The Noble Lady of Lust

Chapter 185: Memories (2)

”haaa!!..what happened...no wait, my daughters!”

Leyla woke up suddenly agitated, she did not know what had happened, she did not remember why she was lying on the floor, but she did not even think about it and immediately her mind focused on her daughters, her instinct told her that she had to see where her daughters were immediately, she left the room and advanced through the corridors full of overturned furniture and blood stains.

As she went on, her heart pounded harder and harder, her fear and fear grew greater as she quickened her pace. Finally she entered the room where she had left her daughters and all she found was a cold emptiness.

”Eira? Selene?” he murmured, at first in disbelief. ”Eira! Selene!” she shouted, desperately searching every corner of the room but it was useless, Leyla came out of the room and began to look for them outside and finally the truth of the situation hit her.

The same with the rest of the women who, just like Leyla, were looking for their children, just like Leyla and through the testimony of those who saw it, began to understand the situation.

The corridors were filled with wounded women, crying and calling for their children. Leyla could barely breathe. Her body moved as if she were an automaton, driven only by terror, going into denial and carrying out a fruitless search.

”Leyla!” The broken voice of a companion brought her out of her trance.

”Where are my daughters?” she cried, clutching her by the shoulders.

”They took them away... the children... all of them...” the woman replied through tears, pointing toward the front door.

She could not deny it but when the truth was spoken directly in front of her, Leyla’s world stopped. The words echoed like an echo in her mind. ”They were taken.”

Her body slumped to her knees, and the pain in her chest was unbearable.

It wasn’t just her pain. It was that of all the mothers and aunts in the brothel. The women who had tried to defend them and had been cut down were now hugging each other in sobs.

Some were pounding the floor in rage. Others simply stared into the void, as if their souls had been snuffed out.

”Where is Grandma?” someone asked in tears.

Grandmother was the pillar of the brothel. A lion woman-beast, with a scar across her face and the rest of her body, the fruit of years of defending her own. She had always been there to protect them, to make sure that no client crossed the limits.

She was the only woman in the place who had gone through metamorphosis and in fact had two, with her at the helm it was a respected business in the surrounding area and never had an incident of this level ever happened.

”I’m here...” Grandma’s low, husky voice sounded from a corner. She was leaning against a wall, a bloody rag covering what was left of her hand.

the dead women ran to her worried about the state she was in.

”Grandma! What have they done to you?”

”That doesn’t matter now...” the old woman replied, panting from exertion. ”Those bastards... they pretended to be clients.... I should have foreseen it... they’re the same strangers who lately, roamed the area, I didn’t think they’d attack like this.”

”Grandma’ But you... you always know what to do. You always stop them...”

Grandma shook her head in frustration. ”They were smarter. Coordinated. They went in like it was nothing... They waited for the right moment and attacked. I should have thought of that when that guy asked me to be his escort.”

”.....”

”he tricked me to the end, waited for us to finish, because I was at my most vulnerable moment he caught me off guard...My fault for not seeing it coming,h aaah.. I just wanted to feel young again”.

Tears streamed down the girls’ cheeks as they listened. Their grandmother had always been unwavering. Seeing her now, broken and bleeding, made everything even more unbearable.

”We’re going to find them...” the old woman murmured. ”I have contacts... but you know how things are.... If we don’t find them fast...”

Leyla could barely hear her. The pain of losing her daughters consumed her the very thought of never seeing her daughters consumed her they were all she had left her pillar and only reason for living.

The emptiness in her chest was so great that she felt as if the air itself was unable to fill it. Her legs could no longer support her, and breathing became increasingly difficult. The world faded around her, until only the words remained in her mind: ’They have taken them away... my daughters...’

These thoughts swirled around in her head and consumed her and unbeknownst to her something unknown began to gather strength within her.

Her breathing became erratic. Her eyesight began to tinge red. A severe headache hit her, and her skin began to burn as if something was trying to break free.

”leyla, calm down, don’t panic...”

One of the women who saw Leyla’s state as she clutched her chest wanted to reassure her, thought she had a panic attack, but Leyla does not listen.

Fear and despair, which had always been her burden, became something else. A latent strength she had never known was awakening inside her.

”L-Leyla?”

The woman who tried to help her began to hesitate as Leyla was emitting a dangerous aura, which told her that it was dangerous for her to approach....

”grandma there’s something wrong wi... hey wait Leyla!!!”

before he could ask for help to his abula to calm Leyla who was the youngest of them all and was like the younger sister of the brothel, he saw her running out the door he saw her running but could not catch her leya moved very fast, and when she went out to the street she was nowhere to be found.

***

Eira could barely breathe. The wagon moved forward with a monotonous rattle that echoed like a sentence. The children around her were silent, the kind of silence born not of calm, but of fear. Selene clung to her sister as if to let go would mean falling into an abyss.

The air inside the wagon was thick, and the smell of rotting wood and dampness filled their lungs. Eira tried to keep her mind clear, but the choked sobs of the children distracted her, piercing her soul.

”Why did this happen to us?”

she thought as she stroked Selene’s hair with trembling fingers. Somehow she felt strong enough to carry on thanks to the mysterious connection she always shared with her twin sister.

It wasn’t much but she always felt stronger and braver when she did, even before when they were going to be kidnapped, but unfortunately it hadn’t been enough, still Eira tried to regain her courage in this hopeless situation.

The weight of being the eldest, of being the one to protect them, was sinking on her shoulders like a slab. She gritted her teeth, hating her weakness, hating herself for not having been able to do anything.

Selene looked up at her, her eyes large and full of tears. ”Sister... I’m afraid.”

Eira swallowed saliva, forcing herself to smile. ”It’s okay, Selene. I’m going to get us out of here. I promise.” But even as she said it, she knew her words were empty.

One of the men on horseback, riding alongside the wagon, turned toward them. ”Quiet back there!” he growled, his voice raspy and laden with mockery. The children shrank back even more, their small bodies.

This went on for some time, and even the children and Eira, though small, understood that the longer the situation went on, the worse it would become, the more and more they would lose hope.

The wagon stopped suddenly, throwing them forward. Eira held Selene before she hit, and listened as the men argued outside, their voices strained.

”What was that?”

”Probably an animal...”

”idiots we’re in the middle of a city what big animal would be around here, it was probably a drunken bagabond that ran by.”

”But that shadow looked like a...”

”shut up!, let’s keep moving, the guard I bribe, can change his shift, if we take longer”.

”but boss, you were the one who took the longest with that old lady, and that’s why we’re leaving late, I even had to restrain myself with that beautiful tigress.”.

”I told you to shut up!!, that old lady had a technique that took me..ehm I mean it was stronger than I thought ...move forward....”

But they did not advance, after that word everyone, including the man, felt a sensation that forced them to stop, none of them understood what it was or where it came from, but the closest thing their instincts told them was that they were being watched by a predator.

Inside the carriage they noticed this change as they all had sharp ears. There was no laughter, no footsteps, no creaking of wheels, the oppression at such silence came to them as well.

For Eira the only sound was the unrestrained beating of her heart as she felt a strange sensation racing her heart.

The children began to cry again, their wails low and laden with hopelessness.

”Enough!” Eira suddenly exploded, her voice cracking. The children stopped, startled, but the tears were still falling. Selene looked at her, confused.

”We can’t stay here crying.” Eira felt the heat of anger burn inside her, mixed with the chill of despair. ”If we don’t do something, we’ll never get out of here.”

But Selene snuggled closer against her, trembling. ”sis... we can’t, they’re dangerous, mommy said when...”

”but mommy’s not here, there’s no one else” Eira muttered, her fists clenched she was just as scared as the rest, but she had to be strong

The wagon began to move again, even though the sensation persisted in the end nothing happened, so they cautiously decided to move on.