“I know that I do this all the time but I can’t help but apologize every time” Juniper said softly and I shook my head.“Not everyone knows that you are a sweet human being, not everyone knows the true you” Juniper added , “If they knew nobody would treat you the way they did. If only they knew the true Amira” he whispered as he placed his hand over mine and I met his soft eyes and immediately shook my head.“That’s still not an excuse Juni” I replied, feeling grossly unsatisfied. It was not an excuse. It had been a long while since I had felt this way in the Berg Kingdom. I thought that I was accustomed to the way they treated me but I obviously wasn’t. Not even one bit. The only thing that was different was that I had just decided to swallow my grievances before now.“What if they don’t know me? What if they don’t know the real me? That’s still not an excuse to treat me like garbage. They all hate me and I’m not even responsible for anything” I said as my voice got higher and higher
I pursed my lips, sighing softly, “Thank you Juni” I said softly, “You always have words to lift me up and make me feel better," I added and Juni chuckled.“C’mon, what are we friends for?” Juniper replied and I nodded slowly.“There’s something I also need to tell you” I said breathing out loudly and Juniper stared at me with rapt attention.I had debated for a long time whether to tell Juniper about my kiss with Jonathan or not. It was eating me up so bad and I hadn’t dared to tell Serena about it and Juniper was the only one I could tell. I thought long and hard before deciding to tell him. I didn’t know how he would take it but I knew that he would still be on my side. That was what Juniper had shown me over the months that I had stayed here. That he would resolutely regardless of whatever happened that he would be on my side.“And you must not freak out or shout or yell or do anything dramatic or crazy” I continued and Juniper laughed.“What do you mean?” He asked laughing, “Nobo
My conversation with Juniper was both eye opening and both worrying. It was eye opening that I started to realize that in truth, I was different from most slaves but most of the slaves came from a royal lineage. None of them were Princesses when they were captured. None of them were through the same torture as I did. None of them were hated by virtually everyone in the kingdom. Why was I so different?It was hard to understand or conjure up a reason why it was like that for me. It became glaring obvious after a few days that Juniper was right. Comparing myself to other slaves, there was a little bit of favoritism on my side. Not even the members of the Berg Kingdom could learn medicine if they wanted. There was a test and if they passed, they got in and there was me who indicated interest and immediately was asked to start attending classes.But why? Why was I allowed to suffer and then all of a sudden, he was being nice to me? All of a sudden, he found out he could comfort me and ki
Jonathan trusted me. It was hard to believe that someone who killed my father, my enemy trusted me. Why would he trust me? What quality or what attributes I have consciously and unconsciously exhibited for him to think that he could trust me. I didn’t know why. It didn’t make any sense but he did anyway.The crazier part; I didn’t find it so weird or so dramatic that he trusted me. The fact settled won with me easily and with no resistance. It wasn’t hard to understand why.With Juniper’s conversation, I had slowly understood that I indeed felt something towards Jonathan and if he felt something towards me, he wasn’t very clear either but he did. I mean he did trust me and that for no reason. That wasn’t all, he had actually gotten me medicine books because I decided not to go to the medicine house again.Such blatant show of affection was something that I hadn’t experienced in a long time and yet for some reason, I liked it and even enjoyed it. It made my heart warm and made me smile
“One time, I needed something from the medicine house and you won’t believe how harshly these attendants treated me. I was so angry and I started avoiding anything that would make me go to the medicine house” Julianna continued explaining and I furrowed my brows.“Really? Are they always like that?” I asked and Serena scoffed. I turned to her in surprise, it was the first time I was seeing Serena wear such an irritated expression.“I am really done with those attendants, so rude and so annoying. Jt because they allowed them to learn medicine and they are good at it. They treat everyone else like shit. I was already thinking about how you are going to cope there or how they are going to cope with you, who knew that you wuodn;t even be able to last a day there” Serena said and I chuckled in spite of myself.“I’ve never seen Serena wear such a face so this is very surprising for me. I can’t believe my eyes literally” I said laughing and Serena snorted.“I mean, i think most people would
I stared at the door licking my lips in anticipation. I had over and over again rehearsed how I was going to ask Jonathan for permission to go to the back mountains. The day before, Serena had suggested that I find Aurora and ask her as she was in the best position to allow me into the back mountains and we had joked about if I had lasted a few more days at the medicine house, I would have been able to go to the back mountain just because I were there but unfortunately, that was no longer possible because I had left the medicine house in the worst, in the funniest way possible.I had taken a few days to practice how to ask for permission from him. It had to be as natural as possible. I couldn’t stutter, I couldn’t show how anxious I was either. I had to be as calm as possible because I wasn’t just asking for permissions,I had to find some other things as well. The two things I had to do were as important as each other. I sucked in my breath, trying breathing exercises before I pushed
I ran. As fast I could. My insides had turned to mushy and everything around me seemed to be a blur. I had confirmed it and I was so sure that Jonathan even saw it or not. He felt something for me and whatever that was, it was enough for me. It was good and I liked it. I couldn’t believe that the bet I took had worked, I had won.I didn’t try to think so hard why Jonathan had given me his permission, all that mattered was that he had given me and now I could get all the herbs and plants that I needed. I remembered the teasing moments we shared when I had walked in on him half naked.It was so sure and so true that we both knew that we felt something for each other but keeping quiet and pretending like everything was good was our best bet and I honestly didn’t mind. I was still trying to figure out everything and so we could take all the time we needed in the world.I pushed the door open and both Julianna and Serena turned to me with question marks all over their faces. I walked into
Early the next morning, both I and Julianna woke up early. Serena woke up with us but she was still too sleepy to accompany us. We laughed at her as she struggled with waking up. Julianna and I ended up leaving her in the room and we grabbed our sickles and baskets and headed out of the room. Serena liked or loved to sleep and unless it was a biological clock which was around 8am, she would never wake up and would even struggle to wake up at 8 am. That was the type of person she was.Julianna led the way as she walked out of the place, our baskets carried over our backs like medicine attendants as she walked towards the back mountain. Everywhere was still foggy and not clear yet Juliana walked with dexterity and I was quick and sharp to follow her with agility. It was something that had been honed from over time. Julianna and I exchanged one or two words as we walked towards the back mountain.It was an area I had never gone to at all so I tried to look curiously around if I could rec
Juilanna had stayed true to her word and had brought me my breakfast and lots of extra fruits. She said she hoped that i would eat a lot of fruits and get better. It made me laugh and while I ate, I knew that she was still feeling guilty. I remembered when I first arrived at the palace and how she treated me. How she thought I deserved everything that came to me and of course, the strong triumphed over the weak but we had spent enough time together for her to realize that I hadn’t done anything to deserve what had happened to me.Her blind worship for Jonathan was starting to make her feel guilty. She trusted and believed in Jonathan. His decisions and his leadership and she had for years, until me and I were sure that she was having a hard time processing the fact that Jonathan had chosen to enslave me. I knew that she was questioning a lot of things and unfortunately I wasn’t going to help her with coming to terms with her feelings. It wasn’t my job, I was leaving soon anyway.By af
‘He’s doing way much better’‘Masoma said he would be fine by tomorrow morning. He’s the King and an Alpha, he has better healing abilities than anyone’That was what Serena had told me but I needed to see him for myself. I needed to make sure that he was alright. So I pretended to sleep first, waiting till Serena and Julianna were fast asleep, their breathing even, before I got up from my bed and sneaked out of the room. I walked silently along the corridors, inwardly praying that I wouldn’t meet a guard on the way and that Jonathan would be alone.Not that I was happy that the Moon goddess heard my prayers but I didn’t meet a single guard on the way and by the time I got to Jonathan’s room, I placed my ear on the door to listen if there was anyone in the room but it was an eerie silence that greeted me. I pushed the door slowly and peeped into the room, Jonathan was laying on his bed fast asleep and there was no one else in the room. I closed the door behind me and I tiptoed towards
‘He’s doing way much better’‘Masoma said he would be fine by tomorrow morning. He’s the King and an Alpha, he has better healing abilities than anyone’That was what Serena had told me but I needed to see him for myself. I needed to make sure that he was alright. So I pretended to sleep first, waiting till Serena and Julianna were fast asleep, their breathing even, before I got up from my bed and sneaked out of the room. I walked silently along the corridors, inwardly praying that I wouldn’t meet a guard on the way and that Jonathan would be alone.Not that I was happy that the Moon goddess heard my prayers but I didn’t meet a single guard on the way and by the time I got to Jonathan’s room, I placed my ear on the door to listen if there was anyone in the room but it was an eerie silence that greeted me. I pushed the door slowly and peeped into the room, Jonathan was laying on his bed fast asleep and there was no one else in the room. I closed the door behind me and I tiptoed towards
As I walked back to the palace, I paused and stared at the sky. It was full of stars and the moon was round and full illuminating everywhere. It was a beautiful sight and I shook my head before I slowly made my way back to the palace.Listening to Juniper talk about the fact that the person he was in love with was in love with the king broke my heart and what broke my heart even more was hearing him say that she might be forced onto Jonathan as his Queen, his Luna. My ears had prickled at the thought. My mind went back to the conversation I and Juniper had and I swallowed.“Have you tried speaking to her? Telling her about your feelings?” I asked and Juniper laughed.“That should be so funny to you, Ami. You want me to tell one of the high chief's daughters that I am in love with her” Juniper replied before chuckling, “No. Even a mad person won’t do that. I’m a slave Ami, we are slaves. We don’t get that kind of life well except it’s another slave I’m falling in love with” he added an
I walked out of the palace, the sun rays falling on me and making me furrow my eyebrows in displeasure. Masoma apologizing to me wasn’t something I had seen coming, her apology in truth was late but I knew deep down that I needed it. I knew that I needed her to apologize, to tell me that she was wrong in the first place for slapping me, treating me like that and taking the side of everyone else. I wanted her to admit that she was wrong and when she finally did, the only thing it made me feel was relief and nothing else. I wasn’t more happy or excited nor did I want to even rekindle our relationship. I wasn’t interested in making any new friends ro restoring the ones I had lost. I walked straight ahead to the Kitchen.I needed to ask juniper a few things. Like what might have gotten the king sick, Juniper had a flair for gossip and he always knew things that happened. I was already used to that so whenever I had a pressing issue, he was my go-to person.I had tried to check up on Jonat
It took one conversation for me and Jonathan to get back on friendly terms with each other. And just like that, we were back to before where we talked like friends and even joked together. My radiance was slowly crawling up my face and it was so funny and interesting to see another side of Jonathan. A side that not a lot of his people had seen or will even see. I know that he cared for me, even though it was just a little bit, it showed in his everyday life and how he treated me and I knew that he wasn’t lying when he said that he hated me.We had gone past that.But I hadn’t. I was yet to go past that. The truth was there and so was the reality. I still remembered what Juniper had told me about his parents, how they had died one after the other and how Jonathan had locked himself up with their corpses for two weeks straight. He was still a very young boy back then and I wondered how the young boy would have felt seeing his parents die and all of his emotions, how it would have been
Waking up the next morning with a heavy heart was expected. It took me a long time to dress up and by the time I got to the entrance of the King’s room, I paused slightly. I had to deal with Jonathan again.Taking a deep breath; I slowly knocked on the door and drifted into my ears. I pushed the door open to see that Jonathan was on the floor doing pushups with one hand. One of his hands was behind his back as he lowered himself to the ground over and over again. His upper body, which I had seen so many times, was soaked with sweat and Instinctively swallowed as I watched him.“Should I come back to your highness?” I asked and Jonathan chuckled.“No” he replied as he lowered himself to the ground and upwards a few times before He finally stood up, his whole body drenched in sweat. I stared at his upper body and followed the trail of the sweat as they ended into his trousers. My eyes snapped upwards and meant Jonathan’s amusing eyes, I immediately lowered my eyes.“My apologies, your h
I had told myself that I had made a decision but deep down I knew that I hadn’t but the greater part of me knew that Triss was right. I had to leave, this wasn’t my home and leaving with all of the Berg’s kingdom’s secrets with my head raised high was the best form of revenge that I could do r have but as I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling, I was conflicted and the fact that I was conflicted further even annoyed me more. How could I be conflicted?This was a matter between staying in an enemy kingdom because someone I claimed to love who clearly didn’t love me back was here and saving my people. How could I be conf;icted on what to do?I shut my eyes taking deep breaths over and over again. Seeing Triss had brought the feeling of home back and I missed home. Her words rushed into my head and a small smile slowly formed on my face.Uncle Stefan.My favourite uncle in the whole world. He was one of the few people in the royal family that I was close to and one of the few people
Then I waited.I counted the hours till it was past 10pm. I slowly opened my door and stepped out. Serena’s and Julianna’s voice had long quietened down and I knew that they had gone to sleep. Serena had come in earlier to check on me in the medicine room where I was pretending to work on something when clearly I couldn’t do anything. My chest was in disarray and I could only look forward to seeing my sister. I pulled the cloth on my shoulder upwards and covered my head and my face with it as I hurried down the walkways. I had never been out at this time of the day and because I was too much in an hurry and in distress, I had forgotten to check how the guys patrolled the palace but the truth was that, there were fewer guards patrolling the palace, very few people could dare to attack the king or even try to infiltrate the palace. The Berg kingdom itself was imprentable so there was exactly nothing much to raise their guards against. The Berg kingdom was also deep in the forest, if an