Judas swallowed hard. His throat felt tight, as if the words inside him struggled to escape.
He leaned forward slowly and rested his forehead against the top of Nina's trembling head. His breath was uneven, warm against her hair.
"Who hurt you?"
The question slipped from him in a low voice that almost sounded like a growl. He tried his best to make it quiet and controlled, yet it was shaking with a fury he could barely contain.
Nina flinched so violently her shoulders jumped. More tears streamed down her cheeks. Droplets fell onto her lap, darkening the cloth beneath her fingers.
Judas closed his eyes.
'Stay calm. Do not scare her. Do not let anger touch her.'
He forced down the rage boiling beneath his ribs. Another man's cruelty had carved those marks into her skin. He would not repeat that cruelty. Not even by accident.
Yet he could not look away from the truth pressed against his palms.
Nina had endured far more than she had ever hinted at. She had survived things no girl should ever see.
She carried a history etched into her body, line by line, wound by wound.
His hands softened at once. The anger melted into something painful, something tender, something trembling.
"Silly girl," he whispered against her hair. "I will not hate you."
Her breath stopped.
His arms tightened just a little, not enough to trap her, but enough to anchor her.
She was fragile under his touch.
"Never," he added, voice softer than before.
Nina's fingers loosened on her clothes. Her shoulders rose and fell as she tried to breathe, but each inhale shook like it hurt.
Judas lifted his head and touched her cheek. His thumb wiped a tear before it fell.
"Let me see you," he murmured. "Only if you choose to let me. Only if you want to trust me."
She shook her head quickly, ears flattened and tail coiled around her thigh.
Words would not come to her. Her voice was trapped somewhere inside her chest.
He did not push harder. He simply held her and waited.
Nina's silence stretched, her gaze moving to Luna and Ezra, fear and confusion filling her eyes.
Judas exhaled slowly.
He knew she was not ready to speak. But the scars had changed everything.
They pulled something cold and protective to the front of his mind, something that would not rest until he understood.
He glanced to the side.
Luna and Ezra stood in the corner, both frozen. Neither dared to move. Neither blinked.
Luna's face had gone pale, silver eyes wide. Ezra held a hand on her own chest as if steadying her heartbeat.
Judas looked back at Nina, then forced himself to breathe again.
"Nina," he said softly, brushing a tear from her chin. "Let me talk with you alone. Only for a moment."
He raised his eyes to the other two wives.
"Can you both go to the side room for now?"
Luna's eyes snapped open wider. Her mouth parted, ready to speak. She took a step forward, ears pulled back in unease.
"Why must we leave? She is crying. What do you plan to—"
His next words came out more firm than he intended.
"Go."
Something stirred around him. A faint shift in the air. His presence sharpened unintentionally.
The new skill. Intimidation. He had not meant to activate it.
Luna froze.
Her breath caught. The faintest tremble ran up her arms. Her eyes lowered in something close to fear.
He felt it instantly.
Judas's stomach twisted.
"I am sorry," he said at once, voice cracking slightly. "Luna. I did not mean to frighten you."
Her lips pressed together. She looked aside, trying to steady herself.
Affection: 20 -> 19
I did not think he would speak like that. Why did it hurt more than it should?
Ugh. Judas sighed inwardly.
Ezra stepped in quickly and wrapped a gentle hand around Luna's wrist.
"Come," she whispered. "Let them speak. He is serious."
Her eyes flicked briefly to Judas. The weight in his expression unsettled her.
A man who smiled like a fool a moment ago now carried a coldness that made her spine stiffen.
Why does his presence feel heavier than before? Why do I feel caution toward him?
Judas's shoulders softened as the two women slowly retreated toward the side room.
The moment the door shut, the faint oppressive air around him vanished. His chest loosened again.
He turned back to Nina.
She sat trembling, clutching her clothes as if holding her heart together. Tears dripped silently from her chin.
Judas kneeled beside her.
His hands hovered near her arms but did not touch until she allowed it.
She shivered, fingers loosening as her head dipped forward.
He gathered her gently against him, holding her as if she were a wounded bird. Remember "Nina," he whispered, voice shaking with something deep and raw, "whatever happened to you… whatever someone did… it was not your fault."
Her muffled sob broke against his chest.
He stroked her hair.
"I will not hate you. I will not leave you. I will not think you are damaged. You survived. That alone makes you stronger than you know."
She clung to him, desperately. As if afraid he might disappear if she released him.
His hand moved slowly over her head. His voice barely above a breath.
"Let me share your burden, Puppy. Even if you cannot say it yet."
She cried harder, face buried against him. But she no longer pushed him away.
And that, for Judas, was enough.
[What will you do, if she is stained?]
'Stained?'
[Forced by another man.]
'How could that make her stained? And haven't you said you have no thoughts? Why such a question?'
[I share your thoughts, host. It is what you are thinking now. What will you do, if she is stained by other men? Will you feel angry because others touched her or will you feel anger for the pain she suffered?]
'Did I really think like that?' Judas trembled. 'Was my first reaction to feeling her scars and hearing her pain... this?'
If so, Judas would hate himself. Hate himself for how disappointing he was.
[Actually… what made you angry was the pain she endured. Nothing else.]
Judas breathed a sigh of relief, hugging Nina too closely.
"Nina, even if you were touched by other men— ugh. Nina, why are you biting me?"
"Bas-husband! What are you thinking? I am untouched." For the first time, his puppy was fuming in anger.
"I mean— ahh. That bite hurt, Nina."
"Deserved." She continued biting as he allowed her to do so, until she removed her teeth willingly, her own teeth aching.
With a face full of tears, she glared daggers at him. "I was a sacrifice." She moved closer to him as she spoke, putting her head to his neck, sniffing.
"…my heart blood had an ability to make minds sharper."
Judas clenched his fists.
"So they bled me to savor…"
He never allowed her to finish as his mouth found hers.