The Prison of Hearts

Chapter-1

Roaming through the slums of Nor, I couldn’t help but cover my face against the vile smell of vomit and sweat. I had always hated crowded places, they made it difficult to wield a weapon in time of an emergency, but this was way worse. The afternoon sun worsened the awful stench and the sweaty half naked bodies made it difficult for me to take one step without gagging.

Nor was small city on the western side of Daraken, and majority of its population was below the poverty line. The other few were the rich constables and noble men who couldn’t care less about their people.

I worked my way through the sweating bodies to find Felix flirting with a woman obviously older that himself. She was twirling her blonde hair around her right hand finger holding an apple in the other. The apple was dark red, almost black, the signal clear. As I made my way to them, his green eyes met my grey ones and he smirked as he saw my discomfort.

“So how is the Princess liking the dirty slums of Nor?” He said raising his eyebrows and giving me a knowing look. Baring my teeth at him as I stalked over to the girl with the apple.

“Did this bastard manage to ask you about business while he tried to get into your pants?”

The girl glared at me but nodded “Follow me”

Oh, did I forget to mention, Nor is also the criminal capital of Daraken. All illegal trading and criminal activities are done here.

“Are you jealous Azi?” Felix asked giving me one of his famous smirks. Gods! I hated that look, it always made me want to punch that gorgeous face of his.

Don’t get me wrong, he was almost like a brother to me, but that face belonged a literal god. With those deep, poison green eyes, messy blonde shoulder length hair and that sinful smirk he could make any girl’s knees weak, not that I would tell him that.

“You are the last person I’ll be jealous for” I said glaring at him “I just wanna get out of this place as fast as possible”

He just laughed at my expense and continued after the blonde lady as she walked us through the crowd and towards the cluster of tents. She stopped at an all black tent with a large creast on top of it, a snake with a sword cutting through its body forming a double S figure , the symbol of the Dumid gang. We walked inside to see a stylish black interior, too fancy for these slums.

There was a black-haired girl serving the men in the room, the bruises on her hands and face made me see red. There was a man sitting in the centre, his messed up red hair glinting and coal black eyes staring into mine, quite handsome but not really my type.

He tipped his wine glass towards me “Azalea Damonus, The Viper of Daraken, to what do I owe this visit?”

“Cut the crap Marcus, you sent a message by killing one of mine, I am here to repay the favour?”

“Did I?” he asked feigning confusion “I don’t seem to remember”

I was getting angrier by the minute, He was trying to provoke me using the smallest possible reason, even if it was stupid. Men like him had a tendency to underestimate women, though I didn’t think he would be foolish enough to cross me.  

My reputation was not exactly great among the people of Daraken. I was known for my short temper and frequent killing sprees. And of course, the amazing heists and murders I could pull off.

I kept my cool and walked towards him, always keeping my eyes on his. Taking a sip from his wine glass, I took a seat on his lap, swallowing my disgust.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of his men pull the server onto his lap, the girl looked uncomfortable but didn’t say anything as he ran his hands up and down her body. I brought my attention back to the man in front of me and pulled out my knife.

Taking my knife, I slid it up and down his chest “do you want me to refresh your memory on how exactly you sent me message?” I said seductively

He gulped, which caused me to smirk.

 “Do you want me to remind you how you killed one of my men, wrote a message in his blood, do you want me to tell you about how you didn’t even have the guts to actually come to my place to deliver the message yourself and instead hung a head in the plaza where children play?” I said my calm façade fading.

“Do you want me to show exactly what you did him?” I trailed the knife up to his neck and saw him flinch.

Getting the reaction I wanted I smirked and got up to stand next to Felix. He looked at me waiting for permission, so I gave him nod.

Felix stood straighter and looked all of them in the eyes “Since you took one of ours, we are gonna take few of yours”