C2 When Two Fates Meets..

While I was nervously biting the nails of my right hand, all kind of thoughts were going through my mind, I still couldn't believe that the Black Dragon's sword was inside our house and and that Gajavu soldiers was here just a minute ago, for the very first time in my life I didn't know what to do?

''What are they going to do with our house? Are we going to close? What if they force us to run out of business?’’ Until now I just couldn't come up with a good solution for this situation. How should I get rid of this sword? What if this crazy crown prince comes here looking for it and slaughters us all when he finds it?

‘’Aaaah, no one's gonna visit my grave, I will die a lonely death just because of this crazy crown prince.. There's no mercy in this world..'' I sobbed. '

But looking at Mirai right now, I'm happy that I can cry inside instead of showing my emotions to everybody, to be honest I rarely cry, I have no reason to cry, so for me to waste my energy and show my weakness to others would be very disappointing, at least my aunt Verna would think so..

So I can never let her down. ''To be honest she's actually the only person on this planet who actually cares about me a little. So maybe she'll be the one visiting my grave, when that crazy crown prince will shred me into pieces when he finds out that his stupid sword is in my hands.. Ugh.. I think I'm going crazy right now.. I need to calm down and come up with a plan of how to escape his ruthless killing..’’

''I also heard that his younger brother can be worse than him. ‘’Ugh what a fate? I will have to deal with two psycho brothers, wait until one of them will turn into a dragon and burn me to ashes. ‘’Why my destiny must be so miserable?’’

Verna just entered the room where me and Mirai were staying right now, she scanned our gloomy faces yet without a sense of care or sympathy for us she went straight to the point.

''Why you two empty heads looking like you're about to die?''

''Well, maybe because we're about to die?’’ I thought in my head, but my answer had to be different. Verna doesn't like when I sound funny, nor does she like sarcastic answers.

''Because Gajavu soldiers left just a minute ago.'' I answered.

''Gajavu? Why on earth Gajavu soldiers would be coming here out of all places? And during day time?''

Verna seemed confused, when she slowly raised her right eyebrow and looked at me with a suspicious look, she began to speak again.

''Unless, they were looking for something, am I correct, Mirai?'' She looked at Mirai, who was obviously having a hard time to focus.

''Why would Gajavu enter our house?'' Verna asked Mirai with a serious look on her face.

''Bbbbeecausse, beeccauusee. ''

Mirai's voice was stuttering and her thinking was way too long. Verna was able to tell that she was lying. Mirai always stutters when she's nervous or when she lies. Verna, seeing her student in such a situation, where she couldn't come up with a proper answer, looked at me and with a serious look on her face asked me again.

''Why was Gajavu here?''

Hearing her strict tone and seeing her angry looking face, gave me shivers , but I didn't want to lie to her, right now she's the only person whom I didn't want to lie to.

''Because they were searching for the The Black Dragon’s sword.'' I answered.

Verna lowered her black thick looking eyebrows and on her tanned looking face a very grim emotion appeared, it looked scary.

''Black dragon's sword?''

Her facial expressions were just turning mad, her gaze was cutting through me, shedding me into little pieces.

''Why out of all places they would look for this stupid sword in our house?'' She asked again.

This time it felt like her eyes were trying to spit fire and was about to burn my eyeballs. I knew she was mad and I knew that I had to come clean, but I was so scared of her right now. ‘’She could kick me out any minute and where would I go then? Okay.. here goes nothing.’’

''Because this sword is actually here right now, in my bedroom.''

I answered confidently, but deep down inside I was drowning in tears, I just wanted to live a peaceful life, to get married, have two kids, and live happily ever after, but apparently this won't be my case and these two damn princes in my very best scenario will burn me to death, but that's the best I can wish. ''I guess..?’’

All of a sudden Verna's vision went fuzzy and that angry look on her face was slowly disappearing , her tanned looking skin was turning pale, and her dark red lips started to show light blue colour instead. ‘'Oh no !’’ She was about to collapse!!

''Verna!!'' I shouted.

I was able to catch her light looking body in my arms, her body only looked light, but in real life it felt heavy as hell. I think Verna was lifting heavy weights while me and Mirai were working, it felt so strong and heavy. ''I should write myself a reminder never to challenge Verna to a wrestling match, anyway what was I thinking again?’’

''Verna!'' I shouted her name again.

While Verna's vision went black and fuzzy for a few seconds, she still managed to catch nice dreams, she was running towards her secret love Ahorno in a field full of flowers and in just few seconds scenario changed and they were having a picnic time, somewhere in countryside, the view was filled with green grass and tall trees around them, flowers smelled lovely too.. When Ahorno was braiding her hair while mixing field flowers in them on his face it was written ''love'' .

''Verna !!''

When she heard someone shouting her name, her vision started to disappear and when she finally opened her eyes, she looked confused and a little bit scared , what was the reason of me me embracing her in my arms like some kind of a prince from fairy tales, when the female lead collapses and he's there to catch her. ''I must've looked ridiculous right now , I thought to myself.

Mirai was looking at Verna with a worried look on her face, her face was so red after all this crying, she could audition to become an emperor's clown, since they use red make up to cover their faces, she would be a perfect match.

''What's the matter?'' Verna asked.

''Verrrnna, you juusst ffainteed.''

Mirai answered with her stuttering voice again, by the look on Mirai's face you could've told that she was actually worried for her, meanwhile I looked like a soldier trying to save her life.

Verna slowly removed my left hand off her body and while my right arm was still supporting her, she stood up on her own legs. ''Seriously, what a DEJA VU..’’

''Okay, you two empty heads, I'm ready to hear why the Black Dragon’s sword ended up in my house?'' She said that in a scary tone. This cold voice could give you shivers just from hearing it miles away.

''Do you remember that rich mysterious client of yours, that night he was wearing a black mask?'' I asked her.

We only give black masks to clients who'll be spending a lot of money to watch us dance. I continued.

''So yeah, he was here a couple of days ago, he seemed severely injured and he was wearing the same mask from last time, but instead of dancing, he asked us to help him to hide from some bad guys who were apparently chasing after him. At that moment, Hesto and Ahorno were not at work protecting us, so I didn't know what kind of fate I would meet if I'd refused to help him back then.''

Verna looked confused, but she also seemed curious about this tricky situation. I know she doesn't like time wasters, so I went back to the point.

''So, I offered to let him stay in our house dungeon and said that I would refuse any clients during that day to take care of him. I know I've messed up, but that time Mirai was there too, and he was our new client and our house is already facing financial difficulties and to lose our rich clients wouldn't do us any justice.''

When I finished my sentence, I looked at Verna's face again. I was really scared of her, I mean we were not properly bonding, but she still cared about me and Mirai, meanwhile On her face was written "I hate expressing myself" emotion. ''I didn't know if she believed my story or not? But I had to carry on.

''So when Ahorno and Hesto came back, I told them that I wasn't feeling very well and would be staying in my room that night. They both seemed to believe it and when they stopped paying attention to me, I sneaked out from the reception room into the dungeon. That man was looking dirty and injured, so I bought a bowl of clean water and towels, to help him avoid wound infection.''

I was talking really fast, I just wanted to explain this whole situation and leave everything in peace. I don't like to cause trouble.

''When I was helping him clean his body, he didn't say a single word, nor I was in a mood to find out his whole life story back then. When Mirai finished with her client, I asked her to help me carry him out of the dungeon to my room. When we finally moved his body in my room, he looked through the window and felt mortified, then he shook my hands off his body, he pushed Mirai on the floor and ran to the main hall, then I saw him escaping through the window and that was it.’’

I sighed, I was really tired of talking, but I continued.

‘’Me and Mirai were still confused and when I went into my room the sword that he had left was there, lying on the ground. So, after that incident me and Mirai decided not to speak of it ever again, and when Gajavu's soldiers gave us a visit today, only then I realised that it was the sword of the black dragon..''

''Taadaa!'' I've finished my story with a banging emoticon.

Verna looked completely shocked and Mirai's face was turning purple, I think she was trying to hold her breath or something.. ''Okay, it might not be the best story, but at least I was able to come clean and tell Verna that I didn't steal it from anywhere.’’

''If you knew that the sword was here, why did you not tell them straight away?'' Verna asked in a furious voice and continued to bully me.

''How dumb can you get? Is that how I've raised you? To avoid difficulties and confrontation?'' She yelled.

''Naria!'' She called my name and her very cold gaze was looking straight into my eyes

''If you knew you had nothing to hide, why would you lie to them?''

''Oh yeah, why not tell them that a mysterious looking man just happened to bring this sword to me and then disappeared and never showed up again, how dumb does it sound?’’ I thought to myself again. I had no proper answer to her question, I knew that anything I'd say right now would just look like an excuse in her eyes.

''I don't know.''

I answered while lowering my head and looking at the ground, but what was making me even more angrier was that Mirai wasn't even trying to help me or back me up. ''Wow.. What a good friend she is, crying must be her only solution to everything.’’ I thought and tried to see what she was actually doing.

''Oh My Dragon God, are you freaking kidding me? She's actually crying right now? Why are you playing a victim right now?’’ I felt angry and ambushed at the same time, but that's Mirai, that's just how she is, I guess?’’ I sighed and thought that maybe letting her cry out her feelings would be the best decision right now for both parties, but looking at Verna's glaze, this might not be a good idea.

Verna slowly walked past me and with her heartless voice spoke.

''I will take care of this matter, you two start getting ready for tonight.''

While walking away to the main exit of this room her footsteps felt so heavy that even four more houses around us could hear her walk. Verna was really mad and we messed it up.

It's not the biggest secret to the world what we do here? We dance for men, it doesn't matter what type of men, they could be married, they could be ex soldiers, they could be young, old, rich poor , arrogant or shy, anyone who had money to watch us dance could enter, and the biggest benefit to them was that we couldn't see their faces.

It was a very safe environment for nasty men, but our job is to make sure they leave happy and with no complaints, otherwise Verna would kick us out. Since our house is the most popular house in this town we get a lot of competition, a lot of men, mostly workers from other houses come to watch and observe how we work and how we attract more clients.

It's not a big deal to us, since they still bring money to our house. No dance is for free, and no information is given with no favor back, so at the end of the day we never get to lose in this game..

''Oh well, it's ten minutes past six, I must get ready, as we'll be opening at eight today.‘’ Just putting my clothes on sometimes takes me more than fifty minutes.

I was staring in the mirror and still couldn't believe how beautiful I looked, it's a shame that I'm still too young for marriage, no man could ever say no to my beauty.

I finished drawing dark lines on my eyelids with the least amount of kohl that I had left. I use kohl to make my eyes look brighter and stand out when I wear a mask, to hide the lower part of my face.

''I look like a completely different person today, no one outside of this house would believe that it's me.’’ I felt happy for a minute, until I noticed that I got skinnier. I guess all this stress had caused me to lose a little bit of weight, now no wonder why I was able to fit into this bra so easily.. ''And I thought that July had brought me clothes of different sizes again.’’

While I was looking at myself, my stomach felt weird. I think all of these compliments I just gave to myself made my brain go blank, but I couldn't avoid it. I looked so beautiful today, and these light purple colour pants made of synthetic silk gave me a lot of confidence.

Even though the ends of it were tightening my ankles a little bit, it was not painful, but it made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. Maybe my shins got more muscular?

''What a weird combination?’’ My tights looked muscular, but skinny at the same time, my rear was not too big, but also not too small. I was lucky to get a skinny waist and my breast was also not too big, but not too small, well at least it was bigger than Veronica's, ''hehe'' I laughed.

My shoulders were not wide and considering that I was 5,4 feet tall, I was considered to be the shortest in our house. While I was admiring my beauty, a soft wind blew through the window while flipping my long, wavy blond hair to the front of my face.

''Nice, now I'm gonna have to brush it all over again.. ‘’ I felt upset, but knowing I had no more time to complain I slowly grabbed my hair brush and started brushing it again.

''Oh how I wish to have darker hair like Veronica's or Mirai’s.’’ My hair wasn't a common thing in this kingdom and also, blue eyes were something rare here, so I was able to take advantage of it and be the most popular dancer in this kingdom, but it still doesn't do me justice. Just because of my appearances it was hard for me to make friends and the only people who liked me were my clients and Mirai.

''Naria, are you finished?''

A soft voice was talking behind closed doors, it was Mirai who was asking. ''I guess she finally stopped crying?’’

''Yes.''

I answered and while slowly putting the brush on the table and went towards the door where Mirai was standing. Without my permission to enter, she slowly opened my bedroom's door and with a gasping look on her face she said,

''You look beautiful, Naria. You look really beautiful today. ''

''So what? You mean I wasn't looking beautiful any other day?''

I answered with a smile, but Mirai knew I was speaking sarcastically , so instead of an answer she gave me a kind smile back.

''So, shall we finish it?'' I asked her politely.

Mirai was already holding my golden bracelets in her hands and moving towards me, she asked for me to lift both of my wrists, when putting two bracelets on my left wrist and one thicker bracelet on my arm, she also was able to notice that I've lost some weight.

''Did you lose any weight?'' She asked in her worried voice.

''Who knows?''

I answered, and while looking at my left hand, was waiting for her to put my favourite ruby on my forehead. Mirai looked at my right hand and started putting three bracelets on it. While both of my palms were feeling sweaty, Mirai leaned towards my jewelry box and started searching for my favourite dark red ruby.

''Oh here it is.'' She looked excited. ''You must not want to be seen today.''

She was talking to it like it was a person, she walked back behind me and slowly started putting it on my hair, as it gradually faltered down on my forehead.

''Done.''

She said and waited for me to thank her with a funny smile on her face.

''Thank you, Mirai.''

I thanked her and turned back to hug her, she hugged me back and it felt sincere, she was like a sister to me, that's why I was feeling free to scold her often, she knew I only wanted what's the best for her, since we were the only friends to each other, I was hated by my looks and she was having a hard time, because she was too naive and sensitive.

''Shall we go now?'' I asked.

Mirai took her hands off me and followed me from behind.

''I have a feeling that tonight is going to be fun.''

While both smiling we started walking downstairs towards my dance room, where I'll be performing my talents tonight.

This room was dark and in the middle of the room there was a black chair that had a dark red fluffy cover and two handles on it, multiple candle light was giving an exotic view, the room smelled of red roses incense while giving seductive scent, so no man once entered would want to leave.

I almost forgot to put on my synthetic cashmere mask that was helping me to hide the lower parts of my face, but if you'd come closer you would still be able to see it through. Matter of fact it was only hiding my nose, my lips and my cheeks, anyone could see my eyes and my eyebrows, if I wouldn't tie my hair up.

But today was not the day for it. I've decided to let my hair let loose. I had a weird and exciting feeling today, I felt like something extravagant might happen, so I wanted to look the prettiest today.

When I've finished connecting both sides of my mask, Verna walked into my dancing room and told me that there will be a very special client today, but no matter what I should not try to talk to him. ''Ttss'' easy.’’ I thought.

''I don't even like talking to my clients anyway.''

She walked out and I went to stand in the dark corner, until someone slowly opened the door, I felt a strange feeling going through my body, it felt so familiar yet so distant, it made me feel confused yet gave me a feeling of happiness, what a strange feeling I thought, I was able to feel my blood running through my veins, as if it was gonna pop out of my body any minute now.

The man slowly walked into my room while wearing a white mask given by our house. ''Oh wow.'' I gasped in silence.

White masks were only given to the royal soldiers or people from noble families. ‘’He must be someone special then.’’ It was my second time dancing with someone with white mask, so I was feeling really nervous.

I was also told not to talk to him, but that drawn black, wide and creepy smile with black eyes was making me feel uncomfortable. ''Who chose the designs of these masks?’’ I wondered.

The mysterious man's shoulders were broad, his arms looked very muscular, it seemed that for him to lift me with one of his arms wouldn't be a problem. He looked really strong, even though he was wearing black long robe looking - clothes to cover his body. I was able to tell that the middle part of his body must look sexy, it's probably muscular like the rest of his body.

He was pretty tall, like 6.2 feet and his body scent smelt very manly, yet fresh. I was pretty sure he was just out of the bath. If I was a couple of months older I would just propose to him myself. ‘’I don't even want to see his face, his body is enough for me.’’

''Oh my Dragon God, was I just simping over my client? Shish, so embarrassing.’’ I thought, I must go back to my professional mode. He must be a very serious client to Verna, if she chose to give him to me.

The man slowly sat down on the chair that was in the middle of the room, he crossed his legs, while putting the right shin on top of his left, he made himself look comfortable, then he put his right hand on his right cheek and while slowly moving his head up and down he asked me

''Aren't you going to dance for me?''

His voice felt soft and manly, I knew that there was someone mature behind his mask, he sounded like he was in his twenties maybe, but his voice also sounded very beautiful. ‘’What a lucky woman I am.’’

I went towards ''rindu'' . It's a music box played by magic that will give you any kind of sound. Once a soft and calm sound started to play, I started dancing, while pushing my right leg back and lifting and connecting both of my hands up while letting my fingers touch.

I quickly jumped with my left feet in the air, while letting my right foot land on the ground, my moves were quick and my little secret weapon was when I move, men get hypnotised by it, but they don't know that, no one knows that except me, but even I don't know how I can do that?

On my face under the mask you could clearly see that I was smiling, dancing gives me a little bit of joy in life, it's pretty much the only talent that I have and can use right now.

While my arms were flailing in the sky , I whirled around into the sweat - stained air. Foot forward. Back. Every single move was letting me run free, meanwhile I was connecting to this music, it felt like little, bright yellow birds were flying out of my body, little tiny yellow light was following my every move and that was when this man quickly got up from the chair he was sitting on and grabbed the wrist of my left hand, he then using his strength pulled me closer to his body, while putting pressure on my bracelets and in a serious voice tone he asked.

''Who are you?''