Your Slave

By JediAshes1021

Chapter 4: A Kings Wrath

It had rained that night. It seemed that even the atmosphere knew of Sarah's sorrow. She spent the hours of darkness drifting in and out of sleep. She would wake in a cold sweat, wondering where she was. Then it would all come back to her and a fresh onslaught of tears would overtake her. She was awake much before dawn, not nearly refreshed or ready for the day that lay ahead of her.

The moisture in the air from the rain caused the sky to look as if it was painted. She stared out of the tiny window, watching the sky change from black, to red and orange, and then to blue. She was beginning to feel pangs of hunger in her belly and remembered that she had not eaten anything since lunch the previous day. Just then, the Goblin King appeared behind her.

He wore a plain, open-chested poets shirt which allowed his medallion to be seen hanging from his neck. He also had on his signature tights and black boots. Draped over his arm was a tattered brown dress.

"This is what you are to wear now." He said, throwing the dress at her. "Call it a 'uniform'." He said sniggering.

"I shall now lay out the rules that you are to follow. Rule number one, you must address me, at all times, by Your Majesty or some other similar title, unless I tell you otherwise. You are to always eat supper with me in the dining room at seven o'clock sharp. And finally, you are to complete every task given to you with the utmost efficiency and workmanship. Have I made myself clear?" He asked.

"Crystal." She stated flatly, looking at the ground.

"Good. Then on with your first task." He said and grabbed her arm.

He transported them to the throne room. When he let go of her, she looked down at herself and noticed that she was now wearing the brown, knee length dress he had thrown at her before.

"You are to clean this room from top to bottom. I do not want to see a smudge of dirt or a single chicken feather when I return." And with that, he disappeared, leaving her alone in the grimy room.

On second thought, grimy would not be the best adjective to describe the throne room. It was absolutely filthy. Garbage was strewn everywhere, the floor was mottled with beer stains, and chickens feathers gathered in every nook and cranny between the bricks. She had not seen, or smelt, a dirtier room in her entire eighteen years of existence.

She sighed and thought 'What am I supposed to clean with, spit?' as she looked around. Out of nowhere appeared a bucket of hot, sudsy water, a few rags, a scrub brush, and a bag. 'Welp, I better get started if I am to finish by dinner time.' And with that, she took up the bag and began to gather the feathers and garbage.

o0o0o0o0o0o

The Goblin King was in his study, writing summons and sending missives throughout his and the neighboring kingdoms. 'So much to do, when you are royalty." He thought smugly as he finished off another letter. 'Time to check in on my new slave'

He summoned a crystal and looked into it. Sarah was on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor of the throne room with all her might. It looked as if she were almost finished. 'Almost finished? But it is not yet noon. How did she get so far along in such a short amount of time?' he thought, annoyed. 'I'll just have to give her another task when she is finished.'

o0o0o0o0o0o

Finally, she was done. Her entire body ached. Her knees were sore from kneeling on the hard stone, her back was sore from bending over to pick things up, and her hands were sore from the seemingly endless scrubbing. 'But now I'm done!' she thought as she sunk down to sit on the throne. She shut her eyes to enjoy a few minutes of total immobility.

"What do you think you are doing?" came an angry voice before her.

Her eyes snapped open and she immediately rose from the throne.

"Do you realize that sitting on the royal throne is treason?" he asked her. His voice was loud and echoed off of the stone walls in an eerie manner.

"I…I didn't realize I was sitting on it. I was just taking a breather, I didn't mean anything by it." She tried to explain. "I'm sorry."

"It does not matter if you didn't mean anything by it, the point is that you did it. Treason is punishable by death!" cried the Goblin King.

"Now wait just a minute. I said I was sorry. There's no reason to be getting this upset over a chair!" she yelled back at him.

"A slave does not talk back to their master. Your insolence shall be punished." He told her, suddenly calm. "Come here." he commanded, pointing to the ground directly in front of him.

She had no choice, she had to come to him. Fear suddenly rose into her and settled in her belly. She was trembling slightly by the time she stood before him.

"You think that you are good enough to sit on that throne? Well I shall show you that you are not." He said with a smirk on his arrogant face. "Get on your knees."

She did as she was bid to do.

"Now, bow before me. Bow before your master."

She slowly lowered her upper half to the ground, arms above her head and resting on either side of his legs. This was far worse to her than anything she had thought of last night. This hurt her pride, and if there was one thing that Sarah was not, it was humble.

He knew how to hurt her. He knew she was proud. He knew it the first time she stood before him, in her parent's bedroom. Even at fifteen she had not backed down, she had stood her ground and kept her head held high as she demanded her brother back. Now, he was putting her in her rightful place.

"Get up." He said, his face smeared with a wicked grin. "I see you have finished cleaning. Shall we see how the Goblins like it?" he snapped his glove encased fingers.

Immediately, fifty or so mud-covered goblins came scampering in. In no less than thirty seconds, the room was once again filthy. Sarah watched in dismay as the evidence of her hard work disappeared.

"My, my." Said the Goblin King, in mock dismay. "It seems that they have dirtied my throne room once again. It appears that you shall have to start all over again. Such a pity." And with that he vanished, his laughter echoing off of the walls.

'Grrrr….' She thought as she started to shoo away the pack of goblins so she could clean again.

To be continued…