ISABELLE’S POV
“Lily, where are you? Lily? I am tired now” I call lily as I enter the farm. Warm wind collides my body and I feel hotter. It is so much hot today. The sun is blazing. It seems like fire is reaching the earth in the form of sunlight. Why summers are so hot? I hate summers.
I am now angry at myself. Why did I even agree to play with Lily on this hot day? Now I am all sweaty.
Complete silence follows me as I continue to call Lily. Where is she? We were playing hide and seek and it was now my turn to find her but it seems like she has disappeared instead of hiding. I have looked for her everywhere but still, she is nowhere to be found.
It has been too much time since I have been looking for her. I have checked everywhere. I look towards the sky. The sun is about to set. The sky is covered with a golden yellow hue. It is so much beautiful. Shit! It is going to be dark soon. Mom and dad will be worried about us. I should find Lily as soon as possible. Mom has always said to return home before dark.
“LILY! COME OUT! IT IS GOING TO BE DARK SOON. WE HAVE TO RETURN”. I shout this time. Still, there is no response. I have come too far from home. I should head back now. Maybe Lily has already returned home. I look around me at the green meadows. No one is here. A scary silence is surrounding me.
I think I should go back. Mom must be worrying about me. It is dangerous to be outside at night these days. A cloud of fear has been covering my village for days. This fear is not of an ordinary king but is of the cruelest king on this earth.
I have heard that a cruel king whose name is Eric Leonor has been attacking village after village. A village council was called some days ago to talk about this. The village seniors have asked for help from the city soldiers but still, there is no response from them. We know that soon that tyrant will be attacking our village.
The heads of the village advised all the people to leave the village before he comes but no one agreed and everyone decided to stay. My parents also did not want to leave.
I look towards the sky. The sun has set. Darkness has already spread its wings. I am late. There is so much silence in our village nowadays. It was never like this. Our village used to be so cheerful. Children could be seen playing around. This silence is all because of the fear of that cruel and ruthless king. His fear is looming above us like dark clouds which rain heavily and destroy everything.
His fear has made everyone like this. His fear is the reason for so much silent atmosphere in my village which once used to be so cheerful.
Suddenly a loud sound echoed around me. It continues to come. The center bell. There is a big bell in the center of the village. It is rung only at festivals or to indicate danger. Today there is no festival. Oh, God! This means that the king’s soldiers have attacked. I quickly start running towards my home.
I have to go to them as soon as I can. I run and run. The screams of innocent people of my village are echoing. I try to run faster. I have to go to my parents. I cannot live without them. From afar I can see my home. I was running fast when my foot got stuck on something and I fell.
I cry at the sharp stinging pain in my knees because of my fall. Tears welled up in my eyes because of how much pain I am feeling. My dress is ripped too. I look around me. The soldiers have not arrived at this part of the village. I have to run. I stand up with great difficulty and quickly dash towards my home.
“MOM! DAD! LILY!” I shout but no sound comes. Why was the door opened? I dash upwards. Where are my parents? Have the soldiers already taken them? No, it is not possible. I look around everywhere. I was still looking around when suddenly I heard the sound of soldiers. I was still thinking about what to do when a fire arrow hit the window. I scream looking at the burning window.
Tears are flowing out of my eyes. I back away from the burning window scared. “DAD!” I scream as I feel arms around my neck.
………
My eyes open and the dark ceiling comes in front of my eyes. I sit up in bed. I am breathing heavily. Where am I? With every second that passes, the dark clouds in my mind start fading. Everything comes back to my mind. I am here in the castle. I am no more a free girl; I am now a slave. My life has changed.
I feel wetness on my cheek and I notice that I am crying. More tears rushed out of my eyes. These nightmares! Why don’t these nightmares leave me? Why have they become my companion? Will I continue to have these nightmares all my life?
For how long I will continue to have flashes of those black days. The black day and the worst day of my life was when that cruel king attacked my village. I am talking about that day on which I lost my family, village, my happy life, my everything. That day is still fresh in my mind. No matter how much I try to forget it, I can’t. That memory is now embedded in the depths of my mind. It is like it has become a part of my soul.
I can never forget that scene. That scene still torments me. My small beautiful “Nightwood Village” was burning. Everything was burning. There was smoke and fire of selfishness everywhere. The king’s soldiers have lit everything on fire. The farms, meadows, and homes, the king’s soldiers did not leave anything behind.
That day I had witnessed the king’s cruelty with my own eyes. I was separated from everyone I loved. My family. My sweet little sister, Lily. She was only five years old. I don’t even know if they are still alive or not. God knows if they are alive or dead.
Today, more than one year has passed since that day. One year and still that day’s memory is fresh in my mind. It all happened a few days after my eighteenth birthday. It has been a year since I am locked in this palace. It has been a year since I have not seen the outside world. A year has passed since I have not seen my family and my life has sunk into the deep well of darkness.
The soldiers had captured other girls from my village too. All girls except me were sent to some other palace. Only I was the one who was brought here. I wish I was with them too. If I was sent with them then I would have thought of escaping.
I wipe my tears and look around me. When I was brought into this palace, I was given space with the other slaves. At first, I used to live with other slaves but after only two days, I was shifted to this room.
This room is not small but is of average size. It is better than other rooms which are given to other slaves. Everyone calls it the room of the special slave. I got to know that this was the king’s order. After that day, everyone started treating me differently. The head maid who was quite rude to me during my first two days started caring for me.
I am not allowed to leave the harem. Even if I try to leave the harem the guards stop me immediately. I am not even allowed to leave this harem so escaping the palace is next to impossible.
I don’t do the work as other slaves do because as everyone calls me, I am a special slave. I don’t know why. I don’t know what this means.
I look towards the window. Nothing can be seen from this window except the sky. It is early in the morning. There is no point in sleeping more. The head maid will surely come to wake me up. Though they don’t give me any work still my routine is as strict as others. I have to wake up in the morning and then I have nothing to do. All the other slaves start doing their work and then I am alone.
I get up and decide to get the dress for the day. I was given many dresses. My dresses are different from the dresses of other slaves. I should say my dresses are more beautiful than others. Some other girls in the harem look at me with jealousy. Sometimes I don’t understand why they hate me so much.
Sometimes I wish I was somewhere else. I wish I was still with my family in my small village. Everything would have been so much different then. I wish I could return to my previous life.
I brush my hair with a wooden brush and then leave my room. My room is a little away from the common slave room but it is still in the harem. It is a big hall-type room in which all slaves live together.
I enter there and see my two friends Ivy and Elise are already awake. Some of the other maids are awake too. They are sitting near the fire hearth. The winter is soon going to start but the change in weather can be felt.
“Hey! You woke up early”. Ivy says as she sees me moving towards her. I smile as I continue to walk toward them. I have only two friends here, Ivy and Elise. They were not rude to me like other slaves. Ivy and Elise are also treated like other slaves. They have to work from day to night. As it is an early morning that’s why they are free.
There is no queen here in this palace. I shake my head a little to stop thinking about these things. I look towards my only two friends.
“Yes! What are you two doing?” I ask them. My question does not suit the situation because I know what they are doing.
“We are relaxing because we know we have a really busy day today”. This time it is Elise who replies. I look at them confused.
“Why is it a busy day today?” I ask them curiously and the reaction they gave me was not what I expected. They are looking at me with shock. I wonder why they are looking at me like this?
“You don’t know!” Elise says shocked. What is it that I don’t know? Am I forgetting something?
“Well! Well! Look who is here. The special slave, Isabelle is here in this common slave room”. Before they could answer we hear a very rude voice. I look behind me at the source and find Esme with a sneering look on her face.
I narrow my eyes on her. I don’t like her. She is always rude to me.
“I don’t want to talk with you. Leave us alone!” I say to her in a quite normal tone. I do not like her. She hates me and does not let even a single chance of irritating me slip away. She says that I have taken her position. That’s why she hates me. She is also a slave here.
“Of course. Why would you like to talk with a common slave like me? Especially now when the king is returning”. She says with a smirk on her face. Her words were like thunder to me. It feels like her words have created havoc inside me. My soul almost left my body.
The king is returning! This means my life is going to turn darker. I know what will happen to me when the king returns. I know what awaits me on his arrival. I wish I could die before being presented to him.
………………………….
ERIC’S POVThe royal chef presents the goblet filled with wine. I gesture for him to leave and he bows his head before leaving. I look towards the goblet. It is a silver goblet adorned with different precious and rare stones. I pick the goblet up and take a sip of this wine of Eden. The moment the liquid touched my tongue I felt heavenly bliss. This is my favorite wine because its red color represents victory, my victory. It has always been said that red is the color of victory and that is the reason I like it.I look at the map sprawled in front of me. I, Eric Leonor has now become one of the most powerful kings of this world. I have made my kingdom the strongest by conquering a large number of towns and villages. I have made my kingdom the largest by extending its territory. Now I will extend the trade over to far areas. I bring the goblet to my mouth and gulp the whole goblet filled with wine in one go. Now no one can defeat me.I look towards the servant who entered the tent. “Sir
ISABELLE’S POV “Wake up! Wake up, Isabelle! Is this time for you to sleep? I will not tolerate this behavior of yours. You are in the palace not in your home”. An angry voice brings me out of my sleep. Who is shouting at me at this time? I open my eyes and wince immediately at the sharp headache that I am feeling. My head feels as if someone has struck it with some heavy thing. I blink my eyes to see clearly because my vision was blurry. I sit up in my bed and upon looking around Lillian’s angry face comes into my view. I put my hand on my head. It is paining so much. Why? “Why are you sleeping at this time? Don’t you know about the rules here? You should have woken hours ago”. She says angrily. I close my eyes at the sharp wave of pain that strikes my head and an involuntary wince escape from my mouth. “Isabelle, what happened? Are you fine? Are you in pain? Did something happen to you?” The angry voice of Lillian suddenly turns into a worried one. What a change of emotions! I op
ISABELLE’S POV I enter the harem and I am surprised to see it. I look from one corner to another. My eyes move toward every single part of it. It is beautifully decorated. It looks like a place from heaven. The addition of candles and rose petals is just adding beauty to it. I have never seen a harem decorated beautifully like this. At festivals, it used to be decorated but not like this. These decorations themselves seem to be from heaven. Different types and colors of flowers are hanging on the walls. Every color of the rainbow is present here. I know all these decorations are only because of the king’s arrival but why have they decorated this place? It is not like the king will straightly come here after coming to the palace. It seems like there is going to be a huge party here. This makes me think, is there really going to be a party here? Will the king attend? I look around me. All the other slaves and maids are busy with the work. Some are decorating the area with flowers whil
ERIC’S POV We enter the boundary of Ash Ville and even from here I can see the citizens of AshVille waiting for my arrival. They are all lined up to welcome me and my army which has never failed in protecting them. If not for the army, then some other kingdom would have destroyed us. People of every age are present here. They all are holding baskets filled with flowers in them. I can see the excited faces of children. They are eager to see the king and the army. “Long live the king”. They all chant loudly when we reach them. They shower flowers on us as we pass through the narrow streets of Ash Ville. I can see that people are scared but happy too. I love to see this fear in their eyes. They all are scared of me and they know I show no mercy but still, they are forced to be happy at my arrival. We continue to move forward toward the magnificent palace. When my palace came into view, a smile crept onto my face. My Belle is there. I have not seen her for such a long time. I cannot wai
ISABELLE’S POV I look towards the door. It is still locked. No one came to open this. I don’t know how much time has passed since I am locked in this room. I don’t understand why Lillian has locked me inside the room. I think the sun must have set by now because I have started to feel cold. The weather is changing and winter is in its initial stages so it is cold at night but days are usually normal. I feel like as winter is approaching the coldness inside me is increasing. There is an unknown thing freezing me from inside. I am feeling like a trapped bird in a cage that has wings but is not allowed to fly. The bird who was once free in the blue skies is now trapped inside the hard walls of the cage. I think soon my wings will be clipped too if things continue to be like this. Is there any purpose in life? Is there any point in living a life like this, the life of a trapped bird? Life is not meant to be like this. It is us people who make it like this. Life should be meaningful an
ISABELLE's POV “No Belle. I don’t want to escape from this palace. I don’t feel trapped here and I don’t want to return to my previous life. I am happy here and you should be too”. She tells me. In her eyes I see honesty. I can see that whatever she is saying is true. She is really happy here. “But why?” I ask her. I cannot understand why does not she feel trapped here. Why does not she want to escape? “Are you asking why I am happy here?” She asks me. At her question, I nod my head a little. “Who would want to leave when here you get clothes to wear, food to fill the stomach and you are not worried whether you will have food for the next day or not? You don’t have to worry about anything here. I have no family, Belle. My parents died when I was nine years old. I have no siblings. I am alone in this world. Before coming here, my life was a mess and I was living in poverty. I hardly had clothes to properly cover me. I hardly earned money to have one loaf of bread for the day. At n
ERIC’S POV “The mistress is here, my king”. The servant says. I pour wine into the goblet and look toward the servant. I move my eyes from the servant towards the big windows from which the magnificent gardens are visible. The windows are open so cold winds are coming inside my room chamber. I like this cold wind. I am sitting on the couch. This couch is placed near the windows. “Send her inside”. I order the guard and he leaves after bowing his head. I am feeling so lonely tonight. I know this is all because of Isabelle. This room feels so lonely without Isabelle. Before her, I never felt these foreign feelings but now because of her, I have started to have feelings that I never had. I am feeling bored. I want her to be beside me, near me so that I can touch her. More than this, I think I want her presence. Only her presence can bring peace to me. She is the only one who can give me peace. I want to inhale the beautiful scent which comes from her. I want to roam my hands in her bea
ISABELLE’S POV Another day passed with me inside my room. I was not locked inside like yesterday but I stayed inside with my own choice. I did not step out of my room the whole day. Simply because I did not want to. There were many reasons why I decided to spend my whole day inside this room. I woke up early as usual. I have had a strange feeling inside me since the moment I woke up. I was feeling like something bad was going to happen but then I thought what worse can happen to me as compared to what has already happened. I chose to ignore this feeling as it was making me worried. Moreover, where can I go except to the harem. It is not like I can roam the palace. I am tired of this whole place. I cannot leave this harem and I am feeling caged. Whenever I think about this, I feel my throat constrict. I snicker at my misery. I have to live with this. I thought to meet Ivy and Elise and spend some time with them. At first, I did not want to meet Ivy after yesterday but she is my fri