Caged Princess

A royal carriage drove through the crowded village. Villagers scrambled to avoid it. Some even had to dive out of its way. After rampaging through the innocent village, it soon came to a sharp stop. Once it did, curious eyes began to glare at it while curious villagers surrounded it. The carriage door opened, and two figures walked out of it. The first figure was a tall, bulky man who wore loose armor and a sword around his waist. The second figure was a tad shorter. He had a dirty blond ponytail and wore a royal symbol on his left breast. The villagers saw the two in awe and dropped onto their hands and knees to bow.

One of the villagers spoke, "In what do we owe the pleasure of Prince Joji to come and visit our village?"

Joji violently chuckled. "I'm not here to visit your poor village, fool. I'm here to find myself a wife." Everyone gasped. The prince darted his eyes around the area. A look of disappointment formed on his baby-like face. "Where are all of your women?" he asked.

"Well, you see," began another villager, "all of our women are working in the fields today."

"Where are your fields?"

"Our fields are to the east of the village, sire."

Joji frowned, thinking he would have to walk a great distance. "Very well then. Show me the way."

The villager raised his head. "As you wish."

The villager led Joji and his bodyguard to the fields where the women labored. When they were finally there, Joji's face twisted. He didn't like the category of women he had to choose from.

"Are these all your women?" asked the prince with distaste in his voice.

"Yes, Sire."

Joji analyzed the crowd of laboring women. "But most of them are old. Others are as skinny as twigs. You expect me to choose a wife from this harem?"

The villager lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry."

One of the female workers just so happened to look up to see the prince. She gasped then plunged onto her hands and knees. The other workers didn't know what she was doing until they also saw the prince. One by one, women dropped their tools and fell onto their faces. All of the women were now in a bowing position. All . . . but one. This girl had long, black hair and a slender body.

"What are you doing?" whispered one of the women through gritted teeth. "That's Prince Joji. Bow your head."

The standing woman ignored the villager's words and continued to slam her plow into the ground. She didn't care if the prince was standing in front of her; she just wanted to finish her work. Joji noticed this.

"Who is that girl?" he asked as he pointed to the girl with the long jet-black hair. "She's very beautiful."

The old villager followed his finger. "Oh, well that's Rene." He spat the name out. "She's a very odd and rebellious, sixteen year old girl. She's very independent. We found her nearly dead in the demons' forest. And for some reason, she told all the villagers that humans were scarier than demons. Everyone thinks she was either raised by a demon or she's just crazy."

Joji smiled a malicious smile. "That sounds interesting." He began to walk through the rows of bowing women, stepping over and avoiding their old and nearly withered bodies. Finally, he came to a stop, standing on the side of the still working girl. He began to analyze her: her torn, brown kimono reminded him of servant rags while her bare feet reminded him of his people. His eyes moved to her smooth, baby-like face, so rich. Then, they moved down to her large, voluptuous breasts. Perverted thoughts clouded his head, and he smiled at every single one of them. Then, while licking his lips, his eyes moved lower. Rene knew what the nasty prince was imagining, yet she continued to keep her eyes glued to her work.

"You're not bowing down, yet I'm standing in front of you, girl," said Joji. Rene said nothing. "Do you know who I am?" Still nothing. He chuckled. "You're different from all of these hags. More beautiful and strong. How would you like to come with me and be my bride?" Everyone but Rene gasped, befuddled. Rene and the prince? The girl still didn't say a word. She didn't even react. She just continued to plow the field. This irritated Joji, so he waved to his bodyguard to come over to him. Once he was there, Joji pointed to Rene. "I want her."

The body guard analyzed the girl with disapproval. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Of course I am, Shingi."

Shingi shrugged and walked to the other side of the still working girl. He then swatted her plow away, kicked at her legs - which made her fall to the ground - and slammed her face into the fertile dirt. Joji knelt in front of her and leaned closer to her face. Rene sluggishly lifted her head.

"You can either come with me," Joji whispered, "or I can burn down this village." A smirk crossed Rene's face. She didn't care about those villagers. They always shunned her. "I see. You don't care whether or not they die do you? You're a savage just like me." A frown flew across her face. Without thinking, she spat at Joji.

"I'm nothing like you, you murderous pig," she spat.

With disgust, Joji wiped the spit off of his cheek. "Fine then. You want to do this the hard way?" The prince stood and motioned for Shingi to do something Rene didn't understand. But she quickly found out what the motion meant when she was whacked on the head. Shingi had made her unconscious. Joji smiled with victory. "Take her to the carriage. We shall feast tonight for I have found myself a bride."

. . .

It would be two weeks till Rene would be married to the vituperative, nasty Prince. About a week ago, when she came to consciousness, she awoke in a fancy kimono that had a pattern of cherry blossoms on it. On top of that, she was chained to a large fancy bed, Joji lying next to her. "You're mine now," he said. He began to stroke her face. "You will never escape me.

For a week, Joji put Rene through hell. No. . . worse than hell. He never let her leave his side. When he was with his friends or was throwing a party - which was every day, he would pretend to be madly in love with her and pecked her on the cheek often. When Rene would pull away, he'd wrap his arm around her waist and yank her to his side. To impress his snobby, rich, fake friends, he would tell her to perform a dance in front of the crowd. When she'd refuse, she would receive no food for three days and then received a beating from Shingi. At night when it was just Joji and Rene, Joji would abuse her himself, especially on the nights when he drank too much. Once, he even tried to force her into having sex with him. However, she was quick enough to slide his little dagger out from its case around Joji's waist and point it at his groin. She then threatened to cut off what was his. In doing so, she slashed his leg just a tad. He never tried to force her since then, since she still had the dagger in her possession.

Rene so badly wanted to escape from little, snotty Joji's castle, but how could she? Joji had stopped chaining her to the bed, but only because she was on the third floor of the palace. Why would she dare try to escape? Also, another body guard was standing outside of her chamber doors. She was completely surrounded with no option of escape. Yet finally, when she was going to give up all hope, news came that the prince would be leaving to go off to battle with nearby enemies.