"Please! No! Have mercy! I don't want to die!" The young woman screamed and begged for her life as they led her up onto the stage.
My eyebrows furrowed together. "Father?" I asked.
He straightened the blasted crown sitting askew on his head, scowling and replied, "Yes, Prince Acosta?"
I rolled my eyes, muttering under my breath, "Is it so hard to call me Casey?" I said louder, "Father, what was her crime?"
"She made a married man commit adultery."
"Shouldn't that man be punished as well?" It seemed only fair and logical really.
"That man was royalty. A duke. And your second cousin."
"What excuse does that give him?" I asked enraged. "He participated in the relationship and he is the one who committed an infidelity."
My father laughed at me. "Prince, you have so much to learn if you are to rule my kingdom. Number one being that commoners are not to have relationships with royalty. The penalty for that is death to the street rat. We cannot have the offspring of filthy commoners polluting the royal blood. Only the sex slaves and concubines are exempt from punishment."
I scowled. "What fault be it of the human who falls in love with royalty?"
He rolled his eyes, but did not answer me. "You are almost nineteen and you still do not understand the law of the land. Just enjoy the execution."
This was absolutely sickening. How could anyone possibly enjoy such an injustice? The poor woman was tied to a large wooden pole with hay stacked around her.
No.
"Father! Burning at the stake is supposed to be reserved for the supposed witches and heretics! Why would this poor woman be subjected to a long and torturous death for something that she did not act solely upon?"
He snapped. "Silence! Or one of the peasants will be joining her."
So I shut up.
I watched as they lit the stake.
The flames danced up from the hay to her body.
She began to scream in pain as the flames licked at her legs.
You could see her skin melting off her bones.
At first the fire was a small flame, but then all at once, the fire grew and completely engulfed her.
Swallowing her screams.
And effectively killing her.
She had suffered long enough.
"Ahhh. Lovely execution. Of course, it would've been nicer if someone wasn't whining throughout the whole thing. I'm leaving you at the castle next time."
I glared at him. "Perhaps you should bring the princess with you instead next time then."
I stalked off to the carriage, not wanting to stick around while they stabbed the dead body with a pitchfork to transport her to the dumping grounds.
I sat down on the plush carriage seats, avoiding my father's unrelenting gaze. "Casey…"
I ignored him.
"Casey."
The fire still disgusted me…
"Casey!"
I looked up. "What," I responded coldly.
"You are supposed to pick out your new slaves today since the others ran away. Although I can't imagine how."
So maybe I let a few slaves run free…
"But if the next slaves escape, they will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Seems a bit harsh, don't you think?
"Choose your slaves wisely. The ones you do not choose will end up being for your sister."
I think they'd rather die.
"I really do wish you would speak up more."
Bloody hell…
There was something that was bothering me since the woman ceased her yells. "What was her name?" I asked.
"Pardon?"
"Her name. The woman."
"How the deuce should I know? Lumps or something."
Lumps. Of course it would be her. She was the end of the incessant gossip that all the slaves in the castle chattered endlessly about. The most pompous, ignorant, arrogant, deceitful woman anyone has encountered.
Hearing all the horror stories, my pity went flying out the carriage.
Perhaps that's cynical, but of course the woman was rumored to have killed her own baby.
"Casey," my father scolded. "Your sparring instructor has commented on how you have not made any progress. So has your fencing instructor. And your equestrian skills are not up to par either. What the hell is going on with you? You are royalty and you should be on top of these things for when you are king."
I said, "I'll get right on that, Father. Where are the slaves coming from?"
"Prisoners of war. Can you imagine that there were actually a few female warriors? Most of them were actually the last ones to be captured after most of the men abandoned them. Mm, perhaps one could be made my concubine," he suggested.
"What if they don't want to be made a concubine?"
"Who said they have a choice?"
I was silent the rest of the ride home, my eyes shooting daggers at who was supposedly my father. As soon as the carriage arrived at the stone steps of the castle, I jumped out and ran to my room. My father would be sending the slaves up as soon as he got to the main hall.
My father's right hand man, William, came up holding the chain and shackles to the dozen prisoners of war that he dragged inside. The first boy had dark, piercing, untrusting, eyes. Like a snake.
William grabbed the hair of the first boy and said, "This one. His name is Daniel. I was told that he was a rapist in his country and the only reason that he was in battle was because it was believed he would die."
The boy behind him stuck his tongue out at William when he wasn't looking and I chuckled slightly. William turned around to glare at the blonde boy with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "This is William. The bloody town fool."
The boy stuck out his shackled hand, though not expecting anyone to shake it. "You can call me Billy. William is too…fairy-like."
There was one girl who seemed as if she was hiding behind Billy. William grabbed her by her long hair and yanked on it so that she yelped out in pain and stepped forward tentatively. "This is Holly. A street rat from her country that snuck onto the battleground camp for food at the wrong time."
He yanked another girl's hair and introduced her as Dot. A boy with whooshy, flippy hair stepped forward and glared at me. He introduced himself, "Lancelot. Do not underestimate me, you prick."
William backhanded him immediately. "You will not speak to His Majesty in such an abominable way!"
One of the girls cried out as Lancelot stumbled in pain, a red mark forming on his cheek. "Get away, Sasha," he whispered in a hoarse voice. Another girl rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed at Sasha. She didn't speak out of turn, however. William pointed at her and said, "This is Marissa. I believe she was daughter of a duke. She was visiting a friend in war when we captured them."
He prodded at a young man and woman with a stick to step forward. "Nickolas and Olivia were being married nearby. Nuptials are in order," he said sadistically.
He pushed forward two more people named Tammy and Courtney who smiled and winked at me suggestively. William shrugged. "Town whores, I guess?" I know who I'm not picking…
"Alright. I choose Billy, Dot, Holly, Marissa,…"
I didn't want to split up Nick and Olivia, but I'm sorry they'll have to suffer with my sister. I would really rather not pick Sasha or Lancelot. He seems to have it out for me and I really really do not want him preparing my food. Which leaves the town whores. "Erm…Courtney and-"
I spotted one more prisoner outside the door in shackles. "That one." I pointed to the silhouette of the man or woman standing defiantly with their arms crossed.
William raised his eyebrows. "I'm sorry, my Prince. But that one is reserved for your father. He wanted her for himself."
Of course. As his sex slave.
"He can have Tammy instead. I want her as my new slave," I said forcefully.
"Er- sire, you really should consider this carefully. This one is quite defiant and rude-"
"I want her."
He nodded and yanked her forward by her shackles. I could finally see that it was in fact a woman. She had fierce green eyes and a small scar on her cheek. Her honeysuckle colored hair reached all the way down to her lower back like silk. Honestly, she was exceedingly beautiful. She was dressed in a long, exquisite lavender gown.
I eyed her overdressed apparel and looked at William for her story.
"Your father wanted her to be dressed for him when I was to deliver her. She was not dressed like this when she arrived. This is one of the female warriors. She hasn't spoken since we captured her, but the snake over there," he pointed to Daniel, "told us her name was Samantha."
Samantha's fist clenched.
Marissa looked over at me tentatively. "Her name is Sammy," she said quietly.
I nodded. "I have more comfortable garb in the servants' quarters for you, Sammy. If you wish. You are dismissed, William."
He unlocked their shackles before bowing and leaving the room with the others for Heather. I looked over at the newcomers and sighed, walking over to my bed to bury my face in a pillow. What the hell was I supposed to do with six servants? I had no use for them. But if they weren't seen working, Heather would gladly take them and she'd work them to death.
Dot spoke up, "Are you going to give us our positions in the household now?"
I got up and looked at her blankly. "I suppose. What can you do?"
"I was the army's cook."
"Very well. You will prepare my food."
Holly looked as if she wanted to get everything over with. I asked her, "Would you be fine with the cleaning? I'll try not to make much of a mess."
She nodded and pushed Billy forward, saying, "He can be your jester or something. He really was the town fool. He deserved the title."
Maybe in their country, that was a term of endearment, but here that was a way of calling someone a deadbeat. However, making someone laugh is much better than manual labor. Billy pointed at Courtney exaggeratedly. "Would ya look at the makeup on her? Lawwwd, Jesusss. All that gunk must make up for all the weight she doesn't have! Look at that! She's a skeleton! Don't worry, Casey. If she tries to rape you at night, you can just blow her away so that she doesn't blow you."
Hm. I like him already.
I smiled slightly to let him know he got the job and looked over at Marissa.
She stuttered, "Erm well…" She trailed off. As the daughter of a duke, I doubt she ever had to work or do things for herself. That would not be to her advantage. I wouldn't turn her in or anything, but if Heather got wind of a slave who couldn't do anything, she'd crack the whip.
Literally.
She stared at my closet. "I can make clothing," she said frantically.
I nodded and looked over at Courtney. "Would you like to help Dot with the cooking?'"
She smiled, trying to be what was considered seductive, and said, "I think I would be better suited for something else…" She strutted over to my bed and sat down next to me.
I stared at her for a few seconds before laughing hysterically, along with everyone else in the room. "Nooo," I said in between laughs. "Just go help Dot with the cooking."
Billy added, "Make sure anything you pick up from sex doesn't get into the food. I need to be a big, strong boy like my mummy warned me."
We all finished laughing and I looked over at Sammy, asking, "Would you like to help Holly with the clean-"
She crossed the room and covered my mouth with her hand, indicating me to kindly shut up. She walked around me, looking me up and down. She lifted the hem of my shirt and poked at my abs hard, before reaching up to feel my bicep. Finally, she pushed my chest and I lost my balance, falling back onto my bed. I looked up at her in disbelief. "What was that supposed to prove?"
She smirked at me slightly. "Would you like help with your sparring and fencing and horse-riding?"
I had forgotten.
She was a warrior.
A fighter.
She didn't give up.
I had to admit, she intrigued me.
"You would help me?"
"I have to do something," she replied. "Besides," Sammy whispered. "I know what was going to be done with me if you hadn't chosen me."
I looked up at this woman who was hovering over me on my own bed. What was I getting myself into? I stammered, "Erm well, the servants quarters are over in the conjoining room if you would all like to get some rest for tomorrow…"
Sammy ruffled my hair softly. "Quit staring," she scolded lightly. "I saw what happened to that woman in the square."
…well then.
A/N: Erm hi there. This is for that guest reviewer who suggested this. Haha, I think I'll have fun with this one…I hope I do not disappoint too terribly. Im sorry if they talk all weird, but they're supposed to sound like royalty and stuff. So when I got that suggestion, since I have no life, I started on this immediately…so if anyone has a suggestion or something? I don't mind, really. Remember, I have no life.
