I was still in the crosshairs of that dark and intense gaze. I couldn't tell if Commander John Chase could see in my eyes, in the half-light of the room, the horror and shame that now filled my thoughts and heart, and if he could, what did it do to him?He took a deep breath." Don't you know what to say, princess?" asked Chase.I sighed in the face of the inevitable." How can I look into your eyes without seeing the blood you have spilled?"" And who did I spill this blood for?" asked the commander.His question was completely unfair, I didn't ask anyone to fight for my hand." How dare you try to put this blood on my hands? You killed for power!" I shouted at him.Suddenly, his hands pushed me backwards onto the bed, his weight crushed me on it, I gasped for breath, but then his mouth claimed mine again. This time more aggressively, his hands went inside my dress and that drew a horrified scream from me, would he really do that?I tried to resist, trying to turn my face away from hi

I woke up with John Chase shaking me gently. When I opened my eyes I realized that he was tense, and looked around for any sign that it was morning, but in that windowless room it was hard to tell." I asked him, but he was already standing, looking at the door."He brought a finger to his lips, giving me a clear signal of silence, then walked slowly to the door, squinted his eyes, and then someone kicked the door in.John Chase was thrown away, he crashed into the wall of the room. When I looked at the figure in the doorway, responsible for this, I screamed. My whole being screamed, and I couldn't believe my own eyes.A giant creature was standing in the doorway, and it was just as the legends described, huge red eyes, with giant fangs capable of tearing through anything, and claws sharper than swords. He was tall and muscular, although his body was covered with hair and he had a completely animal-like appearance, he stood upright exactly like a human being, and when he looked at me,

Daniel put me on his own horse and led me toward the manor house, the ride was quick and I didn't say much, I was still in shock over the man he had killed right in front of me, I tried to conjure up memories of the summers I spent here on the Riviera, of Daniel skinny and several inches shorter than me, that Daniel would vomit at the thought of killing a man for an insult, I wished he would have just punched the man, but to take his life? And the quiet way he had done it...it was chilling. When we arrived at the Edwards' estate Daniel got off his horse and soon after pulled me by the waist holding me down, I looked at the huge building painted with dark green and white details, the Duke's house was always very impressive, as soon as we climbed the steps of the balcony the servants came to meet us, when they saw me they widened their eyes unable to hide their surprise. " Show your respect, you are standing before Her Royal Highness, Princess Helena of Lancaster House." The servant

When my gaze landed on the commander sitting relaxed on the window sill, my heart flooded with relief, because that dangerous energy emanating from Daniel, warning me to run away from him, was now dissipating considerably. In its place, however, I felt a hostility from both men, although the commander displayed a relaxed smile, the hostility I felt from him was almost suffocating, it was like a shadow stretching across the room, whose only target was Daniel." Commander! " I exclaimed, standing up unable to hide the relief in my voice.Chase didn't answer me, just gave me a quick glance and turned back to face the Duke." How the hell are you here? We're on the second floor!" The Duke stood up too, his posture was tense, his eyes red, and now it was obvious that he had been drinking heavily.Chase settled himself on the ledge and crossed his arms, took a deep breath and replied:" I'm not sure it's appropriate for the Duke to be in a married woman's bedroom in the middle of the night."

When we arrived at the stables Chase quickly caught up with a horse that seemed to be very fast, he easily threw me on top of the animal and then climbed on top, he pressed me against him and made the animal start to run, we dashed out of the stable into the cold of the night, even after we got away from the estate you could see the brightness of the torches in the sky, the number of them scared me, and their annoyed shouts could be heard even at a distance, then the sound of swords cut the air, I shuddered when I looked back and saw that a battle between the duke's men and the heathens had begun. " We must go back! There are too many of them, Daniel will die!" " I'm not that lucky, princess." I turned on the horse and elbowed him, or at least tried to, but he held my arm and the horse suddenly stopped, he neighed and reared up madly on his hind legs, with that movement we both fell off the horse, I would have been badly hurt had it not been for the commander holding me up and absor