Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Liliana
After the tour around the market, we went to the slave sanctuary, and the whole day, which had been pleasant, turned unpleasant in a second. The word “sanctuary seemed like a mockery in itself.
It was a ten–floor building filled with slaves who were kept prisoners in dingy cells. There was an eating mess on the second floor which didn’t care for hygiene and nutrients at all, serving them what animals also leave from their meals.
They were all dressed in worn–out clothes, drifting in the cells like zombies. None of them reacted when Adolf and I passed by their cells except for a chilling stare which I felt to my bones.
Their eyes were filled with lifeless despair, and some had countless curses captured in them. It was a place filled with misery.
The whole building was clean except for the mess and the cells.
It felt terrible to watch them living their life with no hope and rotting away in the prisons. I couldn’t see the girls who performed the belly dance at the ball.
“Where are those slaves who performed the belly dance in the White mansion’s ball?” I asked Adolf who was accompanying
- me.
“Some of the female slaves, including the ones who performed at the ball before have been shifted to a new place.”
“Why?” I asked, ignoring an ominous feeling pricking the back of my head.
“I apologize but I am unaware Luna” Adolf said politely and I released a heavy breath when suddenly the prison bars rattled and one of the prisoners stuck close to it, glaring at me with contempt.
“Who are you!? Are you here to buy us!?” The man shouted and the guards rushed to the prison and held his mouth, about to chain him in silver but I stopped them.
“Buy you? Are you being bought?” I asked and the man’s eyes reddened in vile anger.
“Yes, you people came and took away my sister too! Before she was just taken away for one night but now she hasn’t returneri for four days!” The man yelled before he burst out in tears and fell to his knees.
His back shook in despair and I observed others face moulding into pity and compassion as they watched him wail. It wasn’t right. All of this happening here is wrong.
I left the floor where that slave was crying bitterly right away. I couldn’t continue watching the raw sadness and pain caged in those prisons instead of those poor slaves.
All of them are war prisoners who haven’t done anything wrong and yet they are being fed nothing but misery.
The guards inside the sanctuary were trained warriors who wouldn’t hesitate to strike them at just one mistake. I wonder whether they beat him up after I came out of the building.
“Adolf, do these slaves just stay here locked in the prison?” I asked once I was out of that building reeking of lespondency and gloom.
“No, Luna. They work for the pack. They carry out all sorts of menial tasks such as labour, cleaning of the pack, mining etc.” “And yet they are being kept in such conditions? I understand they are slaves but to treat them in such a manner is
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Chapter 31
completely wrong! It wouldn’t be wrong to dress them in nice clothes and provide them with good food sering fr for work!” I burst out but Adolf kept standing with his head bowed,
I know it isn’t his fault and he can’t do anything about it but I am furious. I am not an angel but I am also not stonos to walk away from such profound grief and piercing sorTTOW
They were innocent people who were made slaves because of war so why is Darrian not letting them live in frex paces a his colony? Why has he imprisoned them here in these cells, depriving them of life
I know he isn’t cruel enough to do so so why?
Aren’t they our kin too? Then how can he ignore that man’s bitter cries for his sister? This won’t do, I need to talk to him. 1 also have an inkling where that man’s sister might be.
“Adolf, I am done touring today. Tell Oliver to drive to Damian’s office. I want to see him” I said, determined to talk as I walked to the car.
I was restless the whole ride until we reached the corporate mansion. There is another mansion where official pack matters are handled, also Damian’s main office where he works as the Alpha of the pack
I entered the blue mansion and luckily spotted Hudson right away. I called for him and he quickly strode towards me. “Good evening Luna, it’s so good to see you at the office. Are you here to see Alpha?” He asked and I nodded.
“I need to see him urgently” I said sternly and Hudson blinked before he grew serious.
“He is in a meeting with the elders right now but it is about to finish in just 10 minutes. You can wait in the waiting ata on the first floor and I will relay your message in the meantime.” Hudson said and quickly left after giving some instructions to Adolf.
“Luna, would you like to have a tour of the main office?” Adolf asked and I shook my head
“No, I would like to head to the waiting area Hudson told me to wait at” I was agitated and wanted to see Damian right away with no mood to tour the office.
The scene from the cell earlier kept revolving in my head, filling me with unease and anxiety. All of them seemed to bere such a deep resentment for Damian that it was scary.
It would become a disaster if any enemy of Damian took advantage of the fact and turned all the slaves on their side, surging a rebellion. There are as many slaves as warriors in the pack
How can Damian be so careless about this matter? How can he be so cruel and relentless? I can’t believe it’s under his orders that they are being treated like that.
The scene from earlier keeps haunting me. I feel goosebumps rise when I remember the pain and anger in the man’s eyes when he banged against those prison bars.
How much pain must they have been enduring all this time?
The door slid open automatically when we stood in front of it. I entered the waiting area of the first floor which was no less than a luxurious sitting area.
I wonder whom they invite to this room filled with grandeur and ease. I couldn’t help but compare it to the dingy cells 1
visited earlier.
“Luna, may I keep this parcel on the table here?” Adolf asked and showed me the Aunt Griffin’s blueberry pie I ordered for,
Chapter 31
Damian as well
1 was planning to serve him at the dinner but it wouldn’t be had to give it to him for evening tea. It’s the perfect time for evening snacks as well.
“Yes, please keep it here I told Adolf who left the room after keeping the pie there.
I shook my leg, as I waited for Damian and when it didn’t help, I stood up and started walking around when suddenly the door slid open once again and there he stood dressed in a black formal suit, neat just like today’s morning
“Did you miss me or there is something you wish to talk about?” He sauntered inside the room with his signature arrogance, teasing me as soon as he saw me.
“I have something I want to talk about,” I said ignoring his provocative comment, feeling my heart beat loudly in my chest now that I was about to finally discuss the matter of slaves with him.
He encouraged me to start talking with a nod of his chin as he took the chair opposite to mine. A table stood between us with two cups of hot coffee kept on it.
I wish to discuss the slaves” I started and he stopped midway from bringing the cup to his lips.
I wonder how he would have drank such a hot liquid right away.
“You went on a tour today, didn’t you? What is it that you wish to discuss” He said and kept the cup back on the table before he clasped his hands together in front of him, swinging one of his legs onto another as he settled comfortably in the swivel chair.
“I am here to suggest improvement in their living condition. I think we are doing the wrong thing by treating them poorly despite taking their services” I said and his face remained stoic before he opened his lips and crushed my confidence coldly.
“If you are here to talk about useless things, then you can go back home because I don’t have time to waste.” He was actually about to stand but I stood up more quickly than him, trying my best to not waver.
“It’s not useless Damian! I saw how they were living in those cells. That slave sanctuary is filled with heart–clenching despair. I am not asking you to free them but just to provide better living conditions for them.
Just dress them in neat clothes and give them good food! That alone will improve their situation a lot before you send them back to their packs and rule them as colonies!”
“Liliana” I stilled when he took my name coldly than he had ever before. His grey eyes were piercingly sharp when he stared
at me.
“Do I look like someone who is trying to earn their favour?”
“It’s not about favour Damian. I know you aren’t this cruel and heartless to treat them as if they are not living beings lest our kin” Why is he so averse to the idea of the betterment of slaves? I felt the frustration in my heart grow because of his inability to understand me.
Does he not realize they are his own people too now that he has conquered their packs?
“I am not cruel and heartless?” He suddenly started laughing and the air in the room surrounding us changed when he stopped making me feel as if I was surrounded by a glacier.
“Liliana, I have told you this before as well, I am the same as my rumours. So don’t expect me to have a kind heart like yours otherwise I won’t be responsible for your misunderstandings later which can cost you your life” his voice felt like he was trying to sink his canine in my neck and rip my skin off but I still have to try.
21:18 Mon, 3.Feb
Chapter 31
I was scared and my fingers were trembling but I couldn’t stop,
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“Damian, it’s not good for you as the Alpha. All of those slaves are filled with bitter resentment and it’s not a wise move to keep ignoring it. If any of your enemies got a whiff of it, they might start a rebellion!”
“Do
you
think I am scared of some mere slaves now? Those whom I have conquered?” his words were a mockery and his lips
were a sneer.
I felt taken aback when I didn’t see any warmth in his eyes as he gazed at me.
Were the past days my illusion? Was I imagining when I thought we had gotten closer than before?
“Damian, it’s not about being a coward. It’s a matter to think wisely and what’s wrong with making their packs colony rather than leaving them abandoned with no people living there?”
“Liliana, you should stop being a pathetic coward and refrain from suggesting anything related to the slaves. It’s not something you should concern yourself with” I stared at him astonished when he cut me off like a stranger.
Aren’t I the Luna of BloodClaw pack? Why shouldn’t I concern myself with the pack matters? And is he calling me a pathetic coward just because I suggested a humanitarian approach to the treatment of slaves?
Is this really the true self of Damian?
I felt my heart sink when I watched him stare at me coldly and sip on his coffee like he didn’t care about a word I said, the tension I held and the worry I had for him.
“Are you…also selling the slaves?” I ended up asking the question I tried holding back after he had just told me to withdraw myself from this matter but I heard that man’s cry echo through my head and I couldn’t stop myself.
His eyebrow twitched and he kept the cup harshly on the table with his face marred with anger.
“Do you not understand Liliana? You are just a Luna in namesake so don’t go around thinking like a real Luna with that heat of yours.
You will only bring a disaster with that flower field inside your head instead of some real brain. Don’t let those few nights get to your head”
