Chapter 5

"Noel, are you alright?"

I looked up to the concerned face that belonged to Yeul. I nodded; I didn't want her to have a worry in her mind. I thought it was a nice thought to have the feeling that someone cared about you; it was something I had been missing for a long time. She smiled, happy about the news I had given her. She probably knew that I was putting on a façade, but she didn't let on to the fact that she knew. She kissed my cheek slowly before turning away toward the door.

"I apologize for the way my husband placed his words, I believe he meant well."

With that she turned her heels and was gone from my sight. I admired her kindness and her heart to defend those in need. At that moment, however, I was still grinning over the fact that she had kissed my cheek. Even though, it wasn't intimate per say, it was something that lit up my night. The mood shifted from depressed self-doubt to a happy pit in my stomach. It was like butterflies had replaced the moths that tormented me. It was at that moment that I realized that I wanted- no needed her with me. I wanted to fight for her affections, but how could I when Caius was already in the picture? He seemed to be the block to the happiness that I would never be able to obtain with him in the way.

I turned over onto my side and chuckled quietly as I thought up ways I could steal her heart away. He could take away what would be able to happen between us, but he couldn't take away the thoughts that were in my mind. At least that had given me some form of a new beginning that I could live with. I began to drift off into a long needed sleep and before I knew it the morning came.

That morning was quite simply Hell. Caius decided it would be a great awakening to throw freezing cold water on my face and body. Even if I was just a slave, he could at least treat me with a little more decency. I let out a slight yelp from the shock and surprise that the cold water did to me. I started to shiver violently.

"You know Noel; you should never let your guard down. Do that, and I'm sure you'll survive me as a master."

Still shaking I was trying to think up a reasonable response, but none of my words were forming correctly due to my chattering teeth. I just glared at him, hoping that he'd get the hint, but I think I came off more pitiful than I had hoped.

"Noel, stop looking at me like a lost puppy, and get up; you've got a lot of shit to do today, so hurry up and get dressed. Oh, and next time, I suggest that you get up before I do. Just be lucky that I decided to throw cold water on you today, but tomorrow might be a completely different story."

He threw me my clothes from the corner and waited outside of the room. Thank Etro that I'm a fast changer, or else I truly would have tested his patience. That day he worked me as hard as he could, just to see where my breaking limit was. When I would finally call it quits, but I didn't want to give him that satisfaction. All he did was command me and watch. It made me feel like a slave, who only worked to please his 'master'. I hated feeling like he truly had command over me. I liked to think that he didn't own me, but the sad truth slowly sunk into my head that day. He treated me like an animal in need of training. I shook off those thoughts and decided to show him that I was more than some animal.

I scrubbed the floor until my arms became numb. I carried cargo from the wagon to the house and from the house to the wagon until my back almost broke from the weight. I bit my tongue to keep me from reacting to his snarky remarks until I could taste my own blood. It took all of my strength to try to show him that I wasn't weak, that I could be reliable. By the night, my plan of being obedient to show him that I could be more than an animal hadn't worked as I had thought. Instead, his remarks got worse. I should've known that they would because instead of yielding to his orders I should've stood my ground to show him I was his equal; instead, I ended up showing him that I would do whatever he wanted.

All throughout the day, I saw Yeul trying to tell him to treat me differently, but Caius was stubborn even to her.

"I am testing him Yeul. I have to see what he's really made of, if he's a man at all."

"Caius, this is dumb, this is torture. I want you to stop this now. He deserves to be treated like an actual person at least."

He ignored her comment and continued on with his 'test'. Finally he told me to stop. I had been cleaning the kitchen after dinner. I felt relieved because honestly I felt as if I would have broken if he had called it off a few seconds later. My whole body seemed to ache. I thought everything had gone well until he made his rude remarks about everything I lived for.

"I feel sorry for the soul who raised you. They couldn't even teach you how to be a man."

"You think you know me," I whispered, "Well you don't Caius. Why don't you just live in your own little world and leave me the hell out of it!"

My tone rose as I became more defensive. He made assumptions based off of my outward appearance; he didn't even know the half of what my life was. He looked amused at the fact that I had mouthed off to him. He slowly took steps toward me, his boots clicking against the floor. He smacked me hard across the face and then forced my chin to look at him.

"Try that again and we'll see where that gets you, slave."

A/N: Sorry for not updating for a little bit, but here's chapter 5 for you all!