Shadows of Avarice - Book #1 (BxB)

Chapter 25

Xia lost all sense of time as he was trapped in that small room. The first thug never left his side as he continued to play with Xia's long hair. For now, he didn't do much to Xia, but Xia stayed pressed up against the wall. He flinched every time the man was bold enough to touch more than Xia's hair. But whenever the man saw fear on Xia's face he backed off.

He knew that he could use this to his advantage, but Xia was afraid. Eventually, this man would get bored of only playing with Xia's hair. He dreaded the outcome then. He tried to keep thinking about Osiris and praying that someone was coming for him. The sultan had an army on his side. Surely they would tear Rasea apart to find him. If Osiris didn't search for him, then Alishba would. His sister knew he wouldn't just run away.

The other two men stayed seated at the table, discussing what they should do with Xia. They weren't quiet about it, but they didn't see a need to be. Xia was tied up and at their mercy. Besides, it was three against one. Xia was at a disadvantage.

The bandit on the right side of the table looked Xia up and down. He smirked. "I propose that we kill her. She's not doing any good with us, and it will be satisfying to ship her corpse to the sultan."

"Or we could get a large ransom for her. If we kill her, then we can't make a profit off her. We should sell her back to the sultan and see what we get." The man across from his colleague chimed in.

The first man nodded. "You have a point, but the sultan won't let us get away with that so easily. We could always take her to the black market, or sell her as a prostitute. She should fetch a high price. You don't see elves every day."

Hearing them speak about him made Xia feel sick to his stomach. If he had a choice, he would have preferred for these men to just kill him. If he was sold, then whoever bid on him wouldn't care that he was a man. They would still use him. Xia heard the stories about what happened to elves. The very few that existed were either slaves or prostitutes. Xia was lucky that his grandmother took him in. Otherwise, he would have suffered the same fate as his ancestors.

The man playing with Xia's hair stopped when he heard his comrades talking. Furiously, he stood up and said, "You will not touch her. She is mine. She is going to be my bride."

"Oh, shut up. You say that about every noble girl we kidnap. Once you get bored of her, you'll kill her like all of the rest. It's better to let us take her and sell her." The man on the right brushed away the other bandits' comment.

He scowled at him. "That won't happen this time. She's different from the rest. I know that if she stays by my side, then I will love her."

The other men rolled their eyes and then went back to talking amongst each other. The thug turned back to Xia and knelt before him once again. Xia could tell that something was mentally wrong with this man, so his comrades didn't take him seriously. If Xia could take advantage of this man, then there was an opportunity for him to escape. It would still be dangerous, but Xia was willing to take the chance. He didn't want to stay trapped while those men figured out what they wanted to do with him.

He tried not to flinch when the bandit reached out to touch Xia's face. It was hard to stay composed when he felt his skin crawl, but he reminded himself that he needed to do this to escape. Xia had no intention of dying or becoming a prostitute. He wouldn't wait for someone to come rescue him as he originally hoped for. He wasn't weak.

"You're so pretty. I think you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen." The man was bold enough to move his hand down to Xia's shoulder. He brushed his fingers against Xia's bare skin, and Xia had to resist the urge to back away. Not that he could back away much further than this.

It was time for him to put his acting skills to use. He tried not to think about how vile it made him feel as he said, "D-do you mean it? Do you really think I'm pretty and that you could love me?"