Unleashed

Chapter Seven: Unfamiliar

Mila

"You heard the audience, beast. Kill it!" My uncle ordered Connor.

The tall Lycan looked at his opponent, but he didn't take action. It was written all over his face that he didn't want to fulfill my uncle's order. If I wasn't mistaken, the other Lycan was his friend, the same one I had seen him with a few evenings ago.

How could Darius even ask him to do this? This was only a fight for entertainment not for profits. Was he truly only doing this because he wanted to impress his guests? It made no sense to me. My uncle gave the command again and when Connor still didn't listen, Caspian's whip clashed against his back, making the Lycan groan in pain as his blood gushed on the arena sand.

"Uncle, stop this!" I shouted, standing up from my seat.

Darius looked at me with shocked eyes which almost immediately grew angry instead of surprised. I shouldn't have intervened. I saw the disapproving looks on the guests' faces and when I looked at Lir, he too had wide eyes, but they were filled with worry.

It hadn't been my place to speak up and now I had shamed my uncle in front of everyone. It was worth it, though. I didn't want Connor to have to kill his friend just because these stupid people demanded it.

"I...t-this..." I searched for words but could not find them.

"What young Mila means to say-" Felix jumped up from his seat, stood behind me, and placed his hands gently on my shoulders. "Is that it's a waste to kill off this beast. She knows that her dear uncle is known as the most honest and righteous lanista out of all-no offense, Vincent."

The other lanista chuckled. "None taken. I know I'm an asshole towards my beasts."

"I think Mila just doesn't want us to force her uncle to do things he doesn't want to do." As Felix helped me out, I weakly smiled at the other people. "Taking care of such large beasts costs a lot," Felix continued. "It needs to be fed and its wounds need to be taken care of. We shouldn't have asked this of Darius. I'm so sorry, my dear friend. Let your Lycans live so they can fight and die in more important matches."

Darius inhaled deeply and managed to put on a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes. "Thank you, Felix, for the clarification." He then waved at Caspian, who ordered the Lycans to come with him and for the briefest moment, my eyes had locked with Connor's bright green ones. And my heart skipped a beat.

***

While I stood in my uncle's office, I could hear the musicians playing their harps and flutes and the people's voices and laughter. I, however, didn't laugh at all. And neither did Darius.

He sighed. "I've had enough of this, Mila. These past years I have put up with your ridiculous compassion for those creatures but this has to stop right now. Right now, do you hear me? Or you're no longer welcome in the house of Xavius."

"But uncle-"

"Silence!" he yelled out loud. I immediately held my tongue. I had never seen him this angry before. "You are a woman now, not a child any longer." His voice calmed down. "This is the world we live in and it's about time you grow up and stop with these sickening Lycan fairy tales that you're making up in your head. They are our slaves and nothing more."

"I-"

"It's time you start acting how a grown-up is supposed to act in the real world before you'll put shame upon your mother. The people in Liandro are gossiping about your ways of thinking already, so I can only imagine how they speak about you at home. Do I make myself clear?" I balled my fists and bit at the inside of my cheeks. "Mila?"