Dominion Ch. 15

"It can't be helped. If it was who I think it was, you had no chance of catching him anyway." Serenad waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Don't worry about The Sister Keeper, I'm sure it will surface again."

"Sir," The scout saluted, and made to leave, "I will leave you to your... devices."

The door shut, and Mila looked to Serenad for answers. She wanted to know what they were talking about, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't tell her the truth, no matter how much he claimed to want to earn her trust. A sigh escaped him as he looked at her suspicious stare, and he conceded with a shrug.

"The Sister Keeper is a power suppression cuff that was made specifically to control Nora. Trysten crafted and imbued it himself. It is one of two bracelets he made for that purpose. She is currently wearing the other."

"Your betrothed," she sighed, feeling stupid for even forgetting such a detail. The lecherous man was on the verge of a marriage and he was playing with Mila's feelings anyway, "you keep a suppression bracelet on her?"

"She is volatile without her brother there to mediate. He knew that better than anyone, which is why he crafted them in the first place," he explained with a deeper frown. "And the marriage is of political value and nothing more."

"A brother that you framed and had banished." she frowned as she remembered herself, and made to stand. He refused to let her go, holding her tight against him as he looked up at her with keen eyes. "You treat the Queen, my cousin, as a prisoner in her own home, using her as another pawn to get what you want."

"I tried to be reasonable, but Nora is blind to reason." he sighed and leaned back, releasing her from his hold and closing his eyes. "She's so violent, and angry and she's... she's so damn stubborn!"

"How would you react to losing a close family member and being effectively chained to an infamous man?"

"She didn't know my history. She didn't know how far I could go."

"But she does now?"

"Yes."

Mila shook her head and stood from her place over his lap. He allowed her retreat this time, never moving from his position as she backed away toward the bed again. She was such an idiot! How could she even entertain tender thoughts toward this man? Who knew what he did to Nora in order to keep her under heel? Who knew how he would turn on Mila once he was impatient with her? She was angry and afraid. Angry at herself for falling for his games, and afraid of what more he might try to do to her once persuasion didn't work.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you anything. I knew you would be upset," he stood and breached the distance between them before she was able to retreat on top of the mattress. "you even told me you didn't want to know the terrible things I've done. And yet you want me to be honest with you? Why are women so complicated? You say one thing and do another and no matter what I am the one at fault!"

"What did you do to Nora?" when he looked away, it only made her angry. "What did you do?"

"I lost my temper, and I hurt her," eyes closed, he sighed. "I left scars on her body. Were she of weaker blood... I might have even killed her."

Mila shook her head and ducked away, trying to escape him as he crowded her against the bed. He caged her in with his arms and cradled her head, holding her still as he forced her to face him. His expression was a steeled kind of apathy, but a storm brewed in his eyes as he watched her. She wanted to look away, to hide from his probing stare, but her fear outweighed her discomfort. She could not turn away, and she would not close her eyes to him, not when he was unhinged and unpredictable. Instead, she decided she would face him and continue her interrogation.

"The Daegra woman and her child... what are they to you?"

"A means to an end," the mask was back up, the chemistry between them flat lined by the tension. "Nothing more."

"More non-answers, then? Is this how it will always be?"

"I don't know. I can't trust your reactions any more than you can trust my reputation."

"My reactions are justified. You can't expect me to simply accept the abuse of my cousin without resenting you for it."

"That's fair," he sighed and closed his eyes. "I can't say I blame you."

"How reasonable of you," she mocked, his previous words returning to her mind as she struggled to escape his grip once more, "I can't help but wonder when you will grace me with the same treatment. Its only a matter of time and temper, after all."

"I've hurt many people in my life time, and I will hurt many more," he leaned in so that his lips were a breath away from hers. "But I will never hurt you."

"You already have."

Her words struck him like a physical blow, and he released her as he reeled back in shock. uncertainty crossed his face and for a moment he seemed confused by her words. As realization sank in, so did an unfamiliar expression of despair. He never intended to hurt her, but he didn't consider the many ways people can be hurt... and the thought that his actions toward Nora could wound Mila caused him to step back and reconsider.

"Never again. I swear it."

"You only mean to keep me ignorant to your actions," she returned to the safety of her bed and crawled back against the wall, "by locking me up in this room with no exposure to anyone else. You hope to brainwash me into loving you, but I won't allow it."

"You can cause me pain but you cannot make me kneel to you. You can force my arousal but you cannot make me love you," he murmured with a wistful smile. "Those were the words Nora spoke to me the day I lost my temper with her. I am beginning to understand just what she meant," he ran a hand over his face before returning his stare to Mila, "I will give you what you want, then. I will tell you everything, the good and the bad. I will take your advice on moral standpoints as I seem to be lacking in that field. And I will continue to love you regardless of your feelings toward me."

"Continue... to love me?" Mila whispered, "You don't even know me."

"You're wrong."

"Then prove it. I can't trust your word, and I likely never will."

"Even if it takes the rest of my life... I will."