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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.

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