The Alpha King Boaz’s palace was much bigger than Tatum’s. But the decor was lacking. Despite being a broad expanse of silver ornaments and marble plated tiles, Boaz’s domain was built more for style and elegance than for comfort.Baka couldn't help but note the vast differences between Tatum’s domain and Boaz’s. While Tatum had built his palace for ease and comfort, Boaz cared more for superficial aesthetics and grand interiors.There were at least three statues of him in the garden outside his palace. Inside, rows of family pictures lined the hallway and the throne room.The throne room harboured three chairs, the biggest one in the middle. They were gold plated and screamed lavish. As Baka drew closer, she noticed that so much attention was put into the details. Roaring wolves could be seen etched into all the chairs, a stark contrast to Tatum’s single throne which had wolf fur lining its length, beautiful and simple.They followed after the guard past the throne room and into a hu
They had put Tatum and Baka in separate rooms. That displeased Tatum greatly. He had seen the way Boaz had looked at Baka, like he wanted to eat her, and it had gotten under his skin.He couldn't sleep and wasn't even remotely sleepy. All his thoughts were of Baka.He wouldn't put it past Boaz to go looking for her in the middle of the night. The man wasn't above rape. The thought chilled Tatum to his core.He found himself jumping out of his bed and heading to Baka’s room. He told himself he just wanted to check in on her, to make sure that she was okay and that that monstrosity of a man hadn't tried to venture into her room via a secret door.Opening his door very slowly, he tiptoed out of his room. He felt silly, acting like a thief in the night. When he got to her door, he pressed his ear against it.Her heart was beating rapidly. She too wasn't sleeping. How could she? She was in a strange palace with strange people and in a strange bed. A bed she wasn't used to.He was about to
Baka sat before the grand oval mirror as a slave girl attended to her, fixing up her hair. It felt weird being the one attended to and she fidgeted a little.The small girl, whom she’d come to know as Fatima, had wanted to give her a bath minutes earlier. “No!” Baka had screamed, then caught herself immediately. “I mean, don’t worry. I’ll handle that myself.”The slave girl had paled, thinking that she was somehow in trouble. Baka noticed the bruises that adorned her otherwise lovely skin tone. She reminded her of Mosaan. Too young and too innocent for this cruel world.Her big doe eyes pierced Baka and her lower lips quivered. “But M-master said I should attend to you fully, my lady.”Baka had briefly wondered if she had meant Boaz or Jerome, finally concluding that it was Boaz.She understood that for the girl, it was obey her master or bear the consequences either by lashes or death. But she really, really couldn’t bear the thought of being washed by her. It felt wrong.“Fatima,”
Boaz’s idea of a men’s day out included slaves being used for target practice. They were on the training field, wielding daggers while two male slaves ran around every which way, wearing a wooden board. Boaz sent his dagger flying. It hit one of the slaves on his leg and he cried out in pain, sinking to his knees.Boaz barked out a laugh as blood pooled down the slave’s ankles. Jerome looked sick to his stomach. Tatum hid his disgust, having had enough time to practice how to school his expression to one of bored indifference.“Your turn,” Boaz declared, pointing at Tatum. He chanced a glance at his son and shook his head in disappointment.“I’m convinced I did not father you. If your mother were alive, I would have her tell me who she spread her legs for because it most certainly wasn’t me.”As usual, Jerome said nothing as his face began getting some of it’s colour back. Tatum felt a strong need to stand up for his friend. His father hadn’t been this cruel. He was tough on his sons
After spending over an hour in Sarah’s company, Baka had concluded that she really didn’t like the lady. This was outside the fact that she was possibly jealous.The woman was diabolical. She had spent half of their walk asking Baka about her background and the other half talking about her and Tatum’s lives as teenagers, and so many other details Baka didn’t care to know.It was obvious to Baka that Sarah still harboured strong feelings for Tatum. Why else would she be talking about their past constantly and making a point to emphasise on their “life-changing” relationship?She clearly felt threatened by Baka, and Baka knew Sarah had narrated their entire history to her deliberately to make her feel small in comparison.An “I’ve known him longer than you” sort-of game.Baka scoffed. That was Tatum’s past. Baka was his present. But Sarah didn’t need to know that. Once again, Baka found herself grateful that Tatum had introduced her as a woman of few words. She didn’t have to suffer ans
The palace was abuzz with dancing and singing as night fell. But Baka could barely join in the merriment as she tended to Stephan. The guard from earlier had helped her for a while but had to return to his post. So she had been the only one tending to him.She had managed to stop the bleeding and hoped she had cauterised his wounds enough to avoid an infection. Thankfully, the dagger hadn’t pierced any important organs. He had simply lost an alarming amount of blood and needed to eat a lot of food with iron. He had a mild fever and was currently asleep. But the worst of it was over. Now he just needed to heal. And she had to find a way to get him out of here.But how? She was only hu—A thought struck her at that moment and she paled. When was the last time she felt a tingle? Night had already fallen. She had last taken Imposter at nine am in the morning. The last time, Imposter had taken a little over five hours to wear off.Her mind raced as panic shrouded her vision. Oh, God n
It had been a while since Tatum was scolded about anything, especially so passionately. The more he got to know Baka, the more he wanted to know more.She had a fierce will and was not beyond putting herself in danger if it meant she could help someone. She was afraid, but she never let her fear stop her from voicing out her opinions. Even before they became close, she defied him with her glare and mutinous curve of her mouth.He loved her with everything that he was. Yet he was afraid it wasn’t mutual. She might have feelings for him, but she still saw him as a tyrant. And he knew a part of her hated having feelings for him.But she couldn’t stop it no more than he could stop his. In time, their feelings for each other would overwhelm them. They would be one in every sense of the word. He wanted that with every fibre of his being. But maybe it was just wishful thinking.He gazed down at the fragile human in front of him. Stephan, Baka had called him. Aja’s brother. He wondered if
Tatum glanced towards the entrance of the throne room as a young slave boy was brought in in chains. He had wild brown hair and a hardened face. His clothes were drenched in his own blood, with laceration marks marring his torso.He moved in pain. He couldn’t be over fifteen years old. From the corner of his eyes, Tatum saw Baka hold her breath as she pressed her lips together, hard. She was trying not to cry. He chanced a glance at Boaz who was grinning like a Cheshire cat. The man was sick. Tatum lowered his head.Whatever was about to happen will be imprinted on their minds forever. He was sure of it.The guard accompanying the slave boy pushed him forward, kicking him behind the knee so that he slumped on them against the floor.“Tell us your name, Boy,” Boaz commanded.The boy said nothing, looking down at the floor. Several seconds passed. Tatum watched as everyone’s gaze was transfixed at the boy. Jerome and Rose seemed uneasy as they stared at him, wanting to look away bu