Sold

Chapter Seven

Maelis

“Oh! Thank goodness you are here. I was just telling the Royal Guards about you,” my dad said with a big smile on his face as he pulled me towards the center of the room, right in the middle of the Royal Guards.

My dad had a big smile on his face, one I hadn’t seen since my mom passed away. He usually wore a frown or scowl, glaring at me whenever he wanted to speak to me. But now, he was smiling from ear to ear, and I could tell he was genuinely happy, which he hadn’t been in years.

What could the reason be? Why were the Royal Guards here? What news could they bring to make my father this happy? I searched for answers but couldn’t find any. The only explanation that seemed reasonable to me was that the Royal Guards were sent by the Alpha Princes. I imagined instances where I would have to choose between the Alpha brothers, scrutinizing them from their looks down to their behaviors. Those minutes I spent standing and waiting for an explanation were filled with daydreams about leading the kingdom as the queen after getting mated to one of the Alpha Princes.

“As you can see, she is healthy and well,” my dad said, turning me and raising my hands as though I were a piece of merchandise he was inspecting. “Except for the scars on her face and body, but that shouldn’t be a big concern. The scars won’t stop her from fulfilling her duties,” he continued.

My duties? Did he just say my duties? My duties as a princess and future queen? I desperately wished someone would pinch me to wake me from what felt like a dream.

As though they heard my thoughts, one of the guards asked, “Are you sure she can do the amount of work for the amount we are paying for her?”

Paying for me? I was confused, uncertain, and unsure about what he was talking about. Was I being bought? For what reason and to do what? My mind ran into chaos with the jumble of thoughts inside it; I couldn’t think straight or come up with a coherent explanation.

“You can trust me on that. She does all the chores in the house, and I’m sure she is more than capable for what is to come at the palace,” my dad answered the guard, still smiling as though he had just won the lottery.

“We will trust you as you’ve said, but she will be returned if she doesn’t meet expectations, and you’ll have to return the f*e,” another guard explained, and my dad immediately replied with a nod.

He closed the gap between us and held my hands. “This is the first time I’m entrusting you with something, and I do not want you to disappoint me. You have to make sure you work and do everything you’re told to do,” he said softly, but it came out more like a command. “You should abide by the rules and regulations too.”

I furrowed my brow, still totally lost about all that was happening. I looked into his eyes and, with my brows raised, asked, “What exactly is going on, Dad? I don’t seem to understand anything,” I murmured, hoping he would give me an explanation.

He chuckled. “How is it that you don’t understand what is going on?” he asked and pointed to the Royal Guards. “You should know exactly what is happening after seeing the guards in our house. I shouldn’t have to explain it to you.”

I looked at the guards again, taking my time to check them out one by one, but I still couldn’t tell why they were there and what exactly they wanted from me. I had thought they were sent by the Alpha Princes, but that was just my daydreaming. There was nothing like that.

“You are going with the Royal Guards to the castle to work there. It’s for the best,” he announced. “It’s not like there’s a better option for you. You still have to work, and working in the castle is the best option.”

I stood numb and dumbfounded. How worse could the day get? My dad sold me to work as a palace slave? I just couldn’t believe it.

“You… you sold me?” I asked, looking directly into his eyes and desperately hoping it wasn’t true.

“That’s the only benefit I can get from being your father,” he said and pushed my head from one side to the other. “Look at your face. You’re not going to get a suitor with that face, and what do I gain from being your father and taking care of you since you were young?” He shrugged. “Nothing. So, it is best I sell you off now when I can still get something from you.”

I let out a low laugh and shook my head in disbelief. Once again, I wished someone could pinch or punch me to tell me I was just dreaming and this wasn’t actually happening to me. I looked at my dad, and the clear expression on his face showed me that he didn’t care about me or how I felt about what he was doing. All he wanted was the money he would get for selling me off.

I shook my head one more time, trying to shake off this reality, but it was my reality, my truth, now a part of me that I had to accept, even though it was difficult.

“You… you can’t just sell me off like that, Dad,” I stuttered. “I… I can bring you more than this money in a few years. I can—”

“Spare me that story, Maelis,” my dad cut me off. “I have my daughter to do that for me,” he stated as Lucia came in right at that moment. He stretched out his hand and drew her in. “My daughter, Lucia, is going to become great and get mated to a notable man,” he added and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Watching that, a tear rolled down my eyes, but I quickly wiped it away and sniffled. “You can’t just push me out like this, Dad,” I moved closer to him. “I already started school again. I am going to study and become a physician. I am going to—”

He cut me off with a laugh this time. “A physician?” he asked and laughed again. “I have told you to stop deceiving yourself with your unrealistic dream. You can never become a physician. How could you with such a face?” He held my hand and pulled me closer to the guards. “This is your fate. You can’t avoid it.”

“I have packed your bags and everything you’ll be needing. You don’t have to go in to take anything; you should just leave with them,” my stepmother, Diane, said.

I knew she couldn’t wait for me to leave. I knew she always wanted me out of her life and the family, but I never expected such from my dad. He hasn’t been the best dad, but I never expected that he would sell me off just for some money when he was the exact reason I got these scars all over my body.

I hung my head, trying hard to suppress my tears, but they kept on threatening to spill. I was still there, my legs rooted in the same spot, when one of the guards grabbed my hand on the side and said to me, “It’s time to leave.”

“This is wrong,” I murmured, my breath starting to shake. “This is very wrong!” I screamed out and threw the guard’s hand away. I rushed to my dad and grabbed his hand. “You can’t do this to me. You can’t just sell me off, Dad. I have done nothing wrong!”

He just pulled off my hand and pushed me back to the guards. “Just take her away.”

“Dad!” I shouted, my eyes glistening with unshed tears. “This is unfair. You can’t do this to me, Dad.” I ran back to him, grabbed his hand, and shook him, as though he would snap out of whatever was making him do this to me. “What have I done wrong?”

“What you did wrong was killing your mom!” he barked at me. “You should have just died in that fire.”

Infuriated by what he said, I retorted and yelled back at him, “I wish you had died instead of Mom! I wish you were never my father!” I broke into tears. “I wish you had died in that fire instead and I never went in to save you!” I added, and my head flung to the side when a hard slap landed on my face.

“To hell with you!” he roared and threw me to the guards. “Take her away!”

They dragged me towards the car. All I could do was clutch my chest with my trembling hands as gut-wrenching and uncontrollable tears rolled down my eyes. I had never imagined that the same person I rushed into a burning house to save without thinking twice would do this to me. My whole body was wracked with pain, regret, and sorrow. My heart felt as though it was being punctured by a sharp object. My breath felt constricted, and it was as though I could no longer breathe.

The disbelief, anger, and pain caused me to howl out a loud scream. I clutched my chest and beat it as tears continued to roll down my eyes. I wished the heavens could hear my cry and turn back the hands of the clock so I could remake the decisions I had made before. My life was becoming more miserable than I ever thought it would. I went from thinking I was getting a message from the Alpha Princes to being sold to their castle as a slave. How much worse could my life get?