonderful face once more.
“You believe me to be a man of importance?” You can see that grin clearly now, the remaining amusement has made his eyes warm and pleasant to drown in.
“Of course, my Lord. It would be foolish not to.” You know it is the answer he is looking for. Slowly, you begin to understand certain aspects of the man better.
“Yes, it would.” He agrees.
“I do not.” His deep voice answers your initial question after a moment of silence.
“May I ask why?” You choose to pry, the content expression of his not giving you any reason to halt.
“Because I am not weak to mortal lusting.”
His words make your brows furrow, your hands seize their comforting movements through the water. It’s exactly what the old lady told you this morning, though his actions towards you beg to differ. He looks at you with that neutral face of his, any sign of amusement has disappeared from his exterior.
“You are confused.” He tells you plainly.
“Yes, my Lord.” You must agree, that strain rebuilds in your forehead.
“State your question, or lose the expression.” You blink at the command, his voice growing less pleasant, before your brows mellow slightly.
“What of those moments, my Lord?” You attempt to ask without too much of the raunchy details.
“Use your words properly, girl.”
“During the night, my Lord. And in the study.” The blush on your cheeks would have surely grown brighter, had it not already reached it’s peak, as you remember his wonderful noises and touch.
“I acted on my desires, as I always do.”
“Is that different from mortal lust?”
“Naturally.” He scoffs. “I desire all sorts of things you insects tend to find repulsive. Death, carnage, the flesh of others.” He shrugs to emphasise his neutrality towards the subjects. “This is no different.”
“What do you mean with ‘this’, my Lord?” You can feel your heart begin to beat harder in your chest, both excitement and worry arise at the question. You observe a twitch pulling at his mouth.
“Whatever it is I desire in the moment, wench.” The term still lacks pungency. You avert your gaze away from his, not wishing to engage any further, though you can feel his roam over your face.
“What is your name?” His sudden question breaks the short silence, drawing your eyes back to his. They dart between yours, gaze still pleasantly warm, though the grin has been dropped completely.
With a soft voice, you tell the man your name.
“Mmh.” He hums deeply, you are unable to tell if it’s with amusement or in thought.
“May I ask yours, my Lord?” You cannot help yourself, and return the question.
“You are already aware of it.”
“I am aware you are called Lord Sukuna, though I am curious if that is truly your name.”
“I do not have a name.” He shrugs with seeming disinterest, though you struggle to believe his demeanour entirely. “I was alone as a child, there was no one who cared to give me one.” His eyes move away from yours, instead they begin to roam over your features. “The name I am called by is simply a title.” They pass your nose, your lips. The heat caresses your cheeks, before following the length of your neck. “Ryomen Sukuna. It means no more than ‘Lord’, or ‘King’.”
“King?” The term causes your forehead to strain, unsure you heard him correctly.
“The King of Curses. That is one of the many descriptions used for me.”
“…I did not know you were a king.”
“It is simply a title.” His eyes move down to attempt to look at your curves hidden beneath the water.
“Titles hold importance, my Lord.” You respond gently, not wanting to upset him, though insistent enough to get your point across.
“To weak vermin that are mortals, yes.”
“And to you?”
“To me…” His eyes roll back up at yours as he thinks. “Those words hardly convey the truth of my abilities.”
The notion makes your lips part slightly as the stress in your forehead worsens.
…’The King of Curses’ does not convey his strength?
You can hardly begin to understand the thought.
How frightening is this man truly?
How powerful is he?
“Does that mean harming others is like swatting a fly to you?” You ask a term Uraume taught you in their tongue with careful words.
“It is less than that.” He responds with neutrality, his hot eyes begin to burn into your exposed soul.
…A fate worse than death.
I will simply be his amusement, won’t I?
Quickly, you avert your gaze from his, lowering your eyes to the water in front of you.
“Do not fret, girl.” He sighs. “You will witness but a fraction of my might.”
“But what of my fate?” The question slips between your lips, certain you are destined for some horrid torture at his hands. Your words seem to amuse him, as he chuckles in response.
“You are too sensitive.”
“…What?” His teasing makes confusion rise within you once more.
“I jest once, and here you are all caught up in it.”
“Jest?!” The word leaves you louder than you intended, your voice squeaking in the process.
He only chuckles more entertained at your reaction.
“I will admit, you do not fail to amuse me.”
“I am glad to hear, my Lord.” You sigh in response, speaking perhaps a bit too sarcastically. His head pulls back straight, his eyes quickly search for yours.
How dare he make light of such a disturbing promise?
“Go sleep off your feistiness, brat.” He nudges his head towards the door, urging you to leave him.
“Yes, my Lord.” You raise yourself to a stand while responding with quick words. Before you can move, though, one of his lower hands breaks out of the water and grabs your wrist nearest to it. The sudden act makes your eyes widen at the man, his hot touch on your dripping skin as pleasant as ever.
“Do not be late for breakfast.” His fingers squeeze around your joint while speaking the words, before swiftly letting go again.
“…Yes, my Lord.” You respond more quietly, still taken aback with his suddenness, before slowly moving away from him.
Traversing the hallways in your moistening clothes, you left the Lord in the bath alone, not speaking after his final command. His eyes continued to burn into you as you dressed and left the room, only now that his gaze is gone can your mind find a sense of peace.
At least until his words and demeanour repeat in your mind.
He seems so sure of himself, always acting on his desires.
But his words were contradictory.
Saying he is not weak to lust, yet those acts of his…
…And he keeps calling me wench for one reason or another.
Your brow furrows a smidge as you traverse the familiar hallways.
Perhaps he is conflicted with his desires?
Your internals scoff at the thought.
No, a man like that could never be.
---
The moment you enter your chambers, you remove the uncomfortably sticky and wet clothes from you. Only when all of your robes drop to the floor, leaving you bare in the cold space, do you spot your cleaned dresses lay folded on your futon.
Uraume must have returned them.
They are the only one allowed in your room, after all. You grow happy at the presence of your own garments, they feel much more comfortably to you. A reminder of home. A reminder of yourself. The person you must not lose.
Waddling over to the chest, you pull out a fresh underdress and slip it on, before turning around to sit by the table. Rolling out a clean piece of paper, you press the inked brush to it and begin to write.
---
Entry 62,
The Lord has decided I am to break my fast with him from this day forward. I met him in the study, it seems my tongue grew a bit too comfortable around him. He reprimanded me for my disobedient behaviour.
I made sure to wash after, though the ache in some of my body parts remained. A strange woman made me a tincture, but the Lord’s magic undid its work soon thereafter. He healed me, pleasantly enough.
After dinner, we bathed together. He asked me his name, and I his.
It seems he is a bit conflicted. I have been told tales of women having been slaughtered by him for their advances, however he is the one acting in such a way towards me. He claims he is not weak to desire, yet acts lustfully regardless. Shamefully, some would say.
Though not me. I enjoy his presence and touch far too much to feel any negative way about it.
My regards,
The wench.
---
notes: hii sorry no smut this chapter BUT the next one will make up for it ;)
The glow of the morning sun shines through your lids. Opening them a slither, you need a good minute to regain your awareness. You can feel yourself lay on your back, just like you did when falling asleep. Though that twist in your hips is gone, your legs lay spread out beneath you.
When you raise your head a little to observe the source of that coldness caressing your lower limbs, you can see your blanket has been tossed off of you completely. Though not in a way that could be explained by you kicking it away in your sleep.
You sit up while rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. When your hand grazes past your nostrils as it drops back down, you can faintly smell your own scent on one of the fingers.
…Did I-
A sharp ache in your breast makes you reach for it immediately, interrupting your thoughts. A pained gasp escapes your throat, you try to settle the ache with a soft massage. When it doesn’t work, you peak into your undergarment to see the situation.
Bruises in the formation of fingers lay spread around your hump. The remnants are clearly too large to belong to your own fingertips.
The sight of the evidence makes your memories resurface. The engram in the bath, the footsteps, the kneading, the noises.
But… It was a dream.
How can there be marks, then?
Was he really here?
Did he really touch me?
Did he really touch himself?
You swallow at the thoughts, shaking your head to try and get them out. Surely, the Lord would not put himself in such a dubious situation.
Raising yourself to a stand, you grab the navy yukata off of the floor and begin to put it on. You need to be out of this room, you need to eat and study. You need a distraction.
It was a dream.
You tell yourself, as you close the gown.
It was a dream.
You repeat like a mantra, tying the obi in the back the neatest you can, though your rising nerves leave little properness to be observed.
It was a dream.
With an audible sigh, you force the ignorant thought into you like it is fact, turning around to head to the door.
Before you do, though, your eye does glimpse a new stain on your floorboard, right beside your futon.
It was a dream.
Your mind repeats as you blink at the sight, before moving to leave the room.
Nothing more.
---
“Girl, you’re here.” The older woman in the kitchen exclaims kindly as you slide open the door. “Could you give me a hand?”
“Of course.” You rush towards the lone soul near the counter who’s attempting to lift a heavy cauldron. “You must not carry heavy things, it will hurt you.” You speak the familiar words with a kind smile and easily lift the big steel pot filled with rice, vegetables and fish off of the counter.
“Thank you, girl.” The woman sighs contently, before she nudges with her head towards the door. “Let’s go bring it to them.”
This scene plays out most mornings, with the older woman having just made breakfast for all of the servants, and you carrying it to them. The few days you’ve been absent, the woman somehow always found a way to get the cauldron to the common hall by herself, making you wonder if she is just feigning the struggle in order to spend a moment together.
“You were not in the kitchen last night.” She asks with intrigue as she closes the door behind you. The strength you’ve build up on the ship is still with you, allowing this heavy pot to be just like carrying a regular dish for you.
“I was not.”
“Then, you did not sup?” You glance the woman behind you a knowing look with a soft smile. Her smirk lay playfully on her face, you are aware that she knows, those servants who brought the table and trays surely told the tale. “So it is true.” She teases. You’re sure your many questions of the Lord’s wellbeing during his time away made her guess a thing or two about your true thoughts about him. “What did he want with you?”
“I am to sup with him nightly.”
“I see. Anything else?”
“No.” You sigh with slight disappointment, though your recent memories makes your brow twitch.
“Listen, girl.” The woman steps a little faster to walk beside you, her voice growing more stern. “I must warn you, the Lord is not one to take kindly to such… advancements.”
“What do you mean?” You pry, part of you curious, the other building up worry.
“There have been those in the past who attempted to get closer to him in such manners.” She explains with a slow pace and pronouncing her words properly, making sure you understand. “Those poor girls were sliced to pieces in the throne room, with all other servants watching. Every one of their demises was to send us a message.” She turns her head to look at you, forcing your eyes onto hers. “Lord Sukuna is not interested in mortal desires. Do not attempt to force your own onto him, unless you wish to be diced up and served for dinner.”
You swallow some air at her ominous words, your hands grip the pot’s handles a little tighter.
“I do not know what he wants with you, girl,” She continues, turning her head back straight before her to observe the corridors you are traversing. “But be mindful.”
“I will be.” You speak somewhat quietly.
As you enter the large common room, you can see the many servants filling the space. There’s a small forty of them, all with their own tasks and faces and voices. You walk over to the younger woman and man from the kitchen standing against one of the walls, and place the cauldron on the table before them.
“Thank you, girl.” The man speaks kindly, and immediately reaches for the ladle to fill a bowl. “Here you go.” He hands it to you, you accept with a bow and both hands.
“Will you be joining us today?” The young woman asks kindly, but you shake your head. You always feel out of place when in this room, most servants chat about their tasks and the labour they endure, a position you do not in common with them.
As the old lady joins the two to begin giving everyone their breakfast, you bow at the three and leave the room at once.
Traversing back to the kitchen, those words gnaw at you terribly.
If what she said is true, and there was more to the dream…
You attempt to shake the worrying thought.
No.
It was a dream.
Though the notion of you touching yourself to his presence, with him standing right beside you and presumably doing the same, concerns you.
He would punish me.
He would slice me up, make me another example.
It was a dream.
It has to have been.
Returning to the kitchen, you find Uraume has taken the place behind the counter in the old woman’s stead.
“Uraume.” You close the door behind you as you speak.
“Girl.” With their words of acknowledgement ringing out, you make your way to the table in the corner and put down your bowl, before stepping towards the area with all the cutlery, and grab yourself a spoon for easy munching.
“The Lord asked about your whereabouts.” They speak monotony as you sit down, dragging your gaze to the back of their turned head.
“Was I to return to him?” You ask with a hint of worry, afraid you have already failed your only task. “I thought it was only supper.”
“It is.” They respond neutrally to your question. “He simply asked.” You feel your brow furrow at their words, while spooning your first bite into your mouth.
…Why are they telling me this?
Your eyes remain fixed on the back of their white head.
“Why did he ask?” You decide to question, though assume they will not tell you.
“I do not know.” They respond, though you can hear amusement linger beneath their usual monotonous. “I told him you would be here to break your fast, as always.” You eat some more while listening to their words with interest. “When I asked if I were to send you to him, he groaned in response.”
The word turns your furrow to a frown. The memory of his pleasured groans last night turns your cheeks a bright red. When Uraume glances over their shoulder to observe your face, with a cheeky smirk pulling at their lips, you rush to look down at the bowl.
“I went to look for you in your room when you were absent a moment ago.” They return their eyes to their work, as your rushed chewing is followed by a pained swallow of too big a bite.
“Your floor is dirty.”
You freeze at their acknowledgement of the stain you so wished was just your tired imagination. With your eyes stuck to your food, your hand with spoon hovering in the air as it was on its way towards your mouth, you can see Uraume turn around in the unfocused corner of your eye.
“Was it a servant?” They already know the answer, though ask regardless.
“No.” You speak quickly, your voice strained with worry.
“I see.” They sigh, stare at you a moment longer, before returning to their work. “So it is true.”
“W-What is?” You are almost afraid to ask.
“The Lord has placed his claim on you.”
“…His claim?” They nod at your concerned voice, your volume rising back to its normal self. You are unsure what the word means, though it cannot mean anything good.
“Do you not recall him sharing the delicacy with you?” You can feel a vein begin to throb in your brow.
Delicacy?
Share?
Claim?
All these words ring strange to you. When you think about what they could possibly be referring to, you slowly begin to understand.
“You mean the girl…” A statement, not a question. They nod as they continue their task in the kitchen. “He did not share it, he forced it into me.” Your voice sounds more strained, upset hides in it poorly.
“Yet you consumed it. I believe you even bowed after.” They speak as inexpressive as usual.
“I did it to survive.” You are baffled they do not see that.
“Eating another human as survival?” They question, before shaking their head. “That does not seem believable, girl.”
“The law of the sea.” You tell them in your own tongue. “It tells someone is to eat another in order to survive.” An entertained hum releases from the one with white hair.
“Amusing, your savage peoples.” You can hear the sinister smirk painted on their face as they speak. “Be sure to tell the Lord. It will entertain him greatly.”
“I am certain it shall.” You speak rather sharply, before continuing to eat your food, not wanting to engage with the ridiculing of your friend any further.
Claim.
It must mean to be claimed by him.
To be his possession…
“You are upset.” Uraume remarks without glancing at you. “Do not be, girl.” You continue to eat, keeping your mouth too full to respond. “You are fortunate to be claimed by him.” You swallow, before shovelling in some more, though listen close enough. “It means your life will be much more enjoyable than those years at sea.”
They hold their tongue after that, continuing their labour in silence. The peace allows you to think again. The Lord’s words from last night ring through your mind.
‘Marks of your old life. Your new one will not bestow you any more.’
That is what he said of my scars.
This ‘new life’ of mine is not just supping with him, is it?
You feel conflicted at the notion. Though you have been awaiting labour eagerly, for something to keep busy properly and for you to be of use again, you are unsure what this claim of his entails.
“Are we still to study together, Uraume?” You ask, knowing how your future may look depending on their answer.
“No.”
You know enough.
Many more changes will happen. Perhaps slowly, but surely. You are certain of it.
“I understand.” Is all you say, before they leave you alone in the kitchen, while holding a tray filled with many rather large dishes that make up a breakfast fit for a lord.
“The s-stranger who has trav-… travelled ffar,” You read the foreign writing from a poetry book in the study, stumbling over the words. “The f-friend with wel-welcome ssmile,” Though Uraume is not here anymore, you still decided to read aloud as practice. With your finger roaming over the paper to let your eyes follow closely, you squint a little at the writing.
“All so-sorts of mme~…” You shake your head a little, you know the words well enough when speaking, but the writing confuses you. “Men. It says men.” You whisper beneath your breath, mixing your own words with theirs, before continuing. “Who come and go,” You read a full sentence correctly for a change. “M-meet at thiss mountain stile…” Your brows furrow at the unknown word.
“Stile? What is stile?” You whisper, reading over the word over and over to try to understand. With a sigh, you conclude it will remain unknown, and finish the poem.
“They mmeet and rest aw-awhile.” Though you butchered most lines, you still smile proudly at your little accomplishment of reading the full thing. On instinct, you look in front of you to observe the neutral face of your teacher, though the spot remains empty. Their absence makes you feel rather lonely, despite their harsh words earlier, never having realised how much of importance their presence was to you.
You lower your eyes on the booklet once more, and repeat the poem.
“The stranger who hass travelled far.” You pronounce it better this time. “The friend w-with welco-“
A sudden loud thud in the hallway stops your speech. Turning your head to observe your closed door, another one rings out.
Footsteps…
Their vigour makes you certain they must be his.
Is he coming here?
They continue through the hallway with usual pace and force. Your hands grip the book a little tighter, the words of the old woman run through your mind.
Perhaps he has come to slice me apart…
Then, Uraume’s words replace them, as well as his about your scars.
And those lovely noises of pleasure.
…Or maybe something else is on his mind.
When the last step rings out before your door, with none following, you stare another moment. Conflicted about whether you should open the door or not, your turmoil is interrupted by the rough sliding of the wood.
Your breath fastens at the abruptness, your hands clench the papers enough to cause a crease. Looking up at the man, your neck still twisted, you can see that expressionless face of his. The one that is so hard to understand.
Though his gaze is burning, like always. It darts over your features, before planting itself on yours. His crimson robes match his eyes wonderfully.
“My Lord.” You speak quickly, before bowing deeply, rather uncomfortably with that turn in your body. He hums, encouraging you to raise your gaze once more. Then, he steps into the study and closes the door behind him, just as rough as always.
Sitting down before you, he occupies the space that has belonged to Uraume for the past couple of weeks. You can feel a small smile wish to creep onto your face at the handsome sight of him, though your internal turmoil keeps it from settling.
“You ate in the kitchen.” He speaks neutrally, as he crosses his top pair of arms in front of his chest.
“Yes, my Lord.” You nod and speak obediently, though the memories of your dream make it hard for you to keep your composure.
“You will not do so anymore.” His words make your brows furrow a smidge.
“Am I to eat with the others in the hall, my Lord?” Though you already know it is probably not what he meant, you ask regardless.
“No. You will break your fast with me.” His command makes you blink, before slowly nodding.
“Yes, my Lord.” You speak rather surprised, though you have prepared your mental state for all of the changes that will follow in your life. This is just the next one of possibly many.
Though this decision of his does tell you that he wishes for you to be around him more, regardless of you eating like a man and of last night.
“Uraume told me of your claim, my Lord.” Against your better judgement, you decide to tread dangerous waters.
“My claim?” You nod at his squinting eyes, his voice feigning ignorance. “And what is this claim, then?”
“I do not know, my Lord. They simply told me it had to do with the girl’s heart.”
It takes the Lord a moment to register your words, you can tell by the darting of his eyes that he’s thinking. Then, a smirk paints his mouth.
“The delicacy I gifted you.”
“You forced it into me.” The words slip from your mouth, your subconscious refusing to appeal to his thoughts on the matter.
“Did I?” He teases. “I recall you eating it rather obediently and keeping it down thereafter.” He cocks his head to the side while that smirk shines brightly. “You even bowed properly, and washed me so dutifully.”
You know you’re responsible for those actions, yet you cannot help but defend your sins.
“I simply obeyed the law, my Lord.”
“The law?” He scoffs at your words. “Yes, Uraume told me your people have some ridiculous rule for survival. Truly, if you all wanted to eat each other so desperately, you should just do so and stop the façade of justified rubbish.” He leans his body a little closer to yours, though you keep your back straight, and even lift your head a little higher.
“I knew you were feral when I first laid my eyes on you, girl. Do not pretend you weren’t enjoying my gift, I could tell by your touch afterwards that you were more than satisfied.”
“My touch?” The words leave you with a hiss, a clear sign of the upset within you at his accusations.
“Your touch. Your smile. Your eyes.” He lists them grinningly. “I’ve killed people for but a crumb of what you forced onto my senses.”
“You mean those women you sliced apart because of their desires?” You repeat the words the older woman had told you earlier.
“Ah, the servants told you.” He chuckles deeply. “I cannot begin to wonder why.”
“Perhaps because of the shamefulness of last night, my Lord.” You nearly spit through your teeth, your own word mixed with his, your frustration clouding your rational and making you no longer care if he tears you apart or not.
A twitch pulls at his mouth, before the man lunges forward, his crossed arms unfolding and reaching right for your shoulders.
You fall back against the floor with a hard smack, the back of your head bouncing on the wooden surface. The Lord leans over you, one of his two legs forces itself between yours for grounding.
“Your tongue is growing too sharp, girl.” He growls in your face, as he hovers but a few centimetres removed. You can feel his hot breath push against you, it forces your head to roll to the side, with eyes widened with surprise by the suddenness of it all.
Though he does not frighten you. That is impossible, when his touch is so pleasant and those eyes are so easily drowned in.
“It is not me who forced the heart into you. It was all your own doing.” He leans his beak even closer, the tip of his nose rubs against your rapidly heating cheek. You close your eyes, trying to offset the excitement your body feels from him being this close. “You fed me your stew and that salty sludge. You wore that tantalising sheet. You accepted my claim, you bathed with me after.” An unknown word is spoken by him, but you cannot begin to try and translate it to understand. One of his free hands grabs your chin, like it always does; firm, yet not painfully tight. He forces your head straight with his grip. “Look at me when we are speaking, girl.” Your eyes reluctantly open themselves on command. Your gaze meets his immediately, he has planted you right into his view. The crimson of his eyes is a fiery red, his gaze is hot and nearly burning.
Nearly.
There’s a warmth lingering beneath, regardless of his growling voice and offensive posture. It makes the excitement within you resurface, replacing that build up rage, you can feel your cheeks turn pink with blush. He holds the stare in silence for a moment. With him being this close, you can feel yourself begin to drown in his gaze.
“You must be punished for your insolence.” His thumb begins to caress over your chin as the stern statement leaves his mouth. Though the word is new to you, you immediately understand.
“Yes, my Lord.” Your voice slips from between your lips without any thought, it sounding rather pathetically soft compared to earlier. You can see that grin wish pull at his lips once more, though he manages to suppress it.
He pushes himself off of you without any effort, releasing his grip on your chin with a pinch. As he sits down on his knees in the same spot again, you begin to raise yourself off of the floor as well.
“Undress.”
His deep voice commands as you attempt to rest on your knees, stopping you in your tracks. Your eyes widen a smidge at the arousing order, your breathing still fast with fuss.
With a slow pace, you lift yourself onto your feet rather than your knees, keeping your gaze fixed onto his. As your hands move to the back, you slowly pull the bow apart. His eyes burn hotly into yours, the fabric falls to the ground, another twitch pulls at his lips.
Undoing the closures of your gown, your breathing forces your chest up and down irregularly, your excitement hardly being contained. You do not feel that fury within you anymore, nor does the back of your slammed head ache at all. All of those negative sensations are being drowned out by him. His presence. His voice. His eyes.
You let the robe fall off of your shoulders, revealing your undergarment beneath. His eyes roll down to your body, you await his punishment with exhilaration.
“Turn around.” With his head, he nudges the motion, as his gaze is stuck on your bosom. You obey, carefully turning yourself a quart first, then fully. “Hands and knees. Get onto them.” His voice speaks deeper than usual, want dripping from the bassy syllables.
Like the subservient girl you are, you lower your bare knees onto the cold, sleek floorboards. Then, you bend forward to lean on your hands, serving your barely covered buttocks to him on a platter. You can hear him shuffle behind you, presumably to get up onto his knees and shuffle forward. With your heart beating roughly in your throat, you can feel your forehead begin to strain with curiosity, excitement, and a pinch of anxiousness.
“Do not look.” That same low voice orders.
Two warm hands place themselves on your buttocks firmly. They begin to massage your fat, just like how he did last night with your breast. The fabric of your underdress mutes the heat but a smidge. With every knead, the cloth is pushed upwards more and more, slowly revealing your delicates. The massaging is a pleasant roughness, you can feel your breathing relax a little at the nice sensation. The thought of him being the one doing this only makes your heart beat faster, the urge to look behind you gnaws at you terribly, yet you obey his orders obediently.
His hands stop their kneading, instead you feel the tips of his fingers caress your bare skin as they grip onto the hem of your undergarment. Pulling it upwards even more, the border rests on your waist, revealing your most intimate parts fully to him. One hand places itself onto your hip firmly, the other resumes the massaging motion. His two remaining arms are absent from your body.
“You have embraced my tongue.” He speaks, voice still deep and hungry. The massaging gets rougher with every knead, you bite your bottom lip to force the sounds of your pleasure to remain inside of you. “I must admit, I am enjoying your proficiency.” A tight squeeze holds onto your fat for a noticeable moment, forcing you to swallow a moan, before he massages again. “Though perhaps you use it too freely.” You try to focus on your breathing, on the pleasant sensation of his hot touch on your bare, sensitive skin. Anything to not reveal your pleasure to him, though the rising heat and moisture between your thighs betray you. “Do you not agree, girl?”
A loud smack follows his low words, a sharp and bruising sting washes over your whole buttock. A gasp forces its way out of your throat at the impact, the vigour nearly pushing you forward, were it not for his strong grip on your hip keeping you in place. Though shock rushes through your whole body, pleasure is the dominant sensation within you. The spank clearly utilised but a crumb of his strength, the act more out of want than genuine reprimanding.
“I asked you a question.” Another smack follows, a strained exhale pushes your mouth open, removing your teeth from your lip.
“Y-Yes, my Lord.” You answer breathily, longingly.
“Yes.” He repeats, another spank, this one slightly harder than the previous. You cannot help but moan at the impact, a deep chuckle of your punisher follows. “Careful, girl.” Another slap, another moan. “Cannot have you enjoy your punishment too much.” Another smack, a more strained moan. “That would be unjust, would it not?”
“Ye…es.” Your breath hitches as you speak.
“Yes, who?” A spank, a moan.
“Yes… mmy Lord.” You stutter the words breathlessly, a soft moan follows as he begins to massage the now burning buttock once more. His hot touch mutes the rising ache, just like he did your still painful bosom.
“Very well, girl.” He speaks amusedly, you can hear the smirk in his voice. “You are so obedient, aren’t you?”
“Yes, my Lord.” You reply with a soft smile starting to paint your face at his pleasant touch.
“Mhm.” He hums while those hot eyes burn into the back of your head, urging you to look behind you. You resist, proving your subservience.
“Girl.” He states with a gentle squeeze into your buttock.
“Yes, my Lord.” You respond pleased.
“Lower.” As his deep voice rings out, his hand slides over your buttock to grip your hip with the same firmness as the other one. You can hear some more shuffling, before the touch of his clothed thighs rub against the bare skin of the backs of your thighs and buttocks. You obey, and move from your hands to your forearms, deepening the arch in your back. A content hum rings from behind you as the hot gaze observes your movements with a careful eye.
“Do not move, wench.”
The term is spoken with too much want to be perceived has hurting, followed by the sound of shuffling fabric. You can feel the weight of his lowering hakama push down onto the top of your buttocks. His massive frame makes it so his hips and privates are much higher than yours in this position. When the sounds of a glob being spit up sounds out, your body heats up with the realisation of his intentions. With remembrance of his routine.
That same sliding rings out behind you, a slow pace at first, though it quickly increases with every stroke. You can feel the warmth of his clothed thighs heat up in unison with the rising tempo. Your body responds to the hot touch, warming up further, most heat concentrating between your thighs, on your exposed rump and the cheeks of your face. As his breathing fastens and deepens, yours becomes more intense as well.
When the first groan rings out in harmony with the fast stroking, it brays through your whole body. You swallow the noises wishing to escape you, just as you had done earlier. Not wanting him to stop this punishment of his with your show of enjoyment, your teeth find your lip once more and bite down hard enough to draw blood. The taste of iron drops onto your tongue as your bite strengthens in response to another, even deeper groan.
The jerking has gone to such a fast pace, you can feel his thighs shake and push against yours. Your eyes shut tightly to not let yourself collapse into your desires, to keep your want from flooding out of you.
His fingers dig into your hips enough to bruise, that same tightness that marked your breast the night prior, as more strained groans escape the Lord.
One of his hands rushes to remove itself from your hip, instead falling onto the ground beside you to support his new lean. The other hand pushes your pelvis taut against his thighs, as you feel the heat of his torso hover over your back. The strained breathing and groans sound closer to you now, forcing you to hold your breath in order to not let any noises escape you.
The speedy strokes sound loudly above you, the slapping and tugging must surely seep through the walls and into the corridors. As the most tense groan thus far rings out, followed by a gasping exhale, you can feel a warm, thick fluid drip down onto your arched back, moistening both your bare skin and the cloth of your underdress.
The touch and his noises force you to release your held breath and bite with a soft whimper. The hand squeezing your hip begins to slide upward, over your buttock, the dirtied small of your back and through the liquid, before snaking beneath the thin fabric to spread the fluids towards the front of your body. The large body part cups your bruised, hanging breast and begins to massage it while the Lord remains catching his breath. His hot touch feels pleasant, though the kneading makes you wince with ache. The moment your body reacts with discomfort, the massaging seizes. Instead, his hand just lingers, holding your bosom with complete stillness.
The pleasant moment of the peaceful aftermath is soon interrupted. The Lord releases his hands from you, before raising himself up. Unsure whether his command of ‘do not move’ still stands, you decide to keep your movements halted for the time being. A thud of his footstep rings in unison with the shuffling of his fabric, presumably him stuffing himself back into his trousers. The door slides open, another quick and loud step, than it closes roughly.
You can hardly register how fast his departure happened. One second he is hovering over you, his hot touch on your breast and legs, and then he is gone.
Slowly, you move yourself backwards to sit on your knees. Your mind races with all the impressions. The conversation, the punishment, his self-pleasuring. You can feel the red skin on your buttock begin to burn while the warm fluid spread over your back and trailed to the front begins to harden. The puncture your teeth made in your lip still leaks iron, and that pulse between your thighs is still wanting to be taken care of, too.
---
It took you quite some time to scrub yourself clean once you arrived in the small washing room near your chambers. The Lord seemed to have left much more of his fluids than you had imagined. It was difficult to remove his caked on milk of pleasure from you, you had to rub hard enough to turn your skin red. After washing the rest of you as well, you brought your dirty underdress to the nearest laundry room and scrubbed it clean yourself, not wanting any of the sweet washing ladies to see the evidence. Wearing your gown with nothing beneath felt rather uncomfortable, so you were glad not to run into anyone while traversing the corridors.
Now back in your room, you decide to clean your floor first. The mess of the scrolls you discarded on the floor last night is mixed with the paper balls of your many failed attempt at writing. Before putting everything where it belongs, though, you rush to put on a fresh underdress.
After retying the obi in the back, you bend over and grab some scroll before throwing them into your opened chest. Continuing until the valuables are all restored, you collect all of the wads and leave your room once more, arms hugging the mount of paper, recreating your image from last night.
Throwing them into one of the many ever-burning firepits around the palace, you rush to head back to your room. Not having had the energy to write yesterday, and your subsequent bewilderment this morning, messed up your whole logging schedule.
Kneeling by the table, you roll out a fresh sheet and dip the brush in the ink.
---
Entry 61,
I am writing this the day after, as I was too fatigued to do so yesterday.
The Lord has returned, he has assigned me labour. I am to sup with him nightly.
That is all.
I am certain more of my daily life will change however he wishes, and sooner rather than later.
Before his return, I studied with Uraume and read them the entry in their tongue and hand. They were pleased, it made me feel rather proud. I read the entry to the Lord, as well as many others. He seemed just as content, having me read the bloody thing more than twenty times.
He visited me in the night, both in my dream and outside. There is a new stain on my floor.
My regards,
The dinner companion.
---
Tempted to write about the most recent events as well, you know the day is still too young. Many more things can happen.
Crawling onto your futon for a moment of rest, the ache in your breast and buttock make it hard for you to distract yourself from your rushing thoughts. To think he would wish to punish you in such a peculiar way…
Suppose you will just have to await dinner time for answers. Or perhaps something else.
“My regards,” You speak the different tongue properly, your eyes fixed on your writing on the paper. “The kitchen maid.”
You look up with a bright smile at your own accomplishment, wondering if Uraume feels the same way. They nod, a hint of a smile curls the corners of their mouths.
“Very well, girl.” Their compliment makes your cheeks begin to heat with a blush. “You must read this to the Lord when he returns.”
“I will.” You respond contently. Then, they hold out their hand.
“Allow me to inspect the writing.” You nod obediently, sit up on your knees to reach the person sitting in front of you in the dusty study and hand them the paper. The large servant robes allow you the movement comfortably, only the cinching obi keeping everything in place somewhat proper. You had dirtied your other dresses with ink and sand and during cooking, rather normal behaviour for you, given your clumsy nature.
“Mmh…” They hum as their eyes roam over the paper intently. You watch their movements closely, waiting for them to get stuck on a word or two, ready to be corrected. “It seems in order, apart from those things you have corrected yourself.” They reply monotony, before rolling up the entry and handing it back. “Good work.”
“Thank you, Uraume.” Gladness drips from your voice. You had been awake nearly the whole night in order to make sure your writing was correct. Your room is littered with the scrunched up papers of your many failed attempts.
Your proficiency in the other tongue is greater than you had dared wish it to be. Convinced it must be another magic trick my Uraume, anything they have ever taught you has remained in your head vividly, allowing you to converse properly with anyone about anything. You try to mimic their way of speaking the best you can; the words they use, the cadence they speak with. Though it is still clear you are foreign, some pronunciations are a bit too blunt compared to theirs.
“That will be all for today.” Uraume speaks as they raise themselves to their feet. It had been a somewhat productive study, you read some of the poems from the book, and saved your own writing for last, though your fatigue made your eyes and words stumble one too many times to go unnoticed. You stand up to follow while stuffing the scroll in your sleeve.
“I will not join you for tea, girl.” They speak before you can even ask the question while exiting the room. “I am far too busy.”
“I see.” You close the door behind you, before following them closely. “May I ask what this unrest is?” You noticed the many servants rushing through the halls during the morning, and even running past the walls of your study later on. It seems something unusual is at foot.
“I expect the Lord to return soon.”
“Oh.” You feel a smile wish to creep onto your face at the wonderful news, though you suppress it immediately. “I understand.”
Uraume bows, before following the corner going left. You return the favour, and take the one to the right. As you walk through the corridors nearing your chambers, you cannot help but feel a pleasant excitement boil up inside of you.
He is returning.
The memory of your intimate moment in the bath replays in your head.
He spoke to me then, I couldn’t understand him.
I will, now.
Your cheeks gain a brighter redness while your thumbs start to twiddle in front of you as you continue to make your way to your little sanctuary.
He has been visiting my dreams every night.
I look forward to his real eyes, rather than those cloudy husks of the engram in my fantasy.
You open the door to your chambers and rush to step through. The tiredness has been most annoying, messing up your lessons and such. You must’ve slept for less than an hour this night, you reckon. You put the scroll down on your small table, before letting your body fall onto the futon.
They believe he is to return soon…
Surely he won’t in the short time that I nap.
You let your eyes fall shut without moving an inch, your body laying messily strewn across the bed, stomach flat on the blanket. As your hands creep beneath the pillow and grip it tightly, the image of the Lord’s handsome face comes into vision. The thought of him visiting you in your slumber makes you embrace the snooze with ease.
The loud rushing footsteps hurrying through the usually quiet hallways awaken you from a deep nap. Your mouth lay hung open on your pillow, your drool wetting both the fabric and your cheek. You force those tired eyes open as you can hear the distant commotion. After slowly lifting yourself up to sit, your calloused fingers begin to rub the sleep out of your eyes.
Your door slides open roughly, the crack of wood on wood makes your whole body jolt. With widened eyes, you observe the intruder. Uraume stands in the entrance, holding a bundle of fabric between their hands.
“Wake up, girl.” They throw you the hump with a rushed voice. “You must change.”
“Uraume?” Your voice is hoarse with sleep. “Why?” With a leisurely pace, you grab the unfamiliar cloth and begin to fold it apart. It appears to be a navy blue yukata, appropriate for the current climate of summer. “This is not mine.” You sound almost confused as you observe it closely, your mind still hazy from slumber.
“It is now. You must change out of those robes immediately.” Their urging voice drags your eyes to them.
“Do you mean…?”
“Yes, girl.” They swiftly leave the room and shut the door behind them, before you can hear their rushed paces walk through the hallway.
…He has returned.
You lift yourself on your feet as fast as the fatigue allows it, your head feeling a little light when you do. Then, you remove the large, forbidden robes, dropping them on your futon without a care. One of your many new undergarments is worn beneath, you were glad to have made so many, as you now have a surplus of them in your chest.
Putting on the yukata properly, you waddle towards the mirror to check for any anomalies. Only when you close the gown do you realise how perfectly it fits you.
Like it was made specifically for me…
You wrap the obi around your waist, before closing it in the back with your best attempt at a neat bow. Only when you open the door to follow everyone else, do you realise you have no clue where to go.
To the throne room?
To his chambers?
To the yard?
You rush to close the door, fuss with your hair a little to make it look less like you have only just awoken, and begin to traverse the path towards the entrance. All of those footsteps you hear are headed this way, surely that is where you must go.
As you near the two massive front doors, you can see the outside through the large gap between them. Servants are scrambling around from left to right, some carrying things, other’s sweeping or cleaning up debris. Uraume stands in the middle of the entrance, it seems they recognise your rushed steps, causing them to glance over their shoulder to meet your eyes.
“Good. You are in time.”
“Yes, Uraume.” You say rather breathlessly. “What must I do?”
“Stand beside me, girl. Lord Sukuna will be here soon.” You nod and place yourself on their right. “You will keep your gaze lowered and mouth silent.” Your hands fold together neatly in front of you. “As he nears, you will step towards the right, as I will the left, in order to allow him his space.” Your thumbs begin twiddling, as your head bops along with their words in order to memories the commands. “We will follow closely behind him. It is late already, he will head for his chambers.” As you look at the sky, you can see the golden glow of the early evening alight it prettily.
“And stop moving your thumbs like that.” You blink at the sudden shift from a monotone to stern voice, a demand clearly projected at you personally.
“…Yes, Uraume.” You respond quietly, almost shyly, and remove your thumbs from one another.
Your eyes roam around the servants in the yard, all of them finding either a spot on the left or the right side of the path leading up to the entrance you are occupying. When you notice your three friends from the kitchen on the left, you smile at them. They observe you too, and return the favour, with the younger woman even waving.
They’ve been nothing but kind to you, helping you with baking and cooking, teaching you even more than Uraume already has. They converse with you, even banter with you, just like the sailors on the ship used to.
As you continue to scan the crowd, you can see more faces you recognise; the cleaning servants that always roam the halls with overflowing buckets, the laundry women who remarked how peculiar your garments were, the men who guard this very entrance to the palace night and day. You don’t know any of their names, as it is forbidden, but you know their faces well enough. Any who notice you as well, you grant them a soft smile and little bow, a gesture they return.
Rumbling sounds in the near distance, that of horses and carriages nearing at a rapid pace. You glance at Uraume, their eyes are focussed on the open stone gates at the front of the courtyard. You decide it’s best to lower your gaze already, for there is no way to know how fast the man can truly be here.
As your eyes remain stuck on the small pebbles before you, with your neck bend downwards to resist the urge to look up, those rumbles only get louder and louder. You cannot imagine how frightening it must be to hear those sounds, feel those vibrations, when awaiting your foe in the battlefield. You are glad your friends and Uraume ensured to you that the Lord would be safe and unharmed, for else this wait would’ve been even more excruciating, with your mind wondering which limbs he’d be missing.
The loudness begins to pass the walls of the yard, then the gates, before going even further. It must be a large train, you suppose.
A man like the Lord will surely be at the front.
…Or perhaps the middle?
All those chats with the seamen who had experience with war did not stuck with you well enough to remember properly. You never felt as though those subjects would be of importance in your life.
Yet here you are, awaiting the return of your Lord from battle. Stuck in a foreign land, speaking a different tongue, wearing rather distinct garments.
How strange I must look to my companions deceased eyes…
The rumbles continue, though you can begin to hear something else accompany it in the nearer distance. A loud thump, followed by another in close succession. The shuffling of the servants outside, and even Uraume beside you in the entrance, tell you they are moving to bow as well. It must be due to those prominent steps in the distance. Those that are nearing with large strides.
It’s him.
He is here.
Lord Sukuna.
You can feel a familiar heat find your scalp, before roaming all over your bent posture. The closer those footsteps sound, the more burning the sensation feels. Your attempt to settle your fastening breath proves fruitless, you are almost tempted to commence the twiddling of your thumbs to offset the nerves, but you know better. You stick your eyes onto the pebbles on the floor more tightly, that urge to look up and find his beautiful gaze with yours feeling nearly irresistible.
As the steps get louder and louder, you can see a great shadow creep into your field of vision, growing rapidly with every large stride. The orange tones of the outside world illuminate the grey pebbles softly, creating a warm glow around the dark shade of the ominous figure.
Uraume takes a step to the left, you mirror them quickly and move to the right. Immediately after you do, a loud step creaks the floorboard beside you, before the movements halt. You can feel his large body stand right there, that familiar heat radiating off of him. It’s more intense than you remember ever feeling it, though perhaps the past two months have mellowed your memories of the sensation.
You can feel the eyes burn into the side of your face for a long moment, your rushed breathing making your chest rise visibly, though it is not fear that is the culprit of your anxious behaviour.
A loud step rings out further into the entrance, those hot eyes remove themselves from your blushed skin. Uraume immediately turns to follow behind him, you follow their movements and stick to them closely. Your eyes lock onto the Lord’s behind immediately.
His broad back. Both pairs of his shoulders. He appears to be wearing similar clothes as when he left; white with blue accents. Your eyes creep up into those pink locks of his, you wonder how soft they would feel between your fingers. As you traverse the first couple bends and turns, you make more distance from the entrance, and all the other servants with it. Uraume patters slightly faster, and places themselves besides him.
“I hope your travels were pleasant, my Lord.”
“They weren’t. Naturally.” He scoffs in response. Being able to understand a proper sentence of his for the first time spreads a pleasant warmth through your whole being.
“We awaited your return eagerly.”
“Mmh.” He hums rather disinterestedly at their obedient words.
“How was the war, my Lord?”
“A nuisance.”
“I see. No problems, then?” The Lord shrugs in response.
“There were some sorcerers who tried a unique trick or two. Fools, every one of them.” He sounds pleased with his victory. You swallow at his unempathetic demeanour, certain it should discomfort you, though your insides only feel more intrigued. More excited. More aroused.
“They always are.” Uraume nods, as does the Lord. It is clear this is a normalcy for them, such conversations of battle and destruction.
“What of her?” His low voice speaks as his head nudges backwards to signal to you. Him referring to you directly urges a flutter to rise within you, tickling the walls of your stomach and privates pleasantly.
“I have obeyed your orders closely, my Lord.” Uraume glances over their shoulder, you can tell by their stern eyes the command of ‘silence’ still stands. “She understands. She speaks.” They turn their eyes back in front of them. “She even reads and writes.”
“She does.” A content statement. It seems he had expected this, yet still appears appreciative of the fact. Your ideas of magic playing a role in your skills seem to be reiterated by his confidence, though you do not dare to ask directly.
You cannot help but wonder how much longer you must hold your tongue, before finally being able to converse with the man who has been haunting you every night for the past two months.
The journey through the palace continues in silence. Only after passing those familiar doors of the throne room, does a voice ring out again.
“I will prepare your supper immediately.”
“Good. I’m starving.” He speaks amusedly, deeply.
“And for her?”
“Whatever you usually give her.”
“She is the one who cooks for us both, my Lord.” You see his head snap to face Uraume’s as you enter the large hallway leading up to his chambers.
“And why is that?” He sounds quite discontent with the notion.
“Because she wished to, my Lord.”
“Mmh…” He hums unimpressed, before turning his head straight. “Just give her the usual.”
“Yes, my Lord.” Uraume responds as they slide open the door to his room, bowing once they step to the side.
The Lord enters his chambers. You do not follow right away, instead look at Uraume to see if they go in after him. When they nudge their head for you to enter, you obey. The door is closed behind you right away, leaving you alone with him. It is clear when they said ‘immediately’, they meant it.
You observe as he walks to the far side of his bed, before retrieving the kiseru from it’s stand. He rests it between his lips and holds up an index finger. A small flame emerges from the tip, which he uses to light his pipe. Your eyes grow wide at the direct view of his magic.
How fascinating…
The flame disappears immediately as he lowers his hand while walking with a large yet leisurely pace. Sitting down on the cushioned bench at the foot of his bed, he slowly turns his head towards the person still standing by the entrance.
When his gaze meets yours, you cannot help but swallow some air to push the pleasant tension within you down. He takes a puff from his kiseru, before blowing out the smoke through his nose, those hot, unreadable eyes still stuck on yours.
“Come here, girl.” His low voice speaks, directed at you for the first time in months. You quickly patter towards the man, placing yourself at a comfortable distance before him, the fur rug kissing your bare soles. Your breathing has not seemed to calm down yet, despite your attempts.
“You understand.” He states factually, to which you nod. He takes another puff.
“You talk.” The words escaping him are accompanied by the smoke. The familiar scent creeps into your nose as you nod once more. He squints his eyes slightly at your held tongue.
“Do I frighten you, girl?” Your brow furrows at the appalling question, you rush to shake your head with sincerity. He leans closer, resting his top two elbows on his thighs. “Then why are you not speaking?” His voice teases, a smirk pulls at one of the corners of his mouth.
“May I, my Lord?” You break the seal of your silent command with a soft voice, not being able to suppress that growing smile on your face.
“I demand it.” Your smile widens at his tantalising voice. So deep, so handsome. It makes something itch inside of you. An itch that demands a scratch.
“You do not frighten me, my Lord.” You rush to answer the offending question, though keep your voice gentle. Perhaps more gentle than usual, even.
“I do not?” He squints his eyes once more, before flashing one of his sharp canines with that crooked smirk.
“No, my Lord.” You insist.
“Then you are a fool.” The insult is spoken without much vigour, too calm for you to take any offence.
“I have seen more frightening things than a rather large man, my Lord.” You speak truthfully after searching for the right words for a moment, a gentle smile wanting to pull at your lips tighter. Though you tried your hardest to see him as a monster when you had just arrived here, even then you knew you were not able to. The man intrigues you too much for that. He excites you too much.
“Mmh…” He hums pleased while leaning his back against the footboard once more. Taking another puff from the pipe between his lips, his hot eyes dart over the features of your face.
Then, they unapologetically plant themselves on your body. Roaming every inch, just like they did in the bath, though now he is taking his time with it even more. Your neck, your chest, your waist and hips. You can see a small twitch pull at the raised corner of his mouth, before dropping slightly as his eyes stick to the hands clasped together in front of you.
“Show me your arms.” His low tone breaks the silence after one of his hands removes the pipe from his mouth. You blink at his command.
…My arms?
After a moment of hesitation, you nod slowly and obediently roll up your sleeves, revealing the deep slashes in your forearms. As you stick them out, he responds with the nudging of his head for you to get closer. Taking one, two careful steps on the soft rug beneath you, your thighs rest right before his knees, almost grazing them in the process.
His two lower arms reach for yours. The hot skin of his large fingers grab onto your wrists, turning and bending your arms in all sorts of ways to allow him to inspect your marks thoroughly.
“Scars are unbefitting of a woman.” His voice speaks neutrally, all four of his eyes remaining stuck on the many seams.
“They are.” You agree, having heard the notion plenty of times, even when you were just a child and the only mark you had was a small one on your knee. And now your arms are covered with them, there’s some others scattered about that show the hard labour you endured, and the one on your temple from the storm.
“You have many.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Marks of your old life.” His warm digits remove themselves from your joints, allowing you to relax your limbs. He rolls his eyes back up to yours. “Your new one will not bestow you any more.”
Unsure if you are properly understanding his words, your brows furrow once more as your mind rushes to properly translate his peculiar speech.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Your confusion is interrupted by the sound of knuckles on wood. Your head turns to face the source, pulling your gaze away from the Lord.
“Enter.” He bellows with a deep sigh. You can still feel his orbs burn into you, perhaps even hotter now that yours have left him. The door slides open in response, Uraume walks into the room holding a large tray in their hands. Behind them, three servants follow. Two hold a somewhat large table between them and carry it inside, the other holds a different, smaller tray. Your body turns to watch the two carriers put the table in the exact middle of the broad room, while Uraume puts the large tray down on one of the long ends, with the other servant mirroring them on the other side.
The four people shuffle away immediately, even Uraume does not glance at either of you two. They close the door behind them, leaving you and the Lord alone once again. Only now do you remember the short conversation of supper between Uraume and the Lord in the hallway, the sudden solitude with the man had made you unable to think about anything, really, let alone remember anything of unimportance. Or seemingly importance, it turns out.
The man stands up, pushing his body close to yours. On instinct, you take a step back, an act that earns you an amused chuckle from the him.
“Eat, girl.” He speaks as he passes you and walks towards the table. “I must admit, I found it quite amusing when you asked me that.” He lowers himself to sit behind the large tray, his front facing the wall with the entrance. You patter towards the other side obediently. “Even when you could not speak properly, you found a way to ask your fate.” He picks up a pair of chopsticks while you sit down. “It showed me you appeared to be clever enough.”
“Clever, my Lord?” You cannot help but ask as you observe the platter before you, your gaze averted from the man.
“Look at me when we are speaking, girl.” His stern command forces you to immediately raise your eyes to meet his crimson gaze.
“I apologise, my Lord.” You rush to speak, though do not let your voice show fear. How could you, when you do not feel it?
“Clever enough for your task.” He answers your improperly asked question regardless.
“My task?” You repeat a bit more quietly, before your eyes widen a smidge with realisation. “You are giving me labour?” You feel a smile grow on your face as the man nods.
“You are to sup with me.” You nod along with his words, awaiting the next command.
Instead, the man lowers his eyes to his food, signalling he is done speaking. Your smile drops a bit with every second while a frown settles in your brows.
“That is all?” You speak with surprise, perhaps even disappointment. His top two eyes roll up to watch you, as he puts a piece of meat into his mouth. “But…” Your eyes dart around his, that frown intensifying. “That is no labour at all.” Your voice rushes, your tone tense. “Why do I need to be clever for supping, my Lord?” After the man swallows, you can see a grin grow on his face.
“Do not underestimate such a grave responsibility, girl.” He speaks once all four eyes have planted themselves back onto your face. “You do not yet know what it entails.”
“To eat, I presume.” You speak a bit too scoffingly, clearly forgetting you are conversing with the Lord of his very own haunted palace. The man lowers his bottom eyes again while lifting a piece of meat.
Only after he sticks it into his mouth with a dramatically slow pace, do you see what kind of dead animal it is. The confused expression on your face falls as your eyes widen.
Human.
You rush to look down at your own tray, inspecting every inch presented before you.
‘The usual’, he told Uraume.
Did he mean like his?
When your eyes glance up at his dinner, you can see it is different.
No.
It must be what Uraume eats if I don’t prepare supper, then.
You inspect your own dinner again. There’s miso broth, rice, baked fish and vegetables. His has all of those things, except instead of fish it is human, as well as the addition of some kind of omelette and fruit. All of his portions are much larger compared to yours, too. As you pick up your chopsticks, you decide to inspect the fish properly.
They can do magic in this land.
Surely they can make one thing appear as another.
As you dig into the perfectly cooked creature, it tears and looks just like it should. You grab a small piece between your utensils, before moving it to your mouth. With a hint of reluctance, you place it into your orifice.
The taste of fish kisses your tongue, just how it should be.
A deep chuckle escapes from the opposite side of the table.
“See,” His amused voice teases, forcing your gaze back onto him. He flashes his canines in a large smile, before one of his empty hands reaches for a second pair of chopsticks so he can consume even more. “Amusingly clever.”
Your supper continues in silence, only the noises of two people eating their dishes ringing out. You kept having to remind yourself to eat more decently. Instead of shovelling everything into your mouth like you usually would, you continuously forced yourself to slow down.
It irritated you greatly, and given the Lord was too focused on his own feasting, you decided to give into your nature and stopped feigning excessive femininity. You saved your broth for last, given it’s your favourite, and wash everything down with the comforting, fermented liquid. You put the bowl down onto the tray with an amused sigh and hint of a smile.
“You eat like a man.” The suddenness of his voice makes your eyes spring up to him, observing as he puts down the dual wielded chopsticks on the tray with many empty plates and bowls. When you realise what he said, your pleased smile turns into a bit of an awkward one.
“I apologise, my Lord.” You speak with a growing sense of shame.
“Are women in your land not taught manners?”
“I am a peasant, my Lord. Not a lady.” Unsure what the word for ‘lady’ is in their tongue, you speak it in your own.
“So?” He does not seem to care for the word spoken in your own tongue.
“So… I suppose not.” You can feel a shy blush creep onto your cheeks. “It did not help that I was at sea with men for years, either.” You laugh breathily, hoping to seize the judgement.
“Years?” You nod quickly in response.
“Yes, my Lord. Though I do not know how many.”
“Mmh…” He hums deeply, before crossing his top two arms in front of him. “Did you have a lover?”
“No, my Lord.” You smile, knowing why that was not the case, your mind not even registering why he would be interested in knowing. “I was the kitchen maid, and the cook who I worked for was a frightening man to those who tried anything.”
“I see…” He nods slowly while keeping that stare strong. You can tell he is seeing whether you are lying or not.
“Peasants learn to read and write in your land?” He continues the interrogation.
“No, my Lord. The captain on the ship taught me.” You answer truthfully. “He believed such skills would grant me a proper future.”
“Such as?” You both already know the answer, yet he asks regardless.
“To become someone’s wife, I suppose.” You shrug a little as you answer, never having imagined such a life of luxury would be granted to you.
“His wife?” You cannot help but laugh softly at his prying.
“No, my Lord.” You shake your head, rather certain of your words. You think for a moment, attempting to explain as properly as you can. “Female features were not his preference.”
With an oddly amused hum, the Lord raises himself up to his feet. You follow suit obediently, and patter behind him at a comfortable distance as he makes his way towards the chair beside his bed.
“Go read me those scrolls of yours.” He glances over his shoulder as he snatches the snuffed out kiseru from the bench, before moving to the armchair. “You did continue writing them, I presume?”
“Yes, my Lord.” You nod, that sense of shame seems to have left you already. He lowers himself into his chair, as you watch from a safe distance. “Though there are many of them. I am unsure if I can bring them all.”
The man simply stares in response, clearly uninterested in your inability to carry a few dozen scrolls. After a lingering stare into each other’s eyes, you nod and rush towards the door. You can hear the soft crackling of his pipe being relit in the near distance, before you slide open the door and step through.
Rushing through the hallways towards your room, the recent impressions begin to settle within you.
He has returned.
He has given me labour.
My task is to sup with him.
How ridiculous.
You scoff at your strange reality while traversing the familiar corridors.
To think they used to be like a maze to me.
Or perhaps that was a magic trick as well.
It would not surprise me.
After opening your door, you rush towards the chest filled with your writing. You were smart to start marking the entry numbers on the side, given there are so many now.
I can never bring them all…
Perhaps just the most interesting ones, then.
Not that he would know the difference.
You grab some of your personal favourites, making sure to add the one on your small table that you wrote yesterday to the collection. With a heap of letters held between both of your arms, you rush back out of your room, closing the door behind you with your bare foot hooked into the panels. You do not want to keep him waiting for too long, after all.
Quickly wading through the hallways, with your bare soles tapping against the sleek floors with hasty patters, you can feel your breathing fasten at the thought of returning to him. Even though your conversations were a bit odd, you still long to feel those hot eyes of his on your skin again. To see that pleasant smirk. To have his face grow as content as it was in the bath all those weeks ago.
The thought of nearing him makes your cheeks blush once more, after only just having settled.
He is creeping into my heart, isn’t he?
No.
He already has.
How embarrassing of me.
I do not know the man.
I do not even know what fate he has decided for me.
Yet despite those thoughts, a smile paints your face the closer you get to his door. Standing in front, you struggle to brace the knuckle of one of your indexes against the wood.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Enter.”
The voice calls while the last knock is placed against the wood. It’s clear he’s been waiting for you. You attempt to open the door with that singular finger, struggling as you do. Eventually, it slides open with strain.
When stepping into the doorway, you can see the man has placed himself onto the cushioned bench once more, now nearly completely undressed, apart from his hakama trousers. His head is already turned to observe you, your mount of scrolls held between your arms as you are hugging them tight enough to not drop any. You can hear a scoff release from the man at your dishevelled appearance while that smirk settles on his face.
The sight of his bare skin and pleased face makes your cheeks burn even hotter, your smile grows prominent once more, you can feel the corners of your mouth begin to settle deeply in your cheeks. You kick the door shut behind you without much grace, just as you did with your room. Then, you waddle closer to the man, and drop the load onto the fur in front of him. The same picture from all those weeks ago repeats itself, as you sit down in front of the man on the comfortable rug.
You search through the mess of scrolls for the earliest one, you can feel his hot gaze grow into a pleasant and warm one, as his eyes remain stuck on you. Finally finding the right entry, you unroll the paper, before looking up at the man for a quick glimpse. The moment your eyes find his face, you observe another twitch pull at his lip, followed by a singular nod of his head, as he leans back comfortably against the footboard.
“Entry 5, the girls demise was set in stone.” You begin to speak your own tongue with a perfect cadence and clear voice. As soon as the first word rings out, the man hums barely audibly in approval.
---
“My regards, the reader.” You finish the last entry in your own tongue. After reading nearly 20 of them, your voice has grown hoarse and tired. But the exciting prospect of reading the Lord your last entry makes enough will flow through you to do it properly. As you roll up the paper, you glance up at him, your face barely being able to hide it’s excitement.
Throughout reading all the entries, your expression mellowed to a comfortable one, your smile settling down nicely with content. Only now does it wish to creep up again. The shift in your demeanour does not seem to go unnoticed, the man raises his slashed brow ever so slightly as you grab the most recent one of your works.
“Entry 60,” With your eyes focused intently on your own writing, you begin to read his language. “I am writing this in the other tongue and with different letters. It is strange to me but I enjoy it.” The Lord immediately leans forward as he hears is own words being read from the paper, his elbows resting on those wonderful muscly thighs.
“It has been two months since my arrival. Much has happened. I have learned a lot.” You can feel the heat of his body intensify, nearly drawing your gaze towards him. You refuse, and squint ever so slightly in order to focus better.
“I miss the sea but I am grateful for my place here. I do not miss home much, there was not anything for me there.” You can hear shuffling before you. One of his hands reaches forward with a leisurely pace, the heat emitting from it nearly reddening your skin due to the intensity.
“I have been cooking every day for me and Uraume. I have been studying every day to learn to read and write.” The hand creeps into the corner of your eye, before grabbing a strand of your hair between the large thumb and index. The close proximity of his skin on yours spreads a marvellous heat through your entire being.
“I have not received work. I hope I will soon.” He tucks the strand behind your ear, grazing passed your soft shell with those burning digits. The sensation sends a shiver through your entire body, nearly making you stumble your words.
“Cat lay on my lap today when in the garden. Her purring was very pleasant.” The fingers linger beside your face, before the tip of the index is firmly pressed right below your cheekbone in front of your ear. He begins to draw a line towards your moving mouth, though moves downwards right before he reaches the corner.
"I wait for the Lord to return. I will be glad to see he is safe.” With those same fingers, he grabs your chin as he has done before. Caressing it from left to right, he slowly lifts your head up to fall in line with his, away from the paper.
“My regards,” Your eyes are forced off of the writing and into his. The warm gaze feels as though it creeps into your soul. You speak the last few words from memory, refusing to look away from his pleasant eyes. “The kitchen maid.”
“Good girl.”
His deep voice compliments you with pure amusement. Your skin glows a bright red at the surprising praise, the heat of his voice and caressing finger spreads through your whole being, settling between your legs. You can feel a pulse begin to pound between your thighs, you squeeze them shut on instinct. The man’s eyes are pleasant enough to drown in, your own begin to lid halfway with both content and tiredness.
“Read it again for me.” His command needs a moment to settle in your ears and reach your consciousness. The removal of his grasp from your chin allows your awareness to resurface quicker. With steady movement, you lower your eyes on the paper once more, and begin to read.
“Entry 60, I am writing this in the other tongue and with different letters…”
---
Shuffling through the hallways with a snails pace, that mount of scrolls squeezed between your two arms, the thought of your futon awaiting you nearby is the only thing keeping your eyes from closing. The Lord had you read the entry over and over again. You lost count of your repeats after surpassing twenty and one.
With an uncontrolled yawn, you open your door even more strugglingly than you did the Lord’s. After a good minute of bracing your singular finger, your exhausted self finally succeeds. The moment you enter your chamber, you take a step into the direction of your chest and small table, and drop the loot on the floor without a care. You do not even consider cleaning them up, nor writing the one for today. Instead, you close the door and rush to remove your robes from you. After dropping them on the floor right where you stand, you let yourself fall onto your futon face first, nearly suffocating yourself in the pillow. Knowing it will not allow you a good night’s rest, you flip over and crawl beneath the covers, laying on your back with your legs and hips twisted to one side. Your eyes close with a deep exhale, sleep easily takes you but a short moment later.
Unsure of how long you have been in the abyss that is slumber, your hazy surroundings begin to form a picture. It appears you are in the Lord’s bathroom, the steam lingers in the air, pleasant heat caresses your bare legs. When you look before you, you can see him. Or his imitation, rather.
With grey skin instead of that pleasant tan, milky dead eyes rather than those warm ones. There is no heat radiating off of him, nor can you feel his gaze on you. With your body pressed to his, leaning against his shoulder, you cannot feel anything of noteworthy.
It is always like this.
You are granted but a crumb of the pleasant memory. An empty illusion, rather than warm fantasy.
You do what you always do, and begin to wash the face of the façade, just like you did the real one. There is no blood that needs to be cleaned off, given you’ve been spending nearly every night for the past few weeks cleaning the man’s snout. The action has become routine. Every so often, the mannequin will move or speak. But the touch is always muted, the words always incomprehensible.
But something is different tonight.
There’s a noise rising in the heavens of your dream.
Are those… footsteps?
Your eyes glance up at the door behind the man in the tub. Is there a different presence in your dream? An intruder?
It sounds as though the steps are nearing you. You are certain who they belong to. Looking down at he who must be their source, he appears as lifeless as ever. Two of his hands reach up from the water stiffly, before holding onto your waist. You cannot feel them, you can only observe. The other hand is on the back of your thigh, you remember. The last one is laying on the edge of the tub.
Those steps sound right outside the door. When the rough sliding of wood over wood rings in its direction, you glance up again.
The entrance remains closed, yet a new loud footstep of his gets closer to you. The door shuts again, roughly. Then, another thud, this one right beside you.
A sudden wave of coldness washes over you as you feel a soft pressure be lifted off of your legs. When you glance down at the comfortable warm liquid that should be in the pool, it seems to be draining rapidly.
The husk does not react. It never does.
Your bare body feels exposed to the night’s air, and even though you can still see the steam be present in the bathroom, little goosebumps begin to form on your skin.
A burning heat grabs onto one of your breasts. When you glance down at your body, you can see one of the man’s hands be placed onto your bosom, even though they have all been accounted for. And this one appears too lively to belong to the engram.
Too hot, too tan.
Too real.
It begins to move with a rough massaging motion. The pressure and vigour makes your breath hitch. A deep groan responds to your noisy reaction, making your whole body heat up once more, the chilly air suddenly not being noticeable anymore.
As the massaging get rougher with every squeeze, you can feel your breath fasten at the wonderful push. That pulse finds its way back into your walls, pounding with the same force as his kneads. When another low groan releases beside you, a soft moan does from your throat as well. The hand squeezes your bosom tightly, making your face wince in response.
Though painful and bruising, you do not want it to stop. One of your hands reaches upwards, and blankets the back of the large body part with your palm. Another groan, then some shuffling of fabric right beside your head.
You can hear a rushed commotion from the same area, followed by the sound of someone spitting up a glob of saliva. Then, the sliding of skin over skin commences, it soon picks up the same rhythm as the kneading of your fat.
Fastening, bassy breaths accompany the orchestra of arousing noises. Sliding, pulling, even some slapping. You cannot help but moan in response to the wonderful noises blessing your ears, a deep groan responds, this one more strained than those before.
The throbbing between your thighs has become a nuisance to ignore.
You cannot resist.
With rushed movements, you lift yourself off of the façade, some of his grey skin crumbles like half-dried clay beneath you as you do. Widening your legs, you creep your free hand between them as the arousing noises continue to ring out from the abyss. Snaking your fingers down to your hot, wet folds, another tight squeeze is felt in your breast, followed by another strained groan.
Those sensual noises fasten and increase in vigour. The slapping is more prominent, as is that rushed swiping. It’s sloppy. It’s wonderful.
Your middle finger slides easily between your slick lips, you immediately pick up the same unrelenting pace as those noises right beside you. A moan releases from your throat as you rub vigorously over your bundle of nerves, the loudest groan yet responds. As that kneading gets more bruising with the second, the velocity of the swiping and slapping does as well. You mimic the change of pace, nearly making your arm cramp as you do. You bite your lip to offset the ache, a strained whimper escapes your throat while doing so. That uncontrolled breathing has placed itself right beside your ear, you can feel the heat emitting off of it graze your shell.
The swiping and massaging and your own rubbing all make you fall into some sort of trance. You don’t know how long it’s lasting, how much you are rubbing and he is swiping and you are both huffing and puffing, groaning and moaning. But as that tension in your gut finally rises up enough, you stop following his tempo, instead picking up an inexorable one of your own.
Frantically rubbing your pearl in search of that wonderful release, your moans become more strained. His rumbling groans respond, you can feel them reverberate against your skin in the far distance of your dream. Now, it seems his jerking is mimicking your pace.
The unison of your noises, the rubbing, and the tightest squeeze in your breast yet, breaks the tension inside of your lower stomach. With a laboured moan, your whole body tenses up, walls clenching and finger still rubbing vigorously. Your eyes roll back, the sound of his growls making the release so much better. Only when your body starts convulsing from the overstimulation, does your hand finally seize. Your mind feels hazy, though you can still hear his noises in the abyss.
A final, forceful groan, accompanied by an extremely tight grip on your fat. Soon after, the swiping and slapping noises cease completely.
The only sounds filling the void are two people catching their breath. One stuck in her dream state, the other somewhere in the distant heavens of reality.
When you glance down, the hand is still stuck on your chest, his hot palm muting the rising ache of settling bruises kindly. Your eyes fall on the husk.
He looks as empty and dead as ever, though you can see a hint of pleasure hide in those four milky eyes of his.
Your palm presses down on the hot hand placed against your bosom, relishing this pleasance as much as possible.
The chance of not remembering when you wake up forces you to push down a little more to savour the moment.
A small, almost gentle squeeze into your bosom is given as response to your touch.
---
Notes: I hope I conveyed the reader mixing languages in her thoughts well enough and that it’s not confusing, as well as the difference in her proficiency with her own language compared to the other one :)
You watch eagerly as Uraume prepares the broth you have come to love. Being able to make it yourself would please you, so you pay close attention. They have already taught you new words; broth, miso, salt, pot, seaweed.
When you entered the kitchen, you were surprised to find it completely cleaned already. The servants had returned, too. When you greeted them, you could tell they had never seen a garment like yours before. Especially the younger woman’s gaze lingered on your chest a little longer than usual. Uraume had quickly ordered them away, you can only assume to see to other tasks.
After Uraume ladled in the substance, you move the bowls towards the table, making sure to sit down in the same chair as last night. You smell the broth, before taking a sip. It taste just as pleasant as always, you are glad you learned how to make it.
The meal is enjoyed in silence, which you don’t mind. You finally have some type of sustenance in your body again, making it much more easy for you to face the rest of the day. Afternoon has creeped in already, and you wonder what else Uraume has planned for you to do. Once you both finish, you obediently grab the bowls and move to the washing area. Uraume remains seated, clearly observing your actions closely. You scrub them both thoroughly, before drying and eventually putting them back where they belong. You’re getting used to the layout of this kitchen, it already feels as familiar as the one on the ship.
Though that one never had any butchered human remains in it…
You follow closely as Uraume leads you through the hallways once more. They have kept their silence after teaching you those few words. Comfort lingers in you warmly as you move through the corridors wearing your own clothes again. Not a sheet, not the restricting dress. Now that you think back on it, the garment was probably just too small for your features. Perhaps that’s why you have been granted this one again?
Uraume brings you both towards the throne room, you recognise this route now. You walk through the already opened, imposing doors. Uraume walks straight to the same spot as the day prior, you follow them closely.
“Remember, silence.” You nod as they speak a word very similar to ‘silent’. The other must be ‘remember’, then. They bow slightly, before stepping away again. You furrow your brow slightly at their departure, but remember they still have other duties than just spending time with you. You press your back against the wall firmly, fold your hands together in front of you, and lower into a bow the moment you hear those heavy footsteps near.
As the Lord walks through the doors, you can feel his warm eyes find you immediately. He hums in approval, you raise yourselves up. You find his eyes with yours, this time not looking away until he does. His bone white kimono matches your dress in tint, though his dark blue accents clearly show the difference between you two. When he walks too far for his face to be visible, you turn your gaze back down. You can hear him shuffling as he sits down, before his eyes burn into you again.
You try to resist the temptation, but fail miserably. Your head turns slightly, and you glance back up. He squints, before that same smirk pulls at the corner of his mouth. You smile softly, before lowering your gaze in front of you again, almost teasingly so. His warm eyes remain on you, until more footsteps ring out in the distance.
You can recognise Uraume’s, they are accompanied by heavy sounding ones, though not nearly as imposing as the Lord’s. The patters enter through the door, before stopping and shuffling like usual. They’re bowing, you assume. You can feel the Lord’s burning gaze lift off of you.
“Look.” The low rumble escapes from the throne.
“Lord Sukuna, we have come to request your presence.” The voice sounds new to you, though clearly a strong man. Perhaps a captain, or commander?
“I know. I could smell your excrements from miles away.” Awkward shuffling follows the Lord’s monotone voice.
“Yes, well… The aroma of war, is it not?” An unamused groan follows the strong man’s attempt at a jest. “Do you recall our agreement, my Lo-”
“Do not question my memory, vermin.” The Lord’s irritated voice interrupts the man. “I will come with and end this folly of yours.”
“I thank you, my Lord.” You understood the man’s words, clearly the Lord is agreeing to something.
“Mhm…” You can feel his eyes graze past you as he hums, though you assume it to only be the lower ones.
“When shall we depart, Lord Sukuna?”
“Now.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Have you lost your hearing?”
“N-No, my Lord. I am very grateful for your invol-“
“Shut up.” The deep voice interrupts again, shuffling accompanying it. You can hear his heavy stride start to walk towards the group, some of his eyes lock onto you again. Call to you again. You slowly raise your gaze to find them.
His bottom left eye appears fixed on you. It squints a little, shining brightly, urging you to follow after him. You glance at Uraume standing by the open doors, who nods once, rather sternly.
You move away from the safety of the wall. Your small patters accompany his imposing steps as the group of men splits in two to let him pass through. You follow behind him after closing the distance to a comfortable one. Not too close to him, though not too far away.
You can feel some of the men’s eyes linger on you as walk passed them, though you urge yourself to keep your own fixed on the back of the Lord in front of you. As soon as you step through the doors, the shuffling and walking sounding out behind you indicates they must be following as well. The doors close behind them, you can only assume Uraume will sweep after you all.
The Lord seems to be leading you through the entire palace. You pass the area you’re most familiar with and continue further. You don’t remember ever being in this region, but you try not to let it show. Instead, you keep your eyes fixed on his large backside. His wide shoulders. His spikey pink hair. You wonder if he can feel your eyes on him, just like you can feel his whenever they are stuck on you.
When you reach another imposing hallway, two doors are located at the end. They look identical to the ones of the throne room.
…The entrance of the palace?
You vaguely remember the main doors sounding the same as the others, though a lot of that day has become hazy to you. You’re glad you wrote about it when the memories were still fresh.
The doors open in front of the man as he nears. When they do, you can see two servants you passed during one of your first days here pulling on the large, heavy wooden slabs. You quickly return your gaze to the man in front, wanting to savour the sight of his wonderful backside as long as you’re allowed. Before stepping through, a different servant rushes towards him to slide on his shoes. Afterwards, they reach back to grab another, much smaller pair. The Lord steps past the kneeling woman to walk through the doors. The woman seems to be waiting for you, as you look down at her while stepping closer. Smoothly, she puts on your shoes, before stepping away in a bow. Your brows furrow slightly at the gesture, though you quickly follow after the Lord as to not keep him waiting.
My dress must look ridiculous together with these socks and shoes…
You smile softly at the thought, realising how much of a stranger you truly are. You look around to observe the fresh nature outside of the palace, only having seen the garden and that small beach by the forest. The courtyard is large and empty, small stones decorate the floor from the large doors all the way towards the stone gate and barriers in the distance.
Behind it, those familiar trees sprout up. You can see a bunch of servants running around holding chests and materials, carrying them off towards the perimeter. Your eyes find the Lord’s back again, who has kept his steady pace, with you struggling to casually keep up behind him. You can hear the noises of the men and Uraume still walking behind you, too.
When the Lord stops walking, you glance up at him and slow your pace. Unsure of where to stand, you decide to take a similar position as in the throne room; moving out of the way towards his side, stepping back a comfortable distance from everyone. His eyes follow your quick movements.
When you turn to face him from your short distance, he seems somewhat pleased. The men stand still in front of the Lord and bow again. Uraume continues to walk, until they stand beside you.
“We thank you again, my Lord.” A low groan responds to the strong man’s words. You decide to keep your gaze fixed on the Lord this time, who clearly does not seem to mind. His lower set seems stuck on you too, they try to speak as clearly as before, though yours don’t seem to understand.
You understand what is happening, though. All of the materials being moved, the pleas and thanks of the men, the fact you are outside of the palace.
The Lord is leaving, you know for a fact.
You wonder how long his voyage will be. If he is to go to sea, it could take years, you know from experience. When you glance to look at the men, you can tell they are not sailors, so you doubt it. You can feel his eyes burn into you slightly, so you quickly return your gaze.
“I hope this pitiful display of yours won’t take too long.”
“With your capabilities, it surely won’t.”
“Mmh… So you admit your weakness, then?”
“I…” The strong man’s words stumble at the mocking tone the Lord’s voice seems to harbour. “…Yes, my Lord.” A low, almost theatrical chuckle rings out.
“How amusing, such pathetic honesty.” He turns his body around towards the gates again, making sure to only release his eyes from yours at the last second. You can tell you are not supposed to move, Uraume’s stillness only confirming it. “We shall depart.” The men raise themselves up from their bow and follow behind the Lord’s steps. He seems to be walking faster this time, clearly not caring how well the men can keep up with him. You keep your gaze fixed on the Lord’s back as long as possible, turning your head in the process.
“Come, girl.” Uraume pushes against your arm with theirs. You break your eyes away from the leaving Lord and look at them. They nudge their head towards the palace.
“He will return soon.”
Though you cannot grasp their words, you seem to understand regardless. You can tell they have faith in him, so you must too. As you make your way back to the palace, your thoughts are calmed down with one single notion.
I will get to read him all the new entries I’ll be writing, once he returns.
Before entering, the servant removes your shoes again. It still feels strange to be serviced like this, you dislike the sensation. The sun is already starting to set, and the tiredness and impressions of the day seems to overwhelm your interest in food. You decide to retreat to your chambers, perhaps you will return to the kitchen later and make some more porridge.
“Uraume?” You ask as they walk in front of you, leading you through all the newly visible hallways. They glance over their shoulder. “Go my room?” They turn their head back with a nod.
“Yes, I will take you to your room.”
Your mind is growing too fuzzy to keep up with all the turns and corners of the unfamiliar corridors. You are certain you will have the chance to learn this part of the palace later, so you don’t even attempt to do it now.
Once Uraume opens the door, you enter and walk towards your small table immediately. You sit down comfortably, then look back up at them still standing in your doorway.
“Thank you, Uraume.” You bow with a gentle smile.
“Girl.” They return the gesture, before shutting your door, leaving you alone with your papers and singular lit candle.
You decide it’s best to keep writing every day. Though you don’t know how long you will remain in this haunted palace, even if it’s for the rest of your life, you wish to keep track of time this way. Besides, it’s a good way to exercise your skills, and keep involving your own language while you continue to learn the new one.
And so you roll up the previous entry and replace it with a clean scroll. You dip your brush in the ink, and begin to write.
---
Entry 5,
The girls demise was set in stone. I had predicted it, unfortunately it was the less favourable of the fantasies. I helped Uraume with the steps required of taking care of her. The Lord seemed to enjoy the raw meat. He forced a piece into me, as well, though I ate it wilfully in an attempt to ensure my survival. I do not state that to exempt myself from judgement, simply that that was my intention.
I bathed in a wonderful warm bath afterwards. I don’t remember ever having enjoyed one, back home the water would always be much colder. The Lord joined me. I helped clean the girls blood off of his face.
I was given my own dress back. I did not realise how badly I missed the garment, until it was returned to me. I will gladly continue to wear it, even if it does not look appropriate in comparison to this land’s garments. I will attempt to make a copy as well, for when this one needs to be washed. Though I suppose it would be proper to also get used to the kimonos and yukatas the women of this land wear.
The Lord has taken his leave. I do not know what for, nor do I know for how long. Uraume seems to have faith in the man’s return, so I must have it too.
My regards,
The bloody.
---
Entry 6,
I snuck into the kitchen at midnight as hunger had overcome me. I made porridge again, only one portion this time. I will ensure not to eat at that time again, the solitude made me feel even lonelier then I already do.
Uraume has been continuing their teachings. I learned so many words, I can hardly keep track of all of them. I will be very happy once I can hold proper conversation with them, as well as the servants. And the Lord, of course.
I made stew for me and Uraume this evening. They seemed to enjoy it. Though truthfully, it is hard to tell with them.
My regards,
The lonely.
---
Entry 10,
The days continue to pass as usual.
Once I have awoken, I am given breakfast by the kind people in the kitchen. Today, the man was absent, just like the young woman was a few days past. I will attempt to ask them about it once my proficiency has increased. Whenever I am able, I help the old woman carry the heavy cauldron towards the dining hall, though I myself eat alone in the kitchen.
After breaking my fast, Uraume teaches me. We have stopped walking around and pointing at objects for me to speak their names, instead we now sit somewhere while they drill me with sentences I must repeat properly. I do not dislike this, I have grown tired of that point and speak game we were playing. This feels like a more correct way of learning, more proper.
After the studying, I wash up and enjoy some time alone while Uraume continues with their other responsibilities. I have not used the bath near the Lord’s quarters again, though Uraume told me I could. It feels strange to go there with him being absent. I usually spent my private hours walking through the garden or continuing with my sewing. The dress is not nearly close to being finished, my needlework lacks the skill that one sailor had. I often visit the kitchen again to sneak away a piece of fruit. Though they are not pickled, I am sure they will still protect me from getting ill.
In the evening, I make supper for me and Uraume. I enjoy spending that extra time with them, I wonder if they enjoy it too. Though I do not know how to cook many things, I am always eager to learn new dishes.
And so the older woman in the kitchen taught me how to make rice after I asked her ‘Can you teach me to cook rice?’. It feels strange to write down their language, perhaps I will learn to write it with their own symbols and letters one day.
My regards,
The learning one.
---
Entry 13,
This morning, I awoke to the sound of rain hitting the roof of the palace. I had not heard it before, the weather has been so pleasant these past few days. The rain has not stopped since, even as I am writing this at night. Uraume and I have moved our teachings to a different, larger room. It’s filled with bookcases like the ones I saw in the Lord’s chambers. They told me I will learn to read and write one day, which makes me very excited for the future. It is clear they want me to become fluent in their language, though I am still uncertain of my place and purpose here.
For supper I made rice with meat and vegetables, just like the kitchen staff makes for me. Uraume enjoyed it, they told me it ‘tasted good’. I am glad to be able to communicate more properly with them now, they are quite hard to read otherwise.
Even though the rains have not seized, and I can hear distant rumbling, I do not feel fear. Perhaps it is because I continue to read the written entries out loud some night, even with the Lord’s absence. Reading the first one makes me remember the events clearly. The more I do, the more they become simply that. Memories.
My regards,
The one enjoying the patters of the rain.
---
Entry 17,
My dress is almost finished. I cannot wait to wear it proudly. I have been switching between my old dress and one of the servant kimonos Uraume had lend to me. They told me to not tell the Lord. I suppose writing it down in my language will not reveal much to him.
Uraume continues to teach me more sentences. I had never realised how many different words there were in a language, given I have never had to learn a new one. It is not difficult, however, given that everyone here only speaks that which I must learn. I often chat with many of the servants when they happen to be near. It is clear they are not used to engaging with a stranger, but it seems they are getting more comfortable with me as time passes.
The Lord is yet to return. When I asked Miko, Ai and Goro whether they were worried for his safety, they tried their bests to not laugh at me, ensuring he will not be harmed in the slightest, even when fighting in a war. Clearly, his abilities are beyond my comprehension. Perhaps it is better that way.
My regards,
The seamstress.
---
Entry 20,
Today, Uraume took me to the beach I washed ashore on, together with some of the kind servants. I was not permitted to ask their names, to my discontent. When I told the one with white hair I already knew the kitchen staffs names, they told me to never refer to them as such, and to not tell the Lord. Perhaps I must cross their names out of my previous entries.
The beach looked much smaller then I remembered. The dirt path through the forest was quite short, too. We spent some time enjoying the weather. I urged them to wet their feet in the sea as well, but they refused. The bottom of my handmade dress did get dirty with seawater and sand, but it had to be cleaned regardless, so now I am back to wearing the forbidden servant robes.
Uraume has encouraged me to make another dress, so I shall. They even offered to purchase proper fabric, as oppose to the sheets I used for the other one. I could not accept, of course. I would only ruin the precious goods with my lack of competence.
I will return to the beach again soon. I was not scared in the slightest, to my relieve. I missed the sensation of those salty droplets caressing my skin.
To my surprise, I am starting to miss the presence of the Lord, as well.
My regards,
The one with sand between her toes.
---
Entry 26,
Uraume has taken me to the beach again. I ensured them they did not have to join, I know the route well after walking it these past days, yet they insisted. I wonder what their reasoning for not letting me leave alone is. Perhaps they fear I will not return to the palace.
A foolish thought, of course. I have nowhere else to go.
I am able to hold conversation properly now, if I dare admit. I talk often with Uraume, the people from the kitchen and many of the other servants. The old man who takes care of the garden is a particularly pleasant conversation partner. He speaks about all the nature of this land, including the sea. He was able to heal a dying flower and bring life back into it. It must be that magic, as well.
Uraume promised me we will start reading and writing soon. I have already snuck a peak at some of the scrolls and books in the study room. The letters and symbols look so different than the ones I know. I wonder if I will ever be able to understand all of them properly.
I bathed near the Lord’s quarters today. I did not stay long, the lack of his presence made me feel uncomfortable. When I returned to my chambers, I made sure to take the longer route that passed his. I was tempted to open the door, to see if he had returned without an announcement, but I resisted. It would not be proper, nor respectful.
My regards,
The vocal one.
---
Entry 31,
It seems it has been a month since my arrival here. My blood is finally leaving me again. It has been as uncomfortable as ever, though some of the herbal teas provided to me have been pleasantly relieving of the pain and cramps. I also thoroughly prefer the cloths that I have been given here over the old rags I had to use aboard.
The Lord has started visiting me in my dreams.
My days on the ship almost feel like a lifetime ago. I still think about my companions often, the memories of their faces makes me rather sad.
The old man was absent from the gardens today. I suppose he had his rest day. I learned from those in the kitchen that every servant is granted one once a month. It seems a rather kind gesture from the Lord, not one I had assumed of him. Though it does keep the servants content and loyal. Perhaps it is why they do not bat an eye at all the horrors that take place in this haunted palace?
Not that they could do anything about it, I suppose.
My regards,
The woman.
---
Entry 35,
At sunrise, I snuck out of the palace to visit the beach alone. It felt pleasant, listening to the crashing waves and wind brushing past my ears. I made sure not to get filthy in any way, as that would reveal my little escapade. Being by my lonesome near the ocean had caused many memories to flood back into my mind. I did not feel upset, nor anxious. Instead, I felt glad I could keep the memories of my companions alive within me. It is the least I could do for them.
When I returned to the palace, Uraume was already waiting for me at the entrance. Their face did not look upset, though their voice was more stern than I had ever heard it. “Do not do this again. He will dislike it.” is all they told me, before continuing the day as usual.
I had pickled some fruits last night. After studying, I convinced Uraume to join me to eat them together with some tea. They told me they liked them, even if they were saltier then they were used to. I wished to accompany it with some type of cake or hardtack, but I do not know how to make that. I will ask the older woman in the kitchen tomorrow. After I have them try the fruits, of course.
My regards,
The scolded one.
---
Entry 39,
After multiple failed attempts at making a cake during my free time, I finally succeeded. Baking is a lot more precise than cooking, I learned. The women in the kitchen helped me gladly, and we still ate the ruined cakes as well. We had mixed them with milk to make a sort of pudding. It was not unpleasant, once we added some honey.
I will have Uraume try the cake after studying tomorrow. I was not able to convince them to stay with me for tea the previous few days, but with the promise of a surprise I am sure they will join me.
While I was resting in the gazebo in the garden, a cat joined me. I did not know there were any in this land, nor here at the palace. When the old man saw, he told me her name was ‘cat’, I knew what the term meant thanks to Uraume’s relentless teaching. She sat beside me while I continued to enjoy the sensations of nature. I was even allowed to pet her once or twice.
Her scrunched face reminded me of the Lord’s when he tried my porridge.
I wonder when he will return.
My regards,
The baker.
---
Entry 40,
Uraume enjoyed my cake very much. I had never seen their inexpressive face so lively, until they took their first bite, combining it with the fruits and some honey. They urged me to make this for the Lord when he returns. I agreed, of course, not intending to let this newfound recipe go to waste.
Prior to tea time, though, Uraume had finally taught me my first letters. It was difficult to grasp what I was looking at, but once I started copying them on a blank scroll, I understood better. There are many letters and symbols I will need to learn. I hope to be able to write an entry in their tongue and hand one day.
My regards,
The writer.
---
Entry 45,
It has been a month since the Lord’s departure. Whenever I ask them when he will return, Uraume simply states that they do not know, but that it never takes him long.
Cat seems to be joining me whenever I scroll through the gardens. It looks like that is where she lives. I enjoy her company. Even though I don’t feel as lonely as I did before speaking properly, the servants are still not as comradely with me as they are with each other. I wonder if it truly is because I am foreign, or perhaps because I am not granted any work. I would be upset with me, too, were that the reason. I refrain from breaking my fast with them for that very reason.
I have asked Uraume for labour ever since I knew how to, but they insist that I will receive it soon. Why would I need to wait and be prepared in order to scrub the floors or cook?
I am slowly starting to understand the writing better. I am tasked with repeating the letters on paper. I am not yet able to remember all of them, and still have to sneak a peek at the references. Whenever I do, I know I am not proficient enough.
I started working on the new dress after Uraume’s insistence. It appears they clearly do not want me to wear the servants robes once the Lord returns. I remember how I made the last one clearly, so it won’t take too long.
My regards,
The idle.
---
Entry 50,
I finished my dress after writing last night, as I could not sleep. I wore it today, Uraume seemed glad to see the garment. Though they wished to remove the servants clothing from my room immediately, we decided it would be best to keep them until the Lord returns, given my clumsy nature often demands a change of clothes.
I was able to write all the letters from memory today. I was glad at my small victory. Uraume told me we would still be continuing this exercise, though, until it becomes second nature. With every letter I write, I sound them out. My voice becomes strange to me after only speaking ‘ah’ and ‘ka’ for hours.
I went to visit the beach at sunset. Uraume joined me, of course, giving me no choice in the matter. I explained how beautiful the sky and sun and moon look when you are at sea, with nothing but blue surrounding you. They did not seem interested, but I knew they were still listening closely. Perhaps to correct my pronunciation, though they have not had to do that in a while.
My regards,
The dressed.
---
Entry 55,
Uraume has finally granted me a different exercise. They have given me a simple poetry book to read. It only contains the letters I know and I must read the sentences out loud. It is clearly designed for a child, I can tell. Although I feel slightly embarrassed at the source material, I know I must master it to progress further. Once I understand the written sentence structures better, I will attempt to write an entry in their tongue and hand.
My regards,
The reader.
---
Entry 60,
I am writing this in the other tongue and with different letters. It is strange to me but I enjoy it.
It has been two months since my arrival. Much has happened. I have learned a lot.
I miss the sea but I am graet grateful for my place here. I do not miss home much, there was not anything for me there.
I have been cooking every day for me and Uraume. I have been studying every day to learn to read and write.
I have not received work. I hope I will soon.
Cat lay on my lap today when in the garden. Her pour purring was very pleasant.
I wait for the Lord to return. I will be glad to see he is safe.
Your eyes open a slither, as awareness awakens you from a deep sleep. You can feel the familiar touch of your own bed, your own blanket. The a pleasant smell of your own room creeps into your nostrils, with that one candle that’s always lit.
…How did I get here?
You don’t recall your departure from the Lord’s chambers. The last thing you remember was reading your entries to him for the tenth time.
Or was it twentieth?
I suppose I fell asleep…
As you slowly raise yourself up, you can feel the makeshift dress fold against your skin with the movements. At least this time you didn’t wake up naked. You look over at the small table, the candle light being washed out by the sun’s illumination shining mutedly through the paper windows.
It must be morning already.
You still want to write another entry, though, before your memories of yesterday start to blur its details. Rushing up to your feet, you shuffle over towards the table, sleep still stuck to your skin, in your eyes and coating mouth. You shake the feeling the best you can, as you kneel down and roll out a fresh piece of paper.
---
Entry 4,
I broke my fast together with Uraume. They spent most of the day near me, teaching me many words in their language and showing me more of the palace. They gave me socks, too, though they are different then the ones back home. I still lack clothing, I have been walking around in a sheet wrapped around my body for the past two days.
An audience was held in the throne room, which I was present for. The men who were granted it seemed similar to those that took me. A girl has joined the palace, I helped her clean herself and showed her her chambers. I am curious to see what might happen to her, given my treatment here has been rather pleasant.
Perhaps she will be made a concubine. Perhaps she will be eaten.
I made porridge again. It reminded me of home. The Lord and Uraume seemed to appreciate it.
I read my entries to the man afterwards at his command in his own chambers. I am still unsure of his intentions with me, nor do I wish to make any guesses.
My regards,
The student.
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Finishing your writing, you make sure to let the ink dry properly and undisturbed. You turn around to look at yourself in the mirror once more. Your makeshift dress looks proper enough, though you wish you could freshen up for a moment. You lean in a little closer to observe your face. The sun’s irritation seems to be calming down nicely. As you turn to make your way towards the door, ready to go wash, a knocking disrupts your plan.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Before giving them a chance to open the door themselves, you slide it to the side. Uraume looks slightly surprised at your quickness, standing in front of the door with their hand near where the nook would be were it closed. Or at least they look as surprised as can be shown with that usual disinterested face.
“Uraume.” You bow.
“Girl.” They return the favour. “Come, we have work to do.” You blink hazily at the strange words, while Uraume starts to walk back into the corridor. You swiftly step out, close the door, and follow after them, while trying to think about what they just said. You’ve heard that word before; ‘come’. The Lord spoke it yesterday, too, while nudging for you to follow. Perhaps that’s what it means?
…No, those men told their leader the same word.
Perhaps it means ‘come’, then. You decide that must be it, though the rest of the sentence is still unclear. You follow closely behind them as they lead you through the corridors. They seem to be taking you to the new girl, you wonder what the plan is with her, though you know you are unable to ask.
I suppose I will have to wash up later, then.
Uraume slides the door open without knocking. You stand behind them, only barely being able to glance into the room.
“Come, girl.” Uraume speaks the words you now know both of, directed at the lady laying on her futon. When she glances at you, you can see a comfort spread over her face. She stands up immediately, before bowing to both of you. You intend to return the gesture, but Uraume’s hand pressing against your chest stops you. Your brows furrow slightly, but know better than to question them.
Uraume steps out of the open door and walks back into the corridor, the new girl closely following. You decide to sweep after both, a bad feeling creeping into you.
…Perhaps it would be better to not give her a way to escape.
You cringe as the words pop into your mind. Deep down, you know what’s going to happen.
Your ideas of her living the comfortable life of a concubine were just a way to extend your realisation of the inevitable. You doubt the Lord even has any concubines, why would he spend the night listening to a foreign language being read out by a stranger if he did?
Uraume opens the door to one of the washrooms. It’s barely big enough for two people, you know. So when they enter, you step through, close the door behind you and press your back up against it firmly, blocking the exit, ready to guard it with your sailor-adjacent strength if need be. Uraume glances at you, seemingly noticing the thought process behind it, and nods once. You return the gesture while keeping your composure, though your expression begins to grow white.
As the girl stands in the middle of the room, her back turned to you, it seems realisation has creeped into her too.
“..w-wait, no. plea-” Before her panicked, squeaky voice can escape her fully, Uraume slides a sharp, thin knife out of their sleeve and slashes it through the air, right below the girl’s face. You can’t see what happens clearly, but the slicing of flesh, followed by that familiar gurgling sound and the frantic reaching of the girls hands towards her throat give you a clear enough picture of what transpired in front of you. You close your eyes for a moment while a strained exhale releases through your nose.
‘Perhaps she will be eaten.’
You wrote that down just moments ago. You already knew what was going to happen, you have known since she first found your gaze in the bathroom yesterday while telling yourself not to get attached. What you don’t know, however, is why you are here to witness it.
The loud thud of the woman’s body falling backwards accompanies the continuing gurgles. Opening your eyes again, you look down at the sight in front of you. Waves of blood exit her throat, shortly thereafter it starts spilling from her mouth, too. Her frightened eyes roll backwards, wetness continues to spread from them. You are relieved her dying gaze did not find your troubled one.
As the girls body spasms a few more times before falling completely still, you know she has passed. Your upset yet composed eyes find Uraume’s face. They look like they always do; disinterested. You can feel your face maintaining its neutrality as well, you learned to do that in scenarios like these on the ship, though your innards begin to stir with discomfort.
“Grab her shoulders.” Uraume’s voice breaks the silence. You are unsure of the meaning of those words, but as they move to grab the girls legs, you understand they want you to grab the shoulders.
“…grab her shoulders…” You whisper to study, even during such troubling times, as you move closer to the bleeding out corpse, after opening the sliding door again. Bending forward, you hook your arms under her pits and raise yourself back up. Blood starts spilling all over your white sheet and bare skin.
Suppose it’s a good thing I didn’t wash in advance.
Your strength is clearly shown, as you manage to raise the heaviest part of the fresh corpse higher than Uraume can the legs. You start to move backwards, more blood gushing over you with every step. Uraume directs you with the body to move down the corridor in the direction of the kitchen. You keep your eyes averted from theirs, looking down at the body with an urge of dissociation rushing through you.
I mustn’t think too much.
I’ve seen this sight before.
We are simply repurposing her, rather than throwing her overboard.
It will feed the Lord.
The thoughts race through your mind, as you focus on your backwards step. The dripping noises of the spilling blood rings in unison with your and Uraume’s soft footsteps.
“Girl.” Their voice forces your gaze back to them. “You are doing well.”
Your inability to understand them lowers your disconnecting eyes immediately again. Your full focus can only be on getting through this task, nothing else matters at this moment. Though you still long to understand their tongue better.
I wish this place weren’t so lonesome.
You didn’t realise how good it felt to be able to speak your own language yesterday. To read to your own words to him. It made you feel less alone, even if he couldn’t understand any of it. It confuses you more, making his intentions and person even more of an anomaly.
Why would a magic cannibal Lord bother with such trivialities?
The thought makes you scoff to yourself. Here you are, carrying the girl whom you helped yesterday’s dead corpse towards the kitchen, ready for butchering. Why?
To survive.
Perhaps that is not the whole truth, though.
This is the work I have been waiting for.
The labour I needed.
Finally, I am of use again.
As you near the kitchen, you glance over to look in it’s direction. The door has already been opened, noises can be heard from the inside. You continue to walk, feeling the red liquid having entirely soaked through the sheet wrapped around your chest region.
You cannot pay that any mind right now, no matter how discontent you are that your body will be exposed to others. When you look back down at the corpse you’re carrying, you know how ridiculous those thoughts are.
I should be grateful.
It could always be worse.
You step through the door, backside facing the interior of the room. You know to head over to the butchers block right away, not needing to be guided or told by Uraume. You can hear shuffling and mumbling behind you, the noises being drowned out by the clattering and clanging of utensils, and the persistent drops of blood tapping on the floor.
“Leave.” Uraume’s stern command sounds in front of you while you continue your steady pace. The three servants of the kitchen step into view for a moment, the young woman appears to be back again. You were worried she might’ve been killed, but apparently not. Their faces look at you with surprise, before they rush through the door and the last person closes it behind them.
With some extra force, you lift the body higher before sliding it onto the block. Uraume follows suit while you take a step back.
“They should not have closed the door.” Uraume speaks while moving towards the knives and utensils. You stand still for a moment, not bothering to translate the sentence, simply staring at the abyss before you. You pull your arms up into view and see how they have been completely painted in a warm crimson.
…Just like his eyes.
Uraume steps back towards the body, carrying a cleaver and a thinner knife.
“Girl.” Their voice draws your attention back to them. “Come here.” They speak a familiar word, accompanied by a nudge. You figure the other word must be ‘here’, then. You step closer while they hold up the cleaver for you to grab. With slight reluctance, you take it from them. They move closer to the body and start cutting the fabric of the girls yukata.
“If we waited for her to undress, we wouldn’t have to do it ourselves.” The words slip mindlessly from between your lips as you are observing the efforts, remembering how you were in a bathroom anyways. Uraume glances at you as you speak, before shaking their head.
“Speak our words, not yours.” You can understand them as poorly as they understand you. It makes you sigh through your noise a bit, realising how far you are from properly grasping their tongue. Uraume returns their attention to their work, while you stand by and watch with empty eyes.
As they remove the strips of cut cloth, you find yourself watching the same bare body that bathed itself in your presence yesterday. The thought makes you swallow some air, leaving a strange aftertaste to linger in your mouth.
Will these events repeat themselves in the future?
Given how calm you appear at this moment, you know you could see this having to become your job, though you would rather it not be. You are surviving, whether through the gift of labour, or simply doing as they wish.
Once all the clothing has been removed, Uraume reaches out their hands for you two to switch blades, before nudging their head down towards the body.
“Pay attention, girl.” You nod, understanding they want you to ‘look closer’, or perhaps to ‘pay attention’.
You watch closely as Uraume starts severing the limbs from the still warm body, trying to register exactly how they are doing it. Blood rains over the both of you, their white hair being painted with red streaks and drops. Your sheet could not have gotten anymore soaked, but your hair and the rest of your bare skin have now also been seasoned with iron.
“Grab the legs, girl.” When no more appendages are left attached to the torso, they nudge at the lower half of the corpse while a little out of breath.
“Yes, Uraume.” You confirm you understand, now also having learned ‘the’ and ‘legs’. After stepping closer, you collect the two long limbs and move them around so you can carry them a husband would his bride. They’re heavy, of course, but your strength has not left you completely yet, no matter how tiring all of this is for both your body and soul.
You follow Uraume as they walk towards the meat-storage, wondering how they will store the still bleeding, warm limbs. Though you are sure they must have another magic trick up their sleeves.
They put the arms down on an empty shelve, before stepping aside to let you do the same. The weight of the legs and you having to reach makes you groan softly at the effort needed, more blood gushing down onto you. When you step back, Uraume reaches one of their hands in the direction of the limbs.
A wave of ice rushes over the body parts, freezing them completely. You feel intrigue build up inside of you as you watch their act of magic, but you cannot bother to express it in any visible or audible way. You simply turn back to remove yourself from the storage room.
When you step into the kitchen, a familiar set of eyes meets yours in the reopened entrance. You stop moving, his warm eyes look at you with a neutral satisfaction. You hadn’t even heard his loud footsteps, nor the opening of the door. And that dark energy of his has been absent ever since that one night.
…Or have I just gotten used to it?
After staring at his presence for a moment, you slowly bow down as deeply as usual, clearly the current events have not dulled your rationale too much.
“Lord Sukuna.” He waits a moment to observe you some more, before that hum of approval leaves him, followed by the familiar footsteps entering the room further. Uraume steps next to you, and bows as well. Before they can speak, the Lord repeats the same hum.
You watch him move towards the butchers block, his eyes still fixed onto you. Only when he stands beside the torso and head does he look down at it. He nods in approval, before hovering his hand over the middle of the chest. He pushes his nails down onto the skin, forming a sort of triangle with them. Then, you can feel his burning gaze find your face again, though your eyes remain fixed on his hand.
With a strong push, he forces his hand deep into the chest, wet ripping sounds accompanying the motion, before pulling it back out rapidly. Blood spurts upwards, painting his white kimono with red. As your eyes follow his hand, you can see he’s holding something.
The bloody soaked muscle that was her heart.
Your eyes widen slightly at the realisation, though your face remains inexpressive elsewise. Your gaze finds his again, the warm glow in his pleased eyes making yours calm down ever so slightly. Slowly, he lifts the bloody mess inside of his hand upwards. The girl’s heart looks so small compared to his massiveness. He opens his mouth while bringing the muscle up to it, his eyes still fixed onto yours.
When he bites down, nearly half of the heart disappears into his mouth. Blood squirts onto his face, coating his handsome features with the same crimson as his eyes. His lips become drenched in red, while he rips the piece of flesh from the large hump. As he chews the raw muscle, more liquid escapes from the corners of his mouth, trickling down towards his chin. You watch the trail intently, before you can feel his burning orbs force yours back onto them.
The Adam’s apple in his throat bops up and down as he swallows the meat and blood. Then, he takes another bite, nearly consuming the entire thing. Only a small piece is left between his large fingers, after he tears the rest of cleanly. He chews and chews while maintaining that warm stare that seems to be caressing your upset soul. It feels like the two of you are communicating without words. Without that language barrier getting in the way.
“Come, girl.” After swallowing the piece of human, he nudges his head for you to come closer while speaking the familiar words. You step towards him with a careful pace, unsure of his intentions though knowing to obey. Your eyes fall back onto the small piece of muscle in between his two fingers, the thumb and index looking massive in comparison to it. Your brow furrows slightly in worry.
…Does he want me to eat that?
When you step beside him at a comfortable distance, he looks down at you.
“Closer.” You don’t know that word, but as he motions for you to near him further, you understand.
“…closer…” You whisper softly as you take another step forward, feeling that warmth radiate off of him. His overwhelming presence makes you forget what a mess you are right now.
Your makeshift gown completely soaked in red, revealing your bodies features and curves beneath it. Your face and arms and hair painted in the liquid as well. But he doesn’t seem to be upset with it.
No.
He is enjoying the sight.
He reaches one of his free hands towards your face and grabs your chin like the previous evening. His grip is just as firm, but now he starts to rub his finger back and forth over your skin.
“Open.” He speaks the word with his deep, sultry voice, while his warm glance encourages you. You don’t need to understand the word to know what he wants. You frown at his command, keeping your lips pressed tightly on one another.
He squints at your apprehension, tightening his grip and pulling your jaw down, forcing your mouth open. Fear fills your eyes as you know you are left with no choice. If you move away, if you fight it, you will end up just like that girl. Your brows bend in an upset manner as your eyes widen.
The law of the sea.
The words rush through your mind.
It is to survive.
You squeeze your eyes shut tightly while keeping your whole body as still as you possibly can.
It will happen.
I have no choice.
I must keep my head held high.
You can feel the heat of his fingers nearing your forced open mouth. The taste of iron fills your cavity, as the small hump of flesh is dropped down on your tongue. His firm grip forces your mouth back shut. He continues the rubbing of your chin, as the warm palm of a different hand moves over the lower part of your face. Your lips press against his hot skin, while that piece of human remains still in your mouth. The inside starts to fill with saliva, your own body encouraging you to consume.
You can feel tears build up in your shut eyes, while your breathing hitches at all of the overwhelming sensations. The wet cloth against you, your hair sticky and stuck to your face, the iron liquid covering all of you, his warm skin pressed against your chin and mouth, the piece of human heart inside of you.
You have no choice but to chew.
Metal fluid spurts out from the flesh between your molars, mixing with your spit. A satisfied, deep hum sounds out in front of you, though you refuse to open your eyes to look at the source. The mild flavour of the dead meat is usurped by the taste of blood flooding your orifice. You swallow some of the excess fluids, before continuing to chew the tough meat. You cut the piece of meat in half strugglingly, before swallowing one of the chunks.
It feels rough when moving down your throat, but you know this is the only way to consume this horror. When it has reaches down far enough, you swallow the other, slightly smaller hump. The urge to spew the rawness back up is overwhelming, but you continue to swallow the remaining spit and air inside your orifice over and over again to push the urge down.
The absence of meat in your mouth makes you open your eyes again. You look at the man, trying to convey you’ve finished, though the terror in your eyes makes it hard to show your obedience. He removes his palm, but continues to rub your chin back and forth.
“Open.” He commands again. With a slow pace, you open your mouth for him to inspect. You can tell it’s still completely covered in blood. The taste of metal and death coats your orifice entirely, surely your teeth are a nice shade of red.
He peers inside closely, making sure no piece of meat has lingered behind. You can see a smirk creep onto his face when he sees you have obeyed his command dutifully.
Surprisingly gently, he let’s go of your chin.
You rush to remove yourself from his space and speed towards the nearest water source. You don’t even bother to grab a cup, instead dunking your head inside the basin in its entirety.
As you hold your breath, you open your mouth to let all that lingers wash away. The touch of the cold liquid on your skin feels nicely familiar to you, almost grounding. It allows you to realise what just transpired here.
What in the world did I just do?
Your eyes beneath the surface spring open, a burn arises within them as they swim in the water.
How could I?
How dare I?
I’m a monster.
You pull your head back from the basin and regain your breathing, observing the blood floating inside the now ruined source.
You cannot care. You just ate a piece of human.
You had spent years with men who had done the same. It was for their survival, they were simply obeying the law.
I cannot possibly justify it.
Not like them.
A shiver rushes through you as the cold air hits your newly drenched head. You know not all of the blood has been removed from your skin and hair, but at least it has left your mouth, without you having to consume it any further. You can hear shuffling behind you. The careful touch of Uraume’s hand falls on your shoulder, you can tell it’s them by the difference in body heat and weight. With your hands still gripping the basin tightly, you slowly turn your head to meet their gaze with your defeated and disgusted one.
“Come, girl.” They let go as soon as they speak. Your eyes move to stare back down at the water for a moment longer.
It could always be worse…
After you release the tight grip you have on the edge, you turn to follow Uraume closely. You do not let your gaze linger or even brush passed the man anymore. You cannot look at him right now, but you can hear the continuing wet, brittle noises of raw flesh being consumed from his direction. Before Uraume leaves through the door, they turn and bow in the direction of the man.
A hum sounds, and they continue their journey. As you follow them, your pace stops in the entrance for a moment, back still turned to him.
You do not wish to grant him any attention, fearful it might make you fully aware of the situation and spill your guts right here on the floor. But you know how disrespectful it would seem to not bow, either.
Reluctantly, you turn around and bow as deeply as usual. The consuming noises stop, as you can feel his eyes on you again. Instead of a hum, a deep chuckle leaves his throat.
“Go, girl.”
You do not waste any time, and immediately move out of the door at his command. Having to quicken your pace to reach Uraume, you notice how the blood has been cleaned off of the floor already.
All of this must be a regular occurrence here.
This truly is a haunted palace…
You continue to follow Uraume through the many corridors. Unsure of where they are headed, your abused mind cannot seem to pay too close attention to all the corridors and turns and rooms you pass. Though it does seem they are taking you passed the throne room, just like the Lord did yesterday.
You can feel your legs begin to struggle to keep up with them. You have not eaten today, except for that raw hump, and the hard labour has made you grow fatigued. You do not feel like asking for a meal, though, afraid it will simply all spill from you thanks to the lingering discomfort and stress in your body. You just want to be clean and rest.
You reach the area close to the Lord’s chambers, or at least you assume it to be. Uraume opens an unassuming door in an unassuming hallway, revealing the second bathroom of the day. Unlike all the other ones you have seen in this palace, though, there is a large bath carved into the floor in the middle of the room.
You can see steam rise from the warm liquid inside of it. The room is dark, only a few candles along the walls illuminating the gloomy wood and stone floors. You can see the resemblance to both the throne room and the Lord’s chambers.
This must be his bathroom.
The bath looks much grander than the tubs you would use back home. It has been so long since you were last provided with a bath. You never were afforded the luxury to use the captain’s one in his quarters, but that did not stop you from fantasising about it. Uraume turns around to look at you.
“Go on, girl.” They speak somewhat encouragingly while nudging towards the bath. You imagine the unknown word to be something like ‘on’. You close the door behind you and move your hands to the knot on your shoulder.
The white sheet has soaked into a pink and red pattern, you let it fall onto the ground without much care. You reach down to remove those interesting socks as well, before carefully stepping closer to the bath, not able to feel any sense of shame being completely nude in front of the one with white hair. They have seen it all before, you know.
The nice warm liquid kisses your toe, as you dip it in while standing along the edge. The water feels almost hot. You lower your weak leg into it, letting the comfortable liquid encase you, before entering the other one. As you move yourself down completely, a sense of relaxation overcomes you entirely.
You wade through the water a bit, letting the soft waves hug your features, before moving to rest your back against one of the walls. As comfortable as you are sitting down, you still instinctively pull your knees up to your chest in search for solace. You look over at Uraume, who still stands by the edge.
“You…go water?” You ask brokenly with a quiet voice. They shake their head in response.
“I will not be joining you.” They speak, before bowing like usual. You lower your head, imitating your usual gesture. It’s clear to you they said something like ‘I will not’, though their sentence was longer than that, and it included ‘you’, as well.
“I will not be joining you.” You whisper, understanding what they mean. The sounds of their shuffling feet move towards the door, before you watch them exit the room.
I’m left all alone, then.
As if your sense of loneliness could not get any worse.
You rest your head against the wall and close your eyes, attempting to enjoy the comfortable sensation of the warm liquid surrounding your entire being. Slowly, realisation of the recent events settles in.
The girl died.
The girl was butchered.
The girl was eaten.
Your thoughts are not being honest with you, you realise. Quickly, you correct them.
I stood by and let it the girl be killed
I watched the girl get butchered.
I watched as the girl was eaten.
I ate the girl.
You can feel unease creep into your stomach. Not wanting to lose the contents, you rapidly attempt to swallow your saliva and some air to push down the nausea. You can feel your jaw start to clench, making you reach your hand up to cover your mouth. Your eyes open at the motion, and you can see how your skin is clearly still painted red with blood.
Perhaps cleaning myself will provide a distraction.
You look around to look for some kind of cloth near you, continuing the rapid swallowing. When you spot it, you reach for it and quickly wet it in the water. Staring with the scrubbing of your face first, you want the rag to still be clean as you drag it over it. You often rewet the cloth, before scrubbing somewhat violently again. The rub doesn’t offend you, the aching sting helps offset the nausea and all those uncomfortable emotions. After a while, you move on to the rest of your body, the sickness within you finally settling down.
You begin with your arms, rubbing them until they are no longer red with blood, but rather thanks to the scraping of the cloth. Then, your chest and shoulders. It’s hard to see if you are clean yet, so you continue the motion as long as you deem necessary. Once you finished your legs and neck and whatever of your back you could reach, you dunk the cloth back into the water, squeezing all that blood and filth out of it. Before resting your head back against the wall, you put the cloth down on the ridge.
The removal of that sticky layer on your skin, and the constant soft pressure of the warm liquid surrounding you, almost makes you drift off into a well needed slumber. The sound of distant, loud footsteps drag you out of it. With that slow speed and heavy force, you know who they belong too.
Surely he won’t come here.
It’s his chambers he’s headed too.
It’s near here, isn’t it?
Your thoughts are disrupted by the door sliding open. Looking at the intruder, you see the immense figure of the Lord.
He arrived already?
He sounded so far away…
Instinctively, you pull your knees a little closer to you so you can hide your bare features behind them. You observe him, his gaze stuck onto you like a fly on honey. His face is drenched in the liquid you just washed off of yourself.
Most of his white robes are decorated with the pink and red juices, two of his arms are completely covered in it. Clearly, he has devoured that torso shamelessly. Quickly, you avert your gaze from him, instead planting it onto your knees.
Why is he here?
To bathe, of course.
But why now?
You can hear him step further into the room after sliding the door shut again. Shuffling of fabric rings through the room, before the heavy cloth falls down onto the floor. To your detriment, you can feel a blush start to spread onto your cheeks. Regardless of how uncomfortable and ill you still feel, the effect he has on you is undeniable.
The sound of someone stepping into the water crashes into your ears, accompanied by the moving sensation of the liquid as he wades through. You force yourself to keep your eyes fixed onto the still scratched skin of your knees, though temptation almost makes you sneak a peek.
What am I thinking?
He just forced human meat into me.
How pathetic of me.
The heavy sound of the man sitting down sounds in the near distance. You glance up in the direction, he seems to have chosen the wall left of you, his placement all the way in the furthest corner, almost opposite of you. His eyes find yours for a moment, before he closes them while splashing and rubbing some of the warm water onto his face. He continues to rub his arms and chest with one of his four hands, another points in your direction.
“Hand me that cloth, girl.” He speaks. You understand and carefully reach behind you to grab it, while your mind starts to think about what the unknown words might mean.
“…hand… that…” You whisper to yourself as you pull the cloth in front of you, before staring at him again. That same slight smirk seems to be painting his face, while he leans back against the wall, his upper pair of arms resting down on top of the edge.
…He wants me to come closer.
Realisation makes your cheeks heat up even more, your weakness for him betraying you. You attempt to suppress the feeling quickly, remembering his act towards you in the kitchen, as well as your own words.
Head held high.
You blink once for encouragement, before slowly raising yourself up to stand, the water dripping down your naked body as you do. The mans eyes move from your face down to your curves. It’s clear you are a foreigner, your observation of the servants and the dead girl’s body confirming it further.
Your curves are much more prominent, your belly softer and not as flat, your arms strong with all that muscle you build up at sea. Those thick thighs of yours move carefully through the water as you close the distance between you and the man. His eyes slowly roll back up, taking his time to enjoy every inch of you as he does. You stand still at a comfortable distance, reaching the cloth out for him to grab.
His red eyes remain fixed on you, that hint of a smirk caressing is otherwise expressionless face. You wait for a moment, until it’s clear he won’t be accepting it. As you slowly lower your hand, your eyes fall on the redness still surrounding his mouth. You bend over to wet the cloth inside of the water, feeling his warm eyes fall on your hanging breasts. After squeezing the rag once or twice, you straighten back up, take another step closer and hold it up for him again. He simply shakes his head while squinting his eyes as they stare back into yours. His large frame makes you standing before him almost the same height as his upper half sitting down.
A soft sigh escapes through your nose, before you take another step closer beside him, your foot now grazing his bare thigh beneath the water. Reaching the cloth up to his face, you gently press it down on his chin. You move it back and forth on the same spot he caressed yours. The smirk on his lips becomes slightly more prominent at your mimicking action. You focus your eyes on the movement of your hand, not feeling comfortable to look into his while standing so close.
Carefully, you continue to rub the blood off of his face. You move towards the sides of his chin, left first, then right. Then, you move to the corners of his mouth, left first, then right. Port, starboard.
Then, above his lip, then the tip of his nose. Lastly, you move the cloth onto his lower lip and swipe it gently. Then, the top one. As you finish cleaning the man’s face, you lower your hand and find his eyes again with yours. He looks pleased, just like he did in the kitchen. His four red eyes dart between your two.
You can feel one of his two right hands graze past your thigh as you stand at his side. The touch is subtle at first, almost like an accident. But when you don’t jitter or scare from it, the Lord squints his eyes again and puts his palm down on the bare skin of the back of your thigh. The touch makes your breath hitch with pleasance, your own reaction disturbs you.
Regardless of what this man put you through this morning, you still can’t seem to find him repulsive. To think of him as a monster, no matter how much you claimed to just a few days prior, simply isn’t an option. When you look at him, all you see is a mystery. One that intrigues you deeply. One that arouses you dearly.
His thumb starts moving back and forth over the back of your thigh, just below the buttock. The movement is rough enough to match the man’s massive exterior. You can feel your eyes start to drown in his gaze, as your body instinctively moves closer to him. Your right hand moves to hold on to his right upper shoulder, your body nearly rubbing up against his. You feel so comfortable with the man, no matter how magical and terrifying he is.
Even as you remember him forcing that meat into you, you can’t seem to move your gaze away from his. Your eyes are speaking to each other again, in a language neither of you truly understand. You slowly reach up your free hand and move it towards his face. You cup his left cheek and start copying the rubbing against your leg while leaning your bare body against his fully. Comfortably. His smirk pulls on the corner of his mouth, causing it to twitch.
“You will be here when I return.” He speaks in his low, rumbling voice. “I await your embracing of my tongue.”
You cannot understand his words, but you can feel them resonate inside of you. A soft smile paints your face.
“I have no idea what you just told me.”
A deep chuckle escapes his throat as you speak. Clearly, he thinks the same.
Your moment together is interrupted by the sliding of the door. You hadn’t even heard Uraume’s footsteps get closer, but they enter the room regardless. As they watch the two of you in front of them in the pool, they stop moving for a moment, your caressing thumb seizing with them.
Their expression remains neutral, though you swear you saw a slight twitch in one of their brows. They seem to have cleaned up too, their hair now being completely white again. After staring for a moment, they close the door behind them and bow properly. A hum escapes the man who you’re leaned against, even though his eyes are still fixed onto your face.
How did he know?
You shake the thought, assuming is must have been magic again. Uraume raises themselves and walks into the room. Only now do you notice they are carrying some things with them; a towel, and what appears to be some kind of cloth, though it’s difficult to see clearly in this dark room.
“May she leave you, my Lord?” The words sound out from Uraume, as your eyes follow them.
“Ask her yourself.” The man stuck against you speaks neutrally in response.
“Will you come, girl?” Uraume asks while looking back at you, making sure to only use words you know. The question makes you furrow your brows slightly.
They have never asked me that before…
You look down at the man, amusement seems to linger in his eyes. You remove your hand from his cheek and straighten yourself back up, releasing the pressure of your weight off of him.
“Yes, Uraume.” He takes his hand away from your leg with a slightly annoyed hum. You can feel a slight embarrassment creep up inside of you as you wade through the water, not wanting to seem like you’re trying to secure your safety by way of the Lord’s carnal desires. Until today, you didn’t even know he had them.
…Did he know?
You can feel his warm eyes observe your backside pleasantly. Uraume seemed surprised at the sight of you two being so close, too. And the absence of a wife of concubines makes you even more suspicious.
Or I just haven’t seen them yet.
Part of you starts hoping they don’t exist. You would feel wrong to be so weak towards a married man, even if he is a lord or a king. As you exit the bath, Uraume holds the towel up for you. You pat yourself dry while smiling at them a little more awkwardly than usual. As you have moved on to dry the ends of your hair, Uraume unfolds the other object.
When holding it up, you can see your dress.
Your own dress.
The one you boarded the ship with. The one you believed to have been ruined in the storm, with the ink and blood and dirt.
A gasp releases from you when you realise what it is, your hands instinctively reaching upwards to cover your mouth, dropping the towel on the ground in the process. Your eyes widen as you look at Uraume.
“…thank you, Uraume.” The soft words escape from your lips much quieter than usual. Disbelieve rushes through you, before being replaced by genuine happiness. You feel a bright smile replace your mouth, as you move your hands forward to take the dress from Uraume. Clearly, all the discomfort you felt earlier today has left you completely.
The garment feels like how it should between your fingers. It’s been cleaned thoroughly after years of only running it through seawater. You remember it was already dirty when boarding the ship, amazed they were able to get it back into such a proper state.
You move swiftly to put it on, not caring about the lack of underdress. You undo the lacing in the front at the bust area so you can slip it over your head. It fits perfectly, as it always has. It cinches your waist snuggly and hugs your hips gently. The sleeves don’t reach all the way to your wrists, stopping halfway along your forearm after having to cut off the bottoms after that one day. You tighten the lacing around your chest, causing cleavage to form in the way you are used to.
As you finish dressing, you turn to look at the man in the bath. His eyes roam all over you, he seems to be enjoying the garment as much as you do, his smirk still visible.
“Come, girl.” Uraume’s voice drags your eyes back to them. “Let’s go eat.” You understand immediately and nod.
After practically dragging the girl through the opened doors, you continue to walk down the corridor in a sightly slower pace. It’s more comfortable for her, you notice. The heavy scents of the throne room are washed out by the dusty, waxy environment of the hallways. The heavy doors can be heard closing in the near distance. Uraume’s work, you assume.
If it weren’t for them showing you all these rooms just now, you’d be as lost as a headless chicken. Instead, you know to head towards that same bathroom you were taken to when you arrived. You glance at the girls clothes for a moment. It’s thinner then the one Uraume’s wearing, more fit for the hot weather of this season.
A yukata, then.
It looks clean enough, meaning you don’t have to find that one room with all the servants garments again. It is very far from here, after all. You wonder why Uraume hasn’t given you one of those, instead having you walk around in this bedsheet of yours.
Perhaps the man prefers this look on me?
You scoff at the ridiculous thought.
Gently, you slide the door open, revealing the room you washed up in not too long ago. As you enter, you can’t help but think how much of your life has changed in just a few days.
What would I do if any of my companions actually survived?
If they came looking for me?
You shake the thought out of your mind.
Better to accept their deaths.
You stand in the same spot Uraume did, while holding the bucket and cloth. The girl looks at you, orbs still glistening with tears. Smiling softly and nodding once, you put the bucket down and let the cloth fall into the soapy water. She swallows uncomfortably, before undressing with trembling hands.
Though you don’t intend to stare, it has been a very long time since you saw another woman’s body. No matter how hard you to avert your gaze, it always finds it’s way back onto her. As she scrubs her shaking limbs clean, you wonder if this is how weak and sad you looked as well.
No… I looked worse.
You hope it means the girl will be well in a few days, then. It’s obvious she is quite pretty, with long black hair and large, doe-like eyes. Perhaps the man will take a liking to her. You had heard all of the tales of foreign kings having countless of concubines; women who aren’t their wives but still lay with them.
Does he have those as well?
I haven’t seen any, if he does.
After finishing up, she puts her yukata back on. You try to think what you must do next. Uraume took you to your room after, does that mean you have to choose a room for this girl?
I should take her to the same area as my chambers.
Though perhaps not the same corridor. It must be empty for a reason…
You open the door again and glance at the girl, making sure she’s following. She has her eyes fixed on you, you can see they’re searching for any type of comfort within yours. A strange sensation flows through you, suggesting it might not be smart to get too attached to her.
The man is a murderer, after all.
A cannibal, even…
You continue through the corridors, not letting your thoughts show. You don’t take her arm again, though, trying to keep at least some distance from her. As you continue to walk, you recognise the hallways and doors of this confusing place more clearly.
The girl continues her sniffling behind you, though her actual crying has finally seized. You really are grateful for all of Uraume’s efforts today, you wish you could’ve thanked them more properly.
Perhaps I should make some porridge for us tonight?
You did see the proper ingredients, and it has been quite a while since you last ate. Though you cannot be certain they will come looking for you again.
You near the area your chambers are located in. As you remember there were multiple unused rooms here, you decide to open the one in the middle and show the girl the inside. She walks through with surprised eyes. You watch her look around, before sitting down on the bed, watching you with large eyes. A gentle smile paints your face, accompanied by a slight bow. Then, you step out of the room and close the door, before standing still for a moment, trying to think about what to do next.
I fell asleep, then Uraume gave me that liquid.
But… I don’t know how to make that.
You glance back at the wall behind you, hearing shuffling and sounds of life inside.
…Should I make her some porridge as well, then?
You sigh softly, before heading into the direction of the familiar kitchen. It’s clear you’ve become more comfortable in these hallways. They feel less like a maze, though they can still be confusing at times. Regardless, you can tell if you spend enough time here, you’ll learn the layout of this place like the back of your hand. Just like you did the ship.
As you move through the adjacent hallway, you can hear noises inside of the kitchen. You hope it’s the nice people again, wondering if the younger woman has returned yet. Gently, you slide the door open and peak inside. To your surprise, it’s Uraume standing by the counters, all by themselves.
“Uraume.” You speak softly while bowing.
“Girl.” They respond. When looking back up, they nudge their head for you to come closer. As you creep into their space, you can already smell the familiar salty and fermented aroma.
“Girl eat?” You nudge your head towards the door, asking if this is for the new girl. Uraume nods.
“Yes, it’s for the girl.” You let the sentence settle into your ears. The word for eating was missing, so perhaps they told you it’s for the girl?
“Yes, it’s for the girl.” You whisper, while looking at the liquid in the pot.
“Good.” They speak that unfamiliar word again, you have no way of telling what it means. They stop stirring the contents, pull the small bowl besides them a little closer, and empty the insides of the pan into it. After Uraume puts the pot back down, you can tell it’s completely empty. They grab the bowl and make their way towards the door.
“Go eat, girl.” They speak as they leave the room. The absence of a proper bow, and them leaving the door open, tells you they will be back. You couldn’t understand that first word, but you assume it to be something commanding or telling.
“Go eat, girl.” You repeat beneath your breath, as you grab the pot and walk towards the washing area. A part of you is glad you don’t have to feed the girl yourself. You were a little worried the porridge might offend her, or the Lord. Porridge is barely fit for a captain, let alone a potential concubine.
Though the man could always decide to eat her, of course.
After washing the pot vigorously, you rub it dry with one of the towels, your back still turned towards the open door.
The thuds of distant footsteps begin to sound out in the hallway.
The loud ones.
Your drying motions slow down a bit, as you realise he is headed this way. You don’t feel as scared as you did last night in the dark, but then again, you aren’t entirely sure all of that actually happened. Perhaps it was just a dream, a nightmare after your little episode. You put down the towel after drying, and move to store the pot as well, while those slow, ominous steps creep in closer and closer.
Bending down to put the pan in the right place, you can hear the first step enter the kitchen, followed by no more. The clanging of the ceramic pots against each other rings out when you put the small one down, before you slowly raise yourself back up. You can see the enormous man stand in the door opening, clearly waiting for something.
“Lord Sukuna.” You bow as deeply as usual. He stares for a moment, his eyes creeping all over your skin. Then, he hums while taking another step. You raise your gaze to watch the ominous figure move towards the table in the corner. He’s wearing a navy blue kimono, you know what the garment is named now. You feel inclined to whisper the word as part of your studying, but remember Uraume’s order of silence.
You watch the large man sit down in the same chair as two nights prior. Then, he looks back at you with that usual disinterested face. He seems to be expecting something from you. You blink at him once, before realising he might be hungry too. You nod at his monotone, still being, before rushing over to the ingredients. You grab the same unknown vegetables as before, turn back to face him and show them to him.
“No, make me something else.” He shakes his head in disapproval, waving his hand away to enhance his thoughts. You stare at him with cloudy eyes.
I don’t know most of those words, yet…
You furrow your brow slightly as you try to think. Clearly, he said no. Does he want you to make something else, then?
But… I only know how to make porridge,
Porridge is not fit for a captain, let alone a concubine.
How the hell am I supposed to feed it to a Lord?!
You can feel slight panic rush over you. Before he can notice – or at least you hope he hasn’t yet – you turn back to face the ingredients. Everything you need is there; water, milk, honey, salt and something that looks like the oats you always used. There’s no way you can get away with this, right? A soft groan of worry unintendedly escapes from your throat.
…Surely he heard that.
You quickly shake the realisation, trying not to stress even more, before dropping the vegetables and reaching for the right ingredients. You simply don’t have a choice.
Porridge for the Lord it is.
After putting everything down on the counter, you take a look at the different pots. You’ll be making double for him, of course, a man like that needs to be fed even more than the fat cook. You’ll be making one bowl for you, and one more in case Uraume comes back. Should you make some extra for the girl?
No, let’s not waste any more ingredients then necessary.
You grab the pot you think will be perfect for this endeavour. You can feel the man’s intense stare watch you carefully. It proves difficult to not let it make you nervous.
Turning around to face the fire, you light it and put the ceramic pot down, before adding the milk, water and what looks like oats and stir well. You realise you’ll need to add more salt to this dish, given it’s only freshwater you’re working with.
You decide to already add quite a bit in advance, so it can properly blend with everything. On the ship, you would use half freshwater and half seawater for the dish. The cook insisted all the good stuff in the ocean would make the men better sailors. You always laughed at his little quips, and can’t help but smile as you remember.
Once the mixture starts to bubble up, you let the fire go out a little while you keep stirring. The man’s eyes are clung to your back. It makes you a little uncomfortable, weary that he might notice any mistake you make, as small as they might be. Luckily, you’ve made this dish so many times, you could do it with your eyes closed and your hands tied.
After a good amount of time stirring and simmering, you decide it’s time to remove the pot from the heat. You add some more salt, before adding a heap of honey and stirring well. Honey was one of the small luxuries granted to the kitchen, though only after the captain had tasted this porridge of yours.
You ladle the substance into the large bowl first, filling it to the brim. You add an extra sprinkle of salt and drizzle of honey on top for presentation, before grabbing a clean spoon and making your way towards the table. Insistent on keeping your gaze off of him while walking over, you can feel his own burn brightly into your soul. You put the bowl down in front of him while keeping a comfortable distance, then you bow properly.
“I hope you enjoy, Lord Sukuna.” You wish you could tell him in his own language, but you hope the message is clear. He hums again, making you raise your head. The excitement of learning if he likes it outweighs your urge to not look at him. You watch intently as he grabs the spoon and moves it into the substance, his brow furrowed and nose scrunched a little. The expression reminds you of the cat that lived in the storage room of the ship, keeping all those mice and rats at bay. You smile softly at the memory of her. You feel so lonely.
He grabs a spoonful after stirring the substance for a moment. He doesn’t look pleased in the slightest, you can tell.
I knew it wasn’t proper for him…
You start to twiddle your thumbs in anticipation, your eyes stare at him with the same intensity as his tend to bore into you. He puts the spoon into his mouth, before pulling it out clean through his lips, just like with the stew. He waits a moment before chewing, his eyes start to squint. You’ve never seen his face this expressive.
Then, he chews a few times, before swallowing the porridge. He turns his squinted eyes back to yours, the scrunch of his nose having lessened a bit, though the brow remains furrowed. His eyes dart between yours, before he nods once. You can’t help but smile softly at his acceptance, though quickly lower your expressive eyes away from his again.
“Go eat, girl.” He repeats the same command as Uraume earlier.
“Thank you, Lord Sukuna.” You bow deeply again, before rushing back to the pot and bowls.
“Porridge again?”
“Same as always.”
The words ring out in your mind as you ladle the substance into your bowl. The sounds bouncing around in your skull stop your movements. You can feel your throat start to clench a little as you remember that same brute asking that same question every single morning.
He must be dead, too…
It’s only the soft, distant footsteps of Uraume that drag you away from your nearing spiral. You look over at the door and await their arrival. When they step into view, you smile gently and bow. They return the gesture, before moving towards the Lord. You start to ladle in the porridge for them as well, making sure to add those little decorations on top for theirs, before grabbing both bowls and carrying them to the table.
“Lord Sukuna.” A hum follows, Uraume straightens up. You can see the man still eating the food, a happy feeling creeps up inside of you. It reminds you of when the captain first tried it. He looked just as… indifferently pleased. Uraume has taken the seat opposite of the man.
“I hope you enjoy, Uraume.” You put the bowl down in front of them with a bow.
“Enjoy.” They correct you in their language. You blink at them for a moment, surprised they’re continuing their teaching even now.
“Enjoy, Uraume.” You repeat the words and your bow, before sitting down besides them. You smell the bowl, the scent reminds you of the feeling of home. As you take the first bite with a smile, the substance grazing your tongue tastes just like you remember.
You can feel a surge of emotions and memories rush into you, though you try your hardest to suppress all of them.
You just want to enjoy your porridge.
“She has taken care of the other well, my Lord.” Uraume’s words break the peculiarly comfortable silence. As they are clearly not speaking to you, you ignore them and continue your meal.
“Mmh…” The deep hum escapes the man’s throat, as he continues to eat from his large bowl.
“I will take care of it tomorrow.”
“Have her help.”
“…Are you certain?” The man nods at the questioning tone.
“Let her prove what she is capable of.”
“You trust she can handle it?” A deep chuckle releases from the man. The foreign sound makes your eyes shoot up at the source. You didn’t even know he could laugh.
“I would not be keeping her if I had my doubts.”
You barely understood a word of their conversation, apart from ‘Lord’, ‘I’ and ‘you’. It makes you wonder if Uraume was doing that on purpose.
The rest of the meal continues in silence again. You are the first to finish your dish, the pleasant, familiar taste making you nearly shovel everything down. When the man finishes eating, he speaks again.
“I will take her with me.”
“Yes, my Lord.” Uraume speaks monotony. You have heard that term often; ‘my Lord’. You recognise the ‘Lord’ part, and have heard the other word in different contexts. Does it mean ‘my’?
“…yes, my Lord…” You repeat the sentence without thinking, though in a barely audible whisper, simply to learn it. The man’s red eyes snap onto your face again. You look up in shock at the sudden movement, fearing you were not supposed to speak.
“Girl.” He speaks deeply, addressing you directly for the first time. His deep voice directed at you flutters something in your stomach, though your worry overpowers it.
“…Yes, my Lord.” You repeat that same sentence quietly, anxiety rushing through you as his stern face stares at yours.
He nudges his head towards the door while speaking a word.
“Come.”
He raises himself up as he continues to stare at you, waiting for you to follow suit. Carefully, you stand up too, keeping your gaze fixed on his. When he turns to move towards the exit, it takes you a moment to follow.
Your eyes glance down at Uraume, who repeats the nudging motion with a similarly strict appearance. Quickly, you bow a little, then rush after the man who has already left the kitchen.
You’re lucky his footsteps are so loud, or you wouldn’t have known which direction he went in. You rush after him, almost slipping with your new socks over the sleek floorboards. When you pass a corner, his backside is visible to you again. You slow down a tiny bit, just so you don’t lose your breath when you reach him.
Your paces have to be strainingly fast to keep up with his large strides, let alone close the distance. Finally, you’ve neared him comfortably enough to be able to slow down again. Your steps sound like soft, fast patters compared to his, it makes you feel small in his presence.
All that rushing after him made you unable to even realise what was happening.
You’ve been left alone with the sinister man.
What is he going to do to me?
Did he not like the porridge?
Is he going to punish me for it?
You continue to follow him at a small distance. He’s leading you towards the throne room, you can tell.
Perhaps he changed his mind and wants to eat me after all?
Is that what that conversation was about?
The thoughts rush through you as you can feel your breathing gain an irregularity to it. You try to focus, to calm down, to shut down all those wondering thoughts inside of you, while the ominous figure continues to move through the maze with you closely behind him.
The walking continues for a while, until you reach a part of the palace that’s completely new to you. You must have passed the throne room some time ago. You knew the palace must’ve been big, but this is slightly beyond your comprehension. You look at the walls and candles and doors, trying to make mental notes of them. As you enter a wider hallway then most, you can see a dead end ahead of you.
Or at least you would’ve thought it to be one, if you hadn’t learned what the doors in this land look like.
The man pushes the door aside and steps through with a leisurely stride, leaving the entrance open for you. You rush past and follow him inside, then turn around to close the door behind you, assuming that is required of you. After turning your back towards it, your eyes start to wonder throughout the room.
The chamber is huge, though not nearly as large as the throne room. The headboard of a beautiful, raised bed is placed against the most left wall. The bed’s posts are intricately designed, similar to the throne and those doors. It reminds you of the beds back home.
It must’ve been a gift from a foreign lord or king.
On the furthest side of his bed, there is a fancy cushioned armchair placed against the wall. A cushioned bench is placed against the foot of the bed, the Lord has taken his seat on there. He has opened the top part of his kimono, revealing his bare chest, and there’s a pipe in between his fingers.
“…kiseru…” You whisper to yourself as you remember the proper word for it. The Lord’s feet are resting on a large fur rug that’s spread over the floor. It must’ve been a huge beast. You wouldn’t be surprised if the man had slain it himself. On the other side of the room, there’s a fireplace, chests, cupboards and bookcases filled to the brim with scrolls and leather.
You look back at the man, he seems to be staring into the abyss while taking a puff. As your intrigued eyes graze passed those handsome features, his bottom ones turn to look at you. He reaches into one of his pockets, and throws the contents onto the rug in front of him. As eyes follow the objects movements, your brow furrows slightly as you realise what they are.
My scrolls.
My entries.
How did he get them?
You remember Uraume putting them in their sleeves this morning. They must have given them to him.
“Girl.” The man’s deep voice calls out again, snatching your attention back to him. He nudges his head down towards the papers. “Read them.”
Unsure of what he means, you slowly step towards the papers on the rug. You kneel down to grab one, then glance back up at him. He stares at you while you unroll it. It’s your first entry. You barely remember writing it, all of these past few days are no more than a haze in your mind.
“Entry 1,” you speak softly, before looking at the man again. He nods while leaning back against the dark wood of the bed, the kiseru stuck between his lips. Before continuing your reading, you sit down more comfortably on the fur.
“I am unsure how much time has passed between the moment of writing, and the wrecking of the ship…”
You begin reading your letter. It has been a few days since you spoke your own language in proper sentences. Your own hand isn’t the prettiest either, no matter how often the captain complemented it. You stumble over some words, the anxiety you feel from being in such close proximity to the Lord only making it worse. Though, as you near the end, your speech has become much cleaner. You don’t like having to relive those memories, but it’s important to move on from them, you suppose.
After finishing the entry, you look back up at the man. He stares at you with indifference, as usual, though there is this soft edge to it this time. You grab a different scroll, and look back up at him with questioning eyes. He nods once, so you unroll it.
“Entry 2…” You begin to speak, your voice smooth and sure of the words on the paper. This feels like those reading exercises the captain would do with you when he first started teaching you. You continue to speak with a rising level of confidence. “The one who made a decent stew” You finish reading it, before reaching for the other one.
“No.” He speaks the word of disapproval. You look up at him with slight surprise, he nudges towards the letter in your hand. “Read it again.”
All of those words are unknown to you, yet you still seem to understand him.
“Entry 2…” You repeat the letter, the same level of confidence in your gentle voice. You glance up at him over the paper every now and then, curious to see what his intentions are with this, whether he’s enjoying it or if he’s annoyed at not being able to understand you. Whenever your eyes pass the paper, you can already see him staring back into yours, as if he was waiting for you to look at him, too. “The one who made a decent stew”
You lower the paper a bit and find his eyes again. He seems unresponsive, just staring at you.
Is he… thinking?
You reach for the other scroll while maintaining eye contact. As you hold it up and lower the still opened one, he nods once. You smile softly, drop the other one and roll open the third entry. To your slight surprise, the ink has not smudged at all. Perhaps it’s that magic of theirs again.
“Entry 3…” You wish to tell him you only just wrote this one, shortly after he left the room. Shortly before you believe he was outside of it again.
Was that really a dream, then?
You continue to read out loud, despite your wondering thoughts.
“My regards, the stranger”
You lower the paper slowly as your eyes linger onto the last two words.
…I really am, aren’t I?
You look up at the imposing man in front of you. His four arms, handsome face, four red eyes. The opened robe reveals his defined, muscled torso. There’s ink covering his skin there, too. There’s also a slit in his stomach, you wonder if it’s a scar. You don’t let your eyes linger too long, you hate when it happens to your scars, so you don’t wish to return the favour.
“Girl.” His words drag your eyes back to his. The imposing figure leans forward, closing the distance between you two. You can feel the heat radiating off of his body. It feels comfortable, a complete opposite of his expressionless exterior. With the kiseru stuck between his lips, he reaches out one of his lower hands and grabs your chin firmly.
His top two arms rest on his thighs, the other lower on besides them. He moves your head from the left to the right a bit, just like that fancy man had done to inspect you in the forest. You struggle to tell if the Lord’s intentions are the same or not. His warm touch on your skin sends a rush of pleasance through your body, as you can feel it tickle you internally.
He lets go again, almost pinching your skin as he does. As he moves his hand down to one of your arms, your eyes follow it closely. With his black index’s fingernail, he starts to trace along the slashed scars on your forearm. Your breath hitches at the touch, an anxious wonder rushes through you.
Is this where he will tear me apart, in his very own chambers?
You look back up at his face. His lower eyes roll up towards yours at the exact same time. Your intrigued orbs dart between his two red ones.
What does he want with me?
You can feel your chest rising and falling in a faster pace than usual, though you have no concentration to try and calm it down. His top two eyes seem to notice too, before meeting yours as well. Your gaze softens at it begins to drown in his hot and crimson one.
“Only a stranger would look at a monster with eyes like yours.”
He speaks the unfamiliar words in that deep, sultry voice. It tickles you even further, heat starts to spread over your cheeks and settling in between your thighs.
What is he doing to me?
Looking back down at your arm, you can see and feel the finger still tracing your seam. You swallow some air as you remember how you got it. It seems he notices, as he abruptly pulls the warm finger away. As you look back up at him, you watch him lean his large frame back against the wood.
“Read them.” He repeats that same sentence, red eyes flashing down at the papers. You blink, trying to gather your scrambling thoughts. You lift the paper you were still holding, and speak in a now quieter, less confident voice.
The makeshift dress clings to your body more tightly with the seconds as the rains pour relentlessly from the grey clouds.
The staring eyes in the distance, the sensation of your moistening clothes and hair, the loud rumbling and crashing sounds in the sky. It’s overwhelming, causing an anxious discomfort to rush through your intestines.
Just like before…
You try to keep all those nasty memories from flooding your mind, though you can feel your body start to sway a little from left to right.
Port to starboard.
Uraume’s figure reaches out their arm, before motioning for you to come closer. Your breath hitches as the drops continue to crash into you.
Is this the end for me?
It takes some effort to move your foot forward to take the first step. Your body starts to shake as it continues to get drenched. The cold droplets make you panic, you can feel yourself tense up in preparation for that colliding wall of water. Instinctively, you turn your head to look beside you with a frantic motion.
It’s not there, only more garden.
Your breathing fastens, irregularly so. You look back at the two menacing figures in the distance. They seem to be waiting for your slow walking self. Your hands let go of the fabric they clenched against your hips, instead reaching around to find any kind of grip to stabilise yourself from the swaying of the ship.
There will be a list before long, you can feel it beneath your feet.
Will the storm kill me before they can?
Your walking gains speed as your arms continue their search. You’ve become completely drenched, the white sheet wrapping your body and thin dress beneath it have lost their ability to hide your curves and features beneath the cloth.
Will my fate be so cruel?
Your hair sticks to your face uncomfortably, as the heavy raindrops pound down on your head.
One hand reaches for your freshly scarred temple. That beam will hit your soon, won’t it?
You can see the white haired figure step towards you from the sheltered deck. You squint, your vision blurring and irritated from the water. You reach out your hand forward, trying to find the person who is supposed to be holding you tightly. When your hand grazes past another’s, you grip it firmly.
“Captain…?” Your weak voice sounds barely audible in the rain, your vision completely incomprehensible. That dark energy seems to be getting worse as you move closer to the source.
The aching boom in your head returns, that awful object must have pounded into you already. You can feel another hand lay down on your shoulder, as the source guides you to move forward. Your swaying continues with every step.
Port. Starboard.
Port. Starboard.
Port. Starboard.
You can’t see where you’re going, only the blurry hint of a figure in front of you is visible. You remove the hand from your aching temple, instead attempt to rub away the redness of your eyes.
Why must it sting so much?
The taste of salt creeps its way into your mouth. The wave must have washed over the ship already.
But… wasn’t that supposed to be before that object? The confusion makes you even more hazy, your footing struggles to find itself beneath you. You can feel your body trembling frantically.
The sea is freezing cold, after all.
Your foot stumbles against a ridge. You lift it a little to stand on top, before the sensation of wet wood makes you gasp in fear.
It’s real.
It’s happening again.
The masts will crash down onto you.
The captain won’t save you this time.
You crumble beneath the weight of your thoughts and memories and terror. Your knees fall down onto the floor. The pounding on top of your head seizes, but as your palms crash into the moist wood, your fast breathing stops completely.
The edges of your blurry vision flood with black. As it creeps towards the centre, you can feel the hand on your shoulder grab you tighter.
“…captain…?” The weak noise barely escapes your throat, before darkness washes over your vision completely. Your heavy head falls forward, your neck has grown too weak to support the pounding weight.
With a bruising thud against the floor, your consciousness leaves you completely.
---
“…”
“…”
The sound of distant voices bleed into your ears. Your vision is completely black, you don’t have the strength to open those weak eyes of yours. You can feel a faint pressure against your back, as if you’re lying down.
“…”
“Mmh…”
“… Lord…”
You can feel a soft warmness cover you. Is it your blanket? Are you back in your room? How did you get here?
What even happened?
You concentrate all your efforts on your eyes. Slowly, with all your might, they open but a slither.
“…My Lord?”
You can hear the voice clearer now, as the light starts to creep back into your vision. Above you there is a ceiling, it looks like the one in your room. You breathe in a little deeper, trying to have the air fill you with much needed energy.
Slowly, you roll your head to the direction you heard the fuzzy voices from. You can see someone with white hair sitting beside you on their knees. You know this person, don’t you?
“…Uraume…?” Your voice barely escapes you in a hoarse whisper. Your throat feels dry, the salt having claimed all the moisture from you once again. Uraume bows slightly as you speak.
“I am in no place to doubt your decisions, my Lord.” They speak their own tongue, clearly not directed at you.
“You are not, indeed.” The deep voice rings out from behind them. You try to look at the source, though your head is too weak to move. Instead, they make it easier for you and step through the opened wall, into your field of vision.
You can see the man look down at you, expression unreadable. He does not seem irritated, nor does he seem content. Though there’s something lingering behind his disinterest. You don’t have the strength to turn your head away like you normally would, so instead you keep your gaze on his.
The memory that he’s going to eat you resurfaces in your fatigued mind. You wish you could die with your head held high, to reclaim but a crumb of your pride. But given that’s not possible, you deem this stare to be the next best thing.
Never having had the chance to before, you begin to observe his features. He’s quite a handsome man, you realise.
With a strong nose and jaw, angular eyes, ink stripes lining his face. The hardened structure on his right looks unusual, though you cannot help but think it suits him. All four of his orbs are a deep crimson, his spikey hair a soft pink. His visible eyebrow has slashes in it, and his earlobes are stretched with jewellery.
He stares down at you, his top two arms crossed in front of him while the bottom ones rest on his hips.
“…eat… girl…?” You attempt to speak their language, voice still frail and husky. The large man squints his eyes at your words, though his expression remains unchanged.
“No.”
The new word escapes from him, accompanied by the slight shake of his head. You assume that must mean the word is ‘no’.
“…no…?” You repeat the word softly, confusion present in both your sound and furrowed brows. The man continues to stare at you, his eyes fixed onto yours.
Does that mean I will live?
You move your gaze to look at Uraume, who holds a small bowl between their hands.
It must be that liquid again…
You make a careful attempt to sit up, the dryness of your mouth screaming at you to gulp all of the contents down as soon as possible. As you rise, you can tell your blanket has been tucked neatly beneath your arms. The fabric feels taut against your skin, meaning you must be completely naked underneath.
The moment you realise, you stop your movements, looking back at Uraume. They seem unresponsive, while the red eyes burn into you hotly. You shuffle around a bit to make it so the blanket doesn’t fall down and reveal your parts, before continuing to sit up.
The pounding in your head has seized, as has the swaying of your body. Uraume hands you the bowl and you accept while attempting a smile directed at them, though your face still feels too uncomfortable to look convincing.
You drink the salty, fermented broth. The warm liquid feels nice as it runs down your throat. You’re careful not to chug it down, though the thirst still tempts you to. When the bowl is empty, you hand it back with another attempted smile, and a slight bow.
“…thank you.” You speak instinctively, regardless of their inability to understand. Uraume looks at you for a moment, eyes darting between yours, before they shake their head. The motion catches you by surprise, furrowing your weak brow.
“Thank you.” They speak in their own language in a teaching tone. You have no choice but to assume is means ‘thank you’, given the context.
“Thank you.” You repeat their language back. They bow their head slightly, before standing back up. You glance over at the man in your room again. You bow your head to him to, though deeper then you would to Uraume.
You can hear his loud steps exit your room, followed by Uraume’s softer patters. Not before you hear your wall closing again do you raise your head.
Looking back up, you observe your room, the only light source being the candle on the small table. It invites you, as you begin to feel barely well enough to go write about yet another unusual day in this haunted palace. You wrap the blanket around your bare body and move to stand up.
To your relieve, your legs have stopped trembling, making it much easier to slowly waddle over and drop down by the table. After rolling up the last entry, you grab a clean one and dip the brush in the ink.
---
Entry 3,
I was seemingly left to be independent in this part of the haunted palace. Uraume, the one with white hair, did not come to give me work or instructions in the morning. Instead, I spent time in the kitchen with nice people who fed me and taught me how to use the utensils of this land. It remains difficult for me, though I believe enough practice will soon raise my efficiency.
My suspicions of the meat were correct. I helped butcher
Near the end of the day, I found myself caught in a storm while spending time in the garden. I became unwell, and was taken to my room.
I was told the man did not plan to eat me. Though I am still weary of his intentions, I believe he spoke with honesty. My purpose here is not yet known to me, perhaps I will be sold. I hope to receive more clarity soon, though it remains difficult with my lack of understanding their language.
My regards,
The stranger.
---
The candle remains a small source of heat and light in the room, as you have crawled back onto your thin bed. Sleep has not yet taken you, despite your efforts. Perhaps you slept so long after losing consciousness, that there’s no more rest for you to be had.
You’ve tossed and turned a few times, now finding yourself on your side facing the magic wall. Your eyes remain closed, hoping slumber will decide to creep in soon.
A distant thud opens your eyes a split. Another one sounds, as you try to understand what it is. You haven’t heard many noises outside of this room, making it clear to you that you are the only occupant along this corridor. Another one, it sounds too much like a footstep to be anything else, though it remains hard to envision how far it is from you.
Perhaps someone is going to use the bathing area?
Another step sounds out in the hallway, then another, then one more. They seem to be getting louder, though you feel they are not close yet.
Only one person might be able to fit those steps…
…Is it him?
You raise yourself up slightly, leaning on your forearm, eyes fixed onto the wall that can open. The footsteps continue slowly, almost having reached your door.
Another, before the one that follows is accompanied by a creak of the floorboards right behind your openable wall.
No more footsteps are heard.
The pace of your breathing fastens as you feel that dark energy seep through the cracks of the walls. Your eyes remain focused and unblinking, you keep your body as still as you possibly can, unsure of what to do.
He said he wouldn’t eat me, right?
Then… why is he here?
It feels like you are waiting in suspense for an eternity. You do not know if it’s another footstep you wish to hear, or the opening of your wall, or perhaps nothing at all.
You can feel the energy continue to creep around the place, though it seems to mute over time. Or perhaps you are just getting used to it.
After an excruciatingly long time of staring at the wooden panels, your arm starts to ache beneath the pressure of your lean. Slowly, you lower yourself back down, resting your hands in front of your face as you normally would. Your breathing starts to calm down again, as that pressure of the energy seems to settle.
No more sounds are heard.
No footsteps to indicate he left.
No sounds of life to show his presence.
Your eyes never leave the wall.
The sound of something sliding open rushes awareness back into you, making your eyes jump open. You must have fallen asleep, though you didn’t realise it. You had intended to stare at the now opened wall all night, waiting for that ominous man to finally leave.
Your eyes spot the one with white hair standing in the entrance, looking down at you. While clutching the blanket to your bare skin, you sit up slowly to greet them.
“Girl.” They bow like usual.
“Uraume.” You return the gesture. After looking back up at you, they nudge their head for you to follow.
You look down at your body, then around the room. The crimson gown is still dirty, and your own was taken by Uraume. Your eyes find their again, though now somewhat awkwardly. The gesture makes them close the wall behind them, before walking over to the chest. After opening it, they hold up one of the scrolls.
“It’s…” You start speaking automatically, before remembering they won’t understand your attempted explanation anyways. They snatch the other scroll, before grabbing a fresh sheet and throwing it in your direction.
Quickly, your hands reach up to catch it, the blanket sliding down your bosom in the process. Uraume keeps their back turned to you after closing the chest, offering you a crumb of privacy.
In a rush, you stand up and turn your back towards them, moving to tie the sheet around you as you had done the day prior. It feels odd, not wearing your underdress beneath, but the fabric seems thick enough to not be translucent and reveal your features. The cloth is a darker colour, too. More of a greyish white then a bone one.
You can hear Uraume shuffle with some papers behind you, it seems they are rolling up the still drying entry, you hope the ink won’t smudge. As soon as Uraume notices that you’re dressed properly, they turn back towards the sliding wall, stuffing the scrolls inside of their sleeves.
You follow as they lead you through the hallways, wondering if they will finally give you work. They seem to be taking you to the kitchen again. Perhaps they want you to butcher some more? After opening the wall and stepping through, you can hear their voice speak monotony.
“Make us some food.” You follow after them, spotting the same servants as the day prior. You smile gently as the older woman catches your eyes with hers, who smiles in response and bows a little while speaking.
“Yes, Uraume.” She turns her attention back to her work, the man standing besides her. You look around for the third one, the younger woman, but it seems she is missing.
“…yes…” You repeat the word in a whisper, thinking it might mean ‘understood’ or ‘yes’. Uraume looks back at you, before nodding.
“Yes.” They confirm your suspicions; it does mean ‘yes’.
“Yes.” You repeat more confidently. Uraume does not look as impressed as you feel, simply nudging their head for you to follow towards the table. Uraume takes seat in the chair the man occupied two nights prior, you sit opposite of them with your back turned to the workers by the counter. A small sigh escapes your nose, unsure of what will follow, as your thumbs find each other again to start twiddling.
“Girl.” They look at you, you nod in confirmation. That is who you are, now. They look down at the table, and point at it with their finger.
“Table.” They speak another word. You blink while following their finger, before looking back up at them.
“Table?” You repeat while pointing down at it as well, thinking they might intend to teach you the word for ‘table’. They nod, then point at the empty chair besides them.
“Chair.” You begin to understand now.
They’re going to be teaching you, even if it’s one word at a time.
“Chair.” You repeat, looking at the chair. They nod again, while you can hear one of the workers shuffle towards you from behind. As the man puts one bowl down in front of Uraume and one in front of you, you smile at him.
“Thank you.” You tell him what Uraume taught you last night. He glances over in surprise, before smiling back and bowing a little.
“Enjoy, girl.” You bow in return, before the tapping of Uraume’s finger against the wooden table draws your attention back to their teaching. They grab the two sticks between their fingers.
“Chopsticks.” They show you their hand, before tapping the tips of the two sticks together a few times. You grab your own set, take a little longer to place them in your hand correctly, trying to remember how the woman did it yesterday, before recreating the tapping.
“Chopsticks.” Uraume nods. They reach into their bowl and grab a chunk of white grains in between the chopsticks.
“Rice.” They speak, you repeat the motion, struggling way too much for comfort. You can feel a small blush begin to heat your cheeks as the grains keep slipping between the sticks. Once you finally manage to hold onto a small chunk, you smile and show it off.
“Rice.” You state proudly. Uraume nods inexpressively, before moving the food to their mouth and eating. You copy them.
“Meat.” They hold up a small chunk of meat. You do too, and repeat the word.
“Meat.” They nod, they eat, you eat.
“Vegetable.” They show you.
“Vegetable.” You show them. They nod and eat, you follow.
The rest of the meal is held in silence. You are unsure if you are going to remember all those words, but for now you feel content. Whenever you grab a vegetable, you repeat the word to yourself. Same as with the meat, same as with the rice.
Your skills with the chopsticks are getting better too, not everything slips at once when you attempt to grab it. Though your hands still cramp a bit too much for comfort.
You grab a chunk of both rice and meat.
“Rice meat.” You speak, before putting it in your mouth.
“Rice and meat.” Uraume corrects you while their attention remains on their own meal.
“Rice and meat.” You repeat the correction with a nod.
Uraume clears their bowl much faster than you do, though it’s not taking you as long as yesterday. When you finish as well, they swiftly stand and walk towards the washing area. You follow, carrying the dirty bowls and chopsticks with you. Perhaps this is where you must start working? You move towards the area and immediately start cleaning the utensils.
“Girl.” Uraume moves behind you and nudges their head for you to follow. You drop the things with a slight frown. You don’t want the others to have to clean your things for you, that would be such a nuisance. You look back at the bowls, before feeling a gentle hand be placed on your shoulder. Glancing behind you, you can see the old woman smiling brightly.
“Go, girl.” She reaches for your things while walking past.
“Thank you.” You grant her a kind smile, before hurrying towards the magic wall. Uraume did not slow down to wait for you, you rush after them and swiftly close the wall behind you.
After catching up to the white haired person, you walk behind them at a comfortable distance. You don’t know where they are leading you, but you hope it’s to be shown your work. As soon as you realise where it is they are taking you, your pace slows a bit.
You walked through here yesterday, wearing another makeshift gown. You were so excited to go outside, but then that storm washed over you. You’ve been trying to ignore that constant discomfort inside of you since last night. That sense of lingering anxiety with every step you take.
There’s no reason to be apprehensive, you know. It’s not like this palace will wreck like the ship. But there is only so much that rationality can calm down within you.
Uraume walks past the wall that would lead towards the garden. You feel both relieve and disappointment linger at the passing sight. You want to overcome that senseless anguish you’re feeling, no matter how bothersome the task.
They pass one more corner, before they stand still in front of the wall in the centre of the next corridor. They slide it open as gently as ever and step through. You watch carefully from a slight distance, having never been in this part of the palace before.
Perhaps they are going to sell me and the buyer is waiting behind this wall.
Or the man lied and he’s waiting for me to fall right into his mouth.
Carefully, you step closer, before turning to walk through.
The fresh air slaps your face with a cold hand. You can still feel the lingering moisture present in it, though the sun shines brightly in the near distance. Your bare feet stand on top of recently moistened wood, above you there is an overhang protecting you from both the sun and possible rain. Uraume reaches down to grab something besides the wall you just exited.
Without standing back up, they get closer to you. You observe them holding up peculiar looking socks near your feet. Gently, they grab your ankle and lift it up, before sliding the sock onto your foot.
It feels strange being treated like this, getting dressed by someone else. You can feel a slight awkwardness creep up inside of you. Instead of putting your foot down onto the wood again, they slide one of those interesting shoes beneath your foot, securing them with a sort of band between your big and index toe.
Putting your foot down, you can feel a slight bit taller then before. The sensation between your toes is one you haven’t felt before, the tickling pressure makes a laughy breath escape your nose. Uraume swiftly repeats the procedure with the other foot, before standing back up. You follow them closely as they step off of the raised wood.
It must be the same deck as yesterday.
The one Uraume occupied with the man.
You wonder what they had intended for you, had you not lost your mind like that. A sense of embarrassment creeps up inside of you, as you think about how pathetic you must have looked to them.
The warm kisses of the sun reach your skin as you leave the shadows from the beautifully curved overhang. With the grass crunching beneath your wooden shoes. you look up to see the blue sky and white clouds.
The heavens here look just like they do back home and at sea. Perhaps they look the same everywhere.
“Water.” Uraume point at the pond as you walk past. Then, they point at a filled bucket near one of the walls. “Water.” They repeat. You understand it must mean ‘water’, both the pond and the bucket house the liquid.
“Water.” You speak with a nod. Uraume lowers their hand again, as they lead you closer to the bridge. Stepping near the edge, they knock on the railing.
“Wood.” Their voice accompanies the thick raps. They mean ‘wood’, you think.
“Wood.” You repeat, they nod again. Then, they point their hand at themselves.
“I. I am Uraume.” They point at you. “You. You are girl.” You take moment to register the words, though they are not too difficult. You point at them.
“You are Uraume.” Then, you point at yourself. “I am girl.” They nod again, causing a bright smile to paint your face. You’re beginning to understand more and more. Surely your head will explode at the end of the day with all this new information, but right now, you are enjoying the new impressions. Uraume moves onto the bridge, you follow closely.
As the two of you watch over the garden, Uraume continues to teach you all kinds of words; flower, fish, cloud, sun, grass, kimono. When the two of you move towards the little gazebo tucked behind the pond, they teach you even more; bench, roof, pillar, floor, path, door. You follow along the dirt trail towards the door inside of the wall.
It’s become clear to you that the sliding walls are this lands version of doors, you feel a little silly not having realised it earlier.
Surely it’s those large doors of the throne room that must have confused me, right?
After Uraume opens the door, they stop you from entering, instead pointing at your interesting shoes. You remove them from your feet and place them outside, while the clean socks rest on the corridor’s smooth floor boards. Uraume nods.
“Good.” You’re unsure what they mean, so you don’t repeat it after them to avoid confusion.
As you continue your journey through the palace, witnessing new corridors and rooms everywhere, your head starts to overflow with information. Uraume open’s nearly every room you pass to show you the inside, while teaching you more words. Wall, room, bucket, towel, cloth, sheet, futon, candle.
The confusing hallways and Uraume’s constant teaching makes your head hurt a little, as you try your best to keep up. Cushion, scroll, broom, blanket, yukata, kiseru. They lead you further through the dark and dusty corridors. You start to recognise some smells in the distance.
Have I been here before?
As you pass a few more corners, you can see those ominous and beautifully carved doors waiting at the end of a broad hallway. You look at Uraume in front of you, who keeps their pace steady.
They glance over their shoulder, meeting your slightly worried eyes, before pushing the large doors open. The stench of iron and decay punch you in the face as it forces it’s way into your nostrils.
The impact takes you aback a little, almost stopping your comfortable pace behind Uraume. Before they can notice your reaction, you quickly regain your balance. You don’t wish to upset them, not after they have spend so much time with you.
Uraume moves further into the empty throne room. You can see everything much more clearly compared to a few days ago. The dark stone ground’s coldness creeps through your socks. The room is a lot bigger than you realised, the decorated throne pushed to the centre back of the hall.
You look behind you to see any evidence of those three men’s untimely demise, but it appears as though the ground has been scrubbed clean. You wonder how many people perished here, just like them.
Is that why I am here?
Uraume glances back at you as you take in all of the sights this place has to offer.
It feels like a room fit for a king.
Is he truly one?
You’d never met a king before, let alone one who looks like him.
“Girl.” Uraume drags you away from your thoughts and wandering eyes. They nudge their head to follow, as they make their way towards one side of the room. They stand still and turn around, placing themselves somewhere in the middle between the doors and the throne, though pushed all the way against the wall as to not be in the way. Grabbing onto your shoulders and placing you beside them, they push your back firmly against the wall.
“Stay.” They motion with your hand to stand still, encouraging you to ‘stay’.
“Stay.” You repeat with a nod. Then, they put one of their fingers against their lip.
“Silent.” You swallow a gulp of air while pressing your lips shut. You nod clearly to convey your understanding of their command to stay silent.
They nod once, then push their own back into the hard surface, right beside you. You can feel their sleeve brush against your bare, scarred arm, while you stare into the abyss that is the empty, foul room.
After a moment of waiting in complete silence, you can start to hear those familiar loud footsteps creep up in the distance. The doors are still opened, you start to worry if it was your responsibility to close them.
Surely Uraume would have told me to.
…Would they not?
As the steps get closer and closer, you lower yourself into a bow. Uraume only follows suit once the first thud is taken passed the large doors. You can feel a graze of those warm eyes on you, before the coldness of the room replaces the short sensation once more.
You’re standing there, bowing, wearing nothing but a sheet. You feel exposed, though not necessarily in danger.
As the steps ring further into the room, you can hear the shuffling of someone sitting down. Uraume raises their head again, softly nudging their arm against yours to do the same.
You straighten yourself up, but insist on keeping your eyes fixed on the ground in front of you, not wanting to do anything that might upset either the man or Uraume.
Loud noises ring out in the hallway. You can hear talking, walking, shuffling. The noises increase in volume, you’re certain they’re headed here. Waiting for their arrival while keeping your gaze fixed on the stone almost makes all your thoughts rush back into your mind, so you start to twiddle your thumbs as a distraction.
The shuffling sounds of multiple men enter through the door, their footsteps ringing out against the stone ground. You swallow some air, focusing on your twiddling.
“Lord Sukuna.” You can hear a stranger’s voice speak, a ruffling follows. He’s bowing, you assume. The words repeat inside of your mind.
Uraume called the man that too.
Perhaps that is his name, or maybe his title?
“I am honoured to be granted an aud-”
“What do you want?” The man’s deep voice seems to have interrupted the stranger. Silence follows the intrusion, as does some more shuffling. You look at your thumbs passing over each other. All that washing the past few days has removed year’s worth of dirt and gunk from them. They look so odd to you now. So feminine.
“My brother did not return from the palace.”
“And?”
“…I know he had his… differences with you, but…”
“Speak clearly, vermin.” You can hear the stranger clear his throat after the man’s deep voice rumbles something with an irritated tone. You recognise some of the words they are speaking, though.
“May I know what happened to him, my Lord?”
“What do you think?” More silence follows.
“…Did he upset you, Lord Sukuna?” You here that term again, now certain it’s how he is referred to.
“Yes.”
“I-I… apologize on his behalf, my Lord.” You can feel those warm eyes graze past you again.
“Is that all you came for?”
“…No, my Lord.”
“So speak.” The man on the throne speaks with more annoyance. You try to focus on your breathing as your thumbs continue twiddling.
“I have a gift for you, Lord Sukuna.” An annoyed groan escapes the man on the throne, followed by the rustling of his fabric. More footsteps follow, accompanied by the muffled cries of what sounds like a girl.
Your thumbs stop moving at the noises of something being dragged over the floor. Instinctively, you raise your eyes to watch the sight in front of you.
You can see a man dressed in fancy clothing stand ahead of the others in his group. He looks similar to the one that took you in the forest. One man far behind the rest is dragging a girl by her feet over the cold stone. Your eyes widen a bit, knowing you were in that position not too long ago. You glance past her face, and can see her wet eyes look back at you in fear.
Quickly, you remind yourself to regain your composure, as you lower your eyes back down in front of you. That burning gaze glances past you again. You remember how you were taken care of in this scenario, surely they will do the same for her.
…They will, won’t they?
“The gift, my Lord.” The dragging continues, the girl’s cries muffled by the gag tied down onto her mouth. You weave your fingers together while your hands hang low in front of you, trying to stop yourself from twiddling again. Instead, you reattempt to focus on your breathing to offset the nerves.
“Mmhh…” You can hear a deep, neutral hum escape from the throne. “I accept.”
“T-Thank you, Lord Sukuna.” To your content, you understood that entire sentence, despite the man’s stumbling.
“Though I do not appreciate your questioning of me.” The deep rumbling cuts off any shuffling and moving you could hear prior.
“Know your place, insect.” A slashing follows the unknown words. Then, the gurgling of two men. You glance back up in surprise, and watch two of the fancy man’s companions reach for their bloody throats, before slumping over towards the ground. You blink once, trying your hardest to keep your face expressionless, then look back down.
The warm eyes seem to have noticed, they linger on you a little longer this time. You had seen men die before, be killed before. In worse ways than this, even.
Though none of those died by unseen weapons. You wonder if it’s that magic again. The same magic that killed those three men a few days ago, the same magic that healed your feet. You try not to think about it, you don’t want to turn yourself mad. Instead, you focus on your breathing again.
Shuffled noises rush out of the room, the cries of the girl still muffled and present. Uraume nudges your arm again, you glance over at them. They nudge their head towards the girl, urging you to go to her.
You nod slightly, then step forward, trying your hardest to resist the urge to glance over at the man in the throne. As you kneel down beside her, you can see her look at you with terrified, soaked eyes. You try to flash her a soft smile, before reaching for the gag in her mouth.
“Shh…” You whisper gently, as you pull down the fabric keeping it in place. You reach into her mouth and remove the cloth ball. She coughs at the release, the noises of her cries now becoming much louder. You can feel the man’s hot gaze observe you closely.
“Don’t cry, girl.” You speak the term in their language, though the rest you don’t know yet. Instead, you hope your gentle tone will convey the message well enough. Her cries grow softer, her eyes still upset and slightly confused, as you reach down for her bound hands. They’re placed at her frontside instead of her back, unlike with you. The rope looks just as sharp and tight, though. You furrow your brows a little while looking for the knot.
When you see it, you release a soft laugh through your nose. You learned all about knots from the sailors, this one is terribly weak compared to those. You easily undo it, before unwrapping the rope. It grazes your skin roughly, but your calloused fingers are used to it. The knot around her ankles looks the same, you undo it just as easily. You raise yourself back up, before reaching out your hand for her to grab.
She’s trembling, fear shaking her entire being, while her softened cries remain. She grabs your hand weakly, you pull firmly to raise her in a quick, smooth motion, though perhaps a little too hard for her liking.
She gasps at your strength, a reaction that doesn’t surprise you. Women typically aren’t expected to have done similar labour as those brutes on the ship, of course your strength would seem odd.
You smile softly at her reaction, trying to convey there’s nothing wrong. As you glance back at Uraume, you make sure to look over your shoulder furthest away from the man to avoid looking at him. They nod towards the door, before bowing slightly. You return the gesture.
For a moment, you consider your next action carefully. You don’t wish to disrespect the man, though you are unsure what is expected of you. Softly, you let go of the girls hand and turn to face the man. Quickly, you lower into a deep bow.
“Lord Sukuna.” You speak instinctively, gently.
After a moment of those eyes burning into you in silence, the same deep hum he rumbled at Uraume the night of the stew rings out from him, signalling his approval. You straighten and turn without looking at him, grab the girls arm firmly and start moving towards the opened doors.
Her footing is weak, she can barely keep up with you, but you don’t wish to keep her in the presence of the Lord any longer, fearing it might annoy him.
“Gods, it was cold that winter.” The brute took another swig of his warming liquor. “You remember, don’t you?”
“Hard to forget. One o’ my toes is still black from frost.” The swabbie chuckled as he swung his leg over the table. He pulled off his shoe right in front of you. Eager to look at the scarring, you leaned in a little closer to watch the small, black stub at the end of his fungal ridden foot.
“Woah…” You sound a little too intrigued.
“Yes… It was gorgeous, though. I had never seen a land covered completely in white snow and ice before.” The swabbie pulled his shoe back on, before dropping his leg.
“Mmhh… Peculiar people, they were. A little upset at our presence, but when we started trading with ‘em, they calmed down a bit.” The brute remembered, while the swabbie pulled the liquor bottle away from him.
“And when we started drinking with ‘em.” He laughed heartily, before taking a swig himself. You chuckled at the show in front of you.
“Ahhh… What a shame to have gotten stuck on that rock, ey?” The swabbie nodded at the brutes solemn words. “You miss him?” The swabbie shrugged.
“Who was he?” You asked gently. Regardless of having heard this story so many times whenever the two got drunk, you still listened eagerly.
“Old mate of ours. We’d whaled with him countless of times.” The brute smiled a little. “He… He chose it himself, you know.”
“He did. Though it didn’t make it any better.”
“Shut it. We obeyed the law, is all.”
“He died to fill our bellies, you fool. There’s no law that would force you to do such a thing.”
“Nonsense. The law of the sea has always been clear.”
The two men removed their eyes from each other shortly after the brute pulled the bottle back and gulped some liquid down.
“Will you tell me about it?” You knew they wanted to, as much as you wanted to hear. It always went like this.
“You’re a peculiar lady, you know. Wishin’ to hear of such tragedies.” You smiled softly.
“I’m simply intrigued, is all.” The swabbie nodded, while the brute drank some more.
“He offered. He knew he was the fattest, he’d feed us proper while awaitin’ rescue.” He started, eyes staring into the abyss as his memories flooded back. “We’d gotten lost weeks prior. We managed to live off of the snow, ice and some random animals we’ found. When they ran out, we waited another week or two before he decided. He left no room for negotiation, stabbing himself in the throat before we could talk him out of it. He showed himself mercy this way. A quick death, rather than starving.”
“We took his clothes before anything else. We were freezing, after all.” The brute continued the swabbies story, handing the liquor back to his companion. “We cut him up afterwards. He was a large man, almost as big as the cook. The flesh, it looked… a reddish pink, and marbled with fat.”
“The rescue wouldn’t come, and when we were left with just his bones, we were terrified of what we must do next.” The swabbies speech started to slur.
“But it turns out, the bones are the best part. Who would have thought?” The brute chuckled to himself, a clear sadness beneath the sound.
“Never have I tasted anything as pleasant as my dear friend’s marrow.”
---
Sleep lingers in your mouth as you are awoken from your dream, from your memory. For a moment, you’re unsure of where you are, what time it is, what you’re supposed to be doing and thinking and feeling. But as you slowly open your eyes and lift your head to gaze around the room, awareness rushes back into you. The morning light shining through the paper windows reminds you of your current situation.
You lift yourself into a seated position, the dream still vivid in your mind. The sight in the meat-storage last night must have caused your memories to wish to replay.
Was it really human meat?
The thought frightens you.
Perhaps the monster intends to eat me as well…
Though it intrigues you as well, just as it had when you spoke to those on the ship who had obeyed the law.
As you yawn vocally, you stretch your arms and legs a little. You had taken of that restricting dress before bed, it feels nice to be more mobile. Though you wish for your own dress to be returned to you, you try not to get your hopes up on every seeing it again.
Perhaps I can ask for fabric and attempt to make my own.
You had learned how to sew long ago, and you helped that skilled sailor whenever tears in clothes or sails needed to be patched.
You raise yourself onto your feet and walk over to the chest, your gown thrown onto it without a care. You put it on as you stand in front of the mirror, able to do it yourself this way, as you can actually see properly instead of grasping around yourself in the dark.
Uraume has not shown up anymore. Not during the night, not now. Confliction starts to creep into your mind.
Should I wait for them to assign me work, or should I continue doing my own thing?
You sigh as you observe yourself in the mirror. It feels like a luxury, being able to see yourself so clearly.
Why is it afforded to me?
After thinking for a moment, you decide to leave your chamber so you can go wash up. The bathroom is not far from here, surely they will find you if they need you. You move towards the magic wall and softly push it open. Before stepping through, you stick your head out to look around, curious to see any people. The corridor is completely empty, like usual.
As you make your way to the nearest bathing area, your mind continues to wander about why you are here. Why you are being kept.
Is it truly to be eaten?
The thoughts continue to sound out as you step through another wall and close it behind you. The room is small, big enough for maybe two people. You’re completely alone, though. The privacy you are experiencing is nothing like that on the ship.
You grab one of the buckets with soapy water and a cloth, before removing your gown again, hoping you can put it back on without a mirror. After taking off your underdress as well, you start to clean yourself thoroughly. You like the sensation of the cold, moist cloth over your body. On the ship. you only got to wash up once a week, though you could hardly call it that. You never could completely clean yourself, the salt would stick to your skin as a constant reminder of the grimy environment.
Though you do miss the people. The good company. The kind smiles. Even the captains stern exterior, though you could tell he was soft underneath.
Why else would he have taught me so much?
“Keep both mind and body active, girl. That’s how you keep the sea-madness away.” He told you after you had complained about the excruciating work a couple weeks after departure. He started teaching you to read and write shortly after, it was what he meant with ‘mind’.
You suppose you’ll need to find a way to keep busy, if you truly aren’t given work. You wish you could talk to Uraume, ask them what was required of you, what they want with you. You sigh at the helplessness you feel, before emptying the now used water out of the bucket near the drain in the middle of the room. They never told you what to do with it after use, so you put it in the corner with the used cloth hanging over the side.
After putting on your undergarment, you tackle the issue that is your gown. You try to remember what it looked like in the mirror as you stick your arms through. Closing your eyes, you envision your own reflection from not too long ago. You reach for the enclosers and copy all the movements you had done earlier. To your surprise, the dress is put on and closed properly. You smile when you open your eyes again. Though it’s not a massive victory, it makes you believe you might be able to survive this place after all.
At least until they decide to kill me, that is.
Exiting the room, the soles of your feet kiss the wooden planks beneath them. Uraume never gave you any shoes, nor the interesting ones they were wearing. You wonder if they just forgot, or if it’s a way to restrict your movements. To keep you from going outside or wandering too far.
If that was their intentions, they surely misinterpreted your levels of comfort. You had been wearing the same shoes for years, barely taking them off. The ship’s moisture had made them start to rot. The lack of enclosure around your feet and toes feels almost heavenly, especially now that the wounds are gone as well. They had to have used some kind of magic or a spell.
Perhaps that’s why they eat people?
You try not to think about it too much. The captain always told you to just let the fantastical things overcome you without thinking too hard, or you’d go mad. Though a remarkably large squid tentacle reaching for the ship is quite different than surviving this haunted palace with a magic cannibal monster living in the labyrinth of hallways.
Walking through the corridor, you intend to make your way back towards your chambers, unsure what to do next. You assume the kitchen will be staffed with people, and you don’t want to be in their way. But that rumbling in your belly starts to ache, and there’s still a chance Uraume will come visit to give you work.
A part of you hopes for it. You don’t wish to be alone for too long, especially not the entire day. Work would make you happy, too. That way you wouldn’t have to think of something to keep yourself busy with.
Well, they saw you in the kitchen yesterday. Surely they know they can find you there.
As you walk through the stuffy, barely lit corridors towards the kitchen, you can hear sounds from inside. You slower your pace, hesitating a little, not wanting to interrupt or disturb. But that growling in your stomach stops you from turning around again. Perhaps it would be nice to see some people, too.
Even though I can’t communicate…
You slide the wall open carefully. As you peak inside, you can see those same three people as yesterday. They turn their heads and see you too, that same surprise painting their faces. You smile a little awkwardly as you stand by the opened wall, thumbs starting to twiddle. One of them lets go of the pan they were holding and turns to you completely.
“Do you wish to eat, girl?”
You blink emptily at their voice, sentence making your mind a little confused. You recognise the ‘girl’ part, and that they asked you something, but that’s about it. They walk closer to you. It’s an older woman, you’re surprised to see. She smiles at you, while holding her hand near mouth.
“Eat?” She makes an motion similar to spooning something into her mouth to accompany the word.
“Eat…” You repeat softly, assuming it might mean ‘eat’. The woman smiles a little brighter as you speak the word, then looks at you questioningly.
“Yes, please.” You nod enthusiastically while smiling less awkwardly now. Perhaps you can communicate with the people here, after all. The woman motions with her arm towards the table while nudging her head gently. You nod again, before heading over there. In a swift movement, the woman gets back behind the counters and starts speaking to her colleagues.
“We should make her some food.”
“She’s still alive?”
“Yes, it’s strange… Perhaps he will kill her later.”
The woman and a man speak to each other.
“No.” The third person chimes in. A woman, too, though younger than the other one. “He never keeps the food longer than one day.”
“What are you saying?”
“She might be here to stay.”
The three heads turn to look at you, while you sit in the same seat the monster sat in the night prior so you can observe them. You smile while they stare, attempting to appear as friendly and harmless as possible.
“Maybe… She is a strange one, isn’t she?” The old woman sounds quieter than before.
“She’s foreign. It’s why she looks like that and can’t understand us.”
“Then… How did she get here?” You can hear the man ask something with a questioning tone.
“Why don’t you try to ask her?” The elderly woman seems to be mocking him a little.
“How am I supposed to do that, then?” The man scoffs with his words.
“Give it a try, you have arms, don’t you?” You can see a comical smirk on the old woman’s face. You enjoy watching their interactions, they remind you of the sailors bantering on the ship.
The man throws the towel he was holding onto the counter, before stepping towards your direction. Your gaze falls on him, you smile softly while he approaches, unsure of how to react.
“Well… Let’s try.” You can hear him mutter something beneath his breath as he stand still in front of you on the other side of the table. His face looks a little contorted with thought.
“Girl.” He points at you.
“Girl.” You nod and repeat the word, as you point at yourself in confirmation.
“Oh, she knows that word. Good.” He mumbles something to himself again. Then, he moves his hand to point down at the floor.
“How?” He asks a word, looking at you questioningly. You furrow your brows a bit, slowly lowering your pointing finger.
…What?
You look at his hand again. He’s pointing at the floor.
Does he mean to ask me about the floor?
Surely not.
“How?” He repeats the word. You look back at him, now he’s waving his arms around to include the whole room.
Does he want to know why I’m in the kitchen?
No, they are making me food. They know why I’m here.
Then… does he mean the palace?
Your eyes open a little wider as you seem to understand. You smile at him again, now putting your arm in front of you and making a waving motion.
“The sea.” You speak softly. He frowns a little while staring at your arm. You’re unsure how they signal for the ocean in this land, but you’re trying your best regardless. He shakes his head a little, making you drop your arm with slight disappointment.
“Wait.” You say, while getting up and hurrying towards the cupboard with all of the seasoning. The other two servants are looking at you too, now. You come back holding the large container of salt, then you walk over to one of the buckets filled with fresh water. You point at the salt, then at the liquid.
They all stare blankly at you for a moment, while you keep pointing between the two. Then, the older woman gains a content look of understanding.
“Ah, she means the sea.” She speaks, before turning her head back to look at her work.
“Oh, I see…” The man nods, before walking back to his station. You move to put the salt back again, while continuing to hear the conversation you don’t understand.
“Does that mean she washed onto that beach near here, then?”
“Most likely.”
“Agh, what terrible luck.”
“Mhm… Though she is still alive.”
“I don’t think she will be for long. Shouldn’t she be working if he was truly keeping her?”
“…Perhaps.”
“It’d be a shame to have to cook her, she seems nice enough.”
You can see the three of them nod in unison as you walk back to the table and sit down. A strange discomfort creeps into you, as you are only now realising you’re sitting in the same chair the monster occupied not too long ago. Wonder begins to fill your mind, your intrigue in the ominous man being all too apparent in your thoughts.
Is he truly a monster? Or is that how lords or kings appear in this land?
He must be magic, too. He killed those men without lifting a finger.
His odd appearance suits him rather well…
He lives in the palace, for certain. But where?
What is he doing at this moment?
Is he having breakfast too?
Will he return to this kitchen?
Will I see him again?
The older woman walks over to you, holding a relatively large bowl. When she puts it down, you can see vegetables laying atop a bed of small white grains. You remember the cook showing you something similar once after a trade, though you two weren’t allowed to use the precious ingredient. The woman hands you two sticks, before speaking again.
“Enjoy, girl.”
You hold the two sticks, one in either hand. Then, you look up at the woman with questioning eyes. She stares back at you.
“Thank you…” You speak quietly, though confusion lingers in your voice. She chuckles a little, before grabbing the sticks from you. Then, nudges for you to hold up your hand.
She puts one between your index finger and thumb. The other, she lays in the nook of your thumb beneath the top stick, and pushes your middle finger against the edge to hold it in place. She raises herself up again, and urges you to eat with her kind, aged eyes. You smile and bow a little to show your appreciation.
You take a deep breath of encouragement, before moving your hand over to the bowl. Your finger feel weak when you try to open and close the sticks. Once you get used to the motion a little, you attempt to pick up a vegetable. It slips between your sticks as they two cross over each other, almost making you lose your grip on them.
You chuckle a little at yourself, finally having found something to keep both your body and mind busy with today. You can hear the three speak in the distance, as you continue your attempts to eat at least one bite.
“I wonder what she’d be like if she could speak with us.” The man sounds absent while he dries some of the tools with the towel.
“Mmh… Perhaps she’s awful?” The younger woman chuckles as she speaks.
“I don’t think so. She smiles so sweetly.”
“You’re just saying that because she’s easy on the eyes.” The man scoffs at the young woman’s words.
“Are you certain you’re not jealous?”
“Jealous of what? Being stuck in a strange land? Not being able to communicate with others? Not knowing what fate Lord Sukuna has decided for you?”
“She’s right… There’s nothing to be jealous off. Remember how she arrived here. It’s possible she’s the only survivor.”
“You think all her of people are dead?”
“Well, at least the ones she travelled with. The sea is unkind, you know.”
“…Poor girl. To live through all of that and then be stuck here.”
“Perhaps it’s better she doesn’t know anything. It might make waiting for the inevitable more bearable.”
You continue to struggle with your eating, though you have managed to eat at least two vegetables. You hope the white grains might give you some more grip against the slippery vegetables, so you start mixing everything together, while maintaining your firm grip on the sticks. Though your fingers start to cramp a little, you know it’s important to learn. Clearly, this is how the people of this land eat. With the kindness they are showing, you feel it would only be right to try your best and learn.
After continuing your efforts for an unknown amount of time, and succeeding every now and then with actually eating a bite or two, you hear the three people shuffle towards the magic wall.
“Girl.” The older woman calls out. You look over and see the three bowing slightly. You return the bow with a smile, before they leave you all alone in this large kitchen.
You’re glad you got to see and attempt to communicate with people today, as you’ve been feeling loneliness start to creep into you. The sudden disappearance of all those loud seamen has been bothering you more than you’d have thought, especially given you can’t really interact with anyone the same way you could with them.
You continue your struggles, having managed to eat half of the food after about an hour or two. A familiar shuffling rings out in the hallway. It’s the soft patters of Uraume, making your head turn to look, wondering if they’ve finally decided to give you some work. Or perhaps to take you to the monster to be killed.
They step into view, looking as inexpressive as ever. When their eyes glance at you, they remain still for a moment, before bowing down slightly.
“Girl.”
“Uraume.” You return the bow, speaking in a gentle voice. They raise themselves up and make sure to close the wall behind them, before heading towards the meat-storage. You look back at your bowl with slight disappointment. It appears they’re not here for you after all, proving your suspicions of independence correct. Trying to not let your thoughts run wild, you return your focus on the failing attempts of feeding yourself.
When Uraume returns, they are carrying a large piece of meat with them. As you look up, it takes you a moment to register what it is you’re looking at.
When you do, your eyes grow wider.
The upper part of a human leg is being placed on the large butchers block in the middle of the kitchen. They don’t pay your staring any mind, as they reach for the knives and pull out a large cleaver. The thigh looks frozen, but when Uraume hovers over it with their hands, you can see the thaw set in quickly.
Magic again?
You’re not as disturbed by the sight of the limb as you had assumed you would be. The piece of meat you saw yesterday already gave you some suspicions, and that memory your dream replayed only made you more convinced. This was simply the last confirmation. It still disgusts you, of course. You know it means someone had to die to produce a leg like that. And given how this palace is clearly landbound, you can’t possibly justify its presence.
Though you do know one thing for certain, now.
They are going to eat me.
Uraume swings the cleaver upwards, before letting it crash down with a force into the limb. The harsh sound makes you jolt in your seat. Your appetite has left you completely, but you feel it would be disrespectful to not finish your meal. In order to not lose the contents of your stomach, you fix your eyes on your bowl again. You resume your efforts, though the rising tremble in your hands makes it difficult.
When the sticks slip from between your fingers once more, an anxious sigh releases from you as you swiftly lift yourself up from your chair. Uraume pays you no mind, as they continue to swing into the thigh, cutting out large pieces here and there. You rush past them, reaching for the cupboard you know has spoons. You quickly grab one, before turning back, keeping your eyes away from the bloody and chunky mess on the block.
It's a lot easier for you to eat, now. You shovel the white grains and vegetables into your mouth how you would your porridge, with no sense of etiquette or neatness. The slamming from the cleaver continues. The sound jitters through your body with every crash, wetness begins to build up in your eyes at the pressure and stress.
You think about how that brute and swabbie must have struggled, not having any tools or materials like these to butcher their friend. As you finish the last bite, you quickly rush to your feet while still chewing, heading over to the washing area as the slamming continues, every one of them making your body jitter some more.
As soon as the cold water hits your fingers, you can feel a sense of grounding. You begin to thoroughly clean your dishes, scrubbing as hard as you can to distract yourself from the loud noises near you. While you do, you remember all the things those sailors told you about consuming another human being.
The texture, the flavour, how long different parts took to cook, how difficult it was to chew a piece of your companion. But the sentence that repeats through your mind as you dry the instruments, is what the brute told you.
“Never have I tasted anything as pleasant as my dear friend’s bone marrow.”
You turn around to face Uraume and their efforts. You can see large humps of flesh missing from the thigh. The wetness in your eyes has managed to disappear while scrubbing, though the fearful adrenaline is still rampant inside of you.
…I wonder if they know.
“Uraume?” You ask quietly, almost hiding your voice behind the crashing sounds of the cleaver. They stop their movements and look at you monotony. You look down at the thigh, then you point weakly at it, your index finger shaking as you do, before moving it to point at Uraume.
“Eat?” You repeat the word the older woman has taught you in their language. Uraume stares at you for a moment, before shaking their head.
It must be for him, then.
You nod slowly before lowering your shivering arm. Carefully, you move closer. You can see the inside of the leg now. Uraume has cut chunks out right next to the thick bone that remains. You look at them, while pointing at the white tube withing the flesh. They stare back at you, blinking once or twice. Then, they reach out to hand you the cleaver.
You swallow some air while reaching for it. Your eyes must still look wide in shock, your insides match your expression.
Am I really about to do this?
Can I even do this?
You’ve helped the cook with butchering before. You just have to think of this as another animal. Besides, you’d be lying to yourself if you haven’t always been nosy about the subject. There’s a reason you listened to their stories so intently.
“…the law of the sea…” You whisper while your eyes remain focused on the bone. The law of the sea exists to ensure the survival of at least some souls. You remember last night, how the monster ate your stew, just like the captain ate your porridge. Perhaps if you show them this treasure, they’ll keep you alive.
Is that really why I’m doing this?
You are lying to yourself again.
You are curious.
Always have been.
Perhaps there is nothing more to it.
You hold onto the cleaver with both hands, adrenaline making you grip it as tight as possible, before you swing it above your head. You release a deep exhale, as you force the cleaver back down with all your strength, aiming for the exposed part of the bone. Blood splatters violently into your face and onto your dress, as a loud crack is heard, accompanied by the crash of the metal into the block.
You can feel your whole body shake at the impact, your arms hurting the most. It tickles unpleasantly, feeling like a bruise rushing up from your hands towards your shoulders. When you look at what you have accomplished, she can see the cleaver has split the bone cleanly in two.
You are stunned. You know you’re strong thanks to all that hard labour at sea, but to be strong enough to split a femur in two is an entirely different story.
It must be the adrenaline.
It must be the fear.
You try to pull the blade out, but it seems stuck in the block deeply. You wiggle a little, looking over at Uraume with troubled eyes. They seem to have caught some splatters on their white hair, though definitely not as much as you. They stare at your face, expression unclear. You sigh through your nose while letting go of the handle, giving up on trying to remove it.
You reach for the smaller part of the split bone. There’s still chunks of meat covering it, though less than the other one. Your mind has completely blocked out the fact that it’s a human you’re touching, ensuring this event will not make you go insane. You hold it up to look inside.
There seems to be a pinkish-white substance encased by the hard bone. You turn the white encasing to show Uraume and point at the marrow with your free hand while nodding, your eyes still wide with shock and derealisation. They squint their eyes a little, before grabbing it from you. You hope they understand what you mean. They smell it a little, before looking back at you.
“I understand, girl.” They bow slightly. You can’t help but feel a small smile creep up on your face.
It worries you.
You bow back, before turning to remove yourself from the kitchen you just spend hours in, terror still painting you both inside and out.
---
You spent an eternity in the bathroom. It was hard to remove all the blood from your face and your hands, even when scrubbing yourself frantically. Afterwards, you sat there for a long time, naked buttocks on the cold stone floor. You don’t know how long it was, but you fear it must have been hours.
Then, you tried to scrub the blood off of your crimson gown. Nothing you attempted worked, the red splatters only bled and blended out further into the fabric. You suppose this dress is ruined too, just like your own. In order to avoid any embarrassment by walking through the palace in your undergarments, you decide to rush towards your own chambers instead, hoping you don’t run into anyone in the usually empty corridors.
After opening the wall of your room, you feel a sense of relieve when stepping into the space. You’re slowly getting used to this being your own little sanctuary. As your gaze finds your writing materials on the small table, you consider it for a moment, before deciding it’s too early for the day to come to an end already.
You don’t know how much longer you’ll get to live, perhaps you should enjoy the unknown amount of hours you have left to the fullest. You would have liked to see the garden again, but there is no way you will while not having any proper clothes.
Though now that the thought has gotten into you, you can’t seem to shake it. You look around your room, wondering how you could fix this situation. The blanket on your bed is no option, it’s too thick and is one of the few things that grants you comfort.
As you remember the insides of the chest, you walk over to see if there’s anything of use. You remove the scroll with your first entry and rummage through after lifting the lid. When grabbing a white sheet, you unfold it to see how big it really is, before deciding it’s perfect.
Standing in front of the mirror, you grab one corner and hold it in place above your left breast. You wrap the rest of the sheet under your left arm, over that edge and all the way around you as far as it can go. The free edge reaches the left side of your back, and you tie that upper corner together with the one held against your chest, forming a band to go over your shoulder that will hold the makeshift gown.
The pretend dress doesn’t reach very far down, as you used the long edge of the sheet to wrap around you. It still reaches below your scratched knees, so you hope a gown this length isn’t too disrespectful, though you doubt you’ll run into anyone who might see.
Still, you are glad you managed to find something to cover yourself with. You’ve had to use this skill of yours before, when both of your dresses had been completely soaked after a storm. The men whistled gleefully while you ladled in their porridge, calling you an ‘ancient goddess’. You rolled your eyes at them, of course. Though now that you can see yourself in the mirror, you understand why they were so quick to jest at your expense that day.
You look a little ridiculous, but you know you do regardless of your garments, being a stranger in a faraway land, so it surely doesn’t make you stand out any more than you already do. As you observe yourself a little more, you can see the slashed scars covering your arms. You felt so weak when you gained them, so vulnerable. You wonder if the monster will make you feel even worse than that.
You remove yourself from your room, softly closing the wall behind you. You made sure to remember the route to the wall that opens to the garden. As you walk through the corridors, excited to enjoy some fresh air again, you wonder how many more times you get to before they decide it’s your legs that are on the menu.
“The law of the sea.” You speak out loud, not caring about volume or gentleness. You’re certain you’re alone, anyways. Cannibalism has always been a taboo, even with how common it is amongst sailors. How common is has to be.
In the events where you are stranded with a body, you are permitted to consume them in order to survive. You always listened to the stories of the older sailors closely. Some would speak freely about it, having made peace with their sins. Others refused to admit to it, even after the mates they were with revealed the truth.
You slide open the wall while your head fills with your memories of all those conversations. You miss hearing those mindless, drunken rambles. Their jokes. Their cries.
I feel so lonely.
You quickly shut the wall after stepping through, making a mental note of its location. You don’t want to get lost here, you doubt anyone would care enough to look for you.
As you step further into the open space, all those fresh scents of nature tickle your nose gently. The sun is already on its way to set, and you can feel a nearing storm linger in the air. The feeling makes you uneasy, remembering how you felt the same just a few days past. Pushing yourself to ignore the discomfort, you instead look down at your bare feet in the grass. It feels soft and wet, you’re certain you have to wash them again when you return inside. You smile a little at all the impressions around you. You feel so fortunate that you get to enjoy these wonderful things so close to your inevitable end. As you continue to walk further into the garden at a slow pace, you make sure to enjoy every step you take, every small breeze of wind brushing against your cheeks. Your hands move to hold the sheet down against your hips, you don’t want to have it fly open and reveal yourself any further.
You walk past the edge of the pond, following the dirt trail tracing it. When looking into the water, you can see all kinds of fish swim around enthusiastically. You smile at the signs of life. Perhaps you’re not that alone, after all. You move closer to the large bridge, softly stepping on the moist wood. The touch reminds you of the ship, as you kneel down to graze the planks with one of your hands, the other still holding the sheet tightly against yourself. The feeling brings back so many memories, it almost drowns your mind.
You remember knocking on the door, your knuckles sensitive and grazed. You remember holding onto the edge for dear life, before that wall of seawater came crashing down.
The thought makes you lift your hand immediately as you swallow some air. After raising yourself to your feet again, you decide to turn away from the bridge and continue along the pond. The feeling of lingering discomfort makes your brows frown without realising, so you rub your forehead with the same free hand to relax the muscles.
As you continue to walk along the edge, you can feel a dark energy creep up in the distance. It stops your movements.
You know what it means.
You glance around with your eyes, not wanting to make any sudden movements. You can’t seem to find him, but you can feel those eyes start to burn into your backside. You turn your head to look over your shoulder behind you, dropping your hand while doing so.
In the far distance, you can see the monster and Uraume stand on a wooden deck in front of an opened wall. They seem to be staring at you, confirming the sensation your behind felt. Unsure of how to react, you slowly turn your body to face them.
A low rumble rings out in the sky, a louder crack follows. As the heavens begin to cry, there is only one thought sounding out in your mind over and over again.
The sliding of the wall awakes you from a deep sleep. You crawled into your thin bed after finishing your writing and letting the ink dry overnight. As you open your eyes, you can observe the person with white hair standing in the entrance of your room. They are carrying another bowl in one hand, you can already smell the same scent as the night prior. The only indication of time being the light shining through your paper windows, you are glad you have not lost your ability to keep track of it entirely yet.
They step closer as you sit up, just like previously. After they hand you the bowl, you carefully sip the warm, pleasant liquid. Only now do you spot what they are carrying underneath their other arm.
It seems like fabric.
Perhaps a gown?
As you hand over the now empty bowl, you make sure to smile and nod as thanks, hoping they understand. Remembering how you have not been able to thank them for the writing materials yet, you quickly find their eyes while pointing at the small table, before nodding and smiling again. Instead of reacting to your unvocal attempt of conveying your gratitude, they simply pull the materials from beneath their arm and throw it down beside you on your thin mattress.
Reaching for the neatly folded pile, the fabric feels soft between your fingers. It’s rich and heavy, most certain a high quality. Unlike anything you’ve ever worn before. Carrying it between your hands, you manage to stand up on your feet and fold the package open. There’s some type of belt laying on top a larger, crimson structure. It appears like a dress, though its open in the front. You furrow your brow a bit as you inspect the clothes. When looking at the one with white hair, they nudge down to your body, urging you to start dressing. After putting the fabric belt on the bed, you attempt to put on the gown.
Sticking your arms through the sleeves, you look around the edges to find some kind of closure. You can hear the white haired person put the bowl down, before reaching for your body. The action surprises you, almost tempts you to smack their hands away, but it’s clear they wish to help you dress.
As they close your gown, you raise your arms to allow them better access. Then, they hold up the fabric belt and wrap it around you so tightly, it almost suffocates you. You gasp a bit as they tie the back into a bow. The guts within your stomach feel cramped as they are being smothered by the robes, your breathing growing shallow with discomfort.
Is this how the women of this land dress?
What does it mean to be dressed like them?
Will the monster not kill me, then?
Or does he simply prefer his victims to appear less… strange?
The white haired person steps from behind you back into view. You can see them glance over at your writing, before moving their eyes back to your face. Smiling softly in response to their muteness, you try intently to suppress the discomfort at the tightness of your gown. They don’t respond, instead nudging their head for you to follow, before swiftly grabbing the bowl from the floor and moving towards the wall.
Pain shoots up from the soles of your feet when you attempt to take a step, poorly so. Almost losing balance at the ache, the suppressing garment not helping one bit. You reach out to find support on their shoulder to not fall over completely. As they turn their head around at the commotion and contact, they see your frowning, uncomfortable face.
Glancing down at your feet, you are unable to turn them enough to look at the bottom. The white haired person looks down too, before kneeling and firmly pulling your leg to the side to see the mess on your soles. They poke into some of the more sore spots, releasing pained moans from you. With a stern glance, they nudge their head downwards, urging you to sit. Unsure of how you are supposed to do so in this restricting garment, you try to bend your scratched knees towards the floor to lower yourself enough. Afterwards, you roll yourself onto your buttocks and scoot them up the bed, before sticking out your legs in front of you.
The one with white hair sits down on their knees in front of your feet, eyes fixed on the soles, a soft sigh releasing from their nose. Unsure whether irritation sounds within it or not, you choose to ignore the noise for your own sake. They put the bowl down, again, and move their hands near your feet. You can feel heat start to creep up inside of them, most of it located at their bottoms. It stings terribly, but it feels so nice and warm, too. Another rush of pain spikes through them, another ached moan escapes you.
Then, in a flash, the pain disappears entirely. Like it was never there in the first place. You frown, feeling relieved, glad, and terribly confused. You look at the person with white hair, who has already grabbed your bowl again and moved to stand up, nudging their head for you to follow. Knowing you can’t ask what just happened, you surrender yourself to the fact that perhaps this land has mastered the art of magic.
It would certainly explain the monsters peculiar appearance. The thought makes you laugh to yourself, you can already feel your sanity slipping from you, and you haven’t even spent a full day in this haunted palace yet.
You follow closely as they lead you through the maze of hallways. Your feet are absolutely no bother to you anymore, the pain and tiredness having disappeared entirely.
You’re not too far from your chamber, when another wall is slid open and the white haired one shows you the inside of the room. They remain outside, so you move into the entrance to take a peek. It seems like a different washing area, perhaps the other one was closer to the throne room. You don’t remember clearly anymore, yesterday has become a hazy memory in your mind. When you look back at them. they nod, then close the wall again. You furrow your brows a bit, unsure of their intentions, but follow closely as they continue to walk.
A little further, behind one or two turned corners, the wall opens to reveal a large kitchen. You smile at the sight, it looks so much nicer than the one on the ship.
Though the cook is not here, of course.
It could never feel homely with his absence.
To your surprise, you can see three other people inside. They seem rather busy with work, though at the opening of the door they glance over. As soon as they see your foreign appearance, they stare at you with surprise and intrigue. You smile at them gently and bow your head a little, just like the white haired one does.
You look around some more, taking in the extravagance of it all. There’s so many counters, knives, fires, water sources. You wonder how many people must live here, if the kitchen is this big.
They probably don’t eat porridge for breakfast, and most definitely not hardtack with their tea…
A small laughy breath releases from your nose as you imagine the white haired one attempt to bite down on the biscuit and almost break their teeth.
“Girl.”
Your head turns towards the source. You understand that’s what they call you know, you hope it means ‘girl’. They scan your content face for a moment, then nudge their head for you to follow. While maintaining your content smile, you nod obediently.
As the person with white hair continues to show you around the palace, opening walls to reveal one room before another, you can feel your heart start to pound a little.
This place is so confusing…
How am I to remember all of this?
They stand in front of a fresh piece of wall. When they slide it open, it’s not a room that greets you back. Instead, there’s a fresh breeze that caresses your face, the scent of nature accompanying it. Your eyes grow wide as you step into the entrance. A beautiful garden awaits on the other side. You can see shrubberies and flowers and plants all around. Without realising, you step through the wall to witness this wonderful sight from closer up.
Your head turns left to right to observe all of the wonders this place has to offer. There’s a huge pond in what seems to be the centre of the garden, a large bridge going over it. Further in the distance, you can see a small gazebo-like structure. The roof looks different than those back home, though you think it’s very pretty. The plants and flowers all around you look different too. It feels like you stepped into a different world. It feels like a dream. It feels… like a dark energy is creeping around.
A figure can be seen moving in the gazebo, raising themselves up from a sitting position. With how large the frame is, even from that far away, you immediately know who it belongs to. His stare burns into you as he stand there menacingly, completely still. You quickly turn back to look at the white haired one by the wall. They see your uneasy expression, though don’t react any further. Quickly stepping back through the wall, you swallow your discomfort, and smile at them while giving a small nod. It seems they understand, as they close the magic wall and continue on their way.
After showing you a few more rooms, most being bathing areas or cupboards with supplies or storage rooms with edibles, they lead you back towards your own chambers. You recognised the destination as soon as you traversed a certain set of bends in short succession. You’re beginning to understand this small area. There were some more servants you had passed, all of them looked at you with those same surprised, interested eyes. While they mumbled unfamiliar words to one another, you simply smiled and bowed.
When the two of you stand in front of your openable wall, the person with white hair looks down at the little wooden notch, then back up at you. You nod in understanding, before reaching for it and pressing it to the side. It slides open softly, you don’t even need to apply a lot of pressure. You smile at your measly accomplishment and look at the person contently, though their expression remains uninterested. After entering your chamber, you turn around to look at them. They bow, before intending to walk off.
“Wait.” You call after them, stopping their movements before they turn around. You want to ask what you have to do now, what is going to happen to you, what all of this means. But you know there’s no way you could convey so much with flapping your arms about. So instead, you try to ask for their name.
“Girl.” You state, while pointing at yourself. Then, you point at the one with white hair and grow a questioning look on your face. They stare for a moment, blink once, then bowing again.
“Uraume.” They speak, then they move away swiftly, this time not leaving any room for you to stop them.
“Uraume…” You repeat quietly, lowering your hand and hoping you pronounce it correctly, while the wall closes again.
When the patters of Uraume’s footsteps slowly fade out, you look around your room again. Loneliness starts broiling up in you, unsure of what you must do now that you are left all by yourself.
…Do they want me to take care of myself?
Do they trust me to, even with all those knives and things I saw?
Do I not need to do any work in return?
You frown at all your thoughts, and decide to wait for Uraume to return.
Perhaps they will return to fetch me for work later.
Or maybe tomorrow.
…But what if they don’t?
You cannot wait here forever, you’d starve. A sigh releases from you as you struggle with your racing mind.
Then, you decide on a plan.
If they don’t return after a few hours, I will go to the kitchen and make myself a stew.
And so you sit down on your bed, back leaning against the wall, and wait. You close your eyes for a moment, hoping sleep may take you and shorten your suffering.
But to no avail.
Instead, you try to focus on your breathing. Deep breath in, deep breath out.
But you can’t breathe in all the way because of that tight belt, so you lean forward and try to undo the tie on the back. Not being able to see it makes you struggle more than you’d wish to admit, but eventually you manage to peel it apart, frustrated while doing so. You toss the fabric away after it irritated you greatly, before resting back against the wall and take another deep breath in, this time it actually being as deep as you like.
Then, you exhale and let your whole body relax with the release of oxygen. You close your eyes again and continue, hoping it might make those lingering thoughts and emotions of yesterday settle down inside of your heart.
After what feels like an eternity, you can feel a soft rumble start to form inside your belly. You open your eyes again, the taste of repose stuck in your mouth.
I should eat and drink something.
What better then stew?
You smile as you decided it’s time. It seems Uraume never returned to you, so it must mean they want you to be independent, at least for now.
Raising yourself up seems to be a lot easier without the belt, though the tight closures of your gown remain tense. You swiftly move onto your feet, before deciding to peek into the mirror. Stepping closer, you observe what you look like in this gown.
It’s quite pretty.
The fabric is a deep, rich crimson colour, it reminds you of the monster’s eyes. The thought makes you a little uncomfortable, so you quickly shake it. He hasn’t killed you yet, and when he does, you’ll keep your head held high.
You bend a little closer to observe your face. The sun’s irritation seems to have calmed down a bit. You look at the sides of your head, your ears still remain decorated with those beautiful small golden hoops.
“They’ll guarantee a proper burial if you’re ever washed ashore.” The captain told you when he handed them over. You looked at him bewilderedly.
“Wouldn’t one be enough for that, captain?” He nodded with a rare, small smile.
“The other’s a gift from me. To reward your hard work and pretty hand.”
The surgeon went to place them after. It hadn’t hurt at first, but as they started to heal, they did get red and swollen. Now, though, they look and feel as though they’ve been a part of you since forever. Perhaps if you ever have to flee this place, you could use them to pay for a voyage back home.
Making your way to the wall and step through after opening it, you shut it softly behind you. You remember the route to the kitchen the best, you knew you’d spent a lot time there if they would allow it. You move through the corridor at a swift pace.
Sometimes, your hands are eager to touch the walls for grip, assuming a sway or tilt might follow as you move. But you always manage to stop yourself in time, you never know who’s looking and you’d rather not seem even more out of place than you already do.
The kitchen wall slides open as smoothly as your own. The inside of the room is completely empty.
Perhaps it really has been a few hours…
You softly close the door behind you, before slowly moving around the place, locating everything you need before grabbing it.
If too many things are missing, I might have to change I mind and make some porridge instead.
Luckily, everything seems to be here. Before you grab all of it, though, you reach for a wooden cup and fill it with some of the fresh water from one of the sources. You didn’t realise how thirsty you were until you saw all those full buckets and basins and pumps.
The cold liquid tickles your throat gently as you gulp it down. Some spills from the sides of your mouth with how eager you’re being, though you don’t mind, it’s only water. You wipe your mouth with your sleeve as you sigh contently. Putting the cup back down, you nod to yourself, encouraging you to start.
You grab a somewhat small ceramic pot. You’re unsure how to make stew for only one person, and you don’t want it to spill over the sides either, so you decide the pot that’s slightly larger than the smallest would suffice. Then, you grab all the vegetables, or at least the ones who look most like the what the cook used.
You reach for the things that resembles mushrooms, then something you assume to be a carrot. Lastly, you hope you grab an onion. These aren’t all the things the cook adds, unfortunately, but you trust they will suffice.
You’re unsure if you’re allowed to use any meat, but when you look in the unnaturally cold storage room, you see humps of it stacked on each other, reaching up to the ceiling. Looking around, you try to see if you recognize a bit of beef. You do, though it’s surrounded by a marbled pink meat you’ve never seen before. Your brows furrow slightly as you reach for the desired animal parts. Lastly, you’ll need to find some spices.
When looking in the cupboard, all the writing on the pots seems to be unreadable to you. You open some of the lids to smell, and choose two scents that you think might fit. Then, you grab the easily recognisable salt. You’ll need to add a lot, since you’re not cooking with parts seawater this time.
Putting the pot on the lit fire, you let it heat all the way through after adding some kind of oil. You move to cut your ingredients. The meat first, that will need to brown a bit before you add the rest. Adding the small cubes to the heated pot and stirring a little, before you spread them evenly on the bottom. Then, you clean and cut the vegetables. The smell of the browning beef already fills your nose pleasantly. When you look over and see it looks good enough, you add all the vegetables too, making sure you mix everything properly. Then, you add some of the two spices and a heap of salt. You put the lid on the pot, before starting to clean your work surface.
After cleaning and putting everything back where they belong, you remove the lid and let the wonderful scents creep into your nostrils. A smile brushes your mouth, it doesn’t smell anything like the cooks, but you’d still like to think he’d be proud. The vegetables appear to have cooked and browned thoroughly, the flavour has stuck to them nicely. You grab your refilled cup of water and slowly add it to the pot. It’s barely enough, so you quickly move to a source and fill it up again. After adding the last few splashes, you add a bit more of the spices and salt, and put the lid back on.
Now, you have to wait a while, so you decide to take a seat at the table in the corner. As you observe the chairs that look similar to the ones back home, you start to wonder what else this land might have in common with yours.
Sitting down slumped, resting your upper back against the back of the chair while sipping the water, your legs are spread as widely as they can inside your restricting garment. You know you sit nothing like how a lady should, but after spending years alone with seamen, not having to act proper and neat, it seems pointless to feign elegance. You put the empty cup on the table and look around the kitchen from this angle. It surprises you how empty this place is. Even when you visited earlier, there were barely any people here.
It would not be difficult to imagine this place be filled with twenty servants at once, still being able to work at a comfortable distance from each other. But you’re not even certain you saw twenty servants throughout the whole palace. Maybe close to twenty, maybe a little more. Though some were cleaning, some were cooking, others walking around, most were too distant from each other to crowd a space.
You furrow your brows a bit, wondering why it’s so quiet here. Wondering why you’re allowed to move so freely, to use things, to not have to work. At least not today. Curiosity about tomorrow starts occupying your mind. You wonder when he’ll kill you.
After waiting for a while, you return to the pot. Removing the lid, you can smell the intense, warming aroma steaming from it. You stir a little with the ladle. The liquid has gained a nice brown colour and thickened a bit, the vegetables have softened and the meat has tenderised. You’re content with your work, remove the pot from the heat and put out the fire. You ladle the stew into a bowl and sniff again, enjoying the wonderful scents, before moving back to the table. Sitting down in the same chair, you face the table like you normally would, presenting yourself much more proper.
As you take your first bite, the wonderful flavours dance through your mouth. The vegetables have become softly sweet, the meat nice and savoury. Those flavours have blended in the thickened broth nicely, coating the inside of your mouth with delight. The taste of salt stings your tongue perfectly, reminding you of those drops of seawater kissing your face every morning.
You enjoy your meal so much, you fail to notice the loud footsteps on the other side of the wall.
When the door slides open roughly, you jolt up from your seat, almost dropping your filled spoon back into the bowl. You turn your head to look at the source, eyes widening when you do.
The ominous figure stands in the door opening, looking down at you from a distance. The expression on his face is indifferent, similar to Uraume’s, but his eyes burn a fierce red. You cannot tell whether he’s angry or unbothered. The uncertainty scares you even more than his presence already does. You quickly remove your gaze from him, looking down at your bowl, bowing your head obediently. You’re getting used to that motion now, though for him you bow much deeper than for the rest.
You can feel that dark energy intensify, as his loud footsteps enter the kitchen. The large, slow strides sound heavier and heavier, as you feel his presence get closer to you. You force yourself to keep your eyes on the stew, even when you hear the scratching sound of a chair being dragged over wood. Shuffling follows, similar to an incredibly large man sitting down.
After a moment of no more noises, you lift your head a small bit to see the man sitting on the opposite side of the table, right in front of you. Needing to raise your head more to be able to meet his eyes with yours, you do so slowly. His face remains neutral, but his eyes dart all over your features, squinting slightly. You blink a few times while trying to steady your fastening breathing, trying to remember what you were taught about how to handle frightening men.
“You mustn’t concern yourself with such trivialities, just focus on your writing.” The captain’s stern voice told you when you asked him if you ought to learn to defend yourself.
“Just aim for their stones.” The cook laughed roughly, when you asked how you should find their weakness.
“I believe poison is a woman’s weapon, is it not?” The surgeon grinned at you, when you asked for the best approach. “It definitely is yours, with your sleeping potions.”
The monster looks down at your bowl for a moment, then back up at your face. This time, no more darting all over. He keeps his gaze fixed on your eyes.
You look down at your bowl too, then back at him. His eyes burn into you with a silent command. You hope you understand correctly.
You raise yourself onto your feet and hurry back towards the pot. It was removed from the heat not too long ago, the insides of the ceramic enclosure are still nice and steamy. Reaching for a bowl bigger than yours, you ladle all of the contents from the pot into it. You were lucky to have made so much, you couldn’t possible give him less then had given yourself if you wanted to live through the night.
You continue to ladle, scratching the bottom and tilting the pot a little to get the last bits of meat out. Then, you grab a spoon and rush back to the table, making sure you don’t spill any stew. You’ve had to climb those steep stairs on a swaying ship every morning carrying an overflowing bowl of porridge without spilling any, so this task is rather easy compared to that. Though the slight trembling in your hands is not exactly helping.
As you near the table, you can see that his eyes are still fixed onto you. He sits there, his top two arms crossed and lower ones resting on his thighs. His large frame barely fits the chair, so it’s not pushed all the way to the table. You slower your pace as you near him and ensure to keep quite some distance while reaching out and softly placing the bowl and spoon down in front of him, avoiding his gaze as much as possible. You pull back quicker than you intended, but the rush of adrenaline and fright inside of you makes it hard to control your actions. You quickly make your way back to your own chair and sit down in front of him. His eyes are still burning into your skin, forcing you to look back up at him.
You wait for him to pick up his spoon and start eating, not wanting to disrespect him by continuing your meal before he does. His eyes linger on you a bit longer, before moving down to his own bowl. A slight twitch pulls at the corner of his mouth, though it’s barely noticeable. He slowly grabs the spoon with one of his lower arms, before moving it into the stew and searching to collect something of everything. You watch his careful movements as he throws off the second piece of hopefully carrot and replacing it with a cube of beef. Once his collection is complete, he adds some extra liquid. Then, he moves the spoon to his mouth. He bites down on it, then pulls it back out clean through his lips. You watch carefully, hoping he likes it, not wanting to think about what he’d do to you if he doesn’t.
He chews for a moment, then he swallows. You can see the Adam’s apple in his throat bop up and down when he does. He stares at you for a moment afterwards, his eyes squinting again. Unsure of what to do next, you simply blink at the man.
Do I continue eating, too?
Should I smile at him?
Should I avert my gaze again?
…Does he hate my stew?
Your last thought is answered when he moves his spoon back into the bowl and starts collecting again. The rhythm of your breathing slows down a little when you observe his motions, a small smile creeping into the corners of your mouth.
After moving your own spoon back into your bowl, you continue eating as well. You decide to keep your eyes fixed on your food for now, not wanting to look at him anymore, afraid it might upset him.
The noises of two people eating fill the otherwise empty kitchen. Whenever that sting of salt catches on your tongue, you fill a hint of sadness within you accompany it. You miss the sea, you miss the ship, you miss the porridge and the stew. But most of all, the people. The stern but kind captain, the wonderful cook who’s only nice to you. All of the other brutes and swabbies. Thinking of how they might have perished, you can feel a tear build up in the corner of one of your eyes.
As you continue to eat, it becomes more difficult to swallow due to your clenching throat. You blink harshly a couple times, not wanting to cry in front of the monster. He might take it as a sign of weakness, or he’d think it’s because of him and that might make him angry.
Or happy, for all I know.
You clean out your bowl, then look back at the man in front of you. He’s still eating, taking his time. You can see his upper eyes look at his food, but the lower ones have remained fixed on you, seemingly the entire time.
He’s observing me, isn’t he…
The thought makes you a little uncomfortable, so you avert your gaze again.
Soft, familiar shuffling sounds appear to get closer to the still opened door. You turn your head to look, and see Uraume step into view. Their face is as monotone as always, but their eyes seem to rapidly dart between the two people sitting at the table. When they linger on your face a bit longer, you smile softly and bow your head down. As you can hear them walk closer, your head lifts up head again.
“Lord Sukuna.”
They stand still besides the large man and speak the unknown words while bowing deeply. Some kind of deep hum is heard from the monster, causing Uraume to raise themselves up again. You lower your gaze from both, instead staring at your empty bowl to wait for the man to finish his food.
After a moment, you can hear the cluttering of a spoon inside an empty bowl ring out in front of you. You look up and see that the man is finished. Swiftly, you stand up and grab the two bowls, before heading towards the washing area to clean them, together with the pot and ladle. Mumbling of unfamiliar words and sentences sound out in the distance.
“I have followed your commands for today, my Lord.”
“Good.”
“Are you certain you do not wish to eat her?”
“Do not question me.”
“Yes, my Lord.“
Silence follows Uraume’s last words for a moment, before the deep voice of the monster breaks it again.
“She makes a decent stew.”
“I see. Shall I assign her to the kitchen?”
“No.”
“My Lord?”
“I have different plans for her.”
“May I be informed?”
“I will enlighten you when it is time.”
“…Yes, my Lord.”
You scrub and clean as thoroughly as you can while hearing Uraume’s confused tone as they speak their last words. Though you wonder what they were saying, there is no way for you to know. While you continue to wash everything, you can hear shuffling and loud footsteps sound out inside the kitchen again. You don’t dare to look behind you, his deep voice continuing to haunt your mind. Instead, you keep scrubbing and scrubbing, almost as hard as when you had to remove the ink from your hands all those times.
“Girl.”
Uraume’s voice makes your head snap back in their direction. You can see the large frame leave through the open wall at the last second, before your eyes find the one with white hair. They bow slightly.
“Uraume.” You speak softly with a gentle smile while returning the gesture.
---
Back in your chambers, you walk over to your supplies on your small table. The ink has completely dried, as you had expected, so you roll the scroll back up and turn towards the chest pushed against the wall. When you open it, there’s a few sheets and blankets within staring back at you. You drop the roll inside, and shut the chest, though a little too loudly, causing you to jump slightly. As you curse yourself with a sigh, you hope you didn’t just wake anyone up, or annoy the monster that roams these halls. You turn back around and move towards the table. Dropping onto your knees, you pull out a fresh roll and open it. While dipping the brush in the ink quite a few more times then necessary, your brain scrambles to think about how you could possibly explain this day.
---
Entry 2,
The second day in the palace only left me with more questions than before. I have not been killed yet, though it remains an ever lingering possibility. I was shown all the rooms of interest in this part of the palace. I assume it’s much bigger than just this area, and I doubt I’ll ever get to see every inch of this large compound.
Afterwards, I was left on my own. It seems they wish for me to take care of myself. I hope I will receive more clarity on what work is required of me, for now it seems nothing yet. Perhaps I will be placed in the kitchens after tonight.
I had made stew. It was nothing like the cook’s, but I hope it would have made him proud nonetheless. I did not recognise most of the ingredients from this land, though somehow I made something quite tasty, if I dare admit it. The monster large man joined me for supper, to my surprise and terror. I do not know whether he is a lord or a king, but he is clearly very powerful and imposing. I have not seen too many servants here, but I did see a strange sort of meat in the storage room. It looks similar to the descriptions I have heard from some of the sailors who had to obey the law of the sea. It worries me for my future here.
The blood makes your head feel heavy as it hangs downwards, your cheek resting against the big man’s back. As you open your eyes slowly, the world stares back at you upside down. You blink a few times to stop your vision from blurring. Your breath is shallow and hitching. That sharp ache in your head seems to have gotten worse. You remember slowly, as the perpetrator walks into vision. He looks at your opened eyes.
“She has awoken.”
He walks out of view again. You can feel your arms lay uncomfortably on your back, held together tightly by sharp rope. Your feet are bound too, and you can feel your knees bounce against the man’s frontside with every step he takes.
“Keep her awake, we have almost arrived.”
The familiar voice from the rich man calls out in the distance. You still can’t make up what they’re saying, their words sound nothing like your own language. As you continue to move your eyes around, you can see the trees are getting less dense. You must be leaving the forest, you reckon. But where are they taking you? Will they sell you as a slave? Remembering the fancy robes of the man, you can only assume that is your fate. Perhaps you’ll be lucky and be bought to work in a kitchen. That’s all the experience you have. You suppose you can read and write, too, but that won’t be of use when they all speak an entirely different language.
The sounds of the dirt scrunching beneath feet is replaced by a gravely noise. The trees move further into the distance, no new ones sprout up in your vision. The movement stops, and you can hear the voices speak again.
“I will continue on foot with you two.”
“Are you certain you will be safe, Master?”
“With a gift like this? Certainly.”
The walking continues again, though the sound of the carriage lacks. There’s less feet moving, too. The large man moves a little faster for a moment, walking closer to the other two men. The fancy man walks in the middle, you can smell his lingering perfume and see him clearly in view. The man who knocked you out walks on his other side, you can only see a glimpse of him appear every now and then. The ache in your head feels worse now that so much pressure has been build up in there from hanging like this, you can’t wait to be straightened up again.
The walking stops. You can see the fancy man reach one of his hands forward. A loud sound of metal on metal follows.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Silence follows the knocking for a moment, before being replaced by the loud opening of what can only be extremely large doors.
“You have returned.”
You can hear a monotone, ambiguous voice ring out behind you, with your behind facing the doors that opened.
“I have brought a gift.”
“You did not bring it earlier.”
“It will not disappoint.”
You can feel a set of eyes linger on your legs and butt. Your legs twitch at the sensation. A short silence follows, before being interrupted by the same monotone voice.
“Enter.”
The walking continues, your knees bouncing against the mans torso with it. The stepping increases the ache in your head, you release a soft and pained moan to accompany it, which earns you a sharp look from the fancy man.
As you glance around, you can see peculiar wooden walls in between pillars. There seems to be some type of paper between the panelling, you’ve never seen anything like it before. Candles alight the dusty hallways, though only barely. The walk continues in silence, as corridors are traversed and bends around corners are followed. Your brain can’t seem to keep up with the maze that is this interior.
It must be some kind of palace…
It hurts your head to think, though you can’t help it. You’re slowly becoming used to the pounding ache inside of you, you can feel your breath start to find it’s rhythm again.
After what seems like hours of traversing the maze, the walking stops again. A familiar sound follows.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The loud doors open, they must be the same size as the entrance. When the men step through, you can feel the drastic change in air between the corridor and inside of this room. The hallways were stuffy, yet clean. This place feels dark, deep. You can smell a lingering aroma of iron, decay and salt. You blink at the smell and remember the salty taste in your dry mouth, shortly before the walking stops again. You try to see what’s around you while the fancy man starts to speak.
“Lord Ryoumen Sukuna. I bring you a gift.”
You can see him bowing his head deeply, the men on either side following suit. When the big one holding you does it, it makes you tip backward a little, almost straightening your body out. You squirm at the sensation, before being interrupted.
The man’s large hands find the side of your body. In a smooth motion he grips tightly and throws you backwards towards the floor. The backside of your body slams hard against the cold stone ground, earning another pained moan from you. Your hands are still stuck to your behind, and you fall flat on them, hurting both your wrists and the small of your back. Your eyes squeeze shut at the impact, you almost bite your tongue, as you roll from your back to one of your sides.
“…fuck…” Your quiet voice sounds strained and hoarse, the salt in your body slowly claiming all your moisture for itself.
“She is the gift, my Lord. She is foreign, from a land far away from here. You can hear her speech differs from ours, as does her appearance.”
The fancy man’s voice sounds out in the distance. You slowly open your eyes again, the pain in your body settling down a bit, though that straining ache still pounds roughly inside your skull. You barely have time to register what’s in front of you, when you feel hands on your body again, this time turning you further so that you lay flat on your stomach. A sharp metal feels against the skin of your ankles, as the pressure of the sharp ropes against your flesh is released in unison with the sound of a slice. Quickly thereafter, the same happens to your aching wrists. You quickly pull your hands to the side, your shoulders strain after having been restricted awkwardly for a while. You place your hurting hands besides your weak body, and slowly lift yourself up. There’s still sand grains stuck to your palms, they dig into you as the pressure onto your hands increases.
“I pray you accept.”
As you slowly make your way up, you slide your scratched knees upwards so you can sit on top of them. You raise your throbbing head to watch what lays in front of you.
A large throne sits before you, some steps are required to reach the seating. It’s surroundings are decorated with bones and skulls, starting at the floor and following in height as the throne increases in malevolence. The back of the chair is high and intricately designed, the top of it decorated with more remains. Inside the seat, a man sits.
A large, ominous figure, with four arms and four red eyes, two of which are encased in some hardened structure on his face, perhaps a mask? Black lines decorate his skin, enhancing his godly muscles and features. His white robes hang open, revealing some kind of deep scar in across his abdomen.
The rest of the room seems empty, there aren’t any other people here besides the one on the throne, the monotone voice, the three men and you. The floor is a cold, dark stone, the walls a blackened wood, the only light source a few candles sprawled about the place. The room looks cold and dark, but you can feel a strong heat radiate in front of you. From him.
The sight of him makes you freeze in shock. He’s a monster, like all those you were ever told to fear. Not like the ones in the sea, though. No, this one is much more frightening, the sinister tension in the air reveals as much. Your eyes widen in fear, he seems to notice. His four red eyes latch onto your face, darting between all your features, before finding your frightened orbs.
With haste, you lower your head and gaze, hoping that disappearing into the floor might make him stop looking at you.
“Well?”
The fancy mans voice sounds rather impatient, ringing out behind you. It gives you a bad feeling, you don’t think the monster on the throne would appreciate being rushed. You can feel the burning red eyes leave you, you assume they latched onto the rich man instead.
“I accept.”
A deep rumble sounds from the chair, a grinning tone painting the unfamiliar spoken words.
A slashing rings out behind you, gurgling follows. Then, the loud thuds of falling bodies.
You don’t dare to raise your head and look. You think you know what happened. No, you know that you know what happened. You can smell it already, the fluids and excrement leaving the three bodies behind you. You can feel your own body start to tremble, afraid of what might happen to you. What this monster might do to you.
“What shall you do with your gift, my Lord?”
You can hear the monotone voice again, not seeming bothered by what just happened. A silence follows after the questioning tone.
“…Keep her.”
The deep voice in front of you sounds out, words sounding as disinterested as before. You can hear footsteps getting closer to you, before a gentle hand is placed on your shoulder. You turn your head to look behind you, making sure not to raise your gaze at the man in the throne. A person with white hair is the one touching you.
“Come, girl.”
Their voice monotone, you understand they’re the one who opened the door and guided those men here. You can’t understand the words, of course, though the nudging of their head makes it clear to you that they want you to follow them. They let go as you scramble to get on your feet. When you stand up and turn, you can see the three men lay lifeless on the floor. The sight doesn’t disturb you too much, they weren’t nice to you when all you needed was help. Besides, you’ve seen a keelhauling before, this is no worse then that. The white haired person starts walking towards the door, your trembling legs following behind them in a slow, weak pace. Your body is swaying again, just like the ship. You try to keep all of those thoughts in your head quiet again, before they spill out and cloud your judgement like always. As you pass the bodies, your eyes find the large doors in front of you. They’re huge, intricately designed just like the throne, with carvings etched into the dark, heavy wood. You can feel your head start to pound again, now that you’re finally on your own to feet. Another soft, pained moan escapes your throat. The one with white hair glances back at you, watching you try to catch up. When you do, they continue in the same relentless pace as before.
You make your way through the confusing corridors again. You can tell you’re not headed outside, one too many turns compared to earlier made that clear. Perhaps they’re taking you to a special torture room? Some of the brutes tried to scare you with tales of foreign kings who got off on the pain of others. If any of them would, you’d imagine it would be this monster.
The white haired person stops in front of a wall. You look around as you near them, unsure of what they are doing. They reach for a small wooden nook, then push it to the side, opening the wall up to reveal another room. They enter, you linger behind a moment to see the clever contraption up close.
“…woah…” You inspect it closely, thinking about how the captain would love one of these magic walls between his sleeping chambers and the rest of his quarters.
“Girl.”
The monotone voice drags you away from your thoughts, your head quickly turning to face them. They nudge their head again, you nod weakly before swiftly walking towards them. They hold a bucket with soapy water with one hand, a piece of cloth with the other. When you near them, they hand you both, then nudge their head down towards your body, urging you to clean.
Right… I must be filthy.
You nod, before putting both down on the floor again. They step backwards a bit, giving you some space. Normally, you’d feel uncomfortable undressing in front of a stranger, but right now you just want to be clean. There’s sand, dirt and salt caked to you, accompanied by who knows what latched onto you in the sea.
You undo some of the lacing in the bust area of your dress, before scrunching up the skirt at your waist. In a smooth motion, you pull the whole thing over your head, revealing your undergarments below, which is really just a simple tube made from an old sleeveless blouse wrapped around your body, held up by two thin straps on your shoulders. That one skilled sailor made it for you, when you had embarrassingly bled through your previous ones. Miraculously, the garment has remained relatively unscathed.
The one with white hair holds out one of their arms towards you, looking down at the dirty dress. You don’t really want to hand it over, fearing what they might do to it, but you know better then to disobey the person who seems to be in charge of you now. You step closer and reach your full hands out towards them. They grab the dirty garment with both of theirs, ripping it firmly from your grasp. You can feel a sense of disappointment and uncertainty rush through you as you stare at the ink splotch. You sigh softly through your nose, then step back towards the bucket. In a smooth motion, you pull your underdress off and look at the white haired person. They don’t seem interested in it, so you lay it to the side at a safe distance in an attempt to keep it dry. Squeezing the cloth beneath the water, the temperature reminds you of the cold wave crashing into you not too long ago.
How long has it been?
It feels like hours, but you know it must’ve been days. You never could read the captains maps, even when you peeked so many times, so you have no idea how close you actually were to land. The thought of the captain replaces your question of time. He pushed you out of the way, did he die then? Or did he survive and get to one of the rafts? Perhaps they made it to this land, too. Perhaps they’re looking for you.
No. Of course not.
I wasn’t even supposed to be on the ship.
“Girl.”
The words drags you from your thoughts. You were still squeezing the cloth beneath the water when you drifted off. You look at the source of the sound, then quickly nod with a weak smile, trying to apologise for your slowness without words. You start to rub the cloth all over your body. Sand falls off of you, as does dirt. There’s a patch of seaweed stuck to one of your legs, you rip it off with furrowed brows, then look over at the white haired person. They squint a little at the green plant, then return their expression to the usual neutral one. You drop the weed, then continue scrubbing. Your knees are scratched, as are the ruined soles of your feet. As you move the cloth over the sensitive skin, you frown a little in discomfort. You can see some of your scars and stretchmarks reappear as you continue to clean all the gunk and filth.
You got to wash up on the ship, of course, but seawater can only do so much. This water is actually soapy, it clings to the dirt and washes it away. You haven’t felt so clean in years, the nice sensation almost drowning out the discomfort your body still feels. You look over at the white haired person again as you struggle to reach your back. You got the lower part, buttocks and neck, but with how sore all of your muscles are, you can’t seem to reach as far as usual. They see your struggling expression, then step forward and reach out one of their hands. You smile softly again when handing them the cloth.
“Turn.”
The unfamiliar word is accompanied by a nudge. You turn around, hoping you understand. The sensation of the cloth being dragged over your body proves your suspicions were correct. You feel quite awkward having to ask for help, but you refuse to neglect this opportunity of cleaning yourself thoroughly.
When they stop rubbing, you turn back around. They squeeze the cloth in the liquid once more, before reaching for your face. They gently move it over your features, spending extra time at the aching temple and the surrounding area. It must’ve been where that object smacked into you inside of the wave, or where that man hit you. Or both. Those forces were definitely enough to cause a bleeding.
When they finish, they drop the cloth inside of the bucket and reach for your underdress. You put it on quickly after they hand it over. You feel uncomfortable walking around in only your thin undergarments, but there isn’t anything you can do to fix this at this moment. When the refurbished blouse falls onto your body, the white haired one starts to make their way to the still opened magic wall. You follow obediently, your legs still weak, though your body isn’t swaying as much. You can keep up with their pace better, as well.
You continue the journey through the confusing palace. You know for sure that’s what this is, now. A monster like that would only live in a palace, of course.
Perhaps it’s haunted?
You follow them closely, not seeing any other person in sight. The corridors keep turning and switching and it’s breaking your mind. You wonder if it’s designed to be this much of a maze on purpose, to keep the victims and slaves from leaving. When the white haired person stop in front of another wall, they open it just like they did the previous one.
“…woah…” Your fascination slips out again as you can see what happened a little clearer now. The one with white hair glances at your reaction, neutral expression still painting their face. You look at them in response, smiling softly again before lowering your eyes. They step into the space, then towards the side to let you through.
You enter the small chamber. There’s what appears to be a very thin bed laying on the floor, a low table at its foot. Behind a very small open space, a chest lingers against the wall. A mirror stands beside it.
Your eyes widen at the sight. You haven’t seen a mirror in years, the only image of your reflection having been in the moving waves whenever you dared to hang over the edge of the deck a little more than usual. You blink, before stepping closer to it, your feet moving before your mind decides to. As you creep into its view, you can feel tears start to build up.
You look older then when you had left the mainland. Your cheeks and nose are rosy and irritated, kissed by all those days under the bright sun. More freckles and moles have creeped onto your skin as well. Your eyes and nose and mouth all still look the same, but your overall skin is slightly tanner then before. The sun’s work as well, you know. Looking down at your body, you can the scars and signs of labour. You spent a lot of your time in the kitchen and with the captain, but you still had to work hard to clean the eating area every night, sometimes you even had to help scrub blood away from the deck if someone required reprimanding.
Your harsh features of labour and rough living are balanced by the softness of your body, your curves, your plush skin. You hadn’t lost as much weight as you had feared, it must’ve been that extra bowl of stew the cook insisted on. When you glance at the white haired person by the door, you can clearly see their body is slimmer then yours, even while covered with their robes. Those three men had very different builds than the ones from your home, too. You don’t quite know what to think of the notion, only that it makes you stand out even more.
You swallow away the creeping tears, and step back towards the white haired person. You look at their neutral face, they stare at yours for a moment too. Then, they bow slightly, before stepping out the opened wall and closing it again.
You blink at their sudden departure.
Did they just leave me alone?
You look around the room. It’s small, but very comfortable. It looks like it’s all for yourself, too. You don’t need to share these chambers with anyone, unlike the sleeping area on the ship.
You step towards the thin bed, lower yourself on your knees and crawling on top of it. It’s nice and soft, the sheets are clearly fresh. You softly let yourself fall onto your back, your body slowly sinking into the pleasant mattress. You have been sleeping in a hammock for so long, you almost forgot what it was like to enjoy a bed, or at least this land’s version of one. You close your eyes to enjoy the sensation further, the ache in your whole body slowly disappearing as sleep overcomes you. You sigh deeply, before you slowly drift off.
---
“Girl.”
The monotone voice wakes you. You think you’re starting to recognize that word now. It must be something like girl, woman, or slave. You would rather it not be the last one, so you assume it’s the first.
“…girl…”
You softly repeat beneath your breath as your eyes open. It seems you have rolled onto your side in your slumber, your hands folding together in front of your face. Your eyes roll upwards a bit to locate the source of the voice. The white haired person seems to be kneeling besides you, holding a small bowl in between their hands. You slowly raise yourself up into a seated position.
“Drink.”
They speak the new word as they hand you the bowl, your groggy eyes try to peak at the contents. You take it from them, seeing a kind of broth inside of it. You take a sniff, it smells salty and fermented. Your brows furrow a little at the new impression. Then, you press your lips against the rim, and take a sip.
It taste similar to how it smells, though not as intense. It has a deep flavour, you enjoy it a lot. The taste of salt creeps through your mouth, reminding you of all the seawater you must have consumed. You hope you won’t die because of it, you’ve been told that’s possible.
When you finish all the liquid, you hand the bowl back with a smile and bow your head slightly, hoping your gratitude is shown.
“Thank you.” You speak softly, though you know they won’t understand. They raise themselves onto their feet and shuffle back towards the opened wall. An idea rushes inside of your mind. A way for you to keep your sanity amongst all these new impression, and perhaps to leave proof of your existence before they kill you.
“Uhm…” Your voice stops them in their tracks. They turn back to face you, expression still neutral. You dart your eyes back and forth a little, thinking of a way to show your question.
“May I?” You hold your hand out, palm upwards. With the other, you make a writing motion hovering over the opened hand. You smile softly, hoping they understand. They squint a little, then bow slightly, before swiftly stepping out. You drop your hands as you hear them shuffling away, disappointed that they may not have understood. Though hope still lingers within you, since they didn’t close the magic wall again.
You remain waiting on your bed, your thumbs twiddling. You never hear or see anyone passing your door, making you wonder how many people truly reside in this place. Surely it’s more than just the white haired one and the monster. Your mind still feels a little sleepy, having only just awoken, but the ache in your body has muted quite a lot, and the liquid you drank seems to be filling you up nicely.
Though I would prefer to eat the cooks stew, right now.
You wonder if he lived through it, he was in the hull, after all, feeding everyone their breakfast. Their porridge. Your porridge. The porridge you made, with a little bit of salt and honey. The porridge you brough to the captain. And then the storm reached you.
You sigh as you remember the tragedy that unfolded very recently. A part of you wishes to suppress the memory, to start anew and not let any of that sadness and worry influence you. But that would mean you’d forget them, too. The cook always told you it was remembering someone that keeps them alive after death. As soon as no one remembers you, that’s when you’ve truly disappeared from the world.
Footsteps ring out in the hallway. They’re louder then the white haired one’s, slower too. You furrow your brows as you look at the opened wall, wondering who is making such a noise. You can only think of one man large enough to be so loud.
Is it the cook?
As the footsteps get louder, you can feel a dark energy creep up around you. Your eyes remain set on the corridor, the intrigue keeping your attention fixed. A bare foot comes into frame, black nails extruding from the toes. Then, the side of the figure reveals itself from behind your open wall.
The monster turns his head slightly to look at you, two of his four red eyes burning into your skin. He’s much taller then you had assumed, much more imposing. You never questioned why the ceilings and walls and doors were so high, having assumed it was just how this land builds their homes, but now you seem to understand there may be a different reason. He darts his eyes over your features as you stare at him in shock, frozen once again.
What would he be doing here?
Is he going to kill me now that I am getting comfortable?
You can finally feel awareness revive within you. You quickly turn your head down, almost like you are bowing. The fiddling of your thumbs doesn’t stop, though you don’t even realise you’re doing it. You feel so vulnerable, so exposed. Only wearing your undergarment, not even covered by the sheets of your thin bed. You can feel his eyes move all over your body, over your scars, your freckles, your bruises, your scratches.
Then, the eyes rip away from you as another loud step is heard. Then, another. Then one more. And another, and another, until they bleed out into the distance, dragging that energy away with him too. As soon as the steps are too far from you to be heard, you release the breath you didn’t even realise you were holding. You raise your head again, stretching your neck a little on the left and right. You stand up, intending to attempt to close that magic wall, though the sound of more footsteps stop you from moving. It’s the same steps as those from the one with white hair, and they near you quickly.
When they step into view, you can see they are holding a bottle of ink, a bunch of rolled up papers, and a thin brush. You smile brightly, it means they understood you. They walk past you swiftly, their expression a little more tense then the usual neutrality. They set the material down on the table, and leave again, closing the wall behind them. You didn’t even get the chance to express your gratitude, as you stare at the closed wall for a moment. Shaking your head a little, you remember you can do it in the morning. You step towards the table and kneel down. Your scratched skin feels painful against the wooden floor, so you try to find a comfortable way to sit on the hard ground instead. When you do, you look at the materials. You’ve never written with a brush before, but you don’t think it would be too different from a quill, so long as you don’t use too much pressure and don’t rush. You roll the scroll open. It’s different from the paper sheets you’ve practiced on, the material is thicker, richer. The scroll isn’t too big, the perfect size for a letter. You open the bottle of ink and dip in your brush, coating every hair evenly, making sure not to drop any blackness on the paper pre-emptively. You sigh, releasing some tension from your shoulders. Then, you move the brush onto the paper.
---
Entry 1,
I am unsure how much time has passed between the moment of writing, and the wrecking of the ship. We were caught in a storm, assumedly not far from the coast of a foreign land. I was rescued from an early death by the captain, before being tossed overboard by a large wave.
In the events any of the other crew members lived through the storm, and perhaps learned of my survival, I do not assume they will come looking for me. My presence on the ship was not to be known, I was simply a female stowaway.
When I washed ashore this foreign land, there were men who took me, bound me with ropes and made me lose consciousness by force. They brought me to a palace, intending to sell me, I suppose. They were killed. I was kept.
I have no way of asking my fate as I do not speak their language, nor they mine. The owner of this palace seems to be a powerful man. He bears the appearance of a monster with four arms and four eyes, though he has not harmed me yet. I dread to think what he might do to me, though I refuse to live my days in fear. If it is labour they require of me, I’ll work. If it’s death, I’ll die.
But my head will be held high when I do so.
The one with white hair helped me wash, fed me and showed me my chambers. They even allowed me to write. I am unsure what to think of this situation, all I can do is let it all happen.
Summary: A kitchen maid finds herself washed ashore on a foreign land when the ship she worked on gets wrecked in a storm. When she is captured by a merchant eager to appeal to the King of Curses, she is gifted to him as a rare possession.
Note: The thick and cursive letters are to show different languages :)
Chapter 1: Washed Ashore
“Porridge again?” The same gruff brute asks every morning, while you ladle the substance inside of the wooden bowl.
“Same as always.” You hand him the bowl with a gentle smile, though he rips it from your grasp and takes a sniff.
“At least you make it better than him.” He nudges his head over at the cook. You smile when looking at the large, fat man yawning besides you.
“Careful, or he’ll take your tongue and add it to the stew.” The rugged man winks at you with a laugh, before moving towards the tables.
“Hand me one too, girl.” The cook nudges your shoulder roughly. You furrow your brows a bit at this roughness, but fill the bowl regardless.
“You ought to be nicer to me. I could poison you easily.” The cook chuckles at your remark.
“Poison me with what? You know we don’t carry any unnecessary things with us.”
“I’ll find a way.” You flash him a devious smile while handing over the bowl. The fat man laughs at your words.
“I believe you would.” He takes a sniff of the substance, a pleased look starts to paint his face. “Go bring one to the captain, girl. I’ll take over.” He swiftly pushes you to the side as he grabs a bowl and fills it in a rush. Some porridge spills over the side due to his impatient moves, earning an irritated sigh to release from your nose.
“Careful, big man. I worked hard on that.” You rip the bowl from his hands, imitating his roughness from earlier. “Don’t waste too much.”
As you move through the crowded hull, pushing aside any brutes and swabbies crowding your path, you make your way to the creaking, steep stairs. Porridge is normally not fit for a captain to break his fast with, but when he tasted yours for the first time, he has since requested to have it brought to him every morning. It makes you proud of your work. It makes you feel safe, too.
You snuck onto this ship shortly before it departed. You were fleeing from a group of upset men, having robbed them of their valuables the night prior when they thought they could get lucky with you. You didn’t realise how quickly they’d wake up from your little potion, it was certainly faster then most. They kept looking for you around the harbour while you were safely tucked away on the boat. You didn’t realise it would depart that very morning, until you could see the ship loud with men and shouts of command. Before you had the chance to sneak off it, you were already moving.
When they found you huddled behind a chest in the storage room, you were deathly afraid of what might happen to you. You were a woman, after all, stuck on a ship surrounded by nothing but water. They could do whatever they’d like to you, and no one would be any wiser. There wasn’t anyone back home that would miss your presence, anyways.
You were lucky to have been found by the cook when he went to grab supplies for the kitchen. He scared you at first, a large man, both in height and width. His eyes widened in worry when he saw you, your knees pulled up to your chest, covered in a slightly dirty dress. He spoke to you with both kindness and worry in his voice, before reaching out his hand to pull you to your feet.
He brought you to the captain immediately, who was just as worried.
“How stupid could you be?” His stern voice struck your heart a little. You tried to explain you didn’t know the ship would leave, that you were just hiding from upset men. He simply shook his slightly anxious head.
“I’ll take her.” The cooks deep voice rung out in the fancy quarters. “I could use a kitchen maid.” Unspoken words flashed between the men’s eyes. Then, the captain nodded once.
You found out it was the cooks way of promising to protect you in return for your labour. He taught you all he could do with the limited ingredients aboard. The menu was the same every day. The porridge in the morning became your responsibility soon after your integration. You always made sure to add some extra salt and honey to it, all the men loved the added flavour it gave without you having to waste precious ingredients. For lunch, there was hard tack, tea and pickled fruits. The cook told you the fruits were necessary to avoid illness, and they were pickled so they could last longer. You never even knew that was an option, until he showed you how to do it. You liked the taste of them, though the hardtack almost broke your teeth the first time you tried it. The men present laughed at you with tears of glee, until they finally explained you were supposed to dunk it in the tea first, unless you want to lose all your pearly whites. Supper was always a lovely stew. It was the cooks pride and joy, and you paid close attention to his preparations. It tasted so lovely, so warm. It was full of vegetables and meat, and the broth was nice and thick. He seasoned it too, though he told you to keep that a secret from the captain. The spices were valuable, after all, but the cook was certain the captain wouldn’t miss the bit he used daily. You had a sneaking suspicion the captain knew, though, as he never questioned the poorly hidden jars and bags when he inspected the kitchen once in a while.
Once all the men left the food hall after dinner, the cook would always give you an extra bowl of stew. Women need the extra nutrients, he insisted. You were reluctant the first time, but then he practically forced it down your throat, so you just accepted it after that. You see it as his way of showing he cares; through good food. He’ll always sit with you when you eat, talking about all kind of trivialities; his past voyages, his wife back home, the baby girl he so enjoys and how terrible he feels that he has to miss her first few years of life.
As you reach the top of the steep stairs, making sure the porridge doesn’t spill any further due to the swaying of the ship, you can feel the salty wind caress your skin. You love how fresh the air feels, how those little salty water droplets kiss your face. You’ve learned to understand the air, too. You recognise when it’ll rain soon, when a storm is coming, or when a few days drought is near you. Today, you feel the intense storm lingering in the harsh winds that mess with your balance. As you walk over the deck towards the captains quarters, you can see the dark grey sky start to paint the distance. You swallow some air at the sight, being at sea during a terrible storm has never sat comfortable with you. Sure, there have been many storms during your voyage, it has been years, after all. But this one brewing up on the horizon looks nothing like those did. It scares you. The rough winds make the bottom of your dress slap against your legs and your hair dance extravagantly around your head and face.
Your scratched knuckles find the moist wood of the captains door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Enter.” His stern voice calls out from inside. You push the door open and step through, quickly closing it again to stop the wind from creeping in too much. The captain sits at his desk, slumped over maps and books. “Come, girl.”
You make your way closer to the captain, wiping some of the spilled porridge off of the bowl with your sleeve. It’s the same dress you wore when you snuck onto the ship, though luckily one of the skilled sailors made you a spare one from a large blouse for when this one gets dirty. You prefer this gown, though, it fits you better.
“The cook did that.” The captain states factually as he glances at your fruitless attempt of cleaning the rim.
“Yes, captain.” You speak honestly with a soft smile, though affirmation is not needed when the captain is sure of something. You put the bowl down on the desk, making sure to avoid all the maps and papers and instruments.
“Sit, girl. You will continue your writing from yesterday.” You nod and reach for the familiar chair in the corner of the room, a small desk accompanying it. Your papers and quill are still in the same place as the day before.
The captain has been teaching you to read and write since you brought him his porridge the first time. You were confused at his offer at first, but he insisted a woman of your capabilities must learn such skills in order to secure a proper future. You didn’t question him any further, instead accepting gladly and appreciatively. You had always wanted to learn how to read and write, so this was a dream come true.
It was difficult at first. Your fingers weren’t sure how to hold the quill and put it to paper neatly, and you would always smudge the ink. You had to rub your hands with a rough towel for hours to get it off, ripping your skin in the process, before starting the porridge for the morning. But as the time passed on, your skill started to settle and you became more and more comfortable.
Your current writing task was to register your life during the voyage. You had to use a fake name, of course, as women aren’t allowed to work on ships like these. But you still get to write everything else. What it’s like in the kitchen, how kind some people are to you, how horrid and scary the ones you avoid with all your might are. You omit the part where the men will find each other’s company during the nights, not wanting to cause trouble for anyone. None have tried with you, surely because of your close proximity to the big cook and stern captain. They still look at you with wandering eyes, though.
You sit down and grab the quill between gentle fingers. You learned not to apply too much pressure, only a small bit is needed. It’s all in the control and discipline, not force. You know not to rush it, though you envy the speed at which the captain can write. After opening the bottle of ink and dipping in the tip of your tool, you slowly move it towards the paper. Lowering it down, your attempt at writing carefully is interrupted by a loud noise outside.
The crash interrupts both you and the captain. Only a noise at first, but quickly a powerful sway follows, causing you to fall out of your seat and the quill from between your fingers. The ink on the table spills over your pale dress, your hands scratch against the wooden floor as you catch yourself from falling on your face. You hear the captain stumble out of his chair, but quickly regaining his footing.
“Girl!” He moves closer to you as the ship continues to tilt. “Stand up, girl!” You can feel his hand grip one of your arms and pull on it harshly, forcing you find your footing. As soon as you step forwards to follow him, the ship lists back the other way, sending you stumbling backwards. The captains grip on your arm remains strong, causing you to not fall completely, but as you try to find your balance again, the ship sways back the other way.
“Come on, girl.” He yanks you forwards before you have time to react, dragging you along with him towards the door. Your feet stumble as the ship continues to sway port, then starboard. The captain pushes open the door, a wave of cold rain and wind smacks the both of you backwards a bit.
The storm has already arrived?!
It had been so far away just moments prior, it must have rushed towards the ship much faster than anyone had assumed. You try to keep your thoughts clear in the confusion, grabbing the captain’s hand that’s holding you with your free one to ground yourself to him. He moves over the swaying deck while other sailors rush all over the place in pure chaos.
“Orders, captain?!” A swabby asks as he rushes over. The captain scans the place in a quick pace.
“Same routine as always for a storm.” He speaks stern as ever, the swabby quickly rushes off as he starts shouting orders. “What was that listing?” The captain asks the man who’s approached the two of you, you recognise him as the sail-master.
“Don’no, captain.” His words trouble you. He’s supposed to be one of the most experienced men aboard, how could he not know? “This storm’s unusual.”
The captain nods in agreement as the heavy swaying continues. You can feel your clothes and hair get drenched in the rain, only the grip you have on the captain keeping you from being pushed around by the strong winds. The captain looks over at you. “Go to the hull, girl. You’ll be sa-”
The sound of his voice is washed out by a loud crack. One of the large masts breaks at the base, causing it to fall over towards the other ones. One by one like dominoes, they fall in direction of the deck. The captains eyes widen at yours as he pulls his arm away from you. With a powerful force, he pushes you back, right before the nearest mast tumbles down in your previous spot. You fall backwards, sliding towards the edge of the ship in unison with the swaying. The slippery wood refuses you any grip. Looking ahead, you see the broken mast in both your place and the captains. Your eyes can’t seem to find him as they frantically search around.
Chaos surrounds you. Men are screaming, shouting, running, falling. Waves crash over the edge of the ship, almost drowning you when it happens on the port side you’re clung to. You can see some of them are injured, all of them showered over completely like wet dogs. The swaying continues, the listing become greater and greater. You grab onto the ships border with all your strength to keep from sliding to the other side when a strong sway starboard almost sends you flying. The storm is relentless, waves crashing all around you. You can feel a large wave nearing, the ship already turning and listing even further than all other times.
A large wall of seawater forms in front of you as you are pressed to the edge. For a moment, it holds in the sky. It feels almost peaceful. The shouting and chaos is drowned out by your own minds content with this being your end. Perhaps you weren’t meant for anything after all, no writing, no reading, no impressing a rich suitor with your capabilities. Maybe the most you would achieve, was making a rather impressive porridge.
In a flash, the wave crashes down onto the ship, engulfing you in the freezing salty water. You can feel it enter your whole being, as the force makes you loose your grip on the edge of the ship. You start to float in the liquid, losing the ground of the ship beneath you, while frantically flailing your limbs around in an attempt to swim. Watching through irritated red eyes, you see a blurry object nearing you at rapid speed. Before you have time to react, it collides with your face, causing the lights to go out.
---
Consciousness slowly finds you again, as you open your weak eyes a slither. You can feel your face pressed against something hot and grainy. The taste of salt lingers on your tongue, as your memories slowly come back to you.
You move your arms to lift yourself up. They’re shaking when they do so, still needing to awaken from their forced slumber. You look down at the sandy surface you were laying on. Slowly, you turn around so you can sit down on the grains. You look around you; there’s the sea you washed up from and the sandy shore that continues beyond the horizon on both your left and right. You don’t bother looking behind you yet, as you stare into the distance in front of you, fearing the situation you might be in. The sea looks so calm, nothing like what you just experienced. You can smell the savoury aromas in the air. There’s birds flying in the distance, you’re glad to see. It means you could eat them, in case you really are stranded on some desolate island. You look down at your body, lifting your hands up to see them clearly. They’re still moist, sand covers them in a thin layer. Your usual callouses and scars remain, some extra redness has joined them. Looking at your dress, you see how it’s still wet. The ink stain has bled out a bit, the blackness remains in the middle as a muted grey surrounds the large splotch. You feel sad, knowing your only proper dress has been ruined, but quickly remind yourself that such a triviality is not nearly your biggest concern at this moment.
You slowly raise yourself to your feet, legs trembling slightly. You feel a thirst creep up inside your throat, your lips cracking beneath the salty layer covering them. Looking around the beach, you see some wood scattered about the place. No other materials, no chests, no bags, no survivors. You’re here alone. The dreary thought makes you wonder what happened to the rest.
Did they survive the storm?
Did they manage to flee on the boats?
Did they wash up elsewhere?
Turning around, you can see the beach continues a little further back. Behind, a forest is housed. From this distance, you can already see a dirt path between the trees. Your eyes widen at the sight. It looks like your luck has turned, and this is not some uninhabited island you found yourself on. Trying to get your body to cooperate, you slowly make your way through the sand.
It’s somewhat easy, at first. The sand is still hard from the lingering moisture of the sea. The sun tickles your skin warmly as you force your legs to move. You can feel yourself swaying side to side with the movements, imitating the swaying of the ship. You focus your energy on reaching that path, swallowing away any emotions and worries that try to creep up inside of you.
When I reach it, I can find help.
You repeat the words inside your head as something to hold on to while your body tries so hard for you to give up, to rest some more. As you make distance from the sea, you can feel the sand getting softer and deeper beneath your feet.
…My feet?
You look down as you continue to wade through the grains. You can see your shoes are missing. They must have washed away while you were drifting in the water. You can feel a headache start to creep up too. Your body fights against you, trying to stop your movements and have you fall asleep right here, but you push through anyways.
I need to make it.
Continuing your internal battle, swearing at yourself beneath your heavy breaths, you slowly make your way closer. You can see indents in the path, matching those of hooves and wheels. You’re glad, it means this path has been used, maybe even recently. You smile without realising, as you can already smell the trees and forest the nearer you get.
When your feet stumble through the last bit of sand, you concentrate all your energy into your lower half, rushing over to one of the nearest trees. You let yourself fall against it, the scratchy wood feels so good against your sensitive skin. It means it’s real. It means you’re still alive. It means there’s still hope for your survival. You rest your forehead against the tree, trying to keep yourself standing on your legs. You slowly start to find a rhythm in your struggling breathing.
What do I do now?
You don’t know where this path will lead you, nor do you know where you even are. The uncertainty makes fear build up inside of you, but you try your best to swallow it away. You’ve come so far, you cannot give up now.
Lifting yourself away from the tree, you find your footing again. Your legs slowly stop their trembling, as the cool shadow of the forest replenishes some of your strength. You step onto the dirt, it feels cool between your toes. The sand burned and scratched the bottoms of your feet, you fear you’ll get blisters soon. In a steady pace, you continue your journey beneath the sheltering trees.
After a long while of walking, focusing on your breathing and journey, not letting any thoughts and feelings cloud your mind, you can hear sounds start to build up in the distance. Mumbling of voices, footsteps, the creaking of wheels. You stop in your tracks to search for the source, before you can see a group of people emerge between the trees in the distance.
They are so close already…
How could I not notice them?
You look around, trying to find a good tree to hide behind, but when the group starts shouting at you and moving faster, you already know it’s too late. You look back at the people. There’s a carriage with a strong looking horse, men walking beside it and sitting on the wagon. They’re armed with unfamiliar weapons, dressed in clothing you’ve never seen before. As they get closer, you throw your arms in the air to signal that you mean no harm. Not that you could inflict any in the weak state you’re in.
The lessening of the distance makes their appearances clearer to you. They are clearly men, but you’ve never really seen people with their features before. During your time aboard, you’ve snuck a peak whenever the ship stopped to trade goods in foreign harbours. You saw all kinds of different folk when trying to stay out of view, but these men look different from those people as well. It interests you, though you also know it means you’re probably very far from home.
“H-Hello…” You speak in a quiet voice as they stop in front of you. “I mean n-no harm.” As your voice continues, the men look at you with confused eyes.
“A woman?”
“She looks… unusual.”
They start to speak to one another in a language you don’t know.
“Perhaps she was born malformed, like your cousin?”
“My cousin does not look that strange.”
You slowly drop your arms down as they continue their conversation while looking you up and down.
“Master, come have a look at this girl.”
One shouts out towards the back of the carriage. You can hear shuffling in that direction, then creaking of the wagon, then footsteps. As the sound gets closer, a man moves into view, emerging from behind the rest whom hold their silence. He’s dressed in more expensive looking clothes, more intricate colours and patterns and decorations adorn his robes.
“Well, well …”
He speaks in an intrigued tone as he steps closer. You back away with a step as he closes in on your personal space. Irritation creeps onto his face, as he quickly reaches his hand out to grab your jaw tightly. Your eyes widen in surprise and fear, as your weak body freezes in shock.
“…Yes, I think she will suffice.”
He continues to speak in that same tone, as he forcefully turns your face left to right to inspect every corner.
“Is she deformed, Master?”
“No. She is foreign.”
The fancy man holds conversation with the others. You assume them to be his subordinates, he doesn’t look like someone who’d follow orders himself.
“Foreign?”
“She’s from a different land beyond the sea.”
“Is that why she looks… odd?”
“It is.”
He roughly let’s go off your jaw, then nudges his head to signal something to his men.
“Tie her up. We shall gift her to him immediately.”
“He will not kill us, then?”
The fancy man nods while walking away from you, as two of the men rush closer. You can see one is holding onto ropes, the sight brings life back into your body as you try to rush away again. The men are faster than your weak self, lunging forward to throw you onto the ground before you can find your footing. They roughly pull your arms back.
“Please, don’t!” Your voice sounds quieter then you’d like, all the power behind it being barely enough for a shout. You can hear some of the men laugh and chatting behind you, as your hands and feet are bound with a sharp, cutting rope. In a rush, you’re turned back around, the moist front of your dress now being caked with dirt, and the largest man of the two grabs beneath your shoulders to lift you up and throw you onto one of his.
“Do not put her with me. She stinks.”
You can hear the fancy man’s annoying voice in the distance, as the man carrying you starts walking.
“Let me go, you rat!” You shout in his ear as you shuffle around on his shoulder. His grip on the back of your thighs gets tighter when he jitters a little from your loud voice.
“Subdue her.”
The voice rings from behind you, sounding like a command to you. A second later, the other man steps besides you and swings towards your head with his fist. You only see the skin on his knuckles briefly, before the light leaves your eyes again.
-------
Note: Many chapters are already posted on AO3, but I decided to upload here as well. I'll try to post at least one chapter daily until I have caught up here with AO3, then I will update every Friday on both !
The buzzing of the coffee machine fills the otherwise quiet communal space between the different offices.
Yours is on the left side of the domain.
His is on the right.
You remember laying your eyes on him the first time he passed your opened door, when you just started working at the tiny firm located in the same building as his.
You’re just a secretary; you make the coffee and sort all the files, you write the emails and fax the papers. Their legal speech means nothing to you, but whenever the lawyers in your space discuss matters with the others from across the floor, you pay very close attention. Though only to him.
He noticed right away, you knew. You were always obvious with your stares and smiles, after all. But you didn’t want to hide it, not in the small chance that he was interested too.
When you were alone on this floor of the building for the first time, you having to reorganise all of the files in chronological rather than alphabetical order, and him working on preparing the last portions of his defence for a client, you bumped into each other at this very coffee machine.
You blushed, and very evidently so. You had never been alone with him, let alone this close up in the small kitchen. It was him that spoke first, though.
“You’re a secretary, correct?” The sound of his voice directed at you reverberated against the walls of your heart. You stumbled your speech for a moment, but after clearing your throat, you managed to release a shy noise.
“Yes, I am.” You watched him smile at your embarrassing act, his eyes tired but intrigued.
“I don’t recall ever meeting a secretary working overtime before.” He turned to face the coffee machine, removing his eyes from your reddened face.
“I, uh…” You attempted to regain your composure, though poorly. “I have to reorganise all of the files before the weekend.”
“It’s Wednesday.” The beeping of the coffee machine rings out as he speaks, the loud buzzing follows. You made sure to pay close attention to which option he chose, how he likes his bitter liquid the best.
“It’s a lot of work.” You laughed breathily, knowing you need all the possible hours to accomplish the feat of sorting through the thousands of files. “Are you busy as well?”
“Always.” He nods, before turning his head and flashing a small smile once more. You observed as his eyes glanced at your lips, even though it wasn’t even for a second.
You saw him every subsequent night. You having been given even more tedious tasks, him always busy doing the most for his clients. You would meet at the coffee machine, have a friendly chat – perhaps a little too friendly, and go on your own ways again.
Your eyes would always linger on each other before you both entered your own small offices. His tired orbs would blink slowly at you, causing that hot blush to return.
Today, though, you decided to go to the machine earlier.
See, you have a plan. It’s been months of this same dancing around each other, those same lingering eyes, those same small smiles and tired gazes. You remember his coffee-preferences by heart, you know exactly how to make it perfectly for him.
And so you do.
After removing your own cup from beneath the spout, you place a clean one for him on the metal rack, press the right buttons in the right order and grab a packet of sugar and one of those plastic sticks for stirring. The buzzing begins to make your heart race, your breath fastens. You’ve never done anything this bold before, even though it’s only bringing him a cup of coffee.
As the beep sounds out to indicate the machine has finished spewing, you add the sugar and stick to the mug, and grab both his and yours. With a careful pace in order to not spill, you make your way to his office. Every step you take brings you closer to him. Every step makes your heart pound heavier in your throat.
What am I doing?
I look desperate.
Obsessed.
This is so embarrassing…
You swallow away the rising insecurities. Surely, the way his eyes look at you and his lovely, small smile means he will not mind this. He might even enjoy it.
God, I hope he’s into me too.
Taking a deep breath for encouragement, you brace the knuckles wrapped around your own mug against the white glass door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A short yet agonising silence follows, before being interrupted by footsteps sounding on the other side of the wall. When the handle is pressed down, an uncontrollable smile plants itself on your face. The door opens with a careful motion, the man responsible comes into view.
Dark, swept back hair, tired eyes, the most wonderful nose and always dressed cleanly in a suit. Your gaze finds his immediately, you hold up the two cups to show them off properly.
“Coffee?” You ask softly with a smile, hiding your anxious demeanour the best you can.
“You’re early.” He states plainly, though not unkind.
“Yes, I wanted to surprise you for a change.” You nod a little, focussing on not stuttering your words thanks to the stress within you.
“You succeeded.” That small smile pulls at one of the corners of his mouth. He nudges his head for you to follow him inside. Your heart implodes at the magnificent gesture, though he is most casual about it. Entering the room, he closes the door behind you immediately.
“The desk in the back is mine.” You glance over your shoulder to flash him that same smile, your heart still pounding strongly against your sternum. He stays standing by the door, waiting for you to move.
As you make your way through the small office space, you can see the messes strewn about every desk, most being on his in the centre back.
You put the mugs down while bending over ever so slightly, you can feel the fabric of your pencil skirt pull tightly around your hips and buttocks.
The click of the door being locked rings out behind you as you stand up straight. Unsure whether what you heard was real or not, you can feel the blush on your cheeks heat up regardless.
Steps ring out behind you, making you turn your head to observe. Higuruma grabs one of the chairs as he walks past and pulls it with him, before placing it right behind you while holding onto the backrest.
“Your throne.” Your smile brightens at his jest, and you sit down. He moves towards his quickly and sits beside you. Reaching for his mug, he stirs the white stick a few times, before taking a careful sip. His brow furrows slightly at the taste. When he puts the mug back down, his eyes find yours with genuine surprise shining in them.
“It’s perfect.” He speaks pleased.
“Thank you.” You can feel your blush deepen in colour at his wonderful compliment.
“How did you manage that?”
“I pay close attention to you.” You realise your words have betrayed you. You rush to take a quick a sip of your coffee while averting his gaze to offset the embarrassment.
‘To you’? Really?
Do I want to look even more deranged?
“I’m glad to hear that.”
The creaks of his chair rolling closer to yours sounds out beside you, forcing your gaze back on him.
“It means I’m not the only one observing.”
The hand holding the mug lowers away from your mouth, your lips hanging open from surprise at his words. As your widened eyes look at his, he stands up from his chair with a slow movement.
The thud of your full mug being put down on the table sounds out beneath you, your head refusing to turn any further to follow his movements as Higuruma steps behind the back of your chair once more. Your head pulls straight, your heart bangs against the walls of your throat.
“I know how you like your coffee, too.”
He speaks deeply, his two hands place themselves gently on your shoulders. A shock rings through your entire body at the pleasant touch, even though your dress shirt disallows your skins to connect directly.
“I know you always wear skirts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”
His hands begin to slide back and forth over your shoulder.
“And those black striped pants on Tuesday and Thursday.”
The palms move down your arms with an agonisingly slow pace, only making a millimetre of distance every second.
“I know you stick the tip of your tongue out of the corner of your mouth when you’re in full concentration.”
As he reaches further down your limbs, he leans his torso closer to you. Your breathing fastens as he does, unable to settle it down properly.
“And that you blush the moment my eyes find yours.”
You can feel his hot breath push against your scalp, you know his face is only a short distance removed from it. The sensation makes your skin shiver, you close your eyes to enjoy it fully.
“I know how your heart is pounding in your chest right now.”
He leans down next to your ear as he speaks, his words bray nicely against your shell. The warmth of his breath makes yours hitch audibly, as his palms blanket the backs of your hands.
“Why is that, darling?”
His nose brushes against your earlobe as he slides his face down towards the crook of your neck. Your head rolls to the side, allowing him full access.
“Perhaps you want me to stop?”
His voice teases against your soft skin, before a chaste kiss is placed on top of that very same spot.
“No.” The urging noise releases from your throat with a strained exhale. “Please, don’t.”
“If you insist.” He whispers deeply. His hands wrap themselves fully around yours as his mouth places another kiss on your skin. He lingers there, opens his lips slightly and begins to draw tiny circles into your skin with the tip of his tongue. The wonderful feeling releases a soft moan from you.
“Hiromi…” You whisper needily, that heartbeat switching from an anxious one, to one pounding with desire. He hums against your skin in response, before pulling back, leaving a wet mark on your skin. His hands retract themselves from yours, and he straightens himself back up.
“Stand up, dove.” He encourages, you obey him immediately. When you turn around, you watch him remove his suit jacket, hanging it neatly over the back of his chair, before loosening his tie. You step towards him, place your hands on the choker and pull it over his head, your eyes locked onto his as you do. You can see them begin to cloud with want, yet still as downturned as ever. You smile contently as you observe the sight you have fantasised about for months.
Playing with the expensive fabric between your fingers, he leans a hand towards the back of your neck, before pulling you closer to him. The small space between you lingers for a moment.
No words are spoken, only your eyes staring into his. But you both agree, you both want this.
You both want to make proper use of your shared overtime for once.
He closes the distance, pulling your face close to his. His lips press against yours firmly, as his other hand reaches down for his necktie between your hands. His soft mouth feels warm against yours, the kiss only being chaste. You kiss him back with the appropriate motion, before you both retract a slither.
Then, you close the small distance once more, now your lips being parted enough to allow yours to hug one of his, and vice versa. Kissing his top lip tenderly, his warmth wraps around your bottom one. It feels pleasant, exactly how you imagined it.
But you want more.
After retracting again, you open your mouth wider. When your benign collision repeats, you press the tip of your tongue against his lips. He responds with opening his mouth more, and pushing back against your wet muscle with his.
The two tongues begin a dance. Only the tips tickle each other at first, but quickly they embrace further. His tongue laps over yours, before swirling towards the bottom.
Yours responds in unison, as if they’ve done this countless of times before. A soft moan escapes you at the wonderful taste of him, your arms rush to wrap themselves around his neck.
Pulling yourself towards him, you close the small distance between your bodies. Your white button up caressing his, your pencil skirt presses against his trousers.
The hand on the back of your neck firms its grip on you, the other one holding the tie finds the small of your back. As the dance of your tongues pursues, you feel your skin heat up with want, the shy blush on your cheeks completely replaced by the red shade of desire.
He steps backwards, with you clung to his body being forced to move with him. You can feel the edge of his desk push against your buttocks. Higuruma pulls his head away from yours with reluctance, your eyes find each other immediately.
His clouded, half lidded gaze makes your gut stir with want, makes heat collect between your legs, accompanied by a rising pulse. He removes the hand from your neck, leans forward a bit and grabs his mug.
He takes a quick sip, earning a soft, breathy laugh from you at the observation, before turning around and putting it on the windowsill. He turns back and grabs yours, holding it in front of your lips to allow you a small drink as well.
Your lips curl as he carefully follows the movement of your head leaning back a little, pouring in just enough of the bitter substance to make up a sip. He leans away again while you swallow, putting the mug next to his.
When he turns back around, he leans towards his desk and sweeps all the papers and materials off with a smooth, careless motion.
“Hiromi.” You whisper almost surprised at his uncontrolled behaviour, never having observed him this entangled before.
“Don’t bother.” He straightens himself and leans his head towards yours. “That’s an issue for later.” He closes the distance between your mouths once more.
Your tongues immediately commence their fling, moving together pleasantly so. There’s no reason for you to resist his advances, you’ve wanted this for months. Him clearing his desk so hungrily shows you he wants the same thing.
You reach your hands towards the bottom hem of your skirt, and push it up to your hips. You can feel his lips curl against yours as he notices your shuffling, a soft moan releases from you in response to his amusement.
His hands place themselves onto your, now extra skirted, hips, pushing you even further against the table. With a small yet surprising lift, he places you on top of the now empty surface. Your skin feels the cold wood pressed against it, only your thin stockings and panties muting the chill.
Higuruma pulls his head away from yours again, both of your lips are red and wet due to your hunger. A small string of saliva connects you two, only broken when he begins to move downwards. Your breathing is still as fast as ever, and when you realise what his intentions are, it speeds up even more.
He kneels down, placing his head in line with your seated bottom. His hands gently grab the back of your ankles, the tie wrapped around one of them, his pinkie-fingers graze the edge of your pumps. He slowly moves his warm palms upwards, trailing all along your calves and towards your knees.
He slides them to the tops of your exposed thighs, squeezing ever so slightly when they place themselves in the middle. You bite your lip as you watch his careful actions, the corners of your mouth curled into a satisfied smile. As he snakes his hands towards the sensitive skin of your inner thighs, a shock runs through you, jolting your body a tiny bit. He doesn’t notice, or doesn’t care, his eyes remain fixed on the movements of his hands.
When they reach up to your heat, his fingers grab onto your stockings firmly, and rip them open with a steady tear. The roughness releases a pleased gasp from you, quickly followed by another strained one as Higuruma presses his face to your still clothed sheath.
His bumped nose rubs into you nicely, followed by a deep sniff. The action releases another moan from your core, one of your hands reaches for his hair.
As if to punish you, he pulls away again and swiftly moves up to his feet. The action almost stuns you, you look at him with surprise. He does not grant you any explanation, instead unwrapping the tie around his hand while staring at your face with those same cloudy eyes.
It almost appears as though he is in a trance. As if he’s finally living out a fantasy he’s had for a while. For months, perhaps.
“Hands or eyes?” His deep voice asks, pleasure dripping from every syllable. You need a moment to register his question, your breath still fast and uncontrolled.
“Eyes.” You decide with a content smile. He nods with a content hum, reaches his hands towards your face and begins to wrap the silk tie around your eyes. The pressure is firm, but gentle. The world turns black as he secures the back with a firm knot.
His palms place themselves on your shoulders, pushing you backwards slowly. You follow the motion and lay your spine onto the hard surface of the table. With the whole world being invisible to you, you are left completely at his mercy, at his will.
You can feel the presence of his body lean over you, before his mouth places a chaste kiss on yours. The intimate gesture makes you smile once more.
He pulls away again, shuffling sounds from his direction, before the soft thuds of knees on the floor ring out. His hands place themselves onto your hips and pull you closer to the edge of the table.
Then, his hands slide down your legs, before they place themselves beneath your thighs and lift them onto his shoulders. You cross your feet over each other, while one hand finds its way onto your hip once more.
With the other’s middle finger, he begins to slowly caress the fabric of your moistening panties. The soft, muted movements are enough to send shivers through you, intensifying that lingering pulse. It beats in unison with your heart, the heat spreads as hotly as that on your cheeks.
He moves the finger to the edge of your underwear, before sliding it to the side with a careful motion, revealing your wet lips to him. A pleased hum rings out from the man, the sound reverberates against your bare skin, making your breath hitch once more. With that same digits, he begins to caress the two lips. Left first, then right. Then the left again, before he places the finger inside of the two folds.
The slick gathered between them is enough to moisten him properly, before he repeats that same caressing motion. His skin directly on your delicacies makes you bite your lip. As the tip of his middle finger runs past your sensitive pearl, an uncontrolled moan escapes your throat.
You reach your hands towards mouth, clamping them down onto your lips firmly as to not let anymore excessive sounds escape you. Though it’s only you two in this floor of the building, you never know who’s lingering about. Other employees could always come visit, or the janitors.
Higuruma starts to rub back and forth between your two lips, caressing both your opening and tender nub. With every rub, he increases the pressure of his finger and the speed at which it’s moving. Your breathing grows in unison with his motions, your back arches at the wonderful experience. More liquids leak from you as he continues his task, more sounds want to escape.
Biting your tongue inside of your orifice, you squeeze your eyes shut beneath the blind fold. The wet sounds of his finger moving back and forth inside of your slick folds fills the space, accompanied by your muted moans and his fastening breathing.
Without warning, the rubbing seizes and is replaced by the slow pushing of his finger into your entrance. Your back arches even further at the change of sensation, another loud moan attempts to leak from between the fingers holding your mouth shut. The strained noise makes the man between your thighs hum deeply in response, almost sounding like a groan.
His long finger reaches in as far as he can, your walls pulse around it for the small moment he lingers inside. Then, he pulls back while you clench. Relaxing once more to prepare for his re-entry, you can feel another tip be pressed against your slick opening.
He pushes in both fingers smoothly, and faster than before. With how well you’re prepared for him, your body shows no signs of resistance. He retracts after reaching as far as possible, and places another finger with the moistened two.
Forming a sort of triangle with the three tip, he pushes back in once more, just as slowly as the first time. The stretch is more noticeable now, thanks to that cone-shape the digits form. A strained moan is forcefully muted by your palm.
He picks up a steady rhythm of retracting and pushing. Your walls continue to pulse and clench at the wonderful sensation, your gut coiling with pleasure. The speed begins to increase wonderfully, scratching your itch a little better. But there’s still something missing, and he knows it too.
As he continues thrusting his fingers inside of you, you can feel his warm, soft mouth place a tender kiss against your wet lips, his nose brushing against them. Then, another one, though now he sticks out his tongue and runs it between the two folds. Starting near the opening, he laps it up towards the pearl. When it tickles past it, another loud moan seeps from the cracks between your digits.
“Shh…”
He hums against your sensitive skin, his mouth but a millimetre from your lips.
“Compose yourself, darling.”
The words make your covered eyes roll back, another moan releases from you. His mouth places a chaste kiss on your pearl, before latching onto it like a leech on a thumb.
He closes his mouth around the general area, then tickles the nub with the tip of his tongue, torturing you while his fingers continue to move in and out of you. He increases the speed and spread of his tongue and he starts to go in the same rhythm as the fingers. As they go in and out, the tongue goes left and right, then up and down, then circles.
The pleasure is numbing your whole being in the best way possible. With your eyes cut off from the world, you can focus fully on the marvellous feelings his touch and fingers and mouth send through you. It makes your mind hazy with delight.
His fingers continue to thrust in and out of you, while he sucks the nub and runs circles over it. Your muted moans sound in sync with his motions, feeling the tension build up in your belly.
Thrust. Suck. Moan.
Thrust. Suck. Moan.
Thrust. Suck. Moan.
You can feel how close you are as your walls start clenching even harder around his fingers. He hums against your nub, increasing the pleasure of the sucking. Higuruma starts increasing the speed of the thrusts, curling his fingers just a bit to reach that one sweet spot. He starts sucking and releasing in rhythm with the throbbing of your walls. It feels so good.
Your hands leave your mouth and reach up to your own hair to grip on it as you feel the shaking stir up in your thighs. You’re close.
So close.
Then, he pulls his mouth away from yours, and without you being able to process, he moves his hand off of your hip and starts rubbing the nub viciously with the tips of his fingers.
The sudden friction and the continuing thrusting sends you over the edge, as you squeeze your thighs tightly around his head. Your back arches, your head is thrown back and a strained, unmuted moan releases from your throat. He keeps rubbing and thrusting, allowing you to ride out your wave of pleasure.
Once your body starts convulsion at the sensations, he slowly seizes the motions of his hands to not overstimulate you. You begin to catch your breath as you release your hands from your hair, your body still twitching internally every now and then, and the drop your legs off of his shoulders.
You can feel his fingers be retracted from you one last time, followed by the sounds of someone licking their dripping digits clean.
You place your hands beside you and push yourself to sit, the shake in your legs beginning to settle. At the same time, the shuffling between your thighs indicates Higuruma is standing up.
Before your hands can reach for the tie acting as a blindfold, his fingers soaked with your fluids and his spit graze the skin of your cheeks, before gripping the choker. He lifts it off of you, exposing your orbs to light once more. You watch him intently, the lingering pleasure lidding your eyes halfway.
His face is soaked and drunk of pleasure, his eyes look at you with lust and admiration. He leans forward, your hands wrap around his neck immediately, as your mouth crash into each other hungrily.
He satisfied you so well, how dare you not want more?
Your tongue invades his mouth, tasting every single droplet of yourself left within the orifice. He sweeps his muscle against yours firmly while his hands roam all over your back.
“You did so well, dove.” He whisper deeply after pulling away. A smile paints the bottom half of your face, the top still drunk with desire. “But you mustn’t be so loud, my dear.” His two hands pull away from behind you, before they reach for your face. “You’ll be good now, won’t you?” You watch as his hands pull the tie taut between them, before reaching for your mouth.
You nod obediently, and open wide.
He lays the fabric in your mouth, before tying it secure in the back. He leans against your ear before retracting completely.
“Turn around for me, darling.” His wonderful voice sounds against your shell, glee spreads through your face some more. He takes a step back, allowing you room to move. Sliding off of the table, leaving a trail of wetness behind, you turn around as soon as your feet hit the floor, before leaning forward and laying your forearms beside your head for support.
He hums in approval, sending a pleasance through your body, as you can feel him pull your skirt up higher towards your waist. Your panties and tights are still covering your buttocks, though you still feel as exposed as ever. A wonderful sensation, given it’s his eyes that are observing them.
The sound and vibration of your stockings being ripped even more reverberates against your skin. Then, a finger pushes at your sensitive area once more. With your walls still throbbing inside of you, the touch sends a shockwave through your entire body. You can feel him pull the panties to the side a little further, granting him a better view of your treasure from this new angle.
“Don’t look, my dear.”
The sound of a zipper is followed by some shuffling.
“Just let me take care of you.”
Soft sounds of skin rubbing on skin sounds out behind you, a hint of a groan accompanying it. You can feel a hand grip your hip firmly, as he takes a step closer to you.
The soft pressure of a bulbous objects places itself at your still slick entrance. You smile fondly at the touch, you know exactly what it is. Biting down on his tie firmly, you want to make sure you don’t make any inordinate noise at what’s to follow.
He pushes the head in slowly, before the rest of his length follows. You feel your breathing increase once more at the joyous feeling of him wading through your pulsing walls. After lingering inside of you for a moment after the contact of his balls against your heat, he pulls back.
Then he re-enters, faster this time. You suppress a moan, stopping your breathing with it. When you feel that slap again, you breath out. He pulls away fast, before pushing back. Then he retracts, and pushes once more.
You try your best to keep your sounds of pleasure to yourself, strained breaths in and out replace the moans that so desperately wish to escape you. Higuruma, however, pays that same trouble no mind. With every plunge, a soft groan escapes him.
That, together with the wet sloshing noises and that slap of his testis’s against you make you struggle even more with resisting your urges. Your urge to moan, to scream his name with pleasure, to look him in the eye as you do.
“…F-Fuck…” The dishevelled, tense whisper releases from him as his other hand places itself on your hips too, gripping you tightly. His fingers dig into you as the speed keeps increasing. Your back arches with the growing intensity, a tense moan escapes your throat, despite your efforts of suppression.
“Shh…” He whisper again, followed by another groan. Your hips start to move with him, a bucking motion in sync with his thrusting. Just like how your tongues danced so familiarly, your pelvis’s do as well.
Your hands firm up into balls, your forearms still resting on the table. You feel the nerves in your walls be pleased so wonderfully. His length satisfies you as well as you had always known it would. As he continues to plunge inside of you, you can feel your eyes roll back at the thought of it really being him that’s nourishing you so well.
You cannot help it, you need more of his touch.
“mhmngg…” The muffled sounds leave your mouth, as you raise yourself onto your hands.
“Yes… darling…?” He whispers between the groans, his tone absurdly gentle for someone who’s rubbing inside of you so nicely. His pace relents just enough for you to raise yourself up straight, throwing your back against his chest. Though you keep a deep arch, hollowing the space between your lower back and his abdomen, you lean the rest of your torso against his body comfortably. He continues the plunge, though slows down the pace with every thrust.
Regardless of the decreasing speed, the vigour intensifies. Rather than quick rushes, it’s slow pounds. His hands creep up from your hips towards your waist, before they wrap themselves around the area completely and pull you firmly against him. One of your hands grabs the pair laying on your abdomen, the other snakes up and behind you, placing itself on the back of the head that has moved itself beside yours.
You can feel your ear press against his temple, with your hand messily wading through his hair. Every powerful plunge releases a deep groan from him that brays against you. It creeps its way into your ear and forces another strained moan from your core. Biting down on the tie even firmer, it almost feels as though your teeth are ready to shatter at the pressure. At his wonderfully forceful pounds.
“ngmmhhh…” The nearly inaudible noise escapes you. Even you don’t know what it is you wish to say. To speak his name, to call him something sweet, to tell him ‘more’ or ‘harder’, or perhaps all of the above.
“…You’re doing… so well…” He responds breathily against near your face in response to your wanting noises. The praise makes you moan softly again, not even attempting to hide it anymore.
One of his hands removes itself from your belly and slides up towards your breasts. Cupping one of them gently at first, with the next hard plunge, and subsequent moan and groan releasing from you both, he squeezes the bosom firmly.
Your hand follows his, and places its palm right on top of the back of it. With the next thrust and squeeze, you follow the motions, tightening your grip on his skin and in his hair. He groans louder at the touch, less controlled.
The forceful plunges are beginning to pick up speed again, in unison with that tightening coil of your nerves. You can feel your breath speed up as he continues with the wonderful force and speed that will make you combust in any second.
His groans ring loaded against your skull, it’s clear he’s close too. You know he cannot contain himself. You need to shut him up, or else.
Your hand lets go of his and rushes for the tie in your mouth, pushing it down at the same time another strained but loud groan releases from him. You turn your head to the side quickly, pushing his away a slither, before pulling his face closer to yours with your grip in his hair.
Your lips crash onto each other, your mouth opens wide enough to allow your wet muscle to creep into his orifice. A muted groan escapes him with the continuing fast thrusts, your tongue stealing any excessive volume right out of his throat.
Commencing your familiar dance, the added taste and touch of him makes your hips buck against his with uncontrolled potency. Your walls clench with potency, squeezing his insertion as tightly as possible. It only takes a few more of his vigorous quick plunges for that knot inside of you to break.
A strained moan leaks into the shared space of your mouths, absolute pleasure running through your body once more this night. He squeezes your bosom tighter than ever, while a groan escapes him in response, being swallowed by your orifice immediately.
Warm thickness is being milk out of his length by your pulsing, clenching walls. Your hips continue to clash together, forcing those last wonderful shocks through both of your beings. You feel suffocated by the overwhelming pleasure beneath and his hot tongue lapping around yours in your mouth.
As the intense bucking finally settles down, you pull your head away from his for some much needed air. Your eyes open to observe the man, your neck strained by the twist. He appears as out of it as you feel and probably look. Eyes hazy with satisfaction and exhaustion, mouth pink, swollen and moist.
His hair is a mess thanks to your fingers running through it, his cheeks flushed a pleasured pink. Your breaths are quickened, yet in sync with each other. You cannot help but smile at the sight that he is. At the beautiful picture beside you. At the fact you two remain connected down there.
He leans his face back to yours and places a chaste but longing kiss on your cheek. The intimate sensation warms you up even nicer, almost making you greedily wish for more of his loving. He drags his lips over to your ear, tickling your soft skin with the tender tips, and speaks a whisper with his deep, kind voice.