Destiny 1

Days before.

Jade kept her green eyes open, like every night, because of her chronic insomnia. All around her, the silence was so raw it hurt, and only the moonlight from the rainy seasons lit up the black sky in the middle of the morning. The books that were scattered on the floor were no longer to her liking, she just needed a glance to remember them perfectly for the rest of her life, so the library was no longer her favorite place to be as it had been before. She already knew them all by heart.

With a sigh, she sat up on her bed, dropping the silk sheets that caressed her men's clothes. Accustomed to that aspect that at times made her forget that she was biologically the opposite sex. If it weren't for the family rules, maybe everything would be easier for her. 

She couldn't say she was treated badly in that mansion. Quite the opposite. They pampered her as much as possible, and praised her white skin even though she hardly cared for her and it was only natural. Her very long black hair that they combed day after day was only to show that the men of that family were treated by servants, and her slim body the result of very careful feeding.

But that was one thing and another to hide her true identity throughout his twenty-one years. 

It was exhausting having to resist every comment where the result was marriage. She secretly preferred to train the art of the sword without many results. Her brothers used to criticize her a lot for her poor performance on the subject. It wasn't her fault that she didn't have the same body strength as them.

And she could not do anything, it was the law of the family, all descendants had to be men. Or else there was only one option, lose your head. Her father was very strict and she was sure that if her mother had not hidden her sex when she was born, they would surely both be dead at that time.

That was how simple and difficult life was in that golden cage. 

After midnight, noises from outside broke the silence and Jade was alarmed. What could cause such a disturbance at such an hour? Pushing away what was left of the covers she walked to the door and opened it slightly only to be pushed back, hitting her forehead on the edge of the table, and getting dizzy from the impact.

She couldn't move, she was stunned and the sound grew louder and more rambling around her as her body was dragged through the corridors of the great mansion. It was held by the high bow that she used to wear, as if it were a human sack and it hurt. Something liquid and hot splashed her face and she could not define it until she saw out of the corner of his eye her white sleeping robe stained with drops of blood. 

The image made her come out of his nebula a bit, and despite still numb, she shook herself trying to free herself from the grip. She flailed her hands and legs screaming, but all she did was make something hard land against her cheek, breaking her lip.

-Quiet child, if you don't want to lose your life right here- a deep voice reached her ears and shook her so much that she remained motionless, not even her father, the few times he was upset with her, he had spoken to her like that. It was as if every muscle in her body froze in submission. 

By the time she was thrown against the white stones of the central courtyard, her feet were bruised and her clothes were in disrepair, revealing part of her white, underdeveloped chest, rising and falling uneasily. Jade opened her eyes and shook her head to find an unpleasant and heartbreaking image in front of her. The body of his mother, father, brothers, servants, and his entire clan lay before his eyes and their blood spread beneath them until it stained her hands, like an endless lake.  

A scream caught in her throat and she tried to get closer to them as her ankle was grabbed and pulled back, slashing her palms and chin against the now crimson stones.

She turned her face and only found a man, a single man, covered from head to toe with black clothes, showing an erect and worked body, which covered his face only revealing two very bright amber eyes. A wave of nostalgia ran through her as she looked at him, as if it were not the first time she had seen those unreal orbs, but it was blurred when she heard her laugh.

-A beautiful skin, perfect for an excellent job- he knelt and lifted her by the hair, inserting his hand through the opening of her tunic and running it to the side leaving her chest uncovered -Appetizing and whitish, it would be a shame if it were desecrated. And what a surprise I find myself –

His bloodstained fingers stretched from her collarbone to the beginning of the valley of her breasts.

-A beautiful body hidden under a worldly facade. They have fallen so low- he laughed and lifted the girl who was struggling to bear the pain caused by the grip, with a grimace that disfigured her delicate features.

The man brought his face close to her ear and laughed again this time more gravely.

-This skin of yours will be the ideal material for my goal- Jade trembled and tears ran down her cheeks. If they wanted to call her a coward, they could. She had never learned to defend himself because she was the youngest and his brothers were very overprotective. Barely her skill with the sword could be said to be decent and the shock of the current events overwhelmed her.

The stranger threw her against the ground again and from one of his pockets took out some ropes. Jade shifted and began to crawl to keep her distance but the man got on top of her and sat down roughly, leaving her motionless and almost gasping for air.

Despite struggling, her hands and feet were bound and pinned to the ground by something she couldn't define leaving her face up and vulnerable. Her clothes were completely removed leaving her out in the cold night. 

There in the middle of the night, with her legs spread apart, tied up and without some protective barrier between her body and the outside, she felt unprotected and terrified. She thought it would be a good idea to shout but who would hear it. It was surrounded by many corpses, too much for anyone to be left alive in this place apart from the two of them. That was if it didn't fall to the fact that his huge mansion was separated from the nearest town by a few acres of land.

A smell of burning came to her and in the middle of her tear-stained eyes she saw a small fire with iron hooks that heated red-hot. The man rolled back onto his body and sat on his stomach with his legs on either side of his waist. This time he examined her skin again with equal parts fascination and lust.

He reached out one of his arms grabbing one of the hooks and passed it in front of his face admiring the bright red of the metal.

-Beautiful right? - he asked Jade knowing that she would have no answer- It will only hurt at first, then you will find pleasure even in the madness of pain-

Panic intensified in the young woman who tried to free herself to only cause more damage to her joints.

Her throat, which until now had not let out a sound, tore with a cry when the hot metal touched her skin marking like that, for life.