The Slave girl and the King

Chapter 3

After dinner Ann, Yamma and Diako headed to their rooms to get some sleep. Ann slept peacefully for a little while but then she started having bad dreams like she sometimes did about death and people dying. She woke up with a start and flew up out of bed, her heart pounding and breathing heavily. She sat there trying to calm herself, reminding herself that it wasn't real and it was only a dream. She the sat on the side of the bed for several minutes.

She rubbed her face and eyes and looked at the time. It was the middle of the night. She knew she would never be able to go back to sleep. She grabbed her night robe and notebook and pencil and decided she would go find the library and do some research for the article. It would get her mind off that terrible dream and keep her busy. She had a lot of work to do anyways. She decided not to wake the others, they needed their sleep. She then snuck out of her room. There were a few guards in the hallways as she passed, which made her a bit nervous, she clutched her robes to herself and holding the lantern in her other hand as she went, none of them said anything, so she continued.

She could definitely feel eyes on herself as she moved through the castle but she found the library easily enough. She had been in a few castles before and they always seemed to make them around the same areas of a castle. The library was hugs and there was a fire lit in the fireplace as well as some lamps lit in the room. There were also some armchairs and tables nearby the fireplace. She sat the lantern down on one of the tables and got to work.

She had been in there maybe an hour and reading. She wasn't using all the information of course but she loved knowledge, so reading and learning was always a passion of hers.

Just as she was in the middle of writing some notes. She heard the library door open. She had butterflies in her stomach, scared someone would be mad at her for sneaking off to the library. It was King Vegeta.

"Oh! Your Majesty! I'm sorry!" She was shocked.

She started to stand and the King saw her and raised his hand. "Please stay where you're seated."

Ann settled back down but looked nervous.

He noticed her nervousness. "I couldn't sleep. I sometimes come here to read a book or sit by the fire." He then took a seat in the chair across from her.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I… I'll be done soon." Ann continued to write in her notebook.

"It's quite alright, take as much time as you need. I don't want Lord Frieza or King Cold to get mad at you for not working." He says looking at the fire in the fireplace with his hand under his chin.

Ann looks up at him. "They have never gotten mad at me yet… and they have never been unkind to me… usually Master Frieza allows me to work at my own pace. I have anxiety really bad and if I am pressured too much I have anxiety attacks."

He looks at her. "He must be fond of you then. He never treats his other servants like that."

Ann blushes and continues writing. "I have no idea why, he doesn't tell me anything about that but it's in his actions… him and hisfather." she raised her eyebrows and raised her voice slightly when she said father.

The King didn't know what to say. She could feel the king looking at her which made her cheeks burn and made her feel more nervous. They sit in silence for several minutes while Ann writes down notes in her notebook and looking through books. The King sat and stared at the fire, deep in thought. After a long while, Ann let out a loud sigh and put the book down that she was reading.

King Vegeta noticed. "You know, since neither one of us can sleep, I could give you a personal tour of the castle. You can also see my son Vegeta, that is if you would like?"

Ann looks at him smiling. "Really!? That would be great!" she then looked at the books she had out. She still had more notes she wanted to take. "I can finish my notes tomorrow night. Is there anyway we can keep these out for tomorrow night?"

"You're welcomed to take them to your room if you would like." King Vegeta said smiling.

"Oh thank you, your majesty but I do like working in here. There's no fireplaces on My master's ship so this is a very nice change. It's a very calming and cozy feeling." She said smiling.

King Vegeta smiled. "That's fine. I'll be sure to tell the guards at the door not to let anyone move those books form their place until you say you are done with them."

"Thank you, your majesty." She smiled.

The King stood up and walked over to Ann and held out his arm for her. "May we begin the tour?"

Ann was surprised but she stood and took his arm and clutched her robe to herself. They then walked through the castle it was sort of dark but Ann was glad he was guiding her. He showed her his thrown room and she got to see his thrown up close and she got to see many other rooms in the castle which most were empty guest rooms. They also talked about different things not related to the tour.

"So, Ann… How did someone like you come into the service of lord Frieza and King Cold"? He asked her as they walked down a long hallway.

Ann is a great deal shorter than King Vegeta at five feet and he is a little over 6 feet tall. Ann stopped walking, the king stopped with her. He looked down at her. She was staring at the floor as if taken back to some memory.

After several moments, Ann spoke but in a low voice. "That was so long ago…. but I remember it so well." She looks up at him and then smiles. "It's also a long story but I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear the story of a slave."

"I would like to know more about you Ann, so of course I'll listen to your story." He gave her a kind smile.

She smiled up at him then looked away.

"My previous Master was a cruel man. He had bought me when I was just a child. He was a king of his own planet. My mother had been killed during the raid of a planet. I don't remember much but that some other race from another planet had come to raid us and kill it's inhabitants, some were spared and sold as slaves. They found me clutching my mother's dead hand and took me away. I was then sold to this man… he was cruel to me. I was forced to serve him and I didn't understand what was happening, I was only a child of 5 and when I made a mistake I was beaten. Often I wasn't fed and not allowed to bathe. My clothes were dirty and my hair was a mess. I was with him until I was 20. I looked horrible, nothing like I do now. He had come into the service of King Cold and had to pay him tribute and serve him or maybe he served him all along but I had never saw him before. The first time I saw him, I was shocked, I had never seen anyone so big and tall and was even more shocked that everyone was so afraid of him. I had never seen my master gravel and kneel to anyone before. I was so depressed from my life of torment, I didn't fear anything, not even death." Ann let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "In fact I hoped death would take me into his arms." She opened them again. "I stared at King Cold. I knew it was rude to do so, but I didn't even care or maybe I was too stunned to realize what I was doing. I then noticed he had someone standing next to him that was much shorter. He looked a little like him so I assumed it was his son. He was staring at me and I was staring right back at him. After a few moments I noticed his father also staring at me as well. My heart dropped to my stomach. My master noticed and he swung his arm to hit me on the head, I braced myself for the onslaught and closed my eyes, but it never came, when I opened them, Lord Frieza had caught his arm midair. I was so shocked. I froze in place. I heard Lord Frieza break the bones in his arm with a sickening snap and crunching sound and my master went to his knees letting out a howl of agony. I was so shocked, all I could do was stare in awe. I'll never forget the look of disgust on Lord Frieza's face. He said "How dare you do such a thing in front of me!" I looked at his Father King Cold and he was smirking at the scene. Then King Cold looked at me and his smirk turned into a smile then he went back to watching his son with a Frieza then kicked him so hard that he flew clean across the room, taking out some of his other servants with him and it destroyed the wall. I saw blood and heard bones crack. All I could do was stare in awe at the sheer power of his kick. I looked at my master in agony on the floor, He said "Lord Frieza." and groaned, trying to get up, then he looked at me with an angry face, I knew that look all too well, it meant I would get a terrible beating later. Lord Frieza was so mad, he flew across the room and landed a blow with his fist to my master's face and then stepping on his face with his foot. The scene was so surreal. My cruel master was bleeding heavily. All I could do was stay in one spot and stare at the scene as I watched Lord Frieza twist his foot into my cruel master's face. I am ashamed to say that it gave me some joy to see him do that to him, for he had done the same thing to me."

Ann stopped, in thought, then when King Vegeta didn't say anything, she continued.

The next thing Lord Frieza said to him was "and for your insolence, your tribute will cost you 5 times the normal cost and if you do not deliver, I will personally kill you!" He said it with a menacing face and voice and pushed his head more with his foot, I thought he was going to squash his head. He then said "And I'm taking the girl as the first part of your tribute." My old master said in agony "Y…y.. yes lord Frieza, f…f..forgive me." Lord Frieza then removed his foot from his head and looked at me with his hands behind is back and walked over to me, and he held out his hand to me. I was so shocked, I couldn't move. I was frozen. I was so confused about the events that had unfolded before my eyes. I looked at his hand then back at Lord Frieza. He had a kind smile on his face and his head tilted slightly. Then he spoke to me directly for the first time. "It's alright little one, I'm not going to hurt you" I then looked at his father who was smiling at me also. I then looked back at Frieza's hand and I slowly took it. I had expected him to yank me or something but that never happened. Instead he lead me by hand back to his ship. He was kind to me and they cleaned me up, I got new clothes and here we are… the stuff in between is an even longer story!"

Ann laughed in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry for the long story. We stood here for so long."

King Vegeta smiled. "It's quite alright, I enjoyed listening." He paused before speaking again. "I think I understand why he's fond of you though." He smiled. "Shall we go see my son now? You can tell me the rest later, if you wish."

Ann blushed and nodded. "Yes your majesty, I would love to."