The man’s laughter became deeper revealing his dirty tobacco stained yellow teeth. “There’s no turning back. I have paid two thousand dollars to your aunt and uncle.” He brushed his knuckles on her cheek. Penny felt disgusted, even creepy. She swatted his hand away. “And I am gonna make a good profit selling you in the best brothel in the town. You should fetch me a cool ten thousand dollars, eh?”
Penny’s skin prickled with goose bumps. Blood drained from her face and her body stiffened. She stuttered, “A— Are you insane?” Did this man just kidnap her? “Stop being scary and t— turn back to the village.” She couldn’t believe what he blurted. “My aunt and uncle would n— never do that,” she said unbelievingly. Scared as hell, she trembled on the inside. It was her eighteenth birthday and her aunt had gifted her with a truck—truck that this man was giving her a test drive in. Was this all a ploy?
Paul laughed sinisterly and hit the accelerator further down. The truck sped on the highway. “Then you betta believe it, lass” he replied in a cold, business like voice. “This deal was made two months back and we waited for your eighteenth birthday, so that they could say that you ran away with me making an adult choice.”
Penny’s eyes bulged. She pressed her hand to her mouth. It was true. He sounded serious. “Jesus!”
She stared at the man and then slowly turned to look at the road. They were speeding. This was a nightmare. The unknown was unfolding in front of her at a rapid speed. The betrayal was unfathomable. Realization hit her like a tsunami. “T— This can’t be!” Fight and flight reflexes kicked in. She lunged at the man to stop him from driving, but he backhanded her and she fell to the other side with a sharp pain on her cheek.
“Stop the truck!” she yelled and attacked him again. Paul screeched to a halt. Penny opened the door immediately but it wouldn’t open. She banged her hand against it. “Why isn’t it opening?” she cried desperately.
“Because it has a child-lock.” Saying that Paul caught her hair brutally and yanked her towards him. With full force he hit her across the face and her lip split open. He snarled, “If you do that again I am going to be worse,” and once again punched her badly on the eye. Excruciating pain made her see stars in her vision. Penny screamed for help and tried to attack the man, but he assaulted her more. He kicked her savagely and she had a searing pain that clawed through her entire body. Would she leave this place alive? Suddenly she felt as if she was being dragged. She felt weak in her body, felt hopeless fighting a burly man like Paul. No longer she could open her eyes, which were now swollen. Her last sight was a man standing above her with frenzied eyes. He turned her on the stomach and tied her wrists with strings so tight that they almost dug in her flesh.
“A virgin would get me so much more!” She could hear him through her agonized, numb state. He tied her legs as tightly as her wrists, got up and kicked her hard, jostling her over on to her back.
“Bitch!” he spat, wiping the blood off his cheek. He kicked her again and her mauled face shoved against the cold steel of the truck, and excruciating pain emanated from her body in stifled groans. He left her only to return with a rug to cover her body—a thick stench ridden rug that made her want to puke. He was covering his prize, his crime and his loot.
Minutes later the truck started back on its journey. She didn’t know how long she was lying bound and gagged, but as the truck jerked on a dirt road Penny cracked open her eyes. Her limbs were freezing with cold and her body was shivering with fever. She didn’t know for how long she was unconscious. Her lips pained and the right eye was swollen to the point of being closed. She turned her head to look up and saw the cloudless night sky that was dazzling with thousands of brilliant stars. Another jerk and a sharp pain shot through her stomach. Blood pooled in her mouth. She coughed it out. Dizziness enveloped her and she passed out. From a distance she heard happy, excited voices that sounded like church bells.
She tried to scream for help but once again blood came out on her lips. When she woke up again, she couldn’t scream, couldn’t move, and only listened. A conversation between Paul—her abductor—and a strange voice—a man who was haggling her price.
“Come on Paul, you are asking for a lot of money this time,” he said.
She heard sounds of notes, shuffling.
“She is a virgin, eh? And just turned eighteen. Eh? I am not bluidy gonna sell her for a penny less, eh?” Paul said sipping country made brew. His voice was slurry.
“She is in an awful state! No buyer would take her like that. So I won’t give you a penny more,” the buyer bargained. “Besides she needs a lot of medication.”
“She is a wild cat, eh? The bitch is a wild cat. She pawed me, ‘ere, see? What could I do? She wanted an escape and I tied her, eh?” he wanted to kick her more with anger rising again.
“You should keep your anger in control Paul!” said the buyer and bent down to clear the golden tresses off the girl. Her beautiful face was a pulp but he knew that with the right medication she would be fine within a week’s time, just time for him to sell her in the market for the finest price.
“No one can control their anger with her. She’s a feisty one, eh?” he backed and started laughing. He drank the whole brew in one go. “I myself had problems in zipping my pants for her, else I would have plowed her.” More laughter.
The buyer examined his prey intently and then brushed his hands over her cheek. “She is a fine lass. I’ll give that to you.”
“Oh she is! We waited for two months. Her aunt is a good business. Her uncle is an asshole. We planned it well!” Paul filled his pitcher with more brew.
“Ten thousand dollars it is!” said the buyer. “After that, be gone. If I see you anywhere near her or this area, I am going to eviscerate and hang you in your guts.
Paul shuddered, knowing fully well what the buyer meant. Maxim was one of the most dangerous men in the region but dealt fairly in his trade of women. He owned several brothels and not everyday his brothel received virgin blondes. This one was indeed a bounty.
“Ten thousand dollars it is and you have my word,” said Paul and gulped his brew while eyeing Maxim who was busily investigating Penny’s body.
“What’s her name?” he asked, his eyelids growing heavy when he traced her sumptuous breasts.
“Penny.”
Maxim smiled and then got up. He bellowed with laughter when he gave the notes to Paul, counting them twice and then in the end said, “Not a penny more!”
---
Prince Ludwig Drozdov shot up awake in the middle of the night bolting upright from the haystack he was sleeping on in an animal barn he had hidden in. He gazed around the barn, which had the usual cattle—sheep, lamb, pigs, cows and chickens. Though Ludwig had his shares of nightmares, tonight he was not having any. But the sleep was snatched from him when he heard a soft whimper, a muffled painful groan of a female. Thoughts replaced by anxiety, he depended on his Lycae sense to pick up the sound, but there was nothing. Even the animals were sleeping peacefully. As the moments passed he grew all the more restless. Dread crossed his heart. It was like an empty feeling that settled in his heart. It bore no resemblance to his usual life—the fun-filled days in his kingdom, Renada.
He jumped out of the haystack. With a hand on his chest and brows drawn, he inspected the barn to see if the sound had a source or it was figment of his imaginations. But there was nothing. The town was shrouded with dark cloudy night and it was about to rain.
The unease didn’t ebb. He went back to the dry haystack but sleep eluded him. He closed his eyes but a faint moan kept him awake.
Tomorrow he would kill those who stood in his path. He was this close to attaining his prize, his gift to be given to his betrothed, Princess Zoe Belova—a necklace, said to be seeped with powers beyond imagination. This was the only gift she asked for, for him to marry her, to bed her and claim her as his wife, his trophy. She was half witch and half sorceress. A woman so powerful that people gave her a god-like status. Together with her, he would rule the kingdoms.
Almost nine centuries old, Ludwig had waited for his mate. He had frozen into immortality at the age of thirty-one. Since then he had been like the stones, which quietly endured the age.
She was so beautiful that his breath hitched. He was struck by lightning. He saw her pixie-like features, with high and defined cheekbones, an elegant jawline and a plump chin. And those swollen red lips, they were suited for a siren. Her heart-shaped face was something he could immerse for eternity.She was sitting with her knees up against her chest as her hands were tied on her back.
Penny ran behind him, trying to keep up his pace, staring blankly at his back, completely dazed about what happened just now. Was he her savior or he had bought her from Maxim? Was she going to be his slave now? Who was he? She thought she was going to pass off again. Blood from her mind drained down when she thought that this man was going to keep her as his sex slave. She passed out.
She somehow struggled to get out of his grip and ran to the edge of the pool. She hopped on the bank and sprint towards the thick jungle. She hadn’t covered even twenty feet, when the man came and stood in front of her, naked. Her eyes went directly to his enormous length and her mouth dropped. She thought that he would rape her. She turned and ran to the opposite side to the pool. She was trapped.
Penny lost balance and slipped down the interwoven branches, breaking some of them. Before she thought she would hit the ground, a strong pair of hands came and scooped her.
The moment the first one leapt at her, it was caught by its neck and thrown away. The remaining was killed ferociously as his claws penetrated their neck and he ripped their heads off their bodies. Penny watched the entire scene with so much horror in her eyes that she felt like puking. She scrambled away, her body getting covered with all the grit and began to run in the direction she was heading. She ran as fast as possible. She intended to be as far away as possible.
Ludwig was out of breath while exercising restraint. It had been a long time since he had slaked off. He refrained from it when he had pinned her beneath him, but now that she was this close to him, so quiet, her scent overwhelmed his sensations. “Zoe! Ah Gods!”
Penny hoped that he wouldn’t return early. The sound of water gurgling in the creek was inviting. She was very thirsty - her lips were dry and throat parched like a desert. Eager to drink water and wash the grit off her skin and hair, she stepped down the boulder and walked to the brook, removing the jacket along the way. She walked till the bank and put one leg in water. The water was so warm that she immediately put her second leg inside. The warm water swirled around her ankles and seemed to wash away her tensions. She bent down and drank water from her cupped hands and rinsed
The Royal Labor RoomCastle AlnorFive weeks laterPenny had felt the first constriction seven hours back. They were sleeping and Penny was very uncomfortable. She was sleeping on her back and wanted to turn towards Ludwig, but her tummy was so huge that turning to any side was an issue. Understanding her predicament, Ludwig turned to her and draped her in his arms. She nestled her face in his neck and went off to sleep. She woke up with a pain on the sides of her tummy. Clenching her teeth, she muffled her groan so that Ludwig wouldn’t wake up. He had been working non-stop with his kingdom’s vicegerents since the new year was approaching and they had assessed the economy and trade for levying taxes and allocating budgets. It was only after midnight that the man got to sleep.So she simply pressed her face in his neck
Ludwig looked at Tova and then at Penny. He held her hand and squeezed it lightly. “We have to let him go Penny…” They saw him getting up and going to the railing of the terrace where he leaned over and gazed into the night and beyond. Soft, chilly breeze carried the scent of roses.Ludwig turned his attention to Penny. He placed his hand to her heart and she gasped. Her heart was beating. What might have looked like a lewd gesture to the world was nothing but a constant reminder for him that she survived that day. She fought the battles and she was alive, not dead. Her beating heart was the proof that she didn’t lay there lifeless. Because that day Tova had said that she might die. He shuddered at the thought.He remembered how after bringing Nestefel, how very pale she looked. Ludwig was surprised that she was lying there with her eye
Desperate to get her back, he squeezed her tightly in her arms, too tightly. She whimpered.“Penny!” he sounded excited even at her whimper. That meant she responded to him. He wanted to embrace her tightly again in his arms, but he stopped himself because he knew that he would crush her. “My baby…” she called her back. “I can’t— I can’t—” he swallowed his saliva but he choked on his words. I can’t live without you—he meant to say.Darkness again.“It is the fourth day and she is still not awake!” Ludwig was shouting at Tova. “What kind of a healer are you?”Tova popped his ear and scowled at him. Not answering him, he looked at his thick journal
The tendrils of gray smoke whirled ferociously around her and they extended like whips. Penny walked towards Haley. A storm of ice and wind and debris swirled making it impossible for anyone to stand near her. She was consumed with so much hatred for the witch that she didn’t where it began—from the fact that she showed Zoe dreams of gaining Goddess-hood or from the fact that she made Zoe a tool for her means. And Zoe—she became a menace in their lives. Her ambitions surpassed her logic. She couldn’t think of anything beyond herself and the toxicity she threw towards her or at Ludwig was fed by this witch. Haley was the root of the menace, she was the root of all evil.The smoky tendrils lashed out.“Penny!” Brishor shouted when he saw her. “You must control!”
The gray tendrils coiled around her and whirled and whirled until she became invisible behind them. She thought she was being lifted and then suddenly she was falling… falling. She screamed. “Ludwig!”“NOOO!”Penny heard Haley shrieking with fury as she lunged at her. She could feel a tug at her dress. Was she dreaming? Where was the swirl taking her? Did she do right to ask to take her away? She didn’t even know the destination. She didn’t have the time to tell it to take her to Renada. The need to escape overpowered her rationality. As the darkness cleared, cold winds gusted around and slapped her cheeks and her body. She landed softly on something so cold that her body shuddered. When the tendril receded, she looked around. She whirled around on her hands and knees and saw that she was on ice—a vas
Penny sagged down the door. His head was in a tizzy. What just happened? She couldn’t wrap her mind around the events that took place. Haley told her that she was going to take her to Ludwig, instead she found herself in a bloody dark chamber. Terror added to her already hyper emotions. Bile rose in her throat.At first Penny couldn’t see properly in the darkness, but she adjusted her vision and realized that she was in a small cell, which was barely ten by ten feet. There wasn’t a single window in it. She was sitting over a hard concrete floor that was cold and damp. Her body shuddered. She played all the memories in her mind, which were concerned with Haley. She closed her eyes and kept thinking again and again as to where did the woman lack, or where was it that she left a loophole in making her think that she was a potent danger. And to her surprise, there wasn’t a thing w
“It’s getting late!” said one of the witches who was sitting right beside the first portal. “I have already given you fifteen minutes extra and I need to wrap this up!” She was too impatient to close the portal.The guard standing near the portal grunted at her. “You have taken a lot of money for this portal. It won’t harm you if you keep it open for another fifteen minutes. Can’t you see more soldiers are coming?”“Hey! Don’t talk to me like that. The deal was done and it was agreed that the portal would remain open for the money. Your king isn’t doing a charity, nor am I asking!” she said and got up from the log of wood she was perched on. Angrily, she walked into the portal and it shrank as soon as she left. The guard looked at her with fury and threw his spear at her b
Over the next four hours, Brishor had called his warriors whom he split into two. Ha’daz was ready with his soldiers on the northern side.The portals which Tova had bought from the witches of the black market, were supposed to stay open for four days. Lykae soldiers were employed on both the sides to make sure that no one except the army walked through them. Even the witches who had created the portals were standing over there, guarding them and keeping a watch on all.Knowing that Brishor’s dragons would take care of Maxim and his rogues, Ludwig concentrated on Keplin. His target was Zoe. If she fell, then Keplin would also weaken.“Why don’t you use the weapons I have crafted, Ludwig? I have been able to craft half of your order and it is waiting in the inventory,”
“Haley is a witch. She can open portals, Ludwig. And she is a good friend. I am sure she will help us,” said Penny with urgency in her voice. Over the days Haley had been extremely sweet and supportive to her. She had traveled in various realms and gathered cute things for Penny and her baby. Her gestures were warm.Ludwig narrowed his eyes. He looked away and scratched his chin. “I don’t think we need her help at the moment Penny. You just focus on getting Brishor here.”“I will do that,” she said. “But who has attacked us? And why? Is it Keplin?” Suddenly her skin was lined with goose bumps and she thought air whooshed out of her lungs. What if Zoe was also with Keplin?Ludwig didn’t want to give her the details. “Don’t worry