I gathered my clothes upwards to make walking easier for me. It had been a month since I had arrived in the Elavan Kingdom, and I still had not gotten used to the rough pathways that served as hallways in the palace. It had been one month since I realized that I was going to fail and I hated it. It made me itch and it made me want to scratch my bones.
The reason why I was the Elavan Kingdom in the first place drifted into my mind and I swallowed. My job was simple: make the Crown Prince, Karl Collins Edwards, marry me. A simple job that I had failed to do for the past month. As I increased my pace, I remembered standing in front of my father, my head held high, promising him the marriage scroll in two weeks.
I also clearly remembered that the ministers in the throne room had clamored that my younger sister be sent instead. She was more beautiful and enchanting than I was. She would get the job easier than she would have but I was adamant on going; my mother’s pleas and reasoning had fallen on deaf ears.
The more they asked my younger sister to go, the more I wanted to do it. I understood why they wanted her to secure the deal instead. My sister was the most excellent of us both. I was the older one but she was excellent in every way. She was better at horseback riding, archery, and fighting, but that was not all. She was more pretty and had the whole kingdom under her thumb.
Me? At most was mediocre, compared to her.
That was why I wanted to secure the marriage deal: to prove myself, to prove that I was capable, that I was worthy of being my father's daughter. I disliked being addressed as the lesser Princess, and I also wanted to be able to stand beside my younger sister and not feel inferior.
I paused at the door of the Crown Prince's mansion and smiled softly at the guards. "I would like to see the Crown Prince," I said, and one of them snickered at me.
"You know where he would be at this time of day," he replied, and the other one joked, "You can find your way to the brothel if you want to speak with him," he replied, and I forced a smile on my face and nodded.
“Thank you,” I replied, turning away from the door.
Karl Collins Edwards. The Crown Prince of the Elavan Kingdom. There was only one reason I needed to marry him: to stop the Elavan Kingdom from constantly oppressing our kingdom. My kingdom, the Zadok Kingdom, was still growing, but it was stifled by constant wars with neighboring kingdoms, particularly the Elevan Kingdom. Our army wasn’t enough or even strong enough to withstand the strong Elavan army and so they had come up with a plan, a truce.
A marriage alliance would prevent the Elevan Kingdom from ever again declaring war on our kingdom. I had taken myself this task to give our people peace and make the land prosperous.
But I was wrong; I had underestimated the Crown Prince. As an Alpha, he was self-conceited and very proud. And since I had gotten to the Elewan Kingdom, he hadn’t even taken a proper look at me. I vividly recalled the first night I arrived; I was led to his mansion to make my first impression, but I was the one who was impressed. He lay in his bed with two other women on top of him, and the room smelled of sex. I was too stunned, too embarrassed to say anything and I ended up walking out without even introducing myself.
Over the last month, that scene had played out over and over again. Karl was either in a brothel or in his room having sex with various girls. I was surprised that he wasn’t done having sex with all of the women in the kingdom yet.
I walked into my room, forcing a smile at the maids as I closed the door behind me. Behind closed doors, the tears didn’t wait before they started running my cheeks. This mission, I was going to fail. I glanced at the corner of the room and I could see the letters my father had sent in the past two weeks asking about the progress of my mission. I hadn’t dared to send a reply.
I could already imagine the look on everyone’s face when they read my letter. I could imagine them arguing about why they didn't want to send me in the first place. I could hear them talking about how inefficient I was, how I wasn’t excellent at anything and how inferior I was compared to my sister.
I bit my lower lip hard till I tasted blood in my mouth. I couldn’t fail this mission. I couldn’t. If I failed, there was no way I was going home. The only way I could go home was to make Karl marry me. Only when I received the marriage scroll would I be able to go home.
More tears ran down my cheeks as thoughts of failure filled my chest. I repeatedly shook my head, hoping that the thoughts would go away, but they did not because everything was focused on why. Karl wouldn’t even take a glance at me; how would I make him marry me?
I sat in front of the mirror, staring at my tear-filled face. I gulped hard. I refused to fail this mission. I refused to. I stared at the different cosmetics arranged on the mirror table and swallowed. This was a last resort and I prayed to the Moon Goddess that it would work.
It took me almost three hours to get my makeup done. I stared at myself in the mirror and my reflection startled me. I wasn’t always a fan of makeup but I always looked stunning whenever I tried it on.
"There is no way he would not fall for this," I said with a satisfied smile as I walked to the corner of the room and took the see-through nightwear from my box. I had brought it on a whim but who would have thought that it would prove to be useful? I quickly wore it and took another glance at the mirror and swallowed.
I could see the curve of my nipples through the mirror and the arch of my small waist. It was my last resort. If he loved prostitutes and brothels so much, then I could do the same to get him to marry him.
I could seduce him.
I opened the door of my room and I could see the quiet gasps of the maids in front of me. Forcing myself to ignore their stares, I started walking towards Karl’s mansion. Fortunately for me, night had fallen, providing me with a small amount of cover. I quickly arrived at the door of his mansion and the two guards whistled, making my shoulders tense.
"Wowww,” one of them cooed.
"I want to see the crown prince," I said, and one of them gave me a lecherous smile before opening the door, and I sighed softly. He was back. I could still feel the hard stares of the guards on me till I turned out of their sights.
"Those bastards," I grumbled beneath my breath as I approached the door of his room. I sucked in a breath as I pushed the door open, "This better work," I said quietly, but the next minute I froze at the sight in front of me.
“Deeper, deeper, deeper,” the girl underneath Karl squirmed in pleasure and Karl continued fucking her, the both of them oblivious to my presence. My cheeks turned crimson at the sight, and Karl finally turned to me, but his movements did not stop; "You love it, do not you?" he dirty talked to the girl, and the girl laughed, "Yes, yes, more, more, my prince," she begged, and I immediately turned my back on them, tears staining my eyes. The eyeliner I managed to craft so perfectly after a lot of time was going to be a waste.
“What are you doing here?” Karl asked as I slowly turned to him. He was stark naked and so was the girl who was now in his arms.
“I…I…I… “I stammered not managing to get even one word out. His eyes took in my sight and he burst into laughter.
“Did you want to seduce me?” He asked and I swallowed.
“I hoped that it could catch your attention” I replied as I tried to compose myself, “I just need you to marry me and take me as your wife. I don’t mind or care if you are in brothels all day or sleep with other women. All I want is for you to marry me” I said hoping to convince him. This was my last resort.
“Marry you?” Karl asked and I nodded, “Yes”
Karl frowned and chuckled. "Why would I marry you?" I asked, opening my mouth to speak but saying nothing.
"You are practically naked, and I still do not like you, Princess.." He trailed off before frowning. "What is your name again?" he asked, and I blinked quickly.
He didn’t even know my name.
"Amira," I responded. "My name is Amira," I repeated, and the girl in his arms burst out laughing. I sniffed hard, hoping that the tears threatening to run down my cheeks would at least hold on.
“If anyone didn’t tell you, I’ll tell you. You aren’t my type and caking your face with some ridiculous nightwear isn’t going to make me like you." Karl continued and my jaw dropped.
“Don’t look so surprised. I thought it was pretty obvious," he said, snorting. "And you have stayed for too long. I think you should go back to your kingdom tonight,” he said and I blinked harder this time around.
“Tonight?” I asked in shock and Karl nodded, “Yes. I need you out of this kingdom before morning and I need you to deliver a message to your father. We’ll attack the Zadok Kingdom in ten days. He should prepare well,” he replied.
“Not like the preparations would make any difference though,” he commented with a laugh as he grabbed the girl in his arms, his hand traveling to her breasts.
“Do you want to go one more round?” He asked excitedly and the girl laughed, turning to me.
“What are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you be packing your things already?” Karl bellowed at me and I did the stupidest thing ever; I ran.
I ran out of the room, down the hallway, and to my room, slamming the door after me. I slumped to the floor as tears ran down my cheeks as reality dawned on me.
I had failed.
More tears ran down my cheeks at the thought. I had failed and I had failed miserably at that. As I sobbed, I gripped my hair tightly and pulled at it. I was a failure.
There was no way I was going back home; I did not think I could face the scorned looks of my family, the court ministers, and the people of Zadok. All the rumors about me being a useless, good-for-nothing Princess would come true.
Someone banged on the door loudly and I jolted hard, rushing to my feet, “What is it?” I asked.
"The Crown Prince has asked us to escort you out," the voice said, and I swallowed without responding. The bang on the door came again, and I finally spoke, "Give me some minutes," I said as I walked towards my box, grabbing my possessions.
I didn’t have a lot; I had totally believed that I would get the marriage scroll in two weeks and so I hadn’t brought a lot. And even after a month, I hadn’t gotten the job done. Within a few minutes, I was done packing my box and I slowly opened the door.
The gaze of the male guards at the door made me realize that I had forgotten to change my clothes. “Ha, I need to change my clothes,” I said but the guard chucked and pulled me out of the room.
“Change what cloth?” He asked, "You can change it on your way home," and I swallowed, pulling my box with me as their lusty and piercing gazes pushed me to walk faster.
“Are you taking me home?” I asked and one of the guards scoffed, “Taking you home? Who do you think we are?” He asked.
“The Crown Prince said to see you to the gates, as long as you are out of his kingdom,” he said and I nodded my head.
I needed to get help. There was no way I was going home. Not with my failure.
The guards did keep to their word and they abandoned me as soon as I was out of the gates.
The night wind howled and I rubbed my arms as I shivered. Before I found help, the first thing to do was to change my clothes. There was nowhere I was going with it. I stared at the road in front of me; night had fallen and traveling the road would be dangerous for me.
"I need to find somewhere to stay for the night," I told myself as I dragged my box down the road, trying to figure out where I could stay. My ears picked up movement in the trees and I froze.
“Who is there?” I asked fear to seep into my veins.
"Here,” someone said behind me and
I wasn't turning before someone hit me and I blacked out.
By the time I regained consciousness, I was in a dark room with the only light coming from a tightly closed, broken window. “Where am I ?” I asked none in particular as I staggered to my feet. The last thing I remembered was someone knocking me out. I quickly looked around the room, but it did not help; I tripped over something unknown and fell face down on the floor.“Oh my god,” I whispered as I pushed myself to my feet once more.I had been kidnapped. By who?I tried to find my way around the room again and found the door. I didn’t waste any more time and started banging the door heavily.“Let me out!” I yelled. I continued banging the door heavily, “Let me go!” I continued yelling and I hadn’t gotten the chance to continue banging when I heard the door opening from outside. I quickly shuffled some steps backwards and the door opened. The sudden burst-out light made me raise my hand to cover my face.“Why were you yelling? Do you want to break our eardrums?” The person who had ope
I didn’t know how long I had been in that room for. I had stopped counting and I had grown numb to everything that was happening. The room was immersed in less darkness because the broken window had gotten even broken and more cracks had appeared in it, letting in more streaks of light.I stared at the untouched plate of food a few meters away from me and hugged my legs tighter. Tears streamed down my cheeks at my situation once more. My father had died and I had killed him.I had killed him by being a useless daughter. I was so useless that I couldn’t even get him a marriage scroll that would solidify his position in the Council of Kings. I spent over one month trying to convince a bastard to marry me. I had long known that there was nothing like marrying for love as a princess, so I was barely bothered about the fact that there was no love between me and Karl. I just wanted to marry him for the benefits that it would serve my kingdom.It was the least I could have done for him but y
By the time I opened my eyes, there was a slight ache on my side and I found myself on the floor of a room I didn’t recognize. My memories came washing over me in seconds and I sat up immediately, pushing myself towards the wall. I just couldn’t fathom the fact that Jonathan had actually jumped after me and saved me.I had thought I was going to die; I did want to die. I had thrown all my hopes and dreams to the wind the moment I realized the amount of torture that was awaiting me if I tried to survive in the Berg Kingdom; it was even impossible to try to survive. I had already imagined the humiliation and the suffering awaiting me and besides, I was yet to forgive myself for allowing my father to be killed right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything. The only way to redeem myself was to die and who would have thought that Jonathan wasn’t having it? His words before I passed out rang in my ears and I shivered unconsciously. “Even if you want to die that badly, you cannot die with
My right hand held my left hand as Aurora led me through long hallways, and I was sure that if I tried to find my way myself, I was most certainly going to get lost. My left hand had been scarred, and my new bracelet made it hard to carry. My face was still tear stained as I walked behind her.The fresh scent of her shampoo waffled quietly into my nose, and jealousy seeped into my veins as I tried to keep up with her pace. I hadn’t even taken a proper bath in almost a week, and whoever had given a bath, or, in proper words, a scrub, had done a terrible job. I didn’t dare say a word. The iron sponge used to scrub my body was making my body ache terribly, but I didn’t dare voice out a word.As I walked behind Aurora, I began to think. I had learnt her name after Jonathan had said something to her. She was the head slave, and for one, I already knew that she disliked her. That was already very clear.As we kept walking, I could easily see the kind of looks other people gave me: hostile,
Reality was dawning on me after that fight. Aurora had watched me get bullied, almost beaten and did nothing but the moment I started to fight back, she was already on my neck with threats. I ignored the more hostile gazes I received as she led me through another walkway. I couldn't help but realize that the slaves here looked anything but like slaves. They weren’t well dressed but they weren’t poorly or shabbily dressed either. And despite their hostility towards me, they all slowly paid their respects by bowing their heads to her.We stopped in front of a hall and walked into a large hall and with a glance, I knew it was the kitchen. The kitchen for cooking was this huge?“You’ll be working in the kitchen during this period” Aurora informed me as she turned to me and I forced a smile on my face.“What do I do?” I asked and Aurora turned and beckoned to a guy who looked slightly older than me and he came running towards us, bowing his head slightly in respect.“Good afternoon Head S
I hug my legs tighter to myself and my head feels dizzy. I had gotten too much stimulation for one day, for two weeks. For some reason, I was yet to process my change in status. I had gone from a not so loved Princess, but nevertheless a princess to a slave who was slapped and bullied at every chance they got. It made me livid, made me angry and pissed but there was nothing I could do. This was my life now, a life I didn’t want, a life I would rather die than take, it was a life I didn’t wish on anyone.Aurora’s words came rushing to me in an instant, Here, you are a slave, we do not do the serving, you do the serving. It was getting glaring and glaring that the former life was becoming a thing of the past. It was becoming even harder for me to reconcile my actual life with my present situation. And asides that, Juniper’s words had not left me yet, I was alive and that was the most important thing. That I was alive. Being alive means that I can get my revenge on Jonathan, being alive
I trudged after Aurora slowly. I couldn’t believe my ears. I had been locked up in a cell for almost a day without food and yet I was expected to go and serve the king? I knew it was Jonathan that had requested it, I knew he just wanted to humiliate me and embarrass me, I knew he was just being his hateful and disgusting self.Venom spread from my thoughts to my chest and by the time I was in the kitchen, I had a newfound hatred for him. Juniper and some other slaves were already working around the kitchen and he immediately gave me a small smile as soon as he saw him but I couldn't return his smile.“Why are you walking so sluggish?” Aurora snapped at me. I raised my eyes to meet her fierce ones and the reply at the edge of my mouth was swallowed back. I wanted to tell her that the only reason I was taking one step at one time was just because of the fact that I had not eaten anything all day yet I was expected to go and serve the king with little to no stamina. I also couldn’t even
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
‘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
Triss.The realization stunned me so much that I didn’t know that I was frozen on the spot. I stared at the paper and I squeezed it unconsciously. Triss had someone find her way to the Berg Kingdom. Couldn’t believe my eyes. I opened the crumpled paper again and stared at it and the handwriting stared back at me.It hadn’t changed and I knew that I wasn’t wrong. It was Triss’s handwriting. I started walking towards the palace, my heart beating in my chest. Just a few minutes ago, I was thinking that the Berg kingdom was imprentable and yet Triss had done so effortlessly. I didn’t know how long it had taken her to find me or to find someone who would deliver the information to me. I wondered if the person who had squeezed the paper into my hands knew what was in it.Triss.My younger sister had shown her ability again. She had show how stellar of a princess she was. I headed to the medicine room instead of the room because I could hear Serena’s and Julianna’s voices in the room. They