Cannon Fodder To Villainess

🏮24. Her Second Power and a Strange Complication

The platform slipped out from under her feet as she landed near the bed. Arabella stared at the bed and around the room in utter confusion. A delicate crease appeared between her brows. Last thing she remembered she was in her dust covered bedroom laying in bed. She felt a firm hand exert pressure on her back and fell forward onto the bed. Then a hand wrapped around her side and pulled her around onto her back. She looked up into the hungry eyes of a man that she'd never seen before in her life.

"W..what do you want from me?" she asked while looking up at the mysterious man with tears glistening in her eyes.

"Isn't it obvious? Or are you that innocent? I'll enjoy educating you all the more if that's the case. It's the luck of a lifetime that you caught the eyes of a great man such as myself. All you have to do is lay still and enjoy my tutelage." He reached forward and grabbed hold of Arabella Amber's cloak and pulled on it. The clasp strained and there was a loud tearing noise as the fabric ripped. He pulled the fabric from her shoulders and her stunning beauty was further revealed. His eyes widened and his mouth salivates like a wild hungry beast.

Arabella starts to shake and cry in fear as his hands come forward to caress over her curves in admiration. This was her long awaited first time being touched by a man and all she could feel was disgust and fear.

"No!" she screamed while pushing on him as he was straddling her. Then he secured her ankles with cuffs that were attached to the bed.

Her little attempts to push him away instead made him chuckle and excited him more. He pulled the belt tied around his waist off and grabbed hold of both her wrists, holding them together. Then he tied them securely together and secured her wrists to the bedpost above her head. Her face turned pale in fear and her eyes rolled in the back of her head as her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Her neck went slack and her head dropped backwards as she lost consciousness.

He frowned down at her in frustration. "Things were just about to get fun. What's wrong with you?"

He pulled his hand back and viciously slapped her cheek. Her head jerked to the side with the impact of his slap and an angry hand print marked her delicate milky white complexion. Her soft dewy skin instantly swelled up, but she remained unconscious. He looked at how easily her skin turned red and swelled in fascination.

He laughed and gently placed his hand on the print left on her face. Then he lifted his hand and looked down and her fluffy mounds peeked out from the top of her dress. He reached down and squeezed his hand tightly around a creamy mound. She lightly groaned in pain, but didn't wake up. He lifted his hand from her chest and there was an angry blue and purple bruise.

He raised his hand again and slapped the other side of her face. This time his ring caught her lip and ripped it open. Blood trickled down the side of her lip and dripped down her neck, pooling between her collar bones.

"Beautiful," he said while admiring the bright red of her blood against the pale white of her skin. A manic smile spread across his lips and his eyes glistened in excitement. This was what he'd been looking for. This type of beauty. There and then he decided in his heart that this woman now belongs to him.

A smirk appeared on his lips and a glint in his eyes as he stuck up his pointer finger and a bright orange flame appeared on the tip. He directed the flame to the round metal ring on his finger while it started to glow red from the heat. The ring was actually a custom made slave branding tool. Flame disappeared off of his finger. Then he pulled Amber's dress down and pressed the ring to her chest, over the bruised skin. There was a sizzling sound and the air smelled like burnt flesh, as he viciously pressed the slave brand onto her chest. He pulled his hand away and looked at the burnt and welted mark of his brand on her chest with pride.

"This woman is now my property!"

Amber groaned in pain and opened her eyes. She blinked a couple of times in confusion at finding herself tied to a bed. While that little creep from the reception desk loomed over her.

She tugged on her hands to push him away, but they were securely tied above her head. "Get off of me!"

The man frowned at the sudden ferocity in her tone and brave face, but shrugged it off. "I see that you're finally awake. You passed out, so I started the fun without you. Don't be too disappointed though. Now that you're officially my woman, I'll be sure to take care of you on a regular basis."

He looked down at the blood smeared across her chest and smirked at her before sticking out his tongue and lowering his head to her chest.

"You dare?!" Amber said.

He stopped lowering his head and looked into Amber's eyes while holding up his hand.

"Why would I not dare? Do you see this ring? I've already branded you. You, a no name girl wanders in here wearing rags. Who's to say that I didn't buy you at an auction or you didn't sell yourself to me? It's easy enough to fake a signature. It's just a matter of a little bit of paperwork and you officially become my property. You may not realize this, but I'm a noble. Obviously when my word is against yours, my word will be the only one that matters," he said.

A violent glint appeared in Amber's eyes, but he was too proud and sure of himself to notice the impending danger.

"You've done this to other women? Women who are commoners? You've lied about the way you acquired them and forced them to be your slaves?" Amber said.

"Of course. Commoners are lowly beings who are meant to become slaves and play things. It's their honor to have the attention of a great man such as myself. A previous woman I acquired was a married woman. She begged me to let her off because she said she loved her husband. Can you imagine me being turned down for the sake of a commoner? So I had him killed in front of her and blinded her right afterwards. His death was the last thing she saw. She turned out to be an excellent musician, so it was well worth my trouble.

Amber felt an uncontrollable rage well up inside her as she recalled the beautifully eerie music and the crying musician below. She felt a strange new power twitch within her and grasped hold of it. It was a different feeling from her ice magic. More like a metallic feeling or taste, it was hard to place, but nevertheless it was part of her. It felt like it was trying to escape from her, like a long lost memory on the edge of her mind; elusive but substantial. She pulled the feeling closer to her and focused on it.

Instinctively she focused on the man's hateful branding ring. Drips of the metal pulled away from the ring and floated in the air.

He continued to lower his head again and stuck out his tongue. He lapped up her blood while licking her chest, but her attention remained focused on the branding ring. A stream of metal slipped out from the main part of it as it unraveled and the metal liquefied. Then it floated in the air. He didn't notice what was happening to his ring, since he was so focused on licking the blood off of her chest.

"Are you done objecting? I'm glad that you've come to realize the type of man I am. There's no room for discussion or negotiation with me," he said.

"You're right, you're not a man who can be reasoned with," she said.

"Good," he said.

"And so you must die," Amber said.

He looked up with a wide grin on his face. "And how are you going to do that?"

There was only a moment's pause between his last word and his death, as his branding ring formed into a sharp needle and sunk under the surface of his forehead. He silently slumped down in death before he could even blink. There was no outside indication that he was even injured, since the needle went in so perfectly.

Amber sighed in frustration while looking at the disgusting man slumped on her and tried to tug herself free.

"Great, just great! How the heck did I even get myself into this mess in the first place?" Amber said.