The Healer and the General

Part 6

Demetria gasped at the sudden contact. But Eric barely noticed. He just ran a calloused hand over the branding that marked his mate as a slave to the Ura clan. It was in the shape of Ura's clan symbol, a shield with points sticking out and a menacing looking owl in the middle of it all.  Doyle and the twins moved closer to see what was wrong. Doyle cursed while the twins clenched their fists. Everything became very quiet in Eric's mind as rage started to seep in.

The only thing that managed to calm him down was Demetria's scent. It was freshly bloomed flowers, a summer storm, and something else he couldn't quite place. Eucalyptus, maybe? There was a hint of fear in it as if Demetria could feel his anger.

"You're a slave." Eric ground out.

"Yes, and you're quite the observationalist." Her remark seemed to calm him down slightly.

"But you're a healer." Healers weren't slaves, ever. It didn't make sense.

"Wow. You are on a roll." It seemed that when Demetria started to get scared her sarcasm kicked in. She raised her eyebrows as if to say, And? Gods, she didn't know.

"What crime did you commit to become a slave?" All slaves had committed some kind of crime to deserve the title. Not that any crime was deserving of the punishment of slavery.

With a small smile on her face, Demetria said, "Nothing, except being born of course." Nobody understood what she meant and Demetria knew it, which meant that they didn't know she was a witch. She certainly wasn't going to spell it out for them.

Doyle came up to Eric and whispered, "You need to calm down. Before you do something you'll regret." Eric knew that. He was angry. No, he was pissed, and if he didn't let it out he'd hurt someone, or more specifically Demetria.

Eric loosened his grip, and the twins led her away. He could see her hands tremble slightly. Knowing he caused it sent a pain through his heart. He stood up, wanting to smash something, anything. Or maybe he'd start by killing Elena. And the rest of the Ura clan. That would help.

He stalked out heading towards their prison, but Doyle's hand stopped him. Eric was about to yell at him when he jerked his head towards the training area. It wasn't what Eric really wanted to do, but he wouldn't regret it later like he would killing a bunch of people. When they reached one of the sparing rings Doyle didn't hesitate to attack him. They went for hours, beating each other senseless.

When the sun had reached its apex Eric felt much better, emotionally that is. Physically he was sore and bruised and bleeding. So was Doyle, but Eric had taken the brunt of it. "Better?" Doyle asked between breaths. Eric only nodded. The two males made their way back to the tent where meetings were held.

Eric immediately noticed the twins lounging, probably waiting for him and Doyle. "She's back in a cell. Didn't say anything though." Parker answered his question before he could ask it. "She seems fine, a little shaken but fine. Though she could just be good at hiding her emotions." Eric nodded and sat down with a towel to wipe the sweat off his neck.

"What I don't get is why would Ura enslave a healer," Logan said. "Healers will willingly help because it's in their nature. Not to mention it's against the law. So why go to the trouble?"

The question was on all of their minds. "Nobody can answer that except Elena or Demetria," Parker commented. "If Demetria even knows."

"We'll find out tonight," Eric said through clenched teeth. Once he got his answers, he'd kill the chief, slowly and painfully. And that was that. The males left to do their separate duties, all of them anxious for the sun to set.