บท 11: Chapter 11: The Mistress Meets the Hunter
Oksana
Oksana waited with only her sister, Yulia, at the docking station for the family’s gargoyle carriage. She had told her guards to form a perimeter around the outside of the station, but the fewer people that observed her uncle's arrival with the…..half-blood mongrel the better.
Dimitri had utilized the mage relay in the guild station in the town he had found the hunter in and had sent a message back to their houses personal mage relay saying he had successfully recruited the hunter. He hadn’t gone into detail, as only small messages could be sent through the relays.
The journey to where ever it was the hunter had currently been located, took only a day and a half by gargoyles flight. So in total, her uncle had been gone for just over three days. As long as nothing had gone wrong on the flight, he should be arriving within the hour.
Oksana quickly pulled out a small pocket mirror and looked herself over again. She had dressed to impress. Though she always took great care with her appearance, she certainly knew how to put on a show. She didn’t care if it was for a half-blood. She wouldn’t allow an outsider to see her in anything but her best. She wore a blood-red dress with rubies sewn into it, giving her an almost glittering effect. Her hair fell straight down her back in a waterfall and floated slightly in the wind. Her chest was on full display, as the dress's chest area was an open diamond shape, displaying ample cleavage and a small portion of her torso. At the collar line, the dress hugged her neck and shoulders. Ensuring that anyone’s eyes would be drawn to her chest. She wore her favorite ruby necklace which was perched just above her cleavage and felt cool against her skin. The dress fell down to her ankles and had long slits running up her sides, exposing her pale but strong legs.
She nodded in satisfaction. She knew she cut quite a figure and would impress any man who beheld her. Even this mongrel half breed.
It still stung her pride that not only had she had to ask for help from a human, but a half-bred human at that. She had met a few half breeds in her life. They were routinely killed if caught in the blood lands. They were stains on a clan’s honor and were weak and mutated. Still, if what her uncles’ contacts in the lands outside the blood lands said was right, this half-breed hunter was anything but.
“Are you curious to meet this hunter?” Oksana asked her sister.
“Curious? Yes. Looking forward to it? No. I do not like the idea of working with a tainted half-blood. I would rather kill him and wipe his stain from our kind, but I will defer to your wisdom sister. I am curious though, to see what this hunter who apparently slew a blood-crazed sanguine looks like.”
“I know what you mean, I assume his reputation is vastly overblown, however. Still, he is a man, and all men think alike. Once we establish our positions over him, he will fall in line and do his job. Then we can be rid of his taint.”
The sisters were pulled from their conversation as they caught sight of a large shape descending from the sky. She knew what it was immediately. Only the Sanguine clans owned gargoyle-drawn carriages, and the one bearing down on her was her own clan’s carriage. It made a rapid descent from the sky until the driver yanked back on the reins, and the gargoyles leveled out on the long paved space for them to safely slow down once they touched down.
The carriage stopped right in front of Oksana, with the door of the carriage facing her. To her surprise, the doors immediately flew open and four guards rushed out of the interior of the large carriage. Oksana raised her eyebrow slightly, taken aback by the fact that the four guards were carrying two other house guards who looked to be wounded. One was missing a hand, while the other looked as if his legs couldn’t move.
“What happened to them?” Yulia asked out loud.’
“Well about that,” came Dimitri’s voice as their uncle stepped out of the carriage, “We had a spirited negotiation with Assar.”
“He did that!?” Yulia hissed angrily
Before Oksana could angrily protest as well, a final figure stepped out of the carriage. Whatever Oksana was going to say died in her throat, as she caught her first look at the half-breed. He was taller, at least three inches above her own height. Most of his body was covered in a large cloak that looked to be made of some animal fur and effectively hid most of his figure. Underneath though, she caught glimpses of what looked to be an armor she had never seen before. What was truly striking though, was his face. He had the hard gaze of a man who had seen too much in his lifetime. He had a large scar on his face, that bisected nearly half his face. On his neck was the spot he had been bitten at some point in his life. His eyes were currently boring into hers, and Oksana was struck dumb for the first time in years. This man’s appearance wasn’t at all what she had expected.
“Yes, I did. The only reason they are alive though is that I was promised a significant reward for taking this contract.”
His words shook Oksana out of her initial shock, and she quickly grew angry at his lack of decorum. She was the house ruler, he would show her the respect she was accorded!
Before she could speak though, the damn half-blood actually turned her back on her and faced Dimitri.
“You were wrong, that was not a fun ride.”
“Half breed!” Oksana hissed in a voice that promised deadly consequences. “You are a hunter currently contracted to work for my clan! You will show respect while you are in my presence!”
Assar turned back to Oksana and looked her up and down briefly. He had the gaze of a predator sizing up his prey, not a hint of fear in his eyes. Despite all the effort she had put into her appearance, she was irked to see his eyes didn’t have an ounce of admiration in them.
“I am being paid to kill a monster for you, not to respect you. I don’t like vampires for what I assumed would be.....obvious reasons.”
“Mind your tongue half bre-”
“My name is Assar, as I’m sure you know. Now do you want to keep complaining like a spoiled child, or do you want to let me do my job vampire?”
Oksana, who was usually nearly unflappable, now found herself baring her fangs in anger as she took a step forward and got right into Assar’s face. He didn’t even blink as he looked down at her. She studied his face. This was a battle of wills going on now. She had hoped to immediately establish her dominance with him, as she had done with so many in the past. But he had bluntly and efficiently put her on her back foot. She needed to show him he couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to walk over her.
“My name is not vampire,” she hissed echoing his own phrase from seconds ago, “It is Lady Oksana. Ruler of clan Khvostov. You will address me with the respect owed to my position if you want to get paid! Do you understand?!”
Assar didn’t reply, instead, he just smirked slightly while looking down at her.
Dimitri broke the tension with a cough, and said, “My lady, perhaps we should take him to the scene of the attack. We have preserved it, but still, time is of the essence.”
Still staring at Assar, Oksana said, “We will discuss your attitude, as well as your attack on my guards later.”
“I can’t wait,” was his sarcastic response.
Angrily she spun around and marched down the stairway leading back to the main wings of the mansion. She heard the group follow them as she moved. As she led them back down the steps, she was lost in her own thoughts. How dare this half breed come into her seat of power, and act so insolently. Not only had he not shown an ounce of fear, she hadn’t smelled any scent of it wafting off of him. What she didn’t want to admit to herself though, was what really upset her more was that he had seemed totally unaffected by her appearance. She knew most men would have been salivating over her appearance, but this hunter had barely batted an eyelash.
She silently fumed as they walked through the corridors of her home. As she walked, she was irritated by the growing thought in her mind. Despite his disrespectful behavior, now that she had some time to get her footing and calm down a bit, she realized she was intrigued by his demeanor. She was so used to people walking on eggshells around her, tripping over themselves to please her or putting on a political face, that she had forgotten what it was like to deal with someone who did not care the slightest for her position, or power.
She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself and quickly glanced over her shoulder at him. To her surprise, he was staring directly at her. Their eyes met for a long moment before she turned away quickly and kept walking.
“Stupid, stupid!” she hissed under her breath, chiding herself as she kept walking.
As much as she wanted to deny it, she wanted to know more about this hunter.
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