My Most Precious Human novel Chapter 90

During those three days until my duel with Kylo, I had been trying to avoid Palace maids and servants. The last thing I wanted was to get involved in another difficult situation that could end in me engaging myself in a fight with someone.

The most absurd part of "avoiding trouble" was eating. Apparently, the servants in the Palace decided to starve me to death since I stopped getting any meals from the moment I rudely rejected my rotten breakfast. I bet this was also Elora's doing. She used Sariel's absence more and more boldly, but I guess that not getting food was still better than getting meals that were poisoned. The kitchen was in the main building, where I had zero access, which was even worse.

With the King gone and the Queen who hated my guts, no one could change my situation, not even Leo, but he and Patrick found an easier way: I started eating meals with the Royal Army. It was the safest way. No one would dare poison the army's meals.

Leo was about to be appointed the main general as soon as Sariel would take over the army's leadership. It wasn't anything official, but he had gained respect in no time, and everyone already treated him as their commander. Everyone bowed down to him, and he got to sit at the separate table in the canteen. I was sitting there with him and Patrick by my side. Watching the amount of respect he received from other soldiers, I was curious about what he did to make everyone acknowledge him so quickly.

"That was easy," he chuckled, cutting a piece of meat we had for dinner. "I told the tenth strongest warriors to step forward and then I defeated all of them."

I should have known it was all about strength. The rules of this world were simple: the weak were not respected, whereas the stronger you were, the higher you could climb. It may seem cruel and merciless, but on the other hand, rules in the human world tended to be crueler and much more senseless.

Certainly, the rule of being the strongest didn't exactly apply to Elora. She had been born rich and powerful, and she fueled her own strength by having powerful supporters. I would say that she followed more human-world rules to get her position. Ironically, I, as a human, could only apply vampire rules to climb anywhere higher than the bottom of the social ladder.

On the second day of eating at the military canteen, I learned to ignore all the deadly stares at me. The soldiers knew that Leo was having training sessions with me to prepare me for my fight with Kylo, but even in the supernatural world, it was impossible to teach someone how to fight in three days. That was why no one cared about our workout, yet the fact that I was eating while sitting next to them seemed to be highly annoying.

Obviously, the vicious glares weren't the only thing I had to ignore. More irritating were the sounds that were reaching my ears. The cursing and the malicious remarks happened to be the least bothersome. I already knew all of them from working at the bank. The problem was, some of the remarks were disgustingly obscene and even terrifying. I had been marked as their enemy, and none of them cared that I was a woman… None of them cared that I was the King's woman as well.

Leo had no legal authority to discipline them yet, and his advice to me was to simply focus on eating and then on training sessions. Patrick was different. He clenched his fist every time someone made another remark loud enough for me to hear. Their idea that they would use my dead mouth to suck their cocks was one of the "nicer" ones. Each time, I grabbed Patrick's hand and forced myself to smile at him, trying to prove that I was ok. Of course, I wasn't ok with that. It was getting to me no matter how strong I might have been. I had only a few more hours before my fight against Kylo, and colliding with the soldiers' hatred whenever I turned kept my nerves alert.

"Don't let your sex become your weakness. You cannot let them get into your head that easily," Leo hissed, seeing me more and more nervous.

I nodded and clenched my teeth. No matter how indifferent Leo might have seemed to be, I knew he was genuinely concerned about me and my performance. There were even times when he reminded me of Ezra. I wasn't certain if it was because he felt responsible for me while Sariel was away or if he simply cared, despite his obnoxious attitude towards me that surfaced every now and then. Nonetheless, even if Leo's comments during my training were harsh, I knew he was right. I could only win against this guy if I kept my focus. My brain needed to work faster than my movements.

"This is our last training session, so it is going to be the toughest one," Leo said as he walked into the gym.

I would agree to whatever, as long as it would help me survive Kylo's challenge. I was about to head to the locker room to change into my Gi when Leo grabbed my wrist, shaking his head.

"This is what you are going to wear tonight." He handed me a short spandex top and a pair of leggings.

"This?" I widened my eyes in disbelief, "Do you want me to dress like a 1980's Miss Fitness?"

"These will help you move swiftly around Kylo… and create a distraction," he smirked.

"Distraction?" I gritted my teeth, "He is not trying to flirt with me, he is trying to kill me!" I burst out.

"He is a guy, and you are… attractive," Leo admitted reluctantly, suddenly avoiding my gaze.

"Seriously?" I sighed, annoyed.

"Just do as I tell you," he tossed, waving off his hand, chasing me out to the locker room to change.

I had to admit that the clothes Leo gave me felt like my second skin. They fitted perfectly and were light, allowing me to move fast without worrying that any piece of my clothing would fall off of me while fighting. I also had to acknowledge the fact that I made the black, sleeveless top that ended a little below my bra and the fitted leggings that underlined my butt look attractive.

I walked out of the locker room and bumped into Patrick, who had just entered the gym. He instantly stepped away from me, but then scanned me thoroughly from head to toe.

"Fuck." His reaction painted a cunning grin on my face.

As soon as he realized that he was studying certain parts of my body with obvious attention, he smiled awkwardly and cleared his throat.

"See?" Leo chuckled, observing the whole scene between me and Patrick, "He is already distracted. You can gain an advantage even if your opponent stares at your breasts or ass for a second. Sometimes it is all it takes to win."