Chapter 1.22: The First Jewel Part 1

It was like a bomb had gone off, with the white light appearing in her gaze. A low buzzing filled Leila’s left ear as she cried out. She touched her cheek and felt her skin becoming tender. There was no blood, but it burned. Her eyes were wide, and she felt her heartbeat quicken. The world became unimportant as she tried to digest what had happened. All she knew was that the bastard had hit her. It hurt like hell as she stumbled a bit and grit her teeth.

The first thing she heard was screaming. No, arguing. Someone had started to argue with the man who had assaulted her. The screeching tone of their voice was painful to her now sensitive ear. She opened her mouth and exhaled slowly. She hadn't seen this coming. It was stupid to hit the daughter of the noble you were visiting. She didn't think he would be so careless to attack her. But to her utter surprise, he had smacked her in the face.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Leila could make out Charmaine screaming at her brother. There wasn't anything but terror in her voice as she shook the man. From what the teenager could see, she looked like she was going to start crying.

The woman pushed him when he stayed silent. She kept pushing him with each shove being rougher than the next. She beat her fists on his chest madly. Her voice was loud and turned into a sharp, ear-piercing screech as she screamed. Guards had run over by now and came to Leila’s aid. They helped her away from the scene and asked her if she was alright. The teenager nodded, quickly breaking free of the shock she had been under to answer.

"I'm alright. Subdue that bastard and bring him to me please." Leila commanded with her anger ringing through the air. She could feel her ear beginning to swell up and touch it. She realized her earring was gone, discarded on the ground.

One of the guards who had been fretting over her hurried away. His expression flipped as soon as she yelled at him. He went from worried and frantic to downright cold. The other three that had made it over followed, running to the siblings. Charmaine tried to stop them but one of the men tackled her. She put up a good fight, screaming that her brother was dumb and to let him go. Her anger at the man has pushed aside when he was forced onto the ground.

The sight of his sister being pinned down ignited a fire under the man's ass. He frothed at the mouth and yelled at the guards to let her go. He wiggled and tried to punch the men on him. He spat at them like a wild, ruthless animal. But it was no use, they weighed three times his weight. They also were armed and were kneeling on his back. If they didn't get up soon he would suffocate or worse.

The teenager reached out her arm. "Bind their arms and get off of their bodies. I just want them subdued for when we bring them to my parents." She knew if they were incapacitated things would only spin further out of control.

Charmaine stopped resisting and looked at her in distraught. They had her standing up now with her arms pinned behind her back. “Cleo, please. Let me take my brother’s punishment! He’s just short-tempered, he isn't a monster who beats women I swear!” She winced as they used a rope to tie her wrists together.

“I don’t care whether it was just a temper tantrum or he was having a bad day. He hit me,” Leila said with disappointment. She understood standing up for your family but the man had treated her awfully. She should be relieved that he hadn’t hit her instead. “And treated you like property. So he deserves to face the consequences of those actions.”

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"It was just a misunderstanding!" The man wheezed out. The constant screaming had made his throat raw as he let out a cough. He looked exhausted as the guard had to drag him along.

Leila wanted to laugh at the absurdity of his defense. Everyone could see how badly he wanted to pummel both women for their rebellion. "How was it? Did you or did you not grab her?" She stared at the man, daring him to lie.

The guard held him tighter as he refused to answer. His restraints only grew more painful the longer he chose to keep his mouth shut. By now the guests had gathered and were insulting him. Curses were directed at his mother and father. They questioned how a man of his class could act this awful. His face burned as he listened to his reputation being destroyed.

The Bryant family would be in for a rude awakening. Any prior agreements they had made with her parents were gone. And she wouldn't be surprised if other families retracted their offers. It wasn't like they all gave a damn about him hitting her. She was positive many of them shared the same hatred the man had. Despite this, they were concerned with how they were perceived, and his presence was a social poison to them.

"Please!" The guards lurched as his sister threw herself down. In addition to crying hysterically, she also pleaded partially on her knees. "Spare my brother and direct any anger you feel towards me. My family can't lose an heir."

Leila wanted to give the woman a good slap. Despite being mistreated, she didn't care. Or that her brother had humiliated their family in front of countless nobles. None of that mattered as long as her house had an heir. With a long and heavy sigh, the teenager held her head in her hands briefly. It was like her words had gone over both siblings' heads. If their family was already this close to ruin, having an heir to lead didn't matter anymore.

"You have other brothers who can take his place." The teenager said as she felt a migraine begin.

Charmaine only got more upset and shook her head. "None of them are ready to take on so much responsibility! If you take action against my brother, my family will suffer!"

The jade-eyed woman was in disbelief. She hadn’t expected the Bryants to bank their entire livelihood on one son coming to power. What had they been doing with the other children? She guessed they married everyone off but that would be extremely foolish to do. Everyone knew that marriage was not a guarantee of financial security. Any marriage contract, for both nobles and commoners, had an even chance of disaster or success.

This was especially necessary if your daughter or son-in-law had a helpful lawyer on hand. Or worse, if they were found to be infertile your bloodline risked extinction. She was appalled with how recklessly this family had been acting with the little smidgeon of power they still had. They had behaved like a child, waving around loaded guns.

She shook her head and gave a weak shrug. “Charmaine, I’m sorry but I can’t do that. Guards, take them away.” The teenager commanded them and pointed to her house. She watched as Charmaine’s face crumbled and she hung her head in defeat. There weren’t any pleas that would reach the villainess’ frozen heart.

As they were dragged away Leila touched her ear again. It was bleeding freely now, the earring that had been knocked out of her earlobe left a nasty cut. She winced when she felt how deep it was and whipped the blood away with her dress. The man had slapped her with every bit of force he had in his body. The slap would leave a nasty bruise on her cheek when she woke up that she’d try to cover. Part of her was grateful it hadn’t been a sucker punch.

Now that the bastard had assaulted her, she’d have to rethink that date with Charmaine. She doubted the girl would want to see her much less eat with her after this. Leila had no idea what Cleo’s parents would do to her brother but she’d make sure the woman was fine. If she asked long enough, they might spare the girl. Or at least not destroy her.

The idea of them doing the opposite to the man excited her. There was only one thing that mattered: he wouldn't die. The teenager had some ideas for his torture but she’d have to pull some strings to make it work. If not then they'd simply have to waterboard or beat him. Annoyed, she groaned and decided to clear the air with the guests who were eagerly awaiting her health status.