Mated To The Cruel Prince
Chapter 84: She Was His Slave

Chapter 84: She Was His Slave

The fruit pie felt like a huge lump in her throat and the first thought that came to her mind was to let it out. Forcing her fist into her throat, Islinda gagged on reflex and bent to throw up when his hand tangled in her hair and righted her.

She peered up at him only to see cold orbs and she shivered. Her action infuriated him. But then, what had he expected her to do? To sit still and accept the fate he imposed on her? It was never going to happen.

She gagged again and his fist in her hair tightened and tears filled her eyes.

"You don’t cease to amaze me, Islinda," the Fae looked amused but she could sense the anger beneath his words.

His voice hardened as he went on, "It’s quite insulting that you think I would enslave you through a common meal. But then...." He chuckled, "It’s quite smart of you to be self-conscious, after all some of our foods are indeed harmful to humans."

Islinda’s eyes widened when he confirmed her suspicion and yet, she believed he had more to say. Was he claiming the food he gave her was safe? It can’t be true. She would believe him over her dead body.

"The food you just ate is not enchanted and it’s safe to consume. I was only making sure the guest under my care doesn’t starve herself but you seem to have a flair for drama. Not that, It wasn’t interesting to watch."

Shame burned her cheeks and Islinda wished the ground could open up and swallow her at this moment. She could still feel his grasp in her hair, it was both forceful and tender. Aldric confuses her.

Swallowing down a thick lump, she carefully asked, "So I’m not stuck in the Fae realm?"

Islinda waited for his answer with great anticipation, her heart ferociously hammering in her chest as Aldric stared at her, his gaze nearly burning a hole into her head, just before his lips curled up and his eyes twinkled.

Even before he spoke, she knew the answer already.

"Fortunately, you are." He announced with a grin. As if it was good news when it wasn’t at all.

"You bastard!" Islinda cursed and hit him on the chest but he might as well have been a brick, he was unmovable. If anything, he explained,

"Unless invited, or stated otherwise in a contract, any mortal who trespasses into the Fae realm and is caught, he or she automatically becomes the property of the seasonal court or Fae." Adric smirked devilishly, "You crossed the walls and I caught you, remember?"

"No... no..." Islinda shook her head, refusing to believe it, "That’s not true. You are trying to deceive me again."

He huffed, "Why would I, when the sign is there already?"

Aldric lifted his hand and as if he willed it, some sort of rune appeared on his wrist and she stared at it with her lips trembling in both wonder and fear

He gestured to her with his head, "Check yours."

With lightning speed, Islinda turned her hand and to her shock, the rune was on her wrist.

"No!" She shrieked and scrambled off her seat, fussing over the mark. For over a minute, Islinda scrubbed and rubbed at the rune but nothing changed. It didn’t erase.

"What have you done to me?!" Islinda screamed at him and while she would have attempted hitting him again, she was immersed in getting rid of the mark, in vain.

"Nothing that hasn’t been done already. I hid the mark depicting you as my slave, but you have a very loud mouth and as I told you, little human, my mind does change easily."

Islinda trembled, déjà vu washing over her as she recalled these were the same words he had said before tricking her into thinking she could outrun him.

Slave? Islinda had a hard time embracing the word. She was his slave?

Islinda stared at the rune and the lettering was a bit different from the one on his wrist. Could it be he was her master and she was his slave? A shiver ran down her back. There was a shimmering snowflake tattoo next to the rune and she would have marveled over the artistry if she wasn’t overwhelmed right now.

Islinda gasped at the realization, her face scrunching in disgust, "You tricked me. I didn’t want to go through the divider. You forced me to. You literally carried me through it. Your claim is void, Aldric. You can’t keep me here!" Her voice grew louder with hope rising inside of her at the prospect of nullifying whatever contract she had with him.

A cold smile finds Aldric’s face," Of course, my claim would have been invalid except that you owe me, or don’t you remember?"

Her blood chilled.

"Honestly, how many times are we going to go over this already? It is pretty much becoming boring," Aldric rolled his eyes upward.

But while he seemed nonchalant, Islinda looked like her life was over. It seems as if every time she finds a loophole to escape this horror, it turns out that he’s already two steps ahead. Aldric didn’t leave any loophole to be harnessed.

When she did not speak, he took it upon himself to say, "You can deny it all you want, little human, but you would have crossed that divider whether you liked it or not as far as I called in on the debt. Even now, you can’t return to the human realm as long as you have that mark. Didn’t anyone warn you never to owe favors to a Fae?"

Her world was falling apart and Islinda became catatonic. She could not react; Islinda could not move nor say a word. She became detached and crawled into a shell inside her mind. But that was only for a while because the next, Islinda let out an anguished wail and snatched the knife she had hidden beneath her skirt.

Aldric saw her coming and didn’t make a move. If anything, he lifted his hand and she stabbed his palm.