Serena was appalled at the notion, her mouth hung open and she lifted a concerned brow. "What?" she blurted.
Charlotte nodded, unfazed, and casually placed her fingers on her chin in mock contemplation. "Do you have bad hearing as well as bad memory?" Get full chapters from nοvelfire.net
Serena swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. She dropped her gaze to her hands, fingers tightening around the fabric of her skirt. This was absurd...ludicrous, even. She had to put her foot down. "No."
"No?" Charlotte echoed, raising a brow. Her voice dipped, honeyed with threat. "You misunderstand me. That wasn’t an offer for you to say no. It was a command."
Serena folded her arms and shook her head. "And to that I say no. You can not ask that of me."
Charlotte stepped across the bed with easy confidence, and Serena instinctively leaned back into the chair, shrinking away. But Charlotte moved too quickly. Her hands clamped around Serena’s arms and yanked her up with little effort, lifting her nearly off her feet. Serena gasped, startled by the sudden force, and Charlotte leaned in, her breath hot against Serena’s ear.
"You will do as I say."
Serena looked at her with a horrified expression, Charlotte was now digging into her skin. The blonde woman winced and she looked back to Charlotte.
"What are you doing? Put me down," Serena exclaimed.
"If you do as I say," Charlotte replied.
"No," came the reply.
Serena’s heart rate spiked and she felt herself being raised farther. She thrashed around and used her elbows to free herself from Charlotte. Why had they sent a mad person to torment her ? It really was not torment but it felt like that to Serena.
She broke free with a jerk and tumbled to the ground, landing awkwardly on her hip with a sharp hiss of pain. She dragged herself back, scuttling on her hands, trying to create space. Charlotte stood calmly, brushing her dark hair back from her face, her mouth curled in a crooked grin that made Serena’s blood run cold.
Serena’s eyes darted toward the door. She scrambled to her feet but tripped, falling hard. Her temple slammed into the ground with a sickening thud. She let out a cry and tried to turn, only to feel a cold grip around her ankle.
Serena twisted and turned her foot but to no avail, Charlotte’s grip was tight. Her hand went to her head as if anticipating an oncoming attack. Instead, Charlotte pulled her closer to herself. Confusion muddled Serena’s brain, this was such a situation that even a pup could not conjure up in their wildest of dreams.
Serena looked at the door and screamed out. Charlotte gasped and threw her leg to the floor, she went over and grabbed her hair and slapped her hand over the blonde’s mouth.
At that chance, Serena bit down hard on Charlotte. Her body had pushed her into fighting mode, the sound of her heartbeat rang loud in her ears. Charlotte had no reaction to Serena’s bite and she merely stared, and it unnerved Serena.
Her eyes searched Charlotte’s. It gave nothing, truly at this moment she believed this woman was a product of whatever kind of brutes that Silas produced. Serena took in a sharp inhale and positioned her knee underneath Charlotte and pushed.
Once there was a bit of gap between the two, Serena slammed her elbow next to Charlotte’s ear and pushed the woman off herself completely.
She dragged herself away and blinked at Charlotte, chest heaving with shallow, uneven breaths. The other woman was off to the side, hunched slightly, one hand pressed tightly to her ear. Serena’s limbs trembled as adrenaline ebbed from her system, leaving behind the hollow throb of guilt.
She scrambled to her feet and approached her gently. Serena had never meant to hurt Charlotte, her body just moved.
"Are... are you okay?" Serena asked cautiously.
She held out an outstretched hand as she walked closer to the bent woman. Charlotte gave her no reply and still clutched her ear.
Serena swallowed hard and knelt beside her. A sharp sting of regret twisted in her gut. She must have hit too close to the bone, the ringing in Charlotte’s ear was probably unbearable.
Then Charlotte laughed. Charlotte laughed until there were tears in her eyes and then she sighed and got into a sitting.
Her dull blue eyes met Serena’s wide green ones. "Not bad, you are a half-baked ambassador when you feel you are in danger. And no, I would never ask you to strip unless you want to."
Serena stumbled back and her lips parted in surprise, she looked at the door and back at Charlotte.
"You can run and get help if you like," Charlotte offered, lifting a lazy hand to sweep hair from her face. "I will be gone by the time they arrive. And if you’re thinking about your key..." She gave a smug tilt of her head. "Well, I will get to it before you do."
"What is the point of this?" Serena asked, barely audible.
Charlotte shrugged and folded her legs and yawned. "What is the point to anything?"
Serena’s lips trembled and she pointed towards the door. "Get out of my room."
"No darling, we can not do that," Charlotte said, pulling on her ear. "I have a job to do. It was my fault to leave you alone when I should have been shaping you up to be someone who would be able to make that delegate piss his pants."
Serena’s hands lowered slowly and she looked off to the side. Of course, they would want their trump card to be the best it could be so the negotiations would be balanced or even be Ironshade’s advantage.
Yet, Serena wondered why Silas had taken it upon himself to bring this strange woman to whatever she was doing with Serena. Should they not be practicing the towns and what the people in Crimsonclaw eat?
"I am sure you know how important this is to Darius. We can not fail him," Charlotte said.
Serena glanced at her and then sighed. "I know that."
"I hope so. It does not matter about your accent or what you know about Crimsonclaw, it is how you should act. You are beautiful and look the part of a warrior so why do you act like a mouse?"
Serena pressed her lips together, she had no answer for her. She was far from a warrior, it was not particularly a dream of hers. She was first and foremost a healer, under oath to take care of the vessel that Lunara had given all her children. Yes, she liked to lift swords and other weapons but she was not cut out for the grim life that belonged to a warrior.
"I am who I am," Serena said.
"Not yet. We all know you are hiding something and while I do not care, there is a part of you that we have to unearth to make this arrangement successful. You are Serena Evers, Ambassador of Crimsonclaw, and I am here to make that myth a reality."