Unbounded Claim

After spending time with Rom and Edýia, Maya felt like a slice of normalcy amid all the dread surrounding them. Halting her steps in front of what would soon be hers and Dakran's chamber, Maya took a deep breath, letting it out, puffing her cheeks at the solitude awaiting her behind the inlaid door. She glanced around and reluctantly pushed the door open and entered the room only to find the same emptiness that had been her constant companion in the days that Dakran was away.

Little Dak raised his head as she walked to the bed and grumbled, yawned and went back to sleep—one of his favourite pass times apart from eating everything in sight.

Maya slipped out of her dress and pulled on the nightgown that Edýia had lent her. She had plans to make her own, but for now, those would do. Her seamstress skills would come in handy when things settled.

A knock on the door echoed in the spacious chamber, and shortly after, the door creaked open, and to her surprise, Haren stumbled in, looking a little confused and angry.

He pushed the door to a close with a thud while little Dak snapped out of his sleeping daze and growled at the unwanted guest.

Haren lent against the door and looked around the room. She wasn't sure if he stumbled into the room by mistake or if he'd come on purpose. He looked as if he had been drinking. Maya took a step back, wary of his presence, now even more that he was drunk unsure of what he intended to achieve by coming to her chamber, especially with Dakran away. She slowly slid the drawer to her dressing table open and pulled out the dagger that Dakran had gifted her when they reached the northern lands, tucking it into her hand, making sure that Haren wouldn't get suspicious. Treading carefully was imperative; without knowing Haren's thoughts, Maya took another step back to put a safe distance between her and Haren.

" Why him?" Haren slurred and pushed himself off the door, attempting to take a step forward but failed and fell back on the door, groaning and shaking his head, most likely trying to sober himself up.

" It could have been me", Haren hiccuped " I should have been me", he bitterly slurred, pointing at himself and succeeded, pushing himself off the door and stumbled forward a few steps.

Maya had no clue what he was speaking of, nor could she suss out his intentions. Why was he there? His accusatory gaze and words left Maya stumped, clueless as the why he was saying that it should have been him. He's shown nothing but disdain and animosity towards her, so what he was saying made absolutely no fucking sense.

" I don't understand?" Maya meekly asked and took a step back, trying to maintain the distance between them, keeping her voice small in an attempt to pacify Haren and not provoke him any further.

" You know", Hare paused and looked around ", He wants to marry you...I would have married you. Hell, I would still marry you. Have you fucked him, red?" Haren seemed to have sobered up somewhat since his speech was less slurry as his drunken daze dissipated a little.

And now she understood why Haren was there and why she was so brash when it came to her. In different circumstances, this would have been flattering, but she was sure that was not what Haren had in mind. The man's sheer size and his history of being a brute was enough to make her head spin and run as fast as her legs would carry her the first chance.

Haren took a few more steps forward while Maya did the opposite and took the same amount of steps back, apprehensive with her eyes on him, prepared to defend herself, tightly gripping the blade.

Haren chuckled and kept walking, as Maya did the same until she had to stop when she hit the wall, and there was nowhere else to go. The rush of fear, panic and fight as her life depended on it kicked in as her grip on the blade tightened. Her heart pounded in her chest, ready to jump out of her chest, breathless. Haren closed the distance a stopped a few paces in front of her as his eyes measured her from head to toe, and a salacious evil wide grin settled on his lips, and he whistled.

" My, my" Haren took a final step, looming over her, took a strand of her hair between his fingers and sniffed it as her heart thundered in her chest and began panting at the sudden closeness and imminent danger " No wonder my brother is smitten" Haren let go of her hair and grabbed her arm pulling her flush to him on her tiptoes and inhaled closing his eyes " Little red that's what he calls you right?" Haren groaned, rubbing his nose on her neck, pressing her against him. Maya didn't dare to move, unsure of what would happen if she did something to provoke him. He seemed lost in his own delusion, so maybe he came all the way to cleanse his demons and spit out what weighed on his mind.

" You're fucking beautiful, you know. You do have a shortcoming though " Haren released her arm and ripped her nightgown off swiftly, revealing her breast down to her waist. Maya stood there petrified, unable to move at the sudden shift in his behaviour as her mind reeled in a total stupor. She was paralysed by her fear and the man in front of her. She had no upper hand. The stark difference between them put her largely at a disadvantage. Even if she put up a fight, she wouldn't win.

" You're scarred. But I can overlook that. You can bearly see it in the small light" Haren finished his deperecating remarks in a tone laced with lust as Maya stood still, bearly breathing. She wasn't genuinely registering what was happening or why Haren was doing it at all. Time stood still. Her mind went blank as Haren's eyes keenly studied her in minute detail as her soul briefly left her body.

" I would fuck you senseless, and in fact, that's what I'm going to do right now. I will take what's mine. He just happened to be there at the right time. You're mine!" Haren hissed through gritted teeth grabbing her by the neck, pinning her against Maya the wall, and freeing his manhood.

Maya closed her eyes, unable to look at him anymore as Haren hoisted her up and placed himself between her legs. While she struggled to breathe, because of the hand squeezing her neck and the fact that Haren was forcing himself on her and for the second time, her soul left her body unable to bear witness to the atrocious act that he was planning to commit.