Chapter 18
The snake man tilled his head to the side, looking at Yilas with his eyes rounded.
"Didn't you said I can have anything? I only want a mate!" He smiled brightly, showing all of his teeth. The sincerity in his smile was genuine, he looked like a child so happy with his new toy.
Only? The word kept repeating itself in Yilas's head, she wondered how ridiculous this man can be. Since they met, she had thought that he was strange but since she felt sympathy for him she accepted it without question. But now, he was pus.h.i.+ng his limit, breaking Yilas's threshold of tolerance.
"We haven't discussed this, so since when did I agree?" Yilas furrowed her brows but she was still filled with confusion. "Plus, Berthort hadn't even woken up after so many days so how do I know if he's going to be okay?"
"You are going back on your words?" The snake man stepped back, fakely gasped at the heartless Yilas.
"No! Never! Of course, I am not!" Yilas desperately waved her hands, she would never go back on her words, but also she couldn't accept this man that she barely knew to be her husband. "But I thought you want something more physical like a house or food or gems."
"Something physical? I want you!" The man retracted his big smile, lowered his head to get closer to Yilas's face, shortened their distance to a few inches. As the few words escaped his mouth, his breaths were stroking Yilas's cheek.
His words were ambiguous, upon hearing it, Yilas immediately felt embarra.s.sed and angry. Her white face was once again reddened like a cherry. She couldn't stand being close with the sly man that was teasing her, she stepped back, avoiding his eyes.
"We didn't agree to this so my answer is going to be no." Yilas shook her head furiously "Once Berthort wake up I will definitely repay your kindness, but you must rethink what you really want this time. I won't take the teasing easily next time."
"Psssstt..." The snake man burst out laughing so loudly that he had to cover his mouth with hands. He thought the little female was exceptionally cute when she was angry, he couldn't wait to poke fun at her some more.
"I am not changing my mind, you can use the time to accept me." The snake man continued smiling as he used one hand to pad Yilas's head.
Thought that Yilas couldn't be more embarra.s.sed but she did, she didn't even know what to say back to the man so she was just standing there in awe. The snake man had already turned his back against her to get back to his work. Without Yilas seeing, he still had a satisfying smile on his face.
Everyone else in the house had started to wake up one by one, they went outside to check the weather but once saw the big snake man, they had all been scared to enter the yard. The snake had along sensed their present but he acted like he didn't notice them. He thought to himself he was only here for his female, how the other treated him shouldn't matter.
When Yilas started to notice the rest peeking from the side, she couldn't continue the topic anymore so she swallowed down her anger. She had made a mental note to convince this man to change his mind later on and somehow not let Viosus know any of this since he might kick the snake out without thinking.
"So you had been staying here but I still don't what to call you." Yilas gently changed the topic as she sat down next to him one more time.
The snake looked at the prey and then looked at the sky, he didn't really remember his name since it was so long ago that somebody had talked to him. Since he was young, he had always lived alone, he survived without anybody's help. His oldest memory was himself in a cold, dark cave and he lived like that ever since he could remember. However, in his dreams, sometimes he would hear somebody calling a name.
"It's Sabal..." His eyes were filled with a sudden sadness, somehow it felt like he had lost something.
Yilas haven't seen that look in a long time. When she stayed in the hospital, she would often see people died around her, and sometime the family would come back to visit the doctor or another person there. Their eyes were all like that when their family member's name was mentioned. The type of pain that Yilas was lucky enough to be sheltered from. However, Yilas suddenly wondered, if her mom had looked like that when she died.
A hand reached out to gently placed on Sabal's shoulder, it was filled with warmth, a sensation that he had yearned for years. He looked to his shoulder to find a tiny white, smooth hand. His eyes followed the hand to the female's kind smile, her presence enough could disband all the loneliness he had ever felt for years.
"You can call me Yilas, let me introduce you to everyone when you are done."
Sabal's stomach suddenly felt bubbly, he was nervous but looking at her smile, he knew everything was going to be alright.
"Okay" He smiled back at Yilas, he trusted her with all his heart.
After Sabal was done with his preparation of the meat, Yilas
Once Sabal got back from the creek, Yilas had gathered everybody in the yard, telling them the basics of what was about to happen.
"Once I introduce him, please act nice, okay?" Looking at the three in their tiny animal forms, Yilas couldn't help but felt like she was a kindergarten teacher telling her kids to behave.
"But I am scarred, young Master!" Lyth was the first to say it even though the others felt the same way. They all nodded their little heads in agreement.
"I will protect you and our master, don't worry Lyth!" Merth said with a boldly confident voice.
"There is no who protecting who, he is just like one of us, he might look scary but really he is a good person. Would you want anybody to look at me and tell me I look frightening?"
They all shook their little heads immediately, of course, their master was the kindest, they wouldn't want anybody to say anything bad about their master.
"Good, so don't judge someone just for their appearance, right?"
"Right..." The three repeated Yilas synchronizing as Yilas padded and petted their little heads.
Yilas heard Sabal's footsteps from the doorway, she immediately stood up and smiled at him.
"Sabal! Com here!" She flicked her hand, telling to come in closer.
Sabal walked toward Yilas, he was towering over her pet.i.te's body. He was trying to focus on smiling so hard that it looked forced, his face looked rather intimidating with his long, cold eyes. The bunch couldn't help but felt a chill running down their spine, they all gathered and hid behind Yilas's back, tugging her dress tightly.
"Come on guys, what did I just tell you." Yilas sternly looked at the three little animals hiding at her dress. "This is Sabal, what do you have to say?"
The three finally got out of hiding, they all said h.e.l.lo but it was like whispering to the winds. Yilas sighed, she had just gone over everything with them and they had already forgotten all about it.
"This is Lyth, Merth, and Little Crow. Berthort was the one you saw in the forest with Lyth and this morning you had already met Viosus." Yilas slowly introduced all the members as they were all too shy to do it.
"But that is all of us here, we are not a big clan so we don't have a lot of luxuries around here, but we will treat you with the best of what we've got." Yilas padded Sabal's back, guiding his body toward the three and got him close to them.
As they were face to face and on the same level, Sabal didn't know what to say. Looking at their curious eyes on his face, suddenly he felt confident in himself.
"I'm Sabal." His voice was deep and thick, but he had a smile on his face, the three looked at each other with surprise. They all questioned if this was the same snake that had threatened Berthort's life a few days ago.
After the awkward introduction, Yilas told the bunch to help Saba with he cooking. At first, they were timid and afraid but soon enough they warmed up to Sabal, joking and playing around him like one of their own.
Lyth was scared at first, she kept circling Yilas's ankle but once she saw how nicely the males were getting along, she went in to join with a little bit of Yilas's encouragement.
When Viosus returned, the food had already been prepared and everybody was chit-chatting nicely around the fire.
"Big Brother!" Little crow noticed Viosus, he immediately called him over "Sabal was just telling us how to make a trap for rabbits, we don't need to go hunting every day anymore."
Viosus suddenly felt left out as he saw everyone was having fun. He hadn't left for long and they had already gotten along. The atmosphere completely changed as soon as he got back.
"Come on and sit next to me Vio!" Yilas called Viosus over, patting the spot on her left.
Viosus came over to Yilas's side, letting the rabbit he just hunted on the ground. It looked like they didn't need any more meat right now.
After everybody was full, Viosus and Yilas helped with the cleanup. Noticed Viosus wasn't speaking the whole time, Yilas took the opportunity to comfort him.
"Are you okay Vio?" Yilas asked attentively while Viosus was putting out the fire.
Viosus didn't answer but his eyes were droopy, Yilas could tell right away he was not acting himself. Yilas grabbed the Viosus's hand while he was still sweeping the ashes, dragging him outside the house.
They walked all the way to the creekside, Viosus just let Yilas toke him away without saying a word. His eyes were glued to his feet.
"Okay, we are alone now, you can say whatever is on your mind." Yilas huffed and puffed for walking so fast to get here, she bent down to get a gulp of water.
"There was nothing on my mind, Milady. I was just exhausted from hunting." Viosus helped Yilas pulled her hair back while she was bending down. His face not showing any sign of any emotions.
"Liar!" Yilas turned her head to face him "I saw your long face earlier, tell me what's wrong."
Viosus looked away, he was avoiding Yilas's gaze, if he looked at her in the eyes, he wouldn't be able to lie.
"There is no such thing, Milady." Yilas sat down on the bank, letting her feet soak in the shallow refres.h.i.+ng water. She even tugged Viosus arm, telling him to sit down next to her.
"Didn't I said we were friends, Vio? Friends would never keep secrets from each other." Yilas got closed to Viosus, she looked at him with her adorable big eyes, trying to pressure him to open up.
Viosus sighed, he didn't want to tell his master his own selfish feelings, but Yilas had already said that they were friends. If he went against her words and kept lying, he thought they wouldn't remain friends any longer.
"I...I just... The snake is dangerous, I don't trust him, Milady." Viosus didn't dare to see Yilas's reaction, his eyes were locked on the palm of his hands, which were holding each other in his lap.
Yilas immediately understood Viosus's worries now, she wouldn't blame him of course, that was reasonable doubt. However, she reached out her hand to hold his, she didn't want him to feel alone in his own feelings.
"I see, I think I understand your feelings." Yilas looked at Viosus kindly, she gently patted her hand on his "So I won't ask you to trust him right away, but I will ask you to give him a chance. Like how you open your heart to the people of our clan without any judgment, I must ask you to do the same."
"But if you ever questioned anything, I think it's best to not hold it in your heart. As your friends, I will listen to you no matter what. After all, you are very important to me Vio." Yilas continued, she wished that he would rely on her and trust her more. She wouldn't survive in this world without Viosus so she would like to do the same for him.
In Viosus's mind, he was beyond moved. He even felt his heart-tugging constantly as Yilas continued, her words meant a lot more to him than she had realized. Never had Viosus thought his Master would see him in that way, he hadn't even dreamed of being with her as her spouse. But after hearing her saying that, Viosus thought that Yilas meant it in a romantic kind of way so he unintentionally reddened his face, his heart started to pump even faster than when he was running at full speed.
Moreover, Yilas was holding his hand tightly, of course, the young Viosus would get the wrong idea.
"Milady, you are even more important to me than my life."
Yilas laughed, she didn't think Viosus would be so serious, her laugh was beautiful, it danced to Viosus's ears and echoing to the forest. It was like a pretty bell, as refres.h.i.+ng as the spring's first wind.
"Call me Yilly whenever now, I can't stand how uptight you are." Yilas's eyes curled up nicely, her pearly with teeth were at the full display as she was giggling with Viosus.
Seeing Yilas's smiley face, all of Viosus worries and sadness went away. Anything she said, he would follow so if she had asked him to give the snake a chance, he obviously wouldn't oppose.
As the two were giggling and talking at the waterside, they didn't notice a pair of purple globes glowing in the shadows of the forest.
Sabal had been following them since they left the house but he didn't interrupt their conversation. At first, he was touched by what Yilas had asked the fox, she had given him so much attention and also helped him to socialize with the rest of the clan. She even persuaded the mean fox for his sake, Sabal thought that she was too kind.
However, only a second later, after hearing what she said last, Sabal felt jealous. He too would want to be something important to Yilas, he also craved that attention that Yilas gave to the fox, he wanted her to be his alone forever. His eyes glowed brighter as he dreamt of his own desires. Soon, he wanted her to become his female, Sabal thought to himself. He must think of a way to get Yilas to be alone with him.