Tʜᴇ Pᴀᴛʜ Tᴏ Hɪɢʜɢᴀᴛᴇs

Tʜᴇ Eʏᴇs Aᴛ Tʜᴇ Tᴀʙʟᴇ

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 6

The only sound in the room was the door closing behind you. Leaving you locked in a room full of drunk men who stood taller than the doorframe itself.

You still stood frozen where the soldiers left you, your eyes wide and locked with the German standing over you. Your hands were gripping your shoulder strap like if you let go of it you would fall through the floorboards.

The black, white and red face stared down at you as you examined his choice of clothes, wondering if he was some sort of ruler. He bore a black military coat buttoned up with gold buttons and held together with a black belt. Comfortable-looking black pants were tucked neatly into knee-high black boots. Gold epaulettes sat proudly upon his shoulders and matched the iron cross he displayed on the collar of his jacket.

The man with the rectangle head stared down at you for a moment longer, reviewing every inch of your clothes, skin, hair and posture before he stepped forwards slightly, standing less than a meter away, before he got on one knee, trying his best to get low enough to be on eye level with you.

Salem meowed loudly, drawing attention to herself from the men in the room. The German himself tilted his head at her and tried to reach his hand out to touch her, causing Salem to take a swipe at his finger with a hiss. The man recoiled his hand in a hurry, glancing down at it as a few chuckles were heard from around the table.

The German then looked back at you, cleared his throat and asked,

"Wie heißen Sie?"

You stayed silent, not daring to tell him you didn't understand as your eyes darted around the room in an attempt to not look him in the eye. The atmosphere was so tense you could almost cut it with Salem's claws, but even with this density, you couldn't help but ponder how he spoke without a mouth.

Every pair of eyes were now on you, and with every passing second you could feel them becoming more and more impatient.

The German was kneeling so close to you, you could smell the smoke on his clothes and the alcohol staining his throat. He noticed your inability to answer and reiterated in perfect English, albeit with a thick German accent.

"Vhat ist your name?"

You finally meet his eyes, those black dots he saw out of were drilling into you like he could see his future in you. Something about him unnerved you and made your voice shrivel and dry up in your throat. But you knew you couldn't give this man the silent treatment, he was clearly of great importance and wasting his time would probably be a death sentence for you.

"(𝚢/𝚗)" You managed to croak out through your parched lips.

The man kept his black eyes on yours before he reached out to take your hand, Salem started lowly growling as he did but he chose to ignore her, as you took your hand from your bag strap and held it out, allowing him to kiss the back of it.

Or what you assumed was a kiss, as the man appeared to have no mouth. He pressed the back of your hand to the general place his lips would be which made you feel oddly embarrassed by the formal gesture. The man pulled away but didn't drop your hand, his eyes met yours as he tilted his head subtly.

"Mein Namen ist German Empire, es ist lovely to meet vu (𝚢/𝚗)." The German stated, fixing his posture to hold his head high.

'German Empire' then let go of your hand and stood back up on his two feet, all the while he kept eye contact with you, seeming to take interest in your vibrant irises.

"I vill go find medical attention und food for vu, pleaze, take ein zeat vile I go look." German Empire uttered between Salem's hisses.

The German then stepped past you, and out the door, closing it with a controlled swing of his arm, sending smoke fluttering in exalted patterns around you.