Chapter 209
Grinding his teeth, Varkas glared down at her before shouting toward the doorway.
"Bring food here. Now!"
The maids lingering anxiously in the corridor hurried down the stairs.
Not long afterward, they returned, carefully carrying trays laden with every kind of dish.
Varkas forcibly pulled the limp woman upright, propped pillows behind her back to support her, then picked up a bowl of white porridge from the tray and pressed it into her hands.
"Enough with this childish nonsense. Eat."
Her unfocused eyes drifted down to the bowl.
When she remained completely motionless, Varkas's impatience flared.
"If you won't eat on your own, I'll force-feed you."
But Talia stayed limp like a doll with its strings cut, not moving an inch.
Finally losing his patience, Varkas snatched up a spoon and scooped up some porridge.
As he brought it to her lips, she turned her head away as though merely inconvenienced.
He seized her face roughly and forced her jaw open.
The moment he tried to push the porridge into her mouth, she finally reacted.
"No!"
With a desperate cry, she violently shoved his arm away.
Caught completely off guard by the sudden resistance, the spoon flew from his hand and clattered across the floor.
The bowl of porridge, knocked aside by her struggling, overturned onto the bedsheets, spilling its contents everywhere.
Varkas stared at it with hardened eyes before immediately picking up another bowl.
Inside the small ceramic vessel was a fermented goat's milk drink she had once loved as a dessert.
Holding it to her lips, he barked,
"Drink."
She kept her lips tightly shut and twisted her body away.
He caught her before she could escape, pinned her against the headboard, and forced her mouth open by pressing against her cheek with his free hand.
He slowly poured the drink into the opening.
Talia refused to swallow.
The liquid ran from her mouth and down her chin instead of passing her throat.
Something inside him ignited.
Varkas tipped back the remainder of the drink into his own mouth.
Then, while firmly restraining the body struggling desperately to break free, he crushed his lips against hers.
Only then did flames of anger finally ignite within those empty eyes.
It was impossible to believe someone who had starved herself for days still possessed such strength.
Her slender hands clawed wildly at his chest and the back of his neck.
He ignored her completely, forcing his tongue deep into her mouth.
A muffled groan escaped through her forcibly opened throat.
Ignoring her obvious distress, he continued forcing her to swallow what he held in his mouth.
Suddenly, with every muscle in her neck tensed, she bit down on his tongue.
His grip on her jaw prevented serious injury, but the rich metallic taste of blood spread through his mouth.
At last, Varkas pulled away.
The instant he did, she twisted free and crawled desperately toward the edge of the bed.
He immediately caught her shoulder and shoved her back down onto the mattress.
Panting violently, she glared at him through her disheveled hair.
Her face was soaked with cold sweat.
Her lips and chin were smeared with the pale drink he had forced into her mouth, mixed with streaks of blood.
The sticky liquid had even soaked into her rapidly rising and falling chest, staining her dress white.
She looked like some monstrous spirit said to lure humans to their deaths before devouring them alive.
Staring down at her with turbulent eyes, Varkas asked in a voice weighed down by emotion,
"Tell me. What do I have to do to make you eat?"
Suddenly, a dry, airy sound escaped from between her swollen lips.
It took him a moment to realize she was laughing.
Apparently exhausted by the struggle, she let her arms and legs fall limply as a faint breath mixed with a rasp escaped her throat.
"You make it sound... like you'd actually do what I ask..."
"..."
"I'm never falling for that again."
The light faded once more from her once-bright eyes.
Staring blankly into empty space with an abyss-like gaze, she lowered her damp lashes and murmured,
"Just... leave me alone."
Something in his chest spasmed at the sight of her complete resignation.
Varkas immediately slipped an arm behind her neck and pulled her upright once more.
No matter what she said, he intended to make her eat.
Grasping both of her cheeks, he forced her to face him.
She remained completely still, her eyes closed.
Only several seconds later did he realize she had completely collapsed from exhaustion and lost consciousness.
He roared toward the door.
"Bring a priest here immediately!"
The order had barely left his mouth before hurried footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Varkas lifted her effortlessly with one arm and stripped away the ruined blankets and sheets.
One of the maids quickly understood his intentions and hurriedly spread fresh linens over the bed.
After laying Talia back down, Varkas soaked a towel in the basin resting on the nearby shelf and gently wiped her face.
Throughout it all, she remained completely limp, like a corpse.
She did not open her eyes again until the priest, brought in by the maids, cast healing magic upon her.
"Healing magic can only restore her vitality temporarily. Unless she consumes enough food and water, her body will continue to weaken."
The priest addressed her in a stern voice.
Talia remained silent, her gaze fixed outside the window.
Awkwardly clearing his throat, the priest glanced cautiously toward Varkas.
With a slight motion of his chin, Varkas dismissed him.
The priest quietly gathered his belongings and left without delay.
Once the maids had also withdrawn, Varkas picked up a plate of preserved fruit from the tray and held it out before her.
"Eat."
She looked at him as though utterly exhausted.
Without blinking, Varkas picked up a slice of pear preserved in honey and held it to her lips.
"If you want to repeat what just happened, then keep resisting. Struggle, pass out—it doesn't matter. I'll do this over and over until you finally eat properly."
She stared at him for a long time.
At last, she opened her mouth.
An overwhelming sense of relief nearly made the strength leave his fingertips.
Quickly steadying his trembling hand, he pushed the piece of fruit between her lips.
She chewed it a few times.
Then, without warning, she spat it carelessly onto the bedsheet.
Varkas's face turned cold once again.
Looking straight at him, she smiled mockingly.
"The harder you try... the less I want to eat."
His fist clenched tightly.
He could feel his fingernails piercing his own palm.
As if deliberately provoking the restraint he was barely maintaining, she added in a hoarse voice,
"Go ahead. Keep forcing it into my mouth. I'll spit every last bit back out."
Then she let out an absent-minded, breathy giggle.
That empty, lifeless laughter shattered the last of his composure.
Exactly as she had challenged him to do, Varkas snatched another piece of fruit from the plate.
He forced it into her mouth.
She immediately clamped her teeth down hard on his fingers.
Blood welled where her small teeth pierced his skin.
He did not care.
An obsession bordering on madness swallowed him whole in an instant.
"Swallow."
Still biting his fingers, she glared at him.
Breathing heavily into her defiant face, Varkas ground out through clenched teeth,
"Are you really planning to starve yourself to death over one wolf?"
Those words became the spark.
She exploded.
As Varkas tightened his grip on the woman thrashing like an animal caught in a trap, he noticed the bruises blooming across her skin.
Muttering a curse under his breath, he released her.
At the same instant, a sharp sting exploded across one side of his face.
He stared at her with icy eyes.
The woman who had slapped him clutched at her chest, gasping violently for breath.
"You... What do you know? Khan was everything to me. Because of Khan, I finally... finally stopped hurting... I finally wanted to live..."
Hot tears streamed down her face.
Her body trembling violently, she suddenly lunged at him.
"You took that away from me! I begged you...! I begged you to save him...!"
Her cry tore from her throat like a scream.