Chapter 18 **Cain’s Decision**
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As Perdita got dressed, she saw Cain look at her every now and again and she wondered what was going on.

They had been awkward for ages…

They had rarely been comfortable in each other presence…And she still didn’t completely trust him!

Seeing him like this, she wondered what it was…

“Here, wash your face and eat…I’ll go and…Come back later!”

Hearing his sigh in defeat, Perdita watched him leave, before attempting to wash her face.

Cain came back in no time, by now Perdita was dressed and had even done her hair. But he left soon after, showing her an upset look and Perdita wished he wouldn’t act this way.

The first thing she did was to grab the water but as soon as she picked it up, the cup’s contents went into flames, totally shocking her!

Dropping the cup on instinct, the contents dripped onto the floor and became vapor.

…What was going on?

 

After a moment of seeing that nothing else happened, Perdita picked up the cup and saw that nothing else was wrong with it, it was just empty now…

Putting it down, she ate what was on her plate and didn’t do anything else.

She didn’t want to bump into Cain again and she didn’t want to see her master.

Widening her eyes, she looked at the window and saw that it was as she left it last…

They were indeed back where she was when she got caught and she had slowly tried to open the window in the time that she was here.

Listening out to see if anyone was coming, Perdita stood up and went to the window, wanting to continue to open up the window.

 

Her strength was not as great as some, even though she was the Phoenix. So, because of someone as tough as an ant creature, she was spending a lot of effort here…And she was getting thirsty!

Hearing noises, she quickly stopped and went quickly to the other side of the room, not even bothering to sit down.

“Finished?”

Perdita nodded at Cain after he had come in, and then said, “More water.”

Cain nodded, and smiled, “So you drank it all and want more aye! Thata girl!”

With his look, that now looked relieved, Perdita frowned again.

Was there something in the water?

 

With another cup of water, that didn’t seem to disappear into vapor this time, Perdita quickly drank it and asked for more.

Cain smiled at her, took her into his arms, making Perdita panic, and he attempted to kiss her. She had gotten used to turning off her heated skin while here but now she wanted to bring it back!

From all the torture that she had received from having not turned off her heated skin, Perdita flinched to that and to Cain being so close to her.

With a strange sound, Perdita put her hands out to push him away and jump out of his arms.

 

In one word, Perdita knew what she felt…Repulsed.

Before…She had been able to tolerate it, but now, she couldn’t…

“Perdy, Come on, we’ve been through this…” Cain stated.

Looking at him in cowardice, Perdita tried to act as before, “I’m still not really ready…”

Seeing Cain take in a long breath, she worried about what he was about to do but he didn’t end up doing as she thought he would. “Okay, we have the rest of our lives together! Take your time!”

Perdita stared at Cain in a stunned silence…

He really thinks I’ll come around? He really thinks that they’ll…

 

After that, Perdita got another drink of water and then was locked back up again alone in that room.

Cain wasn’t there all the time, which was somewhat normal. But he was ordered to spend every night with her by their master.

It was because Sharlae wanted her idea to become real!

She hadn’t wanted Perdita to meet with the Dragon King until she was really pregnant…But she had already held up the Dragon King for so long and she couldn’t wait any longer.

It seems nothing had changed, even though she had already seen the Dragon King but…Now she couldn’t wait to get out of here!

 

Perdita, just like every other time, was acting as if asleep but when Cain came in and started to touch her, she couldn’t help but flinch.

Not right!

Far from right!

If anyone was going to touch her, or try and take her clothes off, it was going to be the Dragon King…Duke…

Remembering how he wanted her to say his name, she sighed.

 

“Mmm, you like that?”

Feeling a hand groping her, Perdita jumped away and curled up.

Hearing another defeated sigh, then arms going around her from the back, Perdita stiffened, just like every other night, but didn’t move him away.

Before now it was to put his scent on her, like the master ordered. So, to a strange degree, Cain was helping her by not forcing her into anything more intimate…Which was really going against their master.

But…She knew…She knew if she pushed him away, questions were going to be asked and she wasn’t ready for that…As far as Cain knew, she didn’t remember being intimate with the Dragon King and it would be better left that way!

All she needed was time, to get that window opened and then to fly away!

 

 

The next couple of days were quiet. Perdita did not get any type of orders from her master and Cain was not constantly badgering her. When he was around, she did play her flute, losing herself to memories of being with the Dragon King, being with Duke.

Her music had changed, it used to be so sad, showing that of loneliness…Now it was still somewhat sad, but it was showing longing. She didn’t know it, but Cain knew and saw the difference…

He had never thought that he would marry one day, he never thought that of all the women he’d marry, it would be the Phoenix.

At first, their marriage was like it wasn’t…Like they weren’t married.

He had been burnt by her before, and so he did not touch her, but having found out then that she was the Phoenix.

 

Cain understood why he had to marry this woman, but he took a while to understand why she stood out more and more to him…As he married her not to understand her…But because he was ordered too.

As the time went on though, he had liked watching her from a distance, seeing who she really was that way, and found her to be quite an interesting woman.

She wasn’t lively, like many others, but she was stunningly beautiful when she was talking to the birds. She was also very pleasant company, having felt a nice, satisfied feeling overcome him sometimes while watching her. It had made him wonder several times that if they weren’t in the current circumstance, where she was forced to marry him and under the enslavement of his master, if things could be different…

He had been told a few things about what the Phoenix could do, and he didn’t want to take it to heart, about feeling content in her presence but…It seemed to have slowly overtaken him.

 

His life was filled with having a master and doing the master’s will.

Cain never thought much more to life until he had met Perdita. Suddenly he was a husband and the master didn’t like his wife!

He didn’t like that he had to keep this secret and that he was forced to take this woman as often as possible but…Over time, he seemed to just want to try and make her life easier for her.

Upon her flying away, after such a thing had forcefully happened between them, he had been mad, upset, angry but…He was now fully aware that he was now responsible for the woman.

 

Over chasing her down, Cain had seen her learning pottery…

He didn’t understand…

Pottery, dancing, why?

Why was she doing that when she was supposed to run away?

Upon her being discovered by someone, Cain had been able to quickly leave a big trace that Perdita would find as evidence someone was after her and watched her leave.

…Why did he do that?

 

The question stuck in his mind and he couldn’t help but admit the obvious…That he was helping her, his wife.

He wanted to watch her longer, that was all there was to it…

But it didn’t take long to see that she was being followed by more and more, from two to four, and Perdita would be captured soon!

Scared that she would be hurt, not wanting to see her tortured, Cain had captured her himself then.

It seemed…He just couldn’t bare to have her be wronged anymore.

That innocence about her, he…He felt it to be refreshing and he would hate to see that destroyed because, suddenly, his master’s want for someone and doing this because of it, seemed no longer acceptable to him.

 

Knowing what their master wanted, Cain no longer wanted to touch Perdita like that again unless she wanted it too. And because of that, Cain took chances of lying to his master, stating that he had been with Perdita intimately, when in fact he had not.

Lying to the master would not be good if ever found out, but Cain found himself determined. He just…Didn’t want Perdita to be tortured anymore, as it was, he hadn’t been able to save her from being tortured because she wasn’t turning off her heat.

He at least could save her from some torture…He felt like he had too. It felt like if he didn’t, he would also be in pain.

And it was at that time that he first thought of leaving his master’s command and taking Perdita away. He didn’t know how the link between Perdita and his master would go but he did know that the Phoenix is able to fight it! If they could run, Perdita should be able to be free…Well, free enough. He will stop any thugs coming to get her, so that the link wouldn’t grow weak…Would that be enough? Would she trust him then?

 

Sadly, he wanted her, all of her, but he was going to have to wait. He wanted her to trust him, which is what he never has asked of anyone before besides that of his master.

For quite some time, he had to sit down and wonder how to get someone’s trust and wonder what action to take and for some reason, he could not seem to come up with anything. He killed, he searched, he did his biding…Anything else seemed to elude him in knowledge and he felt idiotic because of it.

He had long time been teased as someone that was not smart, but now it seems he understood his subordinates…He was a basic, simple minded person and this idea of them running away was the best that he could come up with.

 

And so…The best he could think of for that time, was that he would take her into his arms and give this ‘scent’ to Perdita that his master kept talking about.

He was content with this much but…He was glad. Glad that she was not forced, glad that she was not tortured anymore.

He needed to get her out of here!

This was not a place for his wife, he could feel it…See it.

As much as he wished he could connect to her, to her creature, it was entirely impossible but…He still felt selfish on wanting his wife by his side.

 

After they had returned, Cain knew that his master was gaining strength from having taken over the Phoenix and having had to trap the Phoenix in a cage, and Cain had been making plans!

Just a little longer, he thought. His tunnels will be done soon, they’d escape, and he would try and make her happy. Yes, this is what he’s been doing in times that he thought that no one was watching. He had been making holes in the ground, and then a hole that would lead them elsewhere. He knew about these kinds of things at least! He knew how to lose someone, get away from places and bring someone from outside and into the palace. That is something he could do!

Just a little longer…

 

 

When she was on her own, Perdita continued to try to open the window, not able to wait to get away!

It was about a week after seeing Duke and that she had returned here, that she had to stop what she was doing around the window, because she heard that someone was coming.

Jumping on the bed, she quickly curled up, looking away from the door.

And just as she thought, someone did come into the room!

 

“Ah, did you miss me?”

Widening her eyes, Perdita then quickly tightly shut her eyes to the woman’s scary voice.

“Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on! My man is in my ear, asking for you! He’s already told me not to come back without you! Again!”

Clenching her hands into fists under the blanket, Perdita refused to open her eyes.

“I’d like to know when you two connected! All you shared was a kiss! Puh! How disgusting! He really must be new to mating and whatnot to think that a kiss was ‘connecting’!”

Hearing her laugh at him, made Perdita upset. She thought this woman liked Duke, if so, then why was she insulting him?

He hadn’t acted new when he had been with her. Although he might have been a bit clumsy, but he was still great…Great, that is, to her…

 

Sharlae sighed and wished there was another way she could do this…

She knew that if she kills Perdita, she would have less time to make that man hers…

Perdita finally opened her eyes, to see her master smile, and say, “Stay still now!”

With a quick motion, Sharlae went to put the dagger into Perdita’s heart but Perdita used a lot of her strength against her link with her master, to move out of the way. That order was strong, so strong that Perdita felt like she was moving a very slow pace.

Stumbling out of the bed, she slowly went towards the window and started to breath heavily.

Even though she hadn’t really done much, this entire time was used to go against her master’s orders, and it had already made her slightly exhausted!

“Oh, I’m done with you trying to fight me, you bitch!”

With another stab, Sharlae got Perdita’s side but missed her heart.

Perdita laid down, groaning to the pain and holding onto her waist…

 

“Why can’t you just die!?” Sharlae yelled, before again stabbing at Perdita, whom just couldn’t move fast enough, considering that she was still fighting the link that was telling her to stay still.

Closing her eyes shut, Perdita felt a great weight fall on top of her, then the bottom of the floor gave out, making her fall and then there was darkness.

When she was about to let out a sniffle, Perdita heard noises from above her.

“What…Are you an idiot!”

“No…She is my wife!”

 

Cain…

“Get out of my way!” Sharlae yelled.

“No! Run Perdy!”

With his hand being stabbed into by the knife, Cain exerted his last strength into showing Perdita the way out of there, closing off the extra tunnels.

The problem was, it left him defenseless and he sadly smiled to the ground beneath him.

Sharlae was laughing at him then, “Haha, I’m her master, do you think she can run away from me!? You fool!”

Perdita felt a way to go and followed it but was unable to run due to the stab in her waist, it wasn’t healed yet!

She stumbled through the area slowly, because it was so dark, but suddenly heard a thump on the floor from the direction she had come from.

…Cain?

“Stupid man! Never did I take you as a fool to die for a stupid wrench!”

 

Perhaps…Cain was not a bad man after all…

At the moment though, it was still quite unbelievable that another had died for her.

Not just her father, but now Cain…

But…What was in that water, then?

Shaking her head to her thoughts, Perdita then heard the ground smash opened and she looked behind her, to see dust come her way.

Dammit!

Changing into her Phoenix, a small Phoenix, she flew.

She wasn’t very fast but as soon as she healed her wound, she went faster and followed the dark tunnel to wherever it was going.

When there was a strange look to the dirt, Perdita changed to human and dug upwards, to find that it was like a lid and climbed out of the tunnel, quickly covering it back up with a flap of her wings and her claws afterwards.

Without further ado, Perdita flew directly towards her nest…Never leaving that area in this life again.

 

***

 

Perdita felt like she had to build a nest…But she’d already made it…Which confused her.

She felt like she had to write everything down somehow…Why, she had no idea.

So, to make herself feel better, she combined her feathers, her blood and tears into ice and made six ice block towers that went around her nest, that went to her height, and started to write about her life’s. A dragon essence filled her core, igniting her resolve like she felt like she knew what she was doing but still didn’t understand it at all…

 

On the inside of the ice blocks, she wrote her first life. She wrote about how she had feared, how she had been tested and been used and abused.

On the outside of the ice blocks, she wrote down her second life. Her second life sounded better than that of her first, possibly because she felt like she didn’t fear as much or that she’d been through it before. But she didn’t leave anything out…

She wrote down that she had indeed married and had indeed lost her second child. She had written about being abandoned yet again and how she would glare at her captors.

 

Writing down her emotions and how she dealt with them, she finally finished her two lives in just one month after she had returned.

With hardly a wink of sleep, Perdita felt the urge to nest even more now and felt like she had when she was just about to perish…

She hadn’t been stabbed in the heart, so this didn’t make sense but…Perdita looked at the ice blocks and had a feeling. The feeling seemed to mean that if she were to write down her third life…She might just disappear…

Walking to the last ice block at the end of her second life, she then finished the part of meeting her beloved dragon for the first time and finally was understanding something…

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