Indomitable

f.o.u.r

They hadn't noticed her yet. The room was large with a high, domed ceiling, and two sides were piled high with books on anatomy and body functions. Hormones, nerves, the brain—everything was here. However, there were some species that were so rare that no book covered them and their make-up. The Icix was one of them.

The third wall was full of weapons—mostly different kinds of knives and swords, but also a variety of unique weapons she'd never even seen before. Ones that were modified to hurt far worse than an ordinary sword or knife.

Killure was chained to the last wall, arms and legs bound, and hooked up to a variety of wires and machinery. Nothing had been taken from him yet—he was still in one piece, because her father and uncle were still setting up.

So this was why her father had bought the Icix for her.

They did this often with the other slaves, and it sickened Remi to her very core. Removing body parts with knives, then trying to put them back together and figure out how what they did affected the slave's body. Sometimes they would purposefully put a body part in the wrong place then revive the test subject and see if they could get the body part to work there. Often slaves would bleed out during testing as the two brothers wrote down notes on the results they'd gotten, only to be revived when they were ready to resume testing.

It was absolute torture, and Remi usually tried not to think about it, but today she had no choice. She wouldn't let someone she was responsible for be broken.

"Evening, father, uncle," Remi greeted boldly, acting like she was completely at ease, while inwardly she was terrified of confronting them and facing their wrath. "Looks like we've had a mix up, don't you think?"

Her father looked surprised to see her there, but he quickly recomposed himself and sighed at her, as though she was only a small child throwing a tantrum over a toy she couldn't have. One that he could easily handle and put back in her place. "And what mix up may that be, hmm?" he asked with a slight laugh, as if he hadn't just been about to preform some sort of cruel, inhumane testing on the Icix.

Remi walked over to Killure, who was watching her warily. "I think you mixed up my slave for yours. See, this one here? He's mine."

She stood protectively in front of him, her heart beating rapidly against her rib cage. "And so, we'll be taking our leave."

Her Uncle Fahrem hardly spared her a glance. "Kill her, brother. We'll reassemble her later once we're finished here with the Icix."

Remi's father gave him a sharp glare. "That's my daughter you're talking about."

"Yes, I'm well aware of that. And if it were a daughter of mine coming to prevent me from learning, I would take my own advice and follow through without hesitation."

Remi ignored the both of them, although her body was quaking in fear, and her eyes were wide. She needed to get out of her with Killure before her father was convinced to do things her uncle's way.

She snatched a key up from the cool surface of a nearby metal counter and undid his shackles. He glared silently at the floor, tensing every time her fingers accidentally brushed his skin as if they were blades.

"Remi, darling, I simply can't let you have him," her father frowned, looking at her with a frown and standing between her and one of the many entrances to this room.

She glanced around. There was a trap door in the ceiling, a door on the floor that opened to who knows where, and also the door she'd come in through.

"You already have, father. In contract and deed, he is officially my slave. Not yours, or yours, uncle. And if you disrespect that, I'll bring it up with the Council of Men."