Ruthless

Chapter 13 - The Screams of Kitty Genovese

Ruth was called into the big hall of the castle. It was a gigantic room with dark grey marble floor cracked with whites. When she stepped in, she noticed how her footsteps echoed through the room. The walls were an ivory kind of white and the two side walls were elegantly decorated with heavy black curtains, surrounding the huge windows. The colorful baroque styled windows in the wall at the very back caught her attention and her mouth dropped open. This room and its beauty left her stunned. It reminded her of a church.

There were three steps at the front, that led up to the throne of the king. Next to it, stood a tall blond man wearing (of course) a suit. Do they all look like this?  Ruth wondered. What she didn't second guess was the fact that this guy was almost as evil as the king. He looked at her from afar, but even from the far back she could see him grinning at her. 

Ruth and Dominic walked over to him and Dominic sighed as if he really wasn't up to this guy's presence right now. 

"Good evening, Ruben." Dominic politely said with a nod and stood a few feet from him.

"I see you've brought the king's pet, huh?" He sneered at Ruth, made her feel very uncomfortable. He had a thick German-like accent, just like the one the king had.

Dominic ignored him and gestured Ruth to sit at the black, tall table beside the throne. She calmly made her way over to a seat while Dominic exchanged awkward looks with the green eyed sociopath.

"Is miss Genovese here already?" Dominic asked as Ruth sat down. She knew he was asking about her piano instructor.

"Yeah, she arrived last night. The king wanted her to come to his room immediately." He laughed and it sounded genuine until he turned to Ruth, and his grin vanished.

He walked over to where she was sitting at the table. Every step her way made her feel even more anxious. Dominic had a confused look on his face. What is he doing?  Ruben moved very slow, every breath adding to the tension. He sneered once more before putting his hands on the table, in front of her. He was bigger than her, but now that she was sitting down, he seemed huge. Their eyes never parted and Ruth had no idea what he was doing. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and she hated how he scared her this much.

The eye contact wasn't broken until he turned around to look at Dominic one more time before he turned back to Ruth. Their faces were very close to each other and Ruth slowly backed her chair away.

"We do not sit down before the king enters the room. Haven't they taught you that?" He spoke so softly, it was almost a whisper. But Ruth could hear how his voice vibrated at the end of his sentence, she could see how mad he was. His face was red and damp. Even Dominic could sense how furious he got. Ruth opened her mouth but didn't say anything. A little "Oh" escaped her lips.

"Ruben..." Dominic interrupted the little dialogue. "Leave i-"

But before Dominic could speak, Ruben lifted his hand and smacked it on the table as hard as he could, right in front of Ruth. She jumped up out of her chair and stood on her feet, her heart pounding. Ruben stood up straight and fixed his shirt. Ruth realised that no one in this castle would treat her the way she wanted to; with respect. She hated how she felt, so vulnerable, so careful not to push the wrong buttons.

The three of them turned their heads when they heard the clapping of high heels. Ruth looked at the two men and could see that the sight of the woman made them calmer. They enjoyed looking at her. Heck, even Ruth enjoyed looking at the woman who just entered the room. Tall legs sticking out of a tight black dress. Shiny blonde hair bounced left and right as she walked towards them. Her blue eyes saw Ruth right away and she smiled. She looked nice...