Oriana hesitated, but Arlan continued to gently caress her hands, trying to provide comfort and encouragent.
"You can take your ti," Arlan said, his voice steady. "I can wait, unless you do not trust enough?"
She pursed her lips, reluctance evident on her face. It was not a matter of trust. This was a secret she had never shared with anyone, not even her grandpa. Arlan’s persistence, however, encouraged her to speak, even though finding the right words was a challenge.
"It’s just...No one knows about it," she began, her head still lowered.
"Let be the first," Arlan’s voice was soft, his touch reassuring.
Perhaps it was the gentleness of the evening breeze, or the earthy scent lingering in the garden, or his comforting warmth presence—maybe a combination of all three—but the barrier in her heart began to lower.
Taking a deep breath, Oriana chose to open up. "I...I was abducted when I was a young girl."
"Abducted?" Arlan’s grip on her hands tightened. A flash of anger appeared on his face, but his expression went unseen by her, who kept her gaze fixed on her hands..
"They were slave traders...and I was abducted to be sold to a nobleman..."
At this revelation, the comforting touch of Arlan’s hand shifted into a tense grip.
Oriana raised her eyes to et his gaze. She could see a fleeting coldness in his eyes, quickly replaced by a calm and understanding expression. "Please, go on."
"Being abducted like that... it’s terrible..." Oriana continued, her voice shaky. "It’s sothing I’ve never shared... because the mont I speak of that ti, it’s like I’m reliving that nightmare all over again."
Arlan’s gaze remained focused on her, his patience unwavering. He didn’t wish her to feel hurt by recalling anything hurtful, but she was his, his mate and he needed to know everything about her. If soone had hurt her, he needed to pay them back.
"What happened, exactly?" His voice was cold, though he tried to sound gentle.
Taking a mont to compose herself, Oriana reluctantly began to recount her painful mories. "When I was taken, I tried to fight back. Because I ran and scread, I was beaten badly as punishnt. They made sure not to touch my face because I was a high-quality good, but the rest of my body..." She inevitably shivered. "They locked up in a dark room without food or water. I don’t know how long I was kept captive, but I was all alone, terrified and hungry and cold and in pain...until they brought in a nobleman."
Arlan’s eyes darkened with anger as he listened, his grip on her hands growing tighter.
Oriana noticed his reaction but found a strange comfort in his presence. She pushed forward, needing to share her story.
"One of the slave traders completely tore away my dress, leaving naked, as they comnted on my body, discussing as if I was re cattle, not a person. How expensive I am because of my appearance and age, how the price should be lowered because of the bruises, the fare to smuggle into the buyer’s mansion..."
Tears rolled down her eyes.
"I-I begged them to let go, but they just laughed at my tears. I was bought, they said. That I am that nobleman’s property and my body, my life, he owns my everything so I should be a good girl and serve him well.
"After the deal was concluded, the nobleman’s servant ca to get ...to bring with them. I knew then, t-that the mont they took , I could no longer return. It was my last chance to struggle...so the servant, he hit . He hit again and again for being a disobedient girl. I think he liked the sound of crying and begging. I was naked...my body, in his hands..." Her voice trembled. "His hands...I didn’t like the way they touched ..."
Her voice choked and she pulled her hands back from Arlan’s hold. She crossed her arms over her chest, her body shaking at the traumatic mory.
"I...just wanted clothes on ..."
Arlan felt helpless guilt. He wanted to know more about Oriana, to understand her better, but his curiosity reopened a scar better left untouched. It hurt him to see her so frail and vulnerable.
He didn’t know how to console her. He wished to hold her in his arms but wondered if she would want him to touch her at this mont.
He was about to say sothing but heard her continue, "...I didn’t give up though. I was terrified but I was not helpless. I could not let them bring away to who knows where...so I bit his arm with all my strength. I freed myself from him. Then suddenly sothing happened and I found the chance to run away from there."
"What happened?"
"I don’t know." The corner of her lips lifted. "The mory was all fuzzy now. Maybe they were attacked. Everything was in chaos. All I rember afterwards was managing to run away from there."
Arlan hesitated, wanting to hold her in his arms, but chose to clasp her hands instead.
"I am sorry that you had to face that."
Oriana said nothing, but sensing his clumsy attempt of being considerate, she pulled his arms and wrapped them around herself. In his embrace, she felt safe.
’I am sorry, I cannot tell you everything,’ she could only murmur in her heart. ’This is the extent of what I can tell.’
How she fled and what happened to those slave traders, it was the biggest twist in her life.
The young Oriana was desperate and terrified. The desire to escape, the desire to survive, all of those were overpowered by sothing else the mont that disgusting servant touched her.
Hatred.
For the first ti in her life, she felt an emotion so strong, it made her want to kill. The childish innocence in her was gone, her faith in humanity lost, tainted by anger and revulsion and the desire to kill people who were worse than animals.
She was but a young girl, but her instinct called for their death. Her hatred was so strong that suddenly the entire place shook. The roof and walls collapsed as a storm erupted out of nowhere. The slave traders, the nobleman and his servant, all of them were blasted away, caught in the explosion of power centering on Oriana.
That was the night when Oriana discovered she was not an ordinary human.
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