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 nights in winter, I would freeze to ice. At night my mind was filled with thoughts of what will I eat tomorrow or will I have to starve. I had to starve for days. There was fear of death always lurking near me but look there is nothing like that here”. She tells me happily with a smile. In her eyes, I see satisfaction.
I am beyond shocked by her words. I am still trying to understand what she just said. My mind is unable to comprehend how someone can be like this. How can some value these things above freedom? There is nothing more valuable than having a life in which you can live according to your choice.
Even if you have no proper clothes to wear and no food to eat, at least your life is not controlled by someone else and you are not caught in a cage. You are allowed to roam. What she does not understand is that in exchange for these things, the king has taken her freedom. She cannot leave this palace.
“At least you had freedom”. I say to her with a bitter smile.
“Yes, there was but at the cost of living like a poor person with poverty. There is no point in having freedom when you suffer every day and wait for your death to come. Look, Belle. You should accept your life too. You should accept that now this palace is your home and you cannot leave it.
You are treated like a special person. You have a separate room and you have caught the king’s eye. What more do you want?” Ivy says in annoyance. I look her in the eye.
“Freedom. I want freedom and my life which I had before coming here”. I say to her with determination and hope. What I think will never change. I want freedom and nothing can change this. She sighs at my answer.
“It is futile trying to make you drop the idea of escape. I have brought food for you. You had not eaten anything since morning”. She says gesturing towards the tray filled with food in her hand. I look towards the mouth-watering food but I don’t feel like eating. My hunger has died.
“I don’t want to eat”. I tell her and look towards the other side of the room.
“If you will not eat then I will have to spend this night in the dungeon. It is Lillian’s orders. Please Belle, eat this”. I look at her sad face. Lillian knows my weakness and she knows that I will not let Ivy be in the dungeon because of me. She knows how to force me to do things that I don’t like. She always targets my kindness.
I take the tray from her hand. “Is it night?” I ask her while eating.
“Yes”. She replies. So, I was right. I was locked in this room the whole day.
After I ate, Ivy left my room, and this time she did not lock the door. It does not matter now. I don’t want to leave my room either. I don’t want to talk with anyone. Ivy’s thoughts have saddened me to an extent that I just want to sleep. I want to sleep to forget all this. I want to sleep to erase all my sadness. What is better than sleep to remove all the bad thoughts?
I blow out all the candles except one and then lay on my bed to sleep. Complete darkness scares me. I hate being in the dark, that's why I always leave one candle. I hope deep sleep soon engulfs me so that I am away from this world at least for some time. I can be free from this life. I wish to dream about the happy life I once had.
ERIC’S POV
I finish my dinner and bring the wine-filled goblet to my mouth. I look around me. I am in the great hall right now. All the servants are standing at a distance from me with their heads bowed. A smell of burning wood is lingering in this Great hall because of the fire hearth. Winter is approaching and soon snowfall will start. There is complete silence here just like how I like. I like this silent atmosphere. It brings peace.
I look towards the empty seat in front of me and my thoughts wander to my precious slave, my Belle. Soon she will be here having meals with me. I cannot wait for those days. I wonder what she would be doing this late? I did not visit her the whole day. There was so much work to do as I had returned after two years.
I look toward Lillian. I think this is the perfect time to see her. My eyes are dying to see her beautiful face. My fingers want to touch her soft skin. I want to be in her presence.
“Everyone leave! Lillian, you stay!”. I ordered. All the servants bow their heads and leave the Great hall. Lillian has become sacred. She must be thinking why have I stopped her. I gesture with my finger for her to come a little closer. She hesitantly takes a step towards me and then stops.
I look towards the goblet in my hand and twirl it a little. “Before leaving for the war I had given you responsibility. Have you taken care of her or not?” I ask her, still looking towards the goblet. I look at her and she is skating with fear. She is looking toward the floor. Her shaking with fear indicates that there is something wrong. I will kill her if something has happened to her.
“Y-Yes my king. I have taken full care of your possession. She is exactly like you left”. She speaks. Her voice is filled with fear. Her answer made me smirk. I cannot wait to see her.
“Where is she?” I ask Lillian.
“As it is quite late so she will be in her room, your majesty”. I nod. She must be sleeping right now. I should visit her.
I stand up and start going towards the Harem. “Come with me”. I ordered Lillian.
“As you order, my king”. She says obediently and starts coming behind me. I feel the excitement inside me as I take steps toward her room. How much I waited for this day.
I enter the harem and silence surrounds me. There is complete silence here. All the slaves are sleeping and expect a few candles there is no light. I pass the harem and go towards Belle’s room.
“You stay here”. I order Lillian and open the door of Belle’s room. When I enter the room, I see complete darkness. My eyes scan the room and then falls on the bed. There is a candle lit near the bed. My eyes fall on Belle’s face and I feel something inside me. I feel as if my heart started beating. I quietly take steps toward her and stand beside the bed on which she is sleeping. I don’t want her to wake up.
She is looking like an angel. Her face is glowing in this dim light. Nothing has changed. Her beautiful hair is sprawled on the pillow. How can someone be this beautiful? How can God bless someone with beauty like this? I am mesmerized by her beauty. I want to claim her and make her mine but this should be special for her. Our first night together should be special. I caress my finger lightly on her soft glowing skin.
“I will make you mine soon Isabelle. Soon you will be in my chambers with me”. I say to her as I caress her cheek.
As I was looking at her face, I noticed her dried tears. I smirk at this. “Soon you will be under me begging me in pleasure when I will be claiming you with passion. You should save your tears for that night because I will not stop and claim you the whole night. I will continue to claim you until I feel satisfied”. I say to her kissing her cheek.
As I looked more at her, I saw some differences in her. She has gotten weak. Has Lillian not given her food?
I look at her one last time and then leave her room. Lillian lowers her head when she sees me. So, her fear was not meaningless.
“Why has she gotten so weak? Have not you given her proper meals?” I ask Lillian angrily.
“No-No, your majesty. She has proper meals. I- I don’t know about how this happened but-“. She says with fear frantically.
“From now on, take care of her, or I will cut your limbs”. I order her and was going towards my chambers when Lillian stopped me.
“My king, if you want, I can send the mistress. She will help you to relax”. Lillian asks. A smirk appears on my face. Yes, this is a good choice.
“Send her”. I order and start going towards my chambers.
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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
ISABELLE’S POV “Don’t cry. Everything will be fine”. I say to the other girl who was chained with me. I am feeling so bad for her. I don’t know why but I just want to console her. She is so young to bear all this. She looks so young. I am sure she is not fifteen yet. Two girls are chained with me. One is continuously crying while the other one is unconscious. I want to help them. If I get a chance to run, then I will surely take these two with me. My heart is beating wildly inside my chest. I am so terrified. “What will happen with us now?” She asks while crying. This question has been roaming inside my chest since the time that soldier chained me. I am also trying to find an answer to this question. What will happen to me now? I don’t know but what I surely know is that whatever is going to happen will not be good. “I don’t know what will happen with us now”. I reply and look around me. I am still hoping that from somewhere my dad comes to rescue me. My heart is saying that this
ISABELLE’S POV The soldier stops in front of a tent. There is a fire near and some soldiers are preparing food. Everyone is looking at us. Some are looking at us with lust as if we are meat that they want to eat for dinner while there are some other soldiers as well who are looking at us with pity. Their eyes hold kindness and pain for us. They know that it is bad what is happening to us but they still cannot do anything about this. My attention moves towards the man coming toward us. He is none other than the commander Hugh because of whom I got slapped. He is walking towards us as if he rules this place and there is no one stronger than him. He has his big sword in his hand. “I have talked with the king. King has ordered me to shift them in a tent. These are now slaves and will be taken to the palace. We will leave for the city tomorrow”. He says and leaves. I just want to cry at my misery. I have now become a slave. Why did this happen to me? I was a free person who could do any
ISABELLE’S POV “Take her to Lillian. She knows what to do”. The king orders. I don’t look up again. I did not dare to. His voice is so harsh and holds authority. I never knew that one day I would come face to face with the cruel king whose stories I have heard. I never knew that when I will come in front of the king who ruined my village, I will not even have the courage to see his face. “As you order king”. The soldier says and bows his head. There is still time. Please change your decision and let me go. Please! “Come behind me”. The soldier says to me and I start following him. I don’t want to be in the king’s presence ever. I am too scared of him. He is the same as I heard about him. Now, what will happen to me? Now I am also a slave. When I think about my future my legs start shaking. I see only darkness in my future. I just hope that good things happen to me. I hope that I soon find a chance to escape before the king uses me as his slave. I don’t want to be used like a sex sl
ISABELLE’S POV This is how I was brought into the palace and then never got a chance to escape. My bracelet was taken from me by Lillian. She must have thrown it. That was the only memory of Robert. Ivy and Elsie became my friends that day and since then we have been best friends. On the next day, I was shifted to this room and was made a special slave. Then Esme started behaving badly with me. Later I got to know that the king had gone to war. I look towards the door. It must be evening now. I have spent my whole day in this room. Maybe I should now go to the main hall. Ivy and Elsie must be free now. I will spend some time with them and then I will come back here. They will help me to get rid of the thoughts about my past. Yes, this seems like a good idea. It is not like I am enjoying being alone here. I am getting bored so why not go to the main hall and talk with everyone. I get up and look at myself in the mirror. I am looking just fine. I open the door and start going towards
ISABELLE’S POV I continue to follow Lillian. My mind is jumbled with thousands of thoughts and none of these thoughts are giving me peace. My legs are moving but I want to stop. I don’t want to go. The time has come. After two years, I will be presented in front of the king. Only I know how many prayers I have done to God for the king to forget me. I wanted him to forget that I even existed. If he had forgotten about me, then this day would not have appeared in my life. Now, what will happen to me? What is going to happen to me? I am too much scared. My mind is screaming for me to run but where will I run? Where can I run? I have no place to go and escaping from the palace is too difficult. There is no one in the palace either who would help in escaping. Now we have entered a familiar corridor. I know this place. I have come here before. Why has Lillian brought me here? I thought she was taking me to the king. “What are we doing here, Lillian?” I ask Lillian. She looks at me and la
ISABELLE’S POV “Look, Isabelle. Stop crying. All the slaves in the harem are waiting for this chance but the king has blessed you with this. You should be thankful to God. King likes you and has called you. This is inevitable. You have to accept this either with a smile or with tears. Don’t fight the inevitable. This has to happen because it is written in your destiny. No one has even won in the fight with destiny and you will not either. I am giving you sincere advice. Accept it. Now come with me”. Lillian says and again starts dragging me with her. For a moment, a very brief moment, I thought that Lillian has a heart, after all, she is also a woman but no she does not have it. She is also heartless like her tyrant king. I don’t know what to do or how to save myself. I am lost. We stop in front of big magnificent doors. The door has a beautiful pattern on them. “Don’t forget my advice. Please the king tonight and you will be rewarded. Don’t fight the king or else he will kill you”.