Of course there was. All of it mine. Every stain from every time they'd tried to tear it away and I'd refused to let go. My fingers had bled. My waist had bled. The leather was stiff with it.
But the blood on that belt was nothing compared to what I'd shed over three years.
I said nothing.
My silence seemed to enrage him more than any words could have. His jaw tightened, and his eyes went hard.
"Marina, don't tell me you were playing the spoiled princess in that village too. Using this belt like a whip to hit people."
"I knew it. You're arrogant and out of control. Three years in the countryside, and you didn't learn a damn thing!"
He snatched the belt up and drew his arm back to lash it across me.
I didn't flinch. Didn't move. I just closed my eyes.
And in that moment, the belt never fell.
Instead, my legs buckled. The world went black, and I collapsed.
"Marina, cut the act. Stop pretending to faint."
"Get up."
But when he crouched down and brushed the hair from my face, when he saw how hollow and gray my skin was, the anger vanished. Panic flooded in.
"Marina. Marina, wake up. What's wrong with you?"