Chapter 33 – Minor Work
Atena and her sister gobbled up like girls who hadn’t seen food. It told Gray a lot about the military lifestyle.
“It’s over,” Atena’s sister, who called herself Anna, showed her an empty plate. “I want more pinky things.”
“That’s not nice,” Atena snapped. “You ate enough. We are guests in this place.”
“It’s fine,” Lyla came with two bowls of meat and vegetables. “I’ll prepare some more if you need.”
“Oooh! Yummy!” Anna grabbed the meat and started gobbling it up. Midway through, she looked at Lyla, specifically her belly. “You eat a lot! Look how fat you are!”
It’s nice to be a kid, Gray thought. You care less about what the other person thinks.
“It’s rare to see a pregnant woman in the kingdom madam,” Atena said, swallowing down her second glass of juice. “You are very lucky, and the father of the child must be proud.”
Lyla made a sour face. “The father of this child is nonexistent!”
Gray pretended not to hear her and ushered Atena to his office once she was done eating.
“I think there is no better time than now to make a deal,” Gray smiled, sitting on the table and looking at the military woman. Even without the uniform and her old rags, Gray caught her toned skin. “I saw your sister. Girls at her age are now at schools having basic elementary education.”
“First of all, I thank you for your kindness,” Atena bowed. “But with all due respect sir, I think my sister has her education right. They were taught well in the orphanage.”
“Your sister called meat the pinky things, she pronounces half of the words wrong, and she thinks a pregnant woman is someone who eats too much. And how old is she? Ten?"
"Eleven," Atena added.
"See? I have a better deal, you work for me and I will spend my personal money on making sure your sister lives happily. At first, I can let Lyla teach her things around the house, and after a year, we can send her to a school.”
Atena furrowed her brows. “That’s very kind of you, but I feel like there is something in return.”
“Yes, you will be bound to me forever. You will kiss my hand, and sign the papers I have right here,” he patted a set of papers he had written before she arrived. “And swear an oath never to betray me in life.”
Atena looked at the papers like there was a fire. “So…eternal servitude?”
“As my commander.”
“You don’t have an army…sir.”
“I will soon have it. And your experience in the military will aid me greatly in it,” he grabbed the papers and handed them over to her. “Read it.”
“I can’t read.”
That made sense. It was hard to think Atena had a better education than her sister.
“Well,” Gray kept the papers back on the table. “Let me summarize what’s written. We will be signing a royal decree, which will be sent to His Majesty herself, and in it will be you and me bound for life. You as my commander, and me as your master. You’ll be my sword, and protect me at all times. Apart from that, you’ll do other minor work…” he trailed off. “And that’s all.”
“What minor work?”
“Like sucking my dick, going to bed with me, pleasuring me when I’m in need, or in some cases entertaining my fetish of having more than one woman in the same bed…”
Atena stared at him for a moment, and then her face went ablaze. Her hands moved to her hip as if the grab her sword, and when it wasn’t in there she dashed at Gray in surprising speed.
He had just the time to think uh oh, before he was slammed onto his own table, with one of Atena’s hands on his collar and the other on his neck. “You fucking bastard! I should have known the reason why a man like you specifically asked for a woman was just to turn me into your fuckable meat sack!”
“That’s where you are wrong,” Gray smiled, but it was uncomfortable when his back hurt. “You are a very talented soldier, someone who can aid me greatly. I have a ton of jobs for you, but since you are a girl, you can help me too.”
“It’s always that isn’t it?” Atena lifted him up and slammed him to the table again. “Even in the military I always get stripped and groped and abused because of this damn body! And I’ve had enough of it,” she gripped him from the collar and brought his face close to hers. “I’ll kill you and make a good statement to this city.”
“Don’t be dumb,” Gray snapped. “Killing a noble is a grave crime, and there is no one here to save you. And,” he gripped her hand. He hated being the weak one. It reminded him of the days he was the fucking punching bag of Julius. “Remember your fucking place!”
He called all the energy he had and focused it on the veins he felt on Atena’s hands. He fed the energy to it all at once, sending her lurching back.
It was a trick he had learned in the last few months. Just like he could pleasure a woman with a touch, he could also do the opposite. The opposite was hard, but it worked when he concentrated all his emotions on what he had.
Atena touched her arm, still looking alarmed. “What was that?”
“I fed you and your sister, and this is what I get?” Gray searched for a weapon in the room. He couldn’t take a military-trained woman in a hand-to-hand fight. And he knew he couldn’t do the same trick twice.
“You are just a fucking dog! I can find a better life anywhere in the city than here. I couldn’t kill the Ruthcroft bastard because the entire military will be at me, but I can beat you to death and feel good about it-”
She crouched back, ready to charge at him. Gray looked at his drawers, where he had the knife that killed Julius. He dashed to get it, and Atena dashed for him.
Then the door swung open.
“Atena?”
Gray turned along with Atena. Anna stood at the door. The girl looked surprisingly meek.
“Anna?” Atena stopped in her mid-run. “Are you-”
A moment later Aisha appeared, humming a tune and keeping a hand on little Anna’s shoulder. “Your sister and I had a little talk.”
“Yes,” the girl suddenly beamed. “She is giving me sweets!”
Aisha smiled, then slowly grabbed a knife from her back. She positioned the hilt right above the girl, who still beamed as if nothing was happening.
“She is giving me sweeeeets!” Anna grinned. “You want sweets Atena?”
Atena seemed to consider the odds - whether to dash at Aisha or to grab Gray.
“You heard that Atena?” Aisha’s eyes gleamed, and her mouth curled to a smile. The knife in her hand made her look like a serial killer. The ones Gray saw in the newspapers. “Your sister is eager to taste some sweets. So why don’t you kneel down on the ground like a dog and get the fuck away from my husband?”