Nobody seemed to know how I had gotten back to the quarters that night, even though I didn't know. After my outburst I solely believed that Jonathan would have thrown me to the pigsty to feed with them but he had allowed me to go back to my quarters. My bed was now isolated to one corner of the room but I could be bothered less about that. I laid down on my back hoping that the gallons of water I had emptied in my stomach could sustain me till the next morning. My reality was dawning faster and faster on me. I had starved for a full day. I had eaten nothing for a full day. I was starting to become a joke and a hated and annoying one at that. I stared at the ceiling of the room, hoping that somewhere in my mind I'd realize that this was just a bad dream and I woke up back at home. I didn’t realize when I had slept off until I felt someone shaking me and I slowly opened my eyes, coming face to face with the enlarged face of my personal maid, Runa.“Runa?” I called out slowly as I trie
I don’t know why but I am surprised when Jonathan doesn’t tease me further. My eyes were lowered to the ground while he ate. The sounds of his food crunching together filled my ears and I could hear the silent grumbles of my stomach. In over four days, I hadn’t eaten anything besides the bread Juniper had been sneaking for me and I was getting impoverished.I stood throughout Jonathan’s eating process without a word and when he was done with his food I didn’t move because he hadn’t instructed me to but I was getting anxious, it would soon be time for the slaves to eat and I needed to eat, to put something in my stomach no matter what.I snuck anxious glances at him and Aurora but I didn’t dare say anything. After what seemed like eternity, Aurora finally asked me to pack the table and head back to the kitchen. Without a word, I quickly packed the table and carried the tray hurrying out of the hall before Jonathan remembered me and started calling me names.My legs moved faster and by
I have no idea when I got up from the floor and got back to work, the usual snide remarks and irritated glares at me were half gone and I was also surprised. Juniper as well was nowhere to be found. When it was evening, before Aurora found me and had me take food to Jonathan again, I disappeared. I walked aimlessly in the slave area trying not to think about my current situation, it was a situation that even I didn’t wish on my worst enemies.I didn’t bother going for dinner because I could already imagine the same thing happening and I had had enough embarrassment for a day, for my entire life. I sat down staring at the horizon as the sun went to its resting place but I knew that it was just the entire finishing a rotation, I wished desperately that I could turn back the hands of time but the Moon Goddess had favourite and I wasn’t on their list that’s why she had made me a Beta knowing fully well that a female Beta as a Princess would spell doom for her.That’s why no matter how sed
It’s been over a month and I was starting to see and I was able to trace the line of my bones with one glance. I had stopped fighting or even arguing; the bullying got worse after I stopped fighting back. The food I got served at the dining hall got smaller and smaller and I never got to eat it. My roommates either tripped, the food either ended in my hair and I was just wheezing around. The only person that was holding me was Juniper.He always had a hot meal for me or a loaf of bread and I was practically living on the scraps he had left for me. I was a wreck and I knew it but there was nothing I could do about it. Deep down, I was quietly already waiting to slump one day and never open my eyes again.I packed the pile of plates and slipped them into the bowl of water. I took one step and I staggered but a strong arm was immediately wrapped around my waist to steady me.“For goodness sake Amira, you have to rest." Juniper’s concerned voice washed over me and I slowly slumped to the
My consciousness started to blur at her words. Despite their conversation, I still couldn’t understand where I was or what had happened but I resolutely kept my eyes shut pretending to be still asleep but it became useless because they all stepped out of the room to resume their discussion. After several seconds of silence, I slowly pry my eyes open and I’m met with an empty room. The strong smell of herbs and disinfectants hit my nose again and with a quick look around; i realized that I was at the park clinic. I had heard about it a lot of times but I had never been there. I had no reason to be there. It didn’t matter how many times Juniper almost dragged me to see the doctor despite my injuries and falling over something.I winced as I tried to sit up on the bed and I looked around again. Their earlier conversation drifted into my mind again and I sighed softly. The beating my roommates had given me had obviously almost sent me to the arms of death, luckily death wasn’t ready to r
I blink my eyes in quick succession although Aurora had just spoken a language I did not understand.“What did you say?” I blurted out and a look of irritation and a look of impatience spread across her face, “You need me to repeat myself? Pack your things and let’s leave. From today you work in the King’s quarters” she replied and I was dumbstruck.I took a glance around. I wasn't the only one in shock, every one of my roommates had a dazed expression on their faces. I immediately shook my head in refusal.“I don’t want to,” I replied. There was no way I was going to go and work in Jonathan’s quarters. He already made life hell for me even though I was far away from him and now he wanted to punish me and make my life harder by asking me to work for him? I wasn’t going to do it.Aurora burst into laughter stunning me. It was laughter that made my bones ice over but it was the first time I was seeing her laugh.“You don’t want to?” she asked, “You are a slave, you do what you are told
I didn’t know when I slept back but after that terrible dream of my father, my sleep after was sweet and quiet and even enjoyable. It was the first time in a long while that I had a good sleep. By the time I woke up, Lillian had gone out of the room already and Serena was dressing up.“Good morning” I greeted and Serena offered me a smile.“Good morning Amira, are you okay?” she asked and I am immediately reminded of the fact that Serena had rushed to my bedside when that nightmare had woken me up concerned and worried. I nodded at her with a small smile.“Yes I am, Thank you” I replied.“Do go have your bath and let’s get started with work” she informed me and I nodded walking into the next door that I figured out was the bathroom. My lips parted when I stepped inside.I had to bathe in the open with the other slaves in a poorly constructed large expanse bathroom and I always made sure to wake up extra early to take my bath even though it meant that I had to sleep right after. I alwa
I wandered towards the kitchen slowly. My altercation with Jonathan was almost a week now and I had been successfully avoiding him. I was still scared and the thought still made my blood freeze over. It was not surprising that Jonathan had taken such a measure, what was surprising was why I had never imagined or thought that he would. I must have given him the benefit of doubt. He wasn’t human like the rest of us, he was a devil and he deserved death but death for him would mean the annihilation of my family, my clan and my kingdom. Our existence would be raised from the world. Just the thought made me freeze over and I hurried towards the kitchen again.Juniper was taking a break by the time arrived. He shot up to his feet as soon as he saw me and rushed towards me.“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly and I managed a small smile nodding my head as we found a place to sit down.“You fainted and we weren’t allowed near the clinic no matter what. I was so worried and the next thing I wa
I couldn’t believe my eyes or my ears. Everything was starting to feel a little too fast, a little too real. Juniper’s words were as though he was driving knives into my body. No matter how hard I tried to keep my composure, I just couldn’t. I couldn’t believe that the one person I trusted with my life had set me up and made me a fool. At a point, I just stopped trying, the tears flowed down and I was so sure that I wasn’t going to be stopping anytime soon. Everything was starting to make sense in my head.Questions I should have asked before, I was just asking them. The doubts I should have chased before, I was just trying to chase them now but I was too late. Way too late.“So everything was all you” I whispered, biting on my bottom lip as he stared at him and Juniper nodded as he got up from his seat.“I thought I already made that clear already, everything was all me” he replied as he started moving around placing some things in the shed and I frowned.“You know I gave you a chanc
Nothing at all could describe the pain and ache in my heart as Juniper spoke. His words were like tiny sharp prickles drilling into my chest and no matter how hard I tried to pretend that I didn’t care that what he was saying didn’t matter, I couldn’t help it. I had confided in him and yet he was using it against me. The thought of everything that had happened rushed to my head and my head started to spin. A part of me was still finding everything that was happening a little too real, unbelievable.How did I not see through at all?“Why are you doing this to me?” I whispered, tears running down my cheeks. He was supposed to be my best friend and yet here he was torturing me.“You know while I baited my time here, nothing seemed to ever faze Jonathan. He was so well protected and there was no leakage, nothing at all. There was no way I could penetrate into his impregnable wall and even the news about the palace was scarce. He had no weak points, only strong points but I knew that the t
AMIRA’S POVI had no idea how long it tk me to open my eyes but the moment I decided to do so, it was a sharp pain and ache from the back of my head had registered in my mind first and it took me several minutes before slowly opened my eyes and tried i adjust my eyes to the environment and know where I was. It took me a few minutes, but I soon realized that I was in a shed. The shed looked old and rusty and it had a faint smell of old books in the library. It definitely wasn’t used so well. That was what I was sure of.I tried to stand up and it was then that I realized that my hands and legs were tightly bound and panic set in as I tried to loosen myself all to no avail. As I tried to free myself, I immediately remembered how I had found myself here in the first place. I remembered Juniper hitting me with a stick, the displeased look on his face as I fell to the floor. I hadn’t been hallucinating.I looked around as I shook my head while trying to loosen myself, “Juni wouldn’t do th
THIRD POVThe shouts of victory filled the whole kingdom and Jonathan had a smile on his face. Their recent wars had been filled with happy screams and shouts as they nabbed victory after victory. SOme of the kingdoms that waged war against them were slowly withdrawing from the crushing defeat some of the other kingdoms had suffered in their hands but he also knew that it didn’t matter, they had to keep up their defenses. They couldn’t afford to back down now, he also knew that the wars had done them a favour, while they didn’t confer to the other kingdoms standards, they could also finally leave the title of being a rogue kingdom behind. They had proved their worth and also proved that they weren’t people that could be messed with or played around with.He walked through the hallways, the guards bowing as he walked past them and then into his room. Kareem immediately reached for his armour and helped him remove it.“Congratulations your highness” both Kareem and Azarah choroushed as
“Amira, Amira, wake up, wake up” a strong jolting jolted me awake and I jumped on the bed with a fright. I turned to see Serena staring at me with wide eyes.“Are you okay?” She asked and the previous night memories came washing over me in an instant. The secrets I had found made a lump form in my throat. I had stayed in the medicine room, drinking in every detail and what I had found out had terrified me. It was a lie, it was a sham and I had walked into the room late to sleep.“Amira, Amira” Serena called again and I came back to myself while she stared at me with narrowed eyes.“Are you sure you're okay?” she asked and I quickly nodded my head.“Well, the king would soon leave for the war, I thought you might want to see him before he leaves” Serena said as she grabbed my hand, “Amira, talk to me, what’s wrong?” she asked and I turned to stare at Serena wondering whether to tell her what I had learned first but instead I got off the bed and rushed out of the door. I needed to tell J
I laid in my bed for half of the day, wondering and pondering on Juniper’s question. I knew that he was right and he had only been looking out for me and that was why he asked me that question but I didn’t like what he had asked at that point in time. I was merely trying to be happy and at that point, my emotions had plummeted.I knew that like Juniper, anyone who heard about me and Jonathan would have questions, valid questions. Like how did we all in love? Did we really love each other? Would I be able to forgive him? He was someone who had turned my entire life upside down, would I still be able to forgive him? How did I even dare to love such a man? He hadn’t told me to my face that he loved me but I knew and I was also yet to tell him that I loved him. I didn’t have to think so hard because I had gotten my answer a long time ago, fate and destiny had a way of playing games and the games they had played with me and Jonathan were unfair games, games that shouldn’t have been played
AMIRA’S POVNobody knew why the Princesses were sent home. What had happened had been kept tightly on a lease and no matter how hard anyone tried to pry, they couldn’t find out what had happened. When Serena found out what had happened, she had almost beaten me up especially since she had told me not to go and if she hadn’t gone to Kareem in the first place and Kareem going to Jonathan, something terrible would have happened and then nobody would have been able to do anything.By the time Masoma found out, Azrah had already thrown the girls out. He was ruthless with them and didn’t spare any of them. It was worth anyone getting angry over, they had in the name of whatever tried to ruin my face.It was no longer jealousy or envy, it was pure wickedness and evil and I wasn’t exactly surprised that Runa was the one who came up with the whole plan. She was capable of such evil but getting the courage to actually act it out, I hadn’t seen that coming and even though Freya had somehow found
THIRD POVJonathan held his head in his palms, his breathing heavy while Kareem and Azrah stood behind him, quiet. The two guards behind him both had hard looks on their faces. Jonathan wasn’t the only one angry or furious. Kareem had been furious and Azrah had been mad, he had commanded the guards to send the Princesses packing immediately, they all thought it was a joke, they couldn’t believe that Jonathan was chasing them away because of a slave but Azarah’s actions had made them realize that he was serious.Freya had begged and begged, she had pleaded to be spared but Azrah wanted to hear nothing about it. He never understood the female royalty, the incessant jabbering and competitions, he never seemed to understand, there was no reason to be always in competition with each other. They could have chosen to be friends but instead, they hated each other, were jealous of each other and envied each other.Envy was a strong emotion and it was that envy that had pushed the five of them
By instinct, I knew that Runa sending for me was anything but good. And worse, it was to her quarters, I knew that it meant trouble was brewing and like I had told Jonathan and Masoma the day before, I was still enough to handle them. I knew that she wanted to get back at me at what happened before and I knew that she had concocted a plan but for some reason I wanted to teach her a lesson.“You don’t have to go,” Serena said and I chuckled.“I know but I want to” I replied.“You have no idea what they have planned for you there. It could be anything, they could hurt you” Serena warned and I burst into laughter.“I know that they want revenge for what happened yesterday but hurting me is something they wouldn’t try to do, that would really be bad for them” I explained while grabbing Serena’s arm.“The truth is that they want revenge and they are spoiled and they are good at throwing tantrums but they are not stupid either, they know what this means and it’s not a bad idea to deal with