12 | Ties That Bind

You stand up and move to the center of the room, hands on your hips. The girls' eyes follow your every move and their ears twitch when you finally announce: "Listen up!"

With so much authority in your voice, you turn the girls loyal. Pursena corrects her posture immediately, sitting up straight and alert like a soldier at war. Linia does the same to the best of her ability, seeing as her broken ankle restricts her from moving too much.

Right now you feel like some sort of commander... it's an odd feeling. Your reliable soldiers are now the pair of sisters that have gone from torturing you to regarding to you as their unmistakable superior — Linia Dedoldia and Pursena Adoldia.

"From now on," you continue, "I'm in charge. There's not gonna be any more abuse, no more thinking you're the ones who have control. You got me?"

"Yes, Boss!" Linia salutes you for one reason or another. It's a nice gesture regardless.

Pursena shrugs, a lot more nonchalant. "Sure thing."

"You two made a grave mistake trying to turn me into your little servant." You cross your arms and assume the most stern demeanor you can muster. "Those days are over. Try anything else and I'll make sure you girls suffer."

You uncross your arms and hold up a hand. A small wisp of wind magic appears at your fingertip, its green energy visible to the naked eye.

"Next time you try something, I can do a whole lot more than tie you up or break an ankle," you say with a grimace on your face. This shakes the Doldia girls to their very cores and their faces distort into terrified frowns.

"G-got it, Boss!" Linia says with the same energy as before.

"You should still punish Linia for punching and kicking you back then," Pursena suggests then immediately hangs her head to avoid the glare of her sister.

"Me?! You should pay Boss back for all the food they bought you!"

"That's not as bad as, like, beating them up!"

"You—"

"Enough!" you shout. The girls instantly snap back to being quiet and at attention at the sound of your booming voice. They once again straighten their posture, eyes on you.

"Both of you are paying me back, one way or another. I just don't know how yet." You hate to admit it, but you have no ideas on how to get back at the girls. You don't really want to hurt them anymore than you already have, but at the same time you refuse to go light on them.

Linia blinks. "Well, what do you want, Boss? Food? Money? Wanna hit me back? That would be fair, yeah?" Her eyes drift down to herself, landing on her chest. "Oh, right," she murmurs. "Since you're a total pervert, I guess you can have one little touch as payback."

You barely have time to react before Pursena responds, your jaw dropping in raw, uncut disbelief at what you're hearing.

"Really? Is that what you're into, Y/N?" Pursena eyeballs her sister and then you. "I mean, if that's all it takes to pay you back, you can touch mine too or whatever."

You shake your head furiously. "For the last time, I'm not a pervert! I'm not touching anything!"

"You sure, Boss? It's less work for us if you just take this as payment, nya."

"Totally," Pursena adds. "I'm not giving up any food, so just—"

"I got it!" you quickly interject. The girls stare longingly at you, wondering. Pursena tilts her head. "From now on, you two will be my servants. You made me yours, so it's only fair."

Linia rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "Can't say no to that. But you realize we're seniors here, so once we graduate, we're gone."

You nod. "There's plenty of time until then."

"Well, not really. You got to join in the middle of the second semester — most gifted students can enroll whenever. Seniors graduate in January."

Oh. This news kind of disappoints you. It's October now, so that only leaves you about three months to get the most out of these girls. Should be enough time to start considering them your maids. But maybe not. Regardless, you nod to Linia again and hum to yourself in thought.

"That's fine," you say.

Neither of you have noticed Pursena's quiet absence from the discussion. In fact, after the subject of graduation was brought up, she started lowering her head and nervously fiddling with the fur on her tail. Completely silent. It's like the topic is a sensitive one for her, but there's no telling exactly how.

"I'm tired, nya." Linia follows this up with a proper yawn. "Can I get some shut-eye, Boss?"

"Yeah." You start to head for the door. "I'll have the school nurse come and heal you in the morning."

"Oh yeahhh, I forgot she can fix broken bones. You're smart, Boss!"

You manage to let a smile slip but you don't show Linia. Instead, you open the door  and prepare to leave. The Doldia sisters seem well now. You don't think there's any need for you to scare them further into submission. They've already sworn their loyalty to you, whether it was verbal or not.

Before you go, you glance over your shoulder at a frowning Pursena. Her fingers still dance along the tip of her fluffy tail. Her face spells out distress.

You think she's still just terrified from earlier.

Little do you know, that's not the case. So you leave their room without another word and decide it's best to talk with them tomorrow in class.

*            *            *

Midnight. The rain has stopped. Campus is as silent as ever. Even the birds in the sky are resting beneath the stars.

As for Pursena, she just can't get a wink of sleep. Her mind is too bothered, too corroded with this one thought.

She turns over in bed, facing her sister's side of the room. The soft rustle of her blankets fills the empty air.

"Linia."

No answer. The feline is snoring.

"Linia."

Pursena's volume lifts slightly. Not enough to wake her exhausted sister.

"Hey. Linia."

This time, her voice pulls the feline out of her sweet dreams. Linia's eyes peel open, easily fluttering against the dimness of the room. Not even the fireplace is lit, so only a smidgen of moonlight shines through the window in between the sisters.

"What? I'm tryin' to sleep."

Linia's groggy voice does not deter her sister from approaching the matter at hand — the one thing left to haunt her mind.

"I'm scared," she says. Linia is now fully alert, like she's been called to action. She sits up, bites down on her tongue when the pain in her ankle hits her, then she looks over at her sister.

Pursena's expression has sunken into what can only be called fear and desperation.

"About what?" Linia says, but receives only silence for the bitter length of a few moments.

"I told them I was going to marry them," Pursena admits and draws her eyes to the dusty floorboards.

The feline's ears perk up. "Boss?"

Pursena nods slowly. "I told them, but it didn't matter. I don't know what I was expecting."

"Nya... you're really grasping at straws to save yourself."

"Maybe. It's all I can do now. We both know the law my side of the family stuck me with. We both know the consequences."

The two sisters go quiet for a while. They both contemplate the reality of their situation. Or rather, Pursena's situation. The one lingering thought that haunts her.

"Yeah, I know," whispers Linia. "If you don't marry before your senior graduation, you'll be... uh... what was it again?"

Pursena closes her eyes. "I'll be disowned and sold to that slave owner."

"Right," says the feline. "The real brutal guy who only buys women. I don't want to imagine what happens to them."

"You're not making me feel any better."

"Boss isn't going to marry you."

"It's my only chance. I don't want to be exiled. I don't want to be a slave as soon as I leave the academy."

Linia sighs. "Boss has barely forgiven us. You're nuts if you think you're making 'em your spouse."

Pursena doesn't know what else to say. The situation is dire and she wants to cry but she suppresses it. Her sobs would only become louder in this time devoid of all other sound.

"Then I'll have to run away," she whispers.

"They'll find you," Linia says and looks to the ceiling. "The tribe always finds the escapees."

Pursena considers she wouldn't be the first to try fleeing the tribal pact. If she did, the consequences would be far worse than becoming an exile and a slave.

That's how it always ends up for those who fail to find marriage before a certain age. It's a strict law, a bizarre one to many, but one she is bound to nonetheless.

"I'm going to marry Master," she says subtly.

Linia shakes her head and her eyes shut, preparing to drift off back to sleep. "Do you even have feelings for Boss? Or... are you just doing it... to save your sorry behind?"

There is a long silence once more.

Eventually, Pursena answers her sister with one word. But Linia is already asleep, and the scared girl's answer is gone to the delicate breeze slipping in through the window.