Chapter Seven
Kerima worked hard to keep herself busy so she could not think on her situation. She kept on failing to convince Kuronue to leave, despite her best efforts. Nothing she said made any difference; it was just so frustrating. Of course, it probably didn't help that she spent more time out looking for herbs and food than she spent in the village. When winter hit, she would have to be well stocked on everything. Still, she knew it would be better if she spent more time convincing the bat demon to leave.
Yet she didn't want to spend more time with him than she had to. She hated the fact he never spent a night alone, and she knew each night he slept with Seila. Her hateful cousin gloated about it each morning after she had slept with Kuronue, bragging that she would catch the handsome demon. He was working his way through each female in the village, and it wouldn't be too much longer before he had slept with them all, except for Kerima herself.
Perhaps he would leave once he tired of the women in her village? Kerima didn't know, but judging by how Kuronue acted, it seemed likely. She could afford to wait a little longer to find out. The village elders were being quiet at the moment, although she didn't think it was because of Kuronue's threats.
The elders were planning something, and she feared what it could be. She had to convince Kuronue to leave before they went through with their plan, although she doubted they would spring whatever trap they were thinking about anytime soon. As long as the bat demon looked like he was content to stay, the elders would let things rest.
Still, they had to know that she had not bound him to her as she was supposed to have. Every so often they were raided by groups who wanted a healer, and in reaction they had created methods to bind other, more powerful demons to them. Of course, for the method to work, someone had to already be connected to the demon in a way. The healing technique she had used on Kuronue was one of the very few ways, and it was the most reliable. The other methods could backfire.
Kerima knew that by now the elders had prepared several spells to keep Kuronue here if they felt he was going to leave. Spell nets, and other such defenses worked quite well against even some of the more powerful demons. They couldn't be prepared quickly, and they had to be target specific, but they worked.
She mentally cursed. She wanted Kuronue to leave before things became worse; she especially didn't want to feel secondhand every night he slept with someone. Kami, now she knew how her mother had felt, loving the demon she had saved. Her mother had saved someone similar in nature to Kuronue, and the demon had only been interested in her mother for a night or two. Then, after showing her his gratitude for saving his life, he turned his attention to the other women in the village. Her mother had married Kerima's father because she had eventually realized her demon had no interest in her. All her mother's demon had wanted to do was protect his savior.
Seila was that demon's child, although she hadn't turned out at strong or as smart as him. Seila was still conniving and manipulative with a serious mean streak. She already had better standing in the village for being that demon's child, yet it wasn't enough. Kerima's cousin was greedy for higher standing, and it especially hurt Kerima every time Kuronue went to that bitch.
Someone knocking on her door distracted her from her work with the herbs. She knew it wasn't Kuronue; he never knocked. That left someone summoning her to the elders, which meant she was likely in trouble. Kerima knew it was long overdue. It had been over two weeks since Kuronue had threatened the elders, and they would be looking for payback, even if she wasn't directly at fault.
Kerima stood up, pushing her work off into a corner. The herbs would have to wait until later; the elders would not like being made to wait any longer than they had to. She mentally said a brief prayer as she brushed off her clothes and then opened her door.
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight in front of her. The elders had not sent someone to bring her to them; her father and grandfather had come to her. It was even worse. They always held back a little when others were watching.
"Honored grandfather, honored father, please come in," Kerima said softly, keeping her head down and her eyes on the floor. She would have to be on her best behavior; they would tolerate nothing but complete and perfect submission and manners from her.
Her father shoved her with his shoulder as he entered, causing her to stumble, but she caught herself before she fell. They were extremely unhappy with her; and she was sure more punishment was to come.
"Kuronue has not been bound. You should have bound him immediately after he attacked us!" her grandfather shouted at her, and she mentally cringed. "We just now realized that you haven't done so. Do you want to explain as to why not?"
Kerima knelt down on the ground and bowed low. "He seemed content to stay here with our women, so I saw no need," she told them, keeping her voice as empty as possible. She wanted to tremble in fear and run away to hide, but that would do her no good. Her family would find her, and then her punishment would be even worse. "I felt that as long as he showed no desire to leave, the full binding wouldn't be necessary."
"Bitch." Pain exploded in the side of her face suddenly, keeping her from saying any more. Her father had kicked her, and a quick glanced revealed how cold and angry his eyes were. "Because you failed to bind him properly from the beginning, he dared to attack us!"
She bowed even lower, touching her forehead to the ground. Her hair fell around her, keeping them from seeing her face. She wasn't sure if she could stay expressionless though everything, and she didn't want to risk drawing Kuronue's attention more than she already had with such pain. "Please, forgive me."
"You will finish binding him to you, and you will do it before the end of today. If you fail in this…" her grandfather drifted off. "Well, you do love your grandmother, do you not?"
Kerima felt her blood turn to ice water. Her grandfather was threatening to harm or kill his own wife. She couldn't believe it.
Her grandmother had been the kindest person to her since her mother had died. It had been her grandmother who had finished teaching Kerima about healing, and it had been her grandmother who had protected her from the worst of her father's wrath when her mother and the last powerful demon in the village had died. The old woman was the only true family Kerima had left in the entire village.
She could not bring herself to be the cause of her grandmother's pain or death. Binding Kuronue was one of the last things she wanted to do, but she would do whatever it took to protect the person most precious to her. Her grandmother would not suffer because of her.
"I love her very much," Kerima told them softly, fighting to keep her pain off her face and her tears out of her eyes, just in case they made her look at them.
"Then you know what you need to do," her father told her, kicking her in the side as he walked to the door. They were leaving, thankfully. All she had to do was remain submissive for just a few more moments. "Remember, before the end of today."
Kerima waited until she herd both of her male relatives leave and shut the door before she allowed herself to cry. It was pathetic of her, but she didn't like either option. She didn't want to give into her father and grandfather, but she saw no other choice. She would have to bind Kuronue, and she already hated herself for it.
Kuronue was flirting with Seila when felt the stinging pain in the side of his face. Curse it! His warning hadn't been taken seriously after all, like he had thought. The bastards honestly thought they could go against, so he would have to correct them very soon. First, he needed to see to Kerima.
"Look at your face!" Seila exclaimed, eyes going wide. He could tell it was a contrived expression, and one that was practiced often. She was good, but she wasn't so good she could fool him. "Let me get your something for that. I'm sure it stings."
The bat demon briefly wondered how much Seila knew. She hadn't really been surprised by the bruise on his face, so she likely knew that he was connected to Kerima. The real question was if she knew that Kerima was going to be hurt right now, and that was why she had sought him out.
"I'll have Kerima tend to it," Kuronue replied, giving her his best smile as he watched her carefully. Just how many people in this village looked down on his little healer?
Seila shook her head, a distressed look on her face for a moment. "No, no," she insisted. "I can do just as well as her. There's no need for you to go to her now."
He patted her cheek as he turned to go. "That's sweet of you, but I feel better about having her see to it. Don't worry, I should be back soon." If Kerima's pain had been preplanned and Seila had known about it, she would do whatever it took to stop him.
He wasn't disappointed. She grabbed her arm and pulled, trying to keep him with her. "I'm sure she's busy preparing medicine, as she usually does right about now. She won't be completely prepared for you, but I am. I have the poultice all ready for you." She tone was tense and fearful, and he knew that she wasn't afraid of him.
Kuronue sighed and turned around to fix her with hard eyes. "So, you knew," he said, fighting to keep from himself from hurting her. He didn't like hurting women; it just left a bad taste in his mouth. "Let go of me if you know what is good for you." Of course, she wouldn't know that he didn't hurt women if he could help it, so he raised his yoki just enough to scare her. No one was going to keep him from saving Kerima from more pain that would surely be coming her way.
Seila jumped back, fear in her eyes. "I…I…" She had never meant to anger him, but her actions had obviously done that. He was her ticket to more power, and she had a feeling he was slipping through her fingers, since she still wasn't pregnant.
"I won't be visiting you again," the bat demon told her, a small smile on his face in appeasement. He didn't care to scare women either, but he had more important things to deal with. "I'm sure you understand."
She spat at his feet. "Bastard." He had just taken everything she had wanted away from her. He would never sleep with her again, which meant her chances of a higher standing in the village had disappeared.
Kuronue bowed to her, wincing as he felt slight pain shoot through his side. Honestly, her male family members really did have a death wish. He had made himself perfectly clear that day he had torn apart their meeting hall. Last time he had checked, they were still working on fixing it.
He needed to get to Kerima fast, before they hurt her again. He felt sick to his stomach at the idea of her harmed all over again just because of him. Kami, how much had she gone through before she had saved him? He didn't even want to contemplate it.
Horrible images running through his mind, he ran through the village, racing to Kerima's small home. If he was lucky, she wouldn't be hurt again before he arrived there. She was far too small and weak to take too much abuse.
When Kuronue arrived, he saw no one outside her home, although her door wasn't locked when he tried it. Now that he thought about it, Kerima never did lock her door. Perhaps she needed to.
The bat demon immediately saw her on the ground, and he witnessed her wince as he opened the door. Kami, she looked so pitiful on the ground like she was, legs curled beneath with her forehead touching the ground and arms limply out in front of her. Her lovely black hair was spread around her, keeping him from seeing her face, and her shoulders kept shaking.
"Kerima, darling, what are you doing on the floor?" he asked her, relieved that her tormentors were gone and that she wasn't suffering anymore at their hands. "Come here and let me help you up." He knelt down beside her and touched her head. It was then that he realized that she was crying.
His little healer was actually crying!
Kuronue immediately pulled her into his arms, gently moving her so he could see her face. She fought him the entire way, but her attempts were pathetic. She just didn't seem to have the strength.
He made soothing noises, trying to calm her down as he checked her injuries. They were in the same places as his, and they were healing already. It was likely they no longer pained her to the point of tears, so something else was causing the flood. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I'll make it all better once you tell me what's wrong. C'mon, tell me," he urged her.
He hated seeing her in pain, and he wanted to make her feel better. It was rare for him to feel quite so strongly about something, but he also rarely saw women cry. He never liked seeing such tears, especially when he knew there was a good reason for them.
Kerima sniffled softly. "I have to bind you. I don't want to, but I have to now. I'm so sorry." She opened her eyes to look at him, her cheeks streaked with tears and her eyes red from all the crying. "Please, forgive me."
"Shh…" Kuronue gently stroked her hair. Something was very wrong here. Kerima had told him before that she didn't want to bind him, and that they would eventually find a way to force her to do so. It seems that they had found a way. "What did they do? Why do you have to bind me now?"
He wasn't entirely sure what the binding was, but he didn't like the idea. Still, he felt he could deal with it if he had to. What he could not and would not deal with was having Kerima so upset. If she didn't want to bind him, then he would make sure that she wouldn't have to.
She kept on crying despite all the comfort he was giving her. "I need to bind you before the end of today, otherwise…" She drifted off, not wanting to finish the sentence. Instead, she took a deep, steadying breath. She needed to gain control of herself. Histrionics would not help her now.
If she told Kuronue the whole truth, he would likely go on a rampage, and that would put her grandmother in even more danger. They would likely kill her just for that, and Kerima would not take the risk. She needed to figure out the best course of action, but she didn't want to bind Kuronue without telling him anything.
Kuronue brushed away her tears. "Tell me what's wrong, little one," he told her tenderly, keeping a firm hold on her with her other arm. He would not have her running off while she was still so upset. "What will happen if you don't bind me? What did they threaten you with, hm?"
"If I tell you, they'll likely carry out the threat, and I can't risk that. Please, try to understand," Kerima begged him, grabbing her vest with her hands. "Please." More tears trailed down her cheeks.
"It can't be as bad as all that," he told her, rubbing his hand up and down her back, trying to calm her. "And if they try to carry out the threat, I'll stop them. I won't let them hurt you, I promise." He had never seen her in such a horrible state before. She had seemed so distant the last few weeks, but he had chalked that up to him refusing to leave.
Kuronue hadn't thought things had become so bad while he had flitted from woman to woman in the village. He should have been paying more attention to her, and he knew it. Since she wouldn't sleep with him, he had turned his interest elsewhere, and now he was paying for it. She was in pain, and it was his fault.
She shook her head at the handsome bat demon. "It's not me they threatened. If it was, I could just brush it off. They knew that, and so they didn't even bother with a threat that simple." She turned her face away from him, fixing her eyes on the wall. Kami, how she hated being backed into a corner and being forced to do something she didn't want to do. There had to be another option, there just had to be. She just needed to think.
"I have little choice, but I won't force you into it," Kerima told him as she came to a grim conclusion. There was a way for him to go free and for her grandmother to be safe at the same time, but she didn't like the idea at all. "I will explain it to you, and if you hate the idea too much, you will have to leave. I can keep the threat from happening, but not if you're here."
He stared at her, not liking how she wouldn't look at him as she spoke. Still, she was back to her logical self, and her tears had seemed to stop. She had obviously come up with some kind of idea, so he would listen to her and see what he thought about it all. "Alright, explain away."
Sighing, she released his vest. "First, I need you to promise that if you don't like the idea of binding that you will leave and never return." She looked at him and saw his reluctance. "Promise me," she repeated, tone firm and eyes showing no softness. She was serious about the promise.
Kuronue didn't like that idea. He would leave for the threat to abate if he had to, but he didn't want to never come back. He had grown rather fond of his little healer, despite how everything was going. "I promise to listen to you and leave if I do not like the whole binding thing," he replied. He wasn't about t promise never to come back, but he hoped she didn't realize he hadn't included that part of the promise.
Kerima took a deep, slow breath and then let it out, composing herself. "I accept your promise. Now for the explanation."