Chapter Seven

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 meant that I still had a chance to escape this hell hole, being alive also meant that my family was safe. I was alive and I wasn’t planning on dying anytime soon.

Who goes from being a Princess to a slave?

I tried to search my head for all the stories about Princesses I had read when I was little but none of them ever mentioned a Princess becoming a slave. I had no idea on what to do but with Jonathan’s threat bearing heavily at the back of my mind, I didn’t dare think about ending my life. My family was in danger and I couldn’t even be the reason why my family would cease to exist in the world. 

My reality was beginning to dawn on me in a way that I didn't like at all.

I threw my head backwards, trying to calm down and make the biting feelings in my stomach go away. I had not had any food and I was tired and famished and hungry. I hissed quietly at myself. I shouldn’t have fought, I should have taken it quietly, I shouldn’t have allowed my emotions to get the better of me but it was impossible in my situation. I wasn’t going to allow myself to be bullied and stomped on like an ant.

I was a Princess, or not.

My stomach grumbled again and the biting feelings got worse. My legs involuntarily stretched out and I looked around the damp cell hoping I could find even as little as water but I was disappointed, the prison was perfect to keep slaves. I adjusted uncomfortably on the ground while holding my stomach.

For someone like me who always had excess to eat, who always had varieties to eat, I ate what I wanted when I wanted but here I was getting dizzy from hunger. The universe was certainly playing a cruel joke on me and unfortunately, it wasn’t ending anytime soon.

I had told myself not to kill myself and stay alive but at last, I was going to die of hunger. My ears immediately picked out quiet footsteps approaching me and I immediately sat up with vigilance and weariness but the next minute my eyes widened in shock when I saw Juniper approaching my cell.

“Juniper?” I called out in surprise. There was no way Juniper was here to see me. I had been cold to him, I had been irritating and I was anything but nice to him. He couldn’t possibly be there to see me.

“Shhhhh” he replied as he stopped in front of the cell and beckoned for me to come closer. I dragged myself closer to him wondering what he was doing here.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered and Juniper chuckled, “I figured out that you might properly be dying of hunger” he replied as he dug into his clothes bringing of a piece of bread wrapped in clothes and he passed it on to me.

I stared at both the bread and him in a daze. Juniper had brought bread for me?

“The bread is for me?” I asked, unsure of what I was seeing.

“Yes Amira. Just take it. I don’t have much time” He replied hastily and my hands slowly reached out taking the bread. It took a few more seconds for my brain to process the fact that I was holding food. 

My eyes immediately brightened and without a care for my image or what he would think, I bit into the bread, taking large bites. I had eaten more than half of the bread before I noticed his gaze on me. I forced a small smile at him, “I’m sorry, i was just  really hungry” I tried to explain and Juniper nodded with a wince.

“I noticed that” He replied quietly, “. But eat slowly, you don’t want to get indigestion. I had to bribe the guards to get past them. You should avoid getting on Aurora’s bad side, she isn’t nice when she’s angry or irritated” Juniper informed me and I chuckled.

“For me, she has no good sides” I replied and Juniper laughed.

“I know she looks like a witch but I promise you Amira, she actually does have good sides” he refuted and I chuckled. He still didn’t know who I was, if he did, he would understand why I had said so. If Aurora even had good sides which was starting to believe because of JUniper’s words. She had none for me. She didn’t have any ounce of kindness for me.

I bit into the bread and while trying to swallow, a large chunk of bread got stuck in my throat. I held my throat with my right hand coughing and Juniper digging into his clothes again produced a small leather jug and passed it to me. I quickly drank enough water to push down the bread to the stomach and I sighed softly meeting Juniper’s worried eyes.

“I told you to eat slowly” He chided and for the first time in a long time, a small smile immediately spread across my lips, “Thank you” I thanked him genuinely and my appreciation seemed to have thrown him off because he stared at me in a daze. I couldn’t blame him, all I had done to him even when he had tried to help me was to be cold to him repeatedly.

“Err….” he drawled, finally gaining his momentum, “I need to get back to work” he said and I nodded.

“Keep the water. You can hide it in your lapel. Try not to cause any trouble” He added and I chuckled, nodding at him and watching as he rose up and disappeared the same way he had appeared. 

I took the last bite of the bread walking back to the corner of the prison and laying against the wall. Juniper’s bread had done little to quench my hunger but at least something was inside my stomach and the dizziness and biting feeling in my stomach had gone. I arched my head backwards and took a few mouthfuls of water.

A part of me still found it hard that Juniper had come for me. He had only known me for what we would call a couple of hours yet he was bribing guards and sneaking around to bring me food? A small smile spread across my lips, it was hilarious but it seemed like I had found a friend and worse in the most unlikely of places.

I closed my eyes trying to rest or sleep praying that somewhere in Aurora’s heart, she remembered that she had locked me up and allowed me out before nightfall but till i fell asleep, I myself who had wished for it knew that it was merely wishful thinking.

The next time I opened my eyes, it was already early in the morning. I didn’t know what time but my stomach was refusing to be ignored and I had no choice but to wake up. But whether my stomach thought I was ignoring it or not, there was nothing I could do to help it.

After waking up, I felt cold seeping into my veins through the floor and I huddled myself into a corner, emptying the last contents of the leather jug in my throat and hiding it in my clothes. My stomach rumbled loudly but I bit down on my lip trying to warn it to keep quiet.

The next moment, I heard loud but firm footsteps and I knew who it was immediately, when she came into view, all I had for her was a blank look. I watched as the guards opened the door and she stepped inside staring down at me with so much venom in my eyes.

“Have you learnt your lesson?” She asked me and I nodded my head quickly.

“That’s good” she replied with a sneer, “You need to get back to work immediately” she added and I struggled to get to my feet.

“Can I at least get to eat something first?” I asked and as if on cue, my stomach rumbled.

The guards behind her burst into laughter while I swallowed embarrassed and ashamed. Aurora merely glared at me and chuckled, “No, today you are serving the King”

I froze. 

The King? My mortal enemy? Jonathan?