Vampire's Prey

Chapter 29: Submission

The sun is creeping through the west windows. I've been stuck on this chair the whole day while the mince mocks me with its mouth-watering scent. Beautiful carvings decorate the chair's bulky frame to which I'm bound. Like everything in this castle, it's built with high-quality workmanship which would've carried an equally high price. It's constructed to last, making it annoyingly sturdy and impossible to break with the strength in my limbs.

The door opens, and Rahlan steps inside. He sits on the table and gently moves the blonde hair out of my eyes. "Ready to reconsider your position?"

I want to bite his finger, but that may give him the excuse to bite me back with his sharper teeth. Fighting him got me tied up, reaffirming that he can just do whatever he wants to me. He claims he's now keeping me as his pet – a demeaning term for a human kept close to quench their captor's thirst for blood, though that's a role I've been forced into since the day he got me.

I nod, wanting nothing more to be done with all of this.

"Good girl."

He makes my blood boil.

The rope around my wrists and ankles falls away as he loosens the knot. I stand and stretch, taking a walk around the room to get my blood flowing again.

He turns the chair, its wooden frame grinding against the stone floor. I don't have the stamina to continue fighting over his stupid eating customs.

I take a seat back on the chair. He pushes it to bring me closer to my plate.

I pick up the fork.

"Wrong hand," he growls.

I swap the fork to my left hand and take the knife in my right. I don't have any practice performing the precise movements to scoop up food with my left hand. Why bother trying to use two tools at once when I could hold the food better with my right?

The bread is the largest item on my plate, making it my first target. If I get my first few bites right, then maybe he'll lose interest and let me eat the mince in peace.

I stab the bread with my fork and bring the large piece up to my mouth. It's too big to eat in one go. I nibble a small bit off the side while trying to keep the bread from falling back on the plate.

"Cut it first," he says, his tone indicating that it's not a request.

I lower the bread back to the plate, afraid that ignoring his command would anger him and get me tied up again.

Handling the oddly-shaped knife and the fork at the same time proves to be too much of a challenge. I push the bread off the utensil and opt to try the mince. My wobbly hand struggles to keep the fork steady as I raise the saucy meat up to my mouth. Keeping it level proves difficult, and soon all the mince has fallen back on the plate.

I try a second time but only succeed in bringing an empty fork up to my mouth. On my third attempt some of the saucy meat hits the table too.

"Stop it," he snaps.

"Both refusing to use the fork and trying my best to use it sets you off," I say.

"Your best?" He moves closer, his proximity like a heavy weight on my shoulders.

I frown. I try using his ridiculous cutlery, and he accuses me of deliberately being difficult so he has an excuse to tie me up again. I was bound to the chair for hours thinking it was because of my choices, that if I'd just submitted to him then he wouldn't have snapped.

I meet his gaze again. "You make it impossible for me to succeed so when I fail you can punish me under the pretense of justice. If you want to punish me then just do it. You're my owner as you say. I can't stop you. But don't try trick me into believing that if I submitted to you that I would've been spared from your wrath."