Deal with the Devil - Fear the devils series book 1

Chapter 39

1438 B.C 

12 years later

"Please, I'm starving. I would put in a full day of unpaid labor. Just this bit of bread, please." Celine begged the elderly man in the market. However, he didn't appear to be moved by her pleading. "I appreciate your generosity and have already accepted it twice, but I have to make money in order to support myself, not you. I won't continue to feed you for free; go work somewhere else and come back with some money." The older man sat with his arms crossed.

With her belly groaning and her body on the verge of collapse, Celine turned her head away. "I can't. Is there nothing I can do to help? You know I can bake and clean well, but I'm pretty desperate right now."

"Oh, I see you are, but there isn't..." He trailed off when he saw the bracelet on her arm—which she usually kept hidden well. This time, however, she had forgotten to cover it properly, probably because she was so hungry that she was unable to think clearly.

He grasped Celine's arm tightly as he reached over the counter, causing her to yell out in pain. A devious grin appeared on his face as he slowly unveiled the bracelet. "However, this would work." Celine released her arm from his grasp and held it close to her body as a form of defense.

 "I'm not going to give it away." She answered with a calm voice. "So starvation is it?" The man was confident that she would give in. At this point, if it had just been another meaningless bracelet, she would have given it some thought, but this bracelet was unique because the friendly demon gave it to her—if a demon could ever be thought of as kind.

After briefly pondering trading it for a piece of bread, Celine replied, "Then it's starving," before adding, "Have a nice day." He frowned at her intransigence since he was anticipating a different outcome. She gave a quick nod while holding her head high and then turned to walk away. 

Exhausted, she made her way to the hut she had built in this tiny village years before. After that particular occurrence, which resulted in her being imprisoned with a demon that drains people, she had decided she wanted to leave the big town, which she did as soon as she escaped the building.

But believing she could escape a difficult life once her money was gone was a foolish assumption. Once more, she discovered that her door was open when she got home. Celine was about to start crying all over again when she realized she had been once more robbed, but she had to remember herself that much worse had happened before. She ought not to be crying over such little matters. 

Going inside, she saw that some of the furniture was missing, but thankfully, her clothes were still there because, wherever she went, she was always the shortest or one of the shortest. None of the other villagers here could wear her tiny shoes, so they were kept untouched. In an effort to stop herself from crying, she attempted to control her breathing as a panic attack crept up on her. Eventually, it succeeded, and she returned to normal.

However, the way she was living in this area was enough to drive her to want to escape once more, regardless of where. She made the decision to go permanently after placing some clothing in her luggage. But when she went outdoors, she became aware of a problem. She had no idea how to get away.

She spent hours pacing the area, following the path taken by traders on their horses, and begged for a ride, but in vain; no one was ready to take her for free. When it got dark, she sat on her bundle and waited for night to fall, knowing that if no one wanted to take her with them, she would have to return home.

She gave up and got to her feet to head back when she heard another rider approaching from behind. "What are you doing alone in the middle of the street, young lady?" A young, attractive man was riding when she turned around to look at him.