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“Fuck it, let’s do it.”
We all head to the canteen where the drinking is already underway. I drown myself in ale, joking with others about Prince Zalith and mocking how soft Lodra has become.
Some of the soldiers have their human slaves strip and dance on the tables, with one even offering a personal lap dance to me. Her owner has no problem with it, seeing as I’m their captain.
I reject it, passing her to the next in command and downing another few pints of ale. Each of us try our hand at a throwing knife competition, which I narrowly win.
The contest comes to an abrupt end when a soldier drops the knife and ends up with a blade stabbing their foot in place. We all laugh it off.
One by one, the men pass out, their human property draped over their laps. There’s no more ale left, and so I take my leave, somehow still sober enough to head back to my quarters on my own two feet.
I lay my hand gently on the door, knowing who is waiting for me on the other side. I only hope that Maya has calmed down by now, at least enough to give me a listening ear.
Drawing a deep breath, I step inside.
“What the fuck?” I blurt.
It’s like a storm has come and hit the room. Everything is turned upside down, and worse yet, I cannot see Maya.
“Maya!” I yell while carefully stepping over fallen items. “Maya, where are you?”
I curse when I step on a broken vase. I look to the bed where empty plates and bowls lay.
I check underneath the bed and in the bathroom, but she is nowhere to be seen.
“There’s no way she could have left,” I mutter.
I’m proven wrong when I can’t find any of her stuff. My anger returns, causing me to flip over the dining table. It blends in with the rest of the mess.
Retreating to the edge of the bed, I bury my head in my hands. Fear slowly grows within me, knowing what potential dangers she could run into outside this room.
Maya may have felt trapped in here, but at the very least, she was protected.
“Surely there is something that can be done.”
I contemplate each and every possibility that crosses my mind. I could always issue a search party. She couldn’t have gotten far.
No, I better not do that. I want her back on my own accord, not in the hands of others. If the men get their hands on her, they’ll throw her right back in the holding cells if she’s lucky. I can’t bring her back here without raising eyebrows.
I look out the window in the direction of Lodra, where I am hit with a terrifying realization.
“What if… what if this is for the best? No doubt, King Kriseri has his eyes on me, and I can’t treat her as she deserves without causing further discourse.”
I look then to the spot by the window where she would always sit, wishing she was there right now.
Her absence makes its mark, leaving a hole in my heart in the shape of her. A tear falls down my cheek to the floor, knowing I am too late to do anything.
I should have made things different for both of us.
I know now that what I really wanted all along was for us two to be far away from all of this nonsense, but this world is far from ideal.
Like the naga who stabbed himself in the foot, I am anchored down, the thought of my woman running away plaguing my mind. I lay down on the unmade bed.
“Maya, you shouldn’t have run away without giving me another chance… But I only hope that you’re okay out there. You deserve happiness more than I do.”
Slowly, I pass out and drift off into a troubled, restless sleep.
“Maya… Come closer… Maya!”
