The Concubines

"Don't worry, my lady. I will be a good master. I take full responsibility for your safety." He said after he threw some money at the slave master. That money was the price of my freedom. My life belongs to him now.

Then, Prince Erwin took me to his private chamber inside the palace. I was impressed to see his neat, beautiful, and luxurious chamber. He then put me on the bed. To the guards outside his chamber, he ordered:

"Get the physician and Madam Margaret."

Then, he walked over and sat near me.

"You are mine now, do you understand?"

"I am a slave, your slave. I accept my fate, master. So, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to comb your beautiful blonde hair? Or help you put on your nightgown? Or empty your chamber pot? Or what, master?" I said with a mocking tone without looking at him.

"You are so cute, my lady."

The prince then looked at me intently. He stroked my face. The thumb of his right hand pressed the center of my lips. He lifted my chin and forced me to make eye contact with him. We locked eyes for a long time. And unexpectedly to me, he smiled.

"What's your name, and how old are you?" "I am Anna, 20 years old."

"What a pretty name you have."

"You can give me a new name if you want to, Master."

"Just call me Erwin."

"Prince Erwin..."

"No, just Erwin..."

"Erwin."

"You are so pretty. You're physically different from the others. You must have come from far-far-far away. There isn't a single human with red hair and purple eyes like you on this land. Where did you come from?"

"This may sound suspicious, but I swear that I don't remember where I came from."

Then, the physician came with the stern-looking woman who had been selecting the slave girls earlier. The physician examined me.

"She just needs rest and more nourishing food, my prince." The physician said.

"Madam Margaret..." Erwin said. Now I know. The stern-looking woman's name is Madam Margaret.

"Give her new food, bedding, and clothes. Make sure she is comfortable in the harem. Bring her to me this night, and I want to be with her."

"As your command, my prince."

***

Madam Margaret took me to a building at the back of the palace. That building was the Harem. She also explained the rules of the Harem and a bit about the royal family while taking me around.

"New girl, don't tell everyone that the prince himself brought you here," Madam said.

"Why?"

"Because you will become the target of jealousy. The concubines will torn you apart if they did not like you There shouldn't be jealousy in the Harem, but well... A woman's heart can't help but feel jealousy."

The Harem was nothing as I imagined. I always imagined that there were hundreds of beautiful women waiting to accompany the King or Prince in bed, and they wore revealing clothes and learned to dance. It wasn't like that. A harem was a "lady's castle." Only women live here. Men are forbidden. And the purpose of the Harem was to produce the members of the royal family. There were not hundreds of concubines, as people say. The King only had 39 concubines, while the Prince had 11, including me.

"Where did the concubines come from?" I asked.

"The dukes sends most of the concubines as a gift to the king or the prince. But we also bought some girls directly from the slave market."

"Do they all love being concubines?"

"You ask a lot of questions, lady. Why should I answer your silly questions? You're lucky to be here. I think he likes you tho. He's never been interested in any woman. If you move fast, you could be his first lady."

Madam Margaret explained a bit about the royal family to me. King Darril Harlow, the current reigning monarch, has three sons and 19 daughters. 19 daughters? Like, oh my, he must enjoy spending time with his concubines.

The eldest Prince, Prince Reyne, died many years ago. He died young, when he was just 25 years old. He died in a battle. Madam Margaret said that Prince Reyne was nicknamed "The martyr prince." He was famous throughout the Harlow mainland for having a heart as soft as cotton. The commoners loved this Prince very much.

"Then what about Erwin? Do the commoners also love him?"

"I don't think so. He is more feared than loved. Prince Erwin is... A bit arrogant, they say."

The third prince was Prince Ragnar, 20 years old. He was not of sound mind. Therefore, he was removed from the line of succession. Prince Reyne and Prince Ragnar were siblings. They are the children of the King's favorite mistress.

"Prince Reyne died. Prince Ragnar is insane. That means Prince Erwin is the crown prince." I said.

"Yes, Anna."

"What if he dies?"

"If the Prince dies without a successor, we all will be destroyed. The King is no longer able to give an offspring. He is the last Prince, our only hope. The king actually had an older brother but was removed from the line of succession because he was disabled. He only had one eye."

"But he can function well, right? It's just an eye that he loses."

"No, dear. The future King must be physically perfect. His name is Grigori. He is now the King's main advisor."

"Physically perfect? That's unfair to him."

"Just shut up, Anna."

Then, there are only three main rules in the harem. Whoever breaks this rule is punishable by death,

1. Concubines were forbidden to have relationships with other men. Staring at other men was also not allowed.

2. Concubines were forbidden to bring men into the harem.

3. It was forbidden to insult/disrespect the king's/prince's favorite.

*****

The afternoon came, and the little "tour" was over. I was taken to my room. This room was relatively small. I lay down on the bed, tired as I was. I haven't seen the other concubines yet. Maybe they will hate me. I don't know. I don't care either way.

Everything happened so fast. Just like it was the last night, I still feel the cold of ocean water and those frozen corpses. Now, I am someone's slave. Everything was too crazy for me to understand.

I recalled my past, one of the childhood memories that I still remember. I was 14 years old, running among the brown-leafed trees. It was fall. I was so carefree. I had nothing to worry about. Those were good times when my family was complete and happy. Now, I was alone in an unfamiliar place. I am not a free woman. I had no relatives to protect me. Who knows what bad things will happen next? I wish I could just die first.

"There is a big hollow in my memories. Why can't I still remember everything? Please, there may be other beautiful things left in my life. Oh, please. Bring my memories back. I want to know who I was. ." I said as I was crying.

****

Nighttime came, and I was taken to the bathhouse where concubines usually bathe.

There was an extremely large, round, warm pool of water made of white marble and taps inside the bathhouse. There was a marble table with soap, perfume, and fruits. Why do they put bowls of fruit in the bath house?

"I'm new here," I said to a madam (madam is the nickname for women who work in the harem.). I didn't know what to do. Was I supposed to get naked and get into that bathtub?

She removes my clothes and puts a small towel on my naked body. Then, I get in the bathtub. As I was soaking, the concubines came in. They seemed to be laughing with each other and didn't notice me. When one of them saw me, I smiled awkwardly.

"Look, that's the new girl. Are you Anna?"

I nodded.

They all look at me. How they looked at my body so seriously from head to toe made me uncomfortable. Then, the girl with green eyes said :

"What's so good about her? My breast is bigger."

"Why don't you ask the prince himself what's good about me?"

"You have to be careful, Anna. I heard Prince Erwin likes to be violent when making love. Pray for your life, pray that you will return to the harem alive."

"Are you trying to scare me? You're all the prince's concubines, but here you are, still alive and talking to me. Oh, I know. That's because the prince never makes love to you."

"Eh, you're so rude. You've just arrived, and you're already causing a disturbance."

"Fuck my life."

****

After I finished bathing, They helped me to get dressed up. They put me in a very skimpy outfit. A thigh-length purple dress with transparent fabric.

I was taken to Prince Erwin's chamber. Was I feeling nervous? No, I wasn't. On the way to the prince's chamber, Madam Alisya said to me:

"Listen, glum-faced girl. I will burn your face if you show that bitter face in the prince's presence. Smile, cheer up, and be a shy soft little lady for him."

I looked at madam alisya with a flat stare. I didn't say anything to her, nor did I change my facial expression to a cheerful one as she requested.

She asked me to stop walking. Suddenly, she slapped my face so hard that I almost lost my balance and fell.

"Didn't you hear what I said, you deaf woman? Stop showing that glum face." She snapped.

I burst into tears.

"Don't you dare to cry. I'll gouge out your eyeballs if you show up with red and swollen eyes before him."