"Kiss Me"

"Okay that's it! Are you gonna spit it out or should I make you?!"

"I told you I'm fine! I've just been overworking myself and now I have a headache. That's all."

Silence

"She's lying."

"Oh come on, just go to sleep. We don't get much of it."

We were currently in our quarters. It was already very late and many of the other servants were already knocked out.

"Not until you give us an explanation Hilary," came Salima's demanding voice.

Three weeks passed since that horrible night I had with the Dark Prince.
Right after that he went missing for two days. I thought Drinking was going to be a one time thing. I dare to think he was not totally a demon he was known to be. How Wrong I was!

When he came back, he continued where he left off.
The Prince always made sure that I was close to him. He made me stand directly next to him during his meals. But he hasn't made me remove my cloth again and sing him to sleep again. It would have been better if he did but he has even requested that I massage him a few times!

While he took his bath.

He knew how uncomfortable I always was. He knew I hated it. He knew that he was hurting me. Above all he knew that I couldn't do anything about it and that I must obey his every damn command.

He also made sure that he had a constant supply of my blood. Fortunately not every day. That I was grateful for. He took my blood once every three or four days. A big amount though. Sometimes I would pass out and wake up in the servants' quarters the next day. This was also the reason why I was losing weight and getting sickly pale. At times I felt so weak that I wouldn't even struggle. I prayed for everything to end soon. It was painful and exhausting. Losing blood made it extremely hard to complete my chores. By the end of the day I would feel dizzy or black spots would start to appear in my vision.

I just wanted the pain and fatigue to go away, even if it would cost my life. I just couldn't go on like this.

For now he's away again to who knows where. But I'm torn between feeling immensely joyful and beyond terrified.
Because every time he goes away and comes back he gets more and more intense.

Rough.

Demanding.

I dreaded the things he was going to do when he got back.

"Look she's dozing off again. We gotta do something!"

"I'm not dozing off Mariam. I hear you" I said flatly.

What I'm not particularly happy about is, Mariam and Salima just couldn't stop digging for answers. They kept saying that I'm being closed off and quiet and not myself and so on.
I wanted to tell someone. Anyone. To let it out. But I knew better.
Trust me when I say I try to be jovial every day. It's just that my friends wouldn't let me be.

Not to mention Tyson.

He freaks out whenever we meet which is not often anymore. That isn't the worst part. A few days after that incident he tried stuffing cake inside my mouth saying that I was skinny. I was sure has hell he himself eat whatever he wants but this is dangerous.

Didn't he know he could get hanged or whipped and tortured for that?!

But that was not the real issue.

Actually, the real problem was that I'm not a very good liar. I never had to hide anything from anyone before, Specially Tyson, so this was hard. His words still rang in my ears,"You know you can tell me anything right? We're all in this together. Being here is already a high price we're paying. Don't allow this burden to get even heavier Hilary."

Those words almost made me broken. I wanted to tell him so badly. But Kai's warning came crashing back to me. It was our first encounter after that night. His warning,"Whatever happened in this room stays in this room. Nothing goes out. No one is allowed to know including dear old Jury." He had spoken calmly. But if you would have listened closely, it was a cold warning. From the way he spoke I knew I'd pay a heavy price if I told anyone. "One word to anyone and I will...well, let's just say you wouldn't want to open that mouth of yours. For your own good. Do you understand?" He questioned. A question that demanded only one answer.

"Yes Your Highness." I remembered my whisper.

That's why I can't tell anyone anything. Not even Tyson, who know me so much that even in our small meetings he noticed I was becoming jumpy, weary of my surroundings and I just didn't feel safe anymore. The changes in my behavior.

"What's wrong Hilary?" Salima said as she held my arm and shook it, to bring me back into reality. "I.I...it's just been a stressful couple of days." I sighed looking up at the ceiling as I laid down. "I just...feel a little pressured that's all. Nothing big. I know both of you care a lot but it's not a big deal you guys. Nothing's going on. Really. Just...heavy work." I continued to look up while putting in as much emotion as possible into my voice as I said those words. I hoped they would stop digging in.

Mariam was the one to speak after some time.

"I do not one hundred percent believe you but I respect you and will give you some space." My whole body relaxed after that.

Little did I know that dear old Mariam wasn't finished.

"But, beware for I shall not allow this matter to pass young lady," she said in her overly dramatic voice. "If you aren't yourself by this week I... I mean we, will take matters into our own hands!"

"Mariam you can't be serious. I already told the two of..."

"Ah ah ah," she raised her hand "I will not hear it. Bed time. Now."

"Bu..."

"Now! Close your eyes."

"She's right. You have dark circles under your eyes Hilary," Salima chimed in.

"Gosh, sometimes I feel like you're my parents!"

"Only because you're childish." Mariam retorted.

"Me? How? I'm the one who said we should go to sleep first." The two of them just burst out laughing.

"Sssshhhhh you guys!"

Next morning I had to drag my body up to his room. Since confirmed and double checked that he wasn't in, there was no need for breakfast.

I was beginning to grow weaker than usual. After all this time, I feel like I used to have way more energy than what I have now. Salima confirmed that a few moments ago before handing me another beautiful white rose.
Once I got to his room I immediately put it in the vase.

The other odd thing was, the roses I got recently didn't last as long as they used to. It was as if they were growing weak quickly. They wilted faster than usual. I couldn't help but presume that they could feel my pain. That we were somehow connected.

What an bizzare unstable thought! I must be slowly turning into a lunatic! I've been keeping so much to myself and it's taken a toll on me!

I hit the side of my head a few times with my fist before focusing on reality.
Salima was right when she said I was burdening myself. But what could I do? It wasn't like I chose not to tell anyone. I wasn't only afraid of me getting hurt. What if he hurts others? Just because I couldn't obey a simple stupid rule.
No one should get hurt because of me.
I let out a heavy breath as I looked towards Flower. "I really hope you don't die on me tomorrow. I need you." I said while caressing it's petals. I smiled at it then continued to clean the gigantic room.

As I guessed it was already around eight at night when I was done. I hurried to his room to arrange them. It took me two trips to and from the laundry room. The human body is truly a marvelous creation.

I was arranging his last batch of shirts. Just when I hung up his very last black coat, the room started to get dark.

Dark like when you turn off all the candles and lights. I started to freak out.

Was there no electricity?

Things like this don't happen in the castle. If they do, the Royals would just kill everyone responsible.

Seconds past and the room became even darker. A moment after that, I couldn't see anything. It was pitch black. It was then I realized that this had nothing to do with electricity.

It was him.

That alone scared me beyond words. I knew he was in the room. I tried to move further away but failed miserably because his location in the room was still unknown to me and I didn't know where to step.

"You're late." I let out a yelp because the voice came from close behind me. Right next to my ear.

I shriveled around to

face...nothing.

I stretched out both my hands hoping to feel something and at the same time I didn't want anything to be there.
And there wasn't.

Just pure darkness.

I broke out in cold sweat.
Terrified. By now I didn't know if the voice was real or I had just imagined it.

Was it me or was the room getting colder by the second?

As more dreadfully long seconds passed by, I was already shivering. I knew mist came out of my mouth with every shaky breath I took.

I'm not staying here any longer!

With that sudden thought that came rushing to my brain, adrenaline pumped through my veins. I started moving to what I presumed was the direction to the door. I didn't waste any time as I strode towards it. Just as it seemed like I reached my freedom a cruel chuckle stop me.
"You're going wrong little flower. Think you could just run away and I'll be okay with that?"

I didn't stop.

I suddenly didn't care. The thought of leaving this cursed room was the only thing on my mind. I kept moving forward until something else stopped me. More like I hit that something really hard.

Of course there was a wall.

I pushed myself away from it quickly and turned around to run in a different direction.

Too late. He was right in front of me. I knew this because I ran into another 'wall'.

"Please Your Highness, i...it's late. Please lemme go." I whispered. Exhaustion filled my voice. I didn't even have the strength to be firm.

A split second later I felt him come close to the side of my head and inhaled deeply. "You. Smell. Divine." Nothing could compare to the fear that consumed me at that moment. The worst part of it all was, I couldn't see anything.

The loudest sound in the room was only my heavy breathing.

All of a sudden I felt an arm snake around my waist and my body slammed against something hard which I guessed was his chest.

I tried moving away in vain. There was nothing else to do. Once he gets you, you're completely at his mercy.

"Let go of me."

"Attempting to escape," he played with a strand of my hair.

"Struggling," he whispered close to my ears.

"Speaking without permission," he then kissed the side of my lips.

"That's almost fifty blows with the whip or I could just torture you to death or burn you alive with my hands." His grip on me started to tighten. I felt my eyes tear up all over again. "Please don't hurt me."

"Tsk tsk. That's not for you to decide my little flower." I felt his hot breath on my face.

"What do you want from me, Your Highness?" I asked wearily. He drew slow circles around my side. He then rested his forehead against mine and started taking deep breaths. Like he was trying to calm himself down. I still waited for his answer. I didn't understand what was happening. Just before I could ask again he stopped me.

"Everything.

I want all of you."

"I don't under...I can't... I'm just a slave. I'm nothing!" With that I slowly started to push against him. He simply laughed at my attempt. I struggled even more. So much that I was hurting myself. But that didn't stop me. I kept on doing it until his arms around me started to tighten.
He didn't stop either. To the point where it was difficult to breathe. I eventually gave up. There was no way out of his iron grip.

"You'll pay for that tantrum.
Now how badly do you want to go back to your quarters?" He suddenly asked. I paled.

What kind of a question was that? How could he even ask me that?!
How do I show him? How do I tell him? I'd do anything to get away from him.

There's only so much blood in me. I barely had the strength to go through an ordinary day. I couldn't bear to lose more than I already have.

"Wh...what do you want?" My voice was barely audible but he heard it. He ran his deadly fingers across my jaw. Caressing it slowly.

Every breath I took at that moment was a challenge.
I still couldn't see a thing. I just dreaded for his next move. After what seemed like forever, I got an answer.

"Kiss me."

I couldn't describe how I felt the second I heard those words. Confused? scared? I don't know. All I knew was that I wanted to get away from him. Just then the room had some light in it. A single candle lit itself on the oval table. He did it of course. It was still very dark but I could see enough. And I wasn't sure if I was thankful.

"If you want to go back, if you want to meet your beloved friends again you'll do exactly as I say." I felt him come closer than he already was. " And you are in no position to be making demands little one. You're lucky I haven't whipped you for talking back you did." All the blood drained from my face. My lungs burned as I prevented the tears from falling.

"I said...kiss me."

Shakily I forced myself to reach up to the tips of my toes. I had to reach higher so naturally I held his shoulders to steady myself up. After I got to my position I felt my lips ever so lightly touch the skin of his right cheek. Then I got back to my feet. I closed my eyes and let out a shaky breath. "On the cheek little flower? That's not counted." He moved closer to my face and made sure that his lips were centimetre away from mine. His hands tightened around my waist. His fingers dug into my sides. I winced at the pain it caused. "Why don't you try again?" he whispered.

No matter how hard I tried. The only thing that kept repeating in my head was why. Why was he doing this?
I knew I had no choice. I wanted to go back so desperately.

So I forced myself to lean forward a little. Our lips touched for a brief moment before I pulled back.

"That wasn't a kiss. Since you failed to please me I'll show you instead." He said still holding me close to him. Without giving me a chance to let his words sink in, he crashed his lips against mine and pulled me impossibly close to him. He immediately started to deepen the kiss with his tongue.
Demanding, every part of my mouth. It was dominating but insanely gentle and soft at the same time. I couldn't move. Did I wanted this to continue!

I felt out of breath soon but he didn't seem to care as he hoisted me up, then proceeded to walk to the other side of his room and dropped us both on the bed with him pressed on top of me.

I didn't know why tears streamed down the sides of my face as he continued to kiss me.

I felt useless against him and couldn't breathe properly. He must have sensed it because only then did he stop. By then I laid emotionless on the bed. My tear filled eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.

He continued to kiss my cheek and brought his lips to the side of my neck. Kissing and sucking on a specific spot.
I felt like I lost my dignity and respect.

Was I really nothing?

He stopped after a while murmuring some words which I couldn't hear. Or decided not to hear. He then disappeared somewhere.

I couldn't remember much afterwards as I passed out from all the exhaustion.