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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 open my eyes and look at her worried face. Is she really worried or is she feigning it?

“My head. It is paining so much. I don’t know why but there is too much pain”. I tell her. In her eyes, I can see genuine worry but I see something else too and that is fear. Why is she scared?   

“Why did not you tell me before? You should have told me before. I will call the palace physician immediately. Here, have some water and just lie down. I will be back with the physician”. She says worriedly and helps me lie down. It feels like my head is spinning. She carefully sets the pillows around me.

“If the king returns and gets to know that I did not take care of her properly then I would spend my whole life in dungeons”. She whispers frantically while leaving my room. Why would the king worry about me so much? What is so special about me? I don’t think anything like this even exists.

Why would he care if one of his slaves die? He has numerous other slaves to exchange for the one which died. Well, I have no strength to think any of this right now. I am mentally drained.

I was looking at the ceiling and felt my eyes getting close. I let sleep come over me.

NEXT MORNING

I am combing my hair with a wooden comb. The wooden comb smoothly passes through my long wavy brown hair. My long wavy hair reminds me of my grandmother. She had the same hair as me. My parents always used to say that I am the exact copy of my grandmother. They used to say that I have her features and my hair is like her too.

I don’t remember much about her though because I was only eight years old when she passed away. The day she passed was one of the most sorrowful days. It felt like everything was soaked in sadness and grief. She would play with me and tell me stories of kings and queens.

In her stories, the kings were not like the ones which I have seen with my own eyes. In her stories, the kings were generous and merciful, not like King Leonor. Sometimes I wonder, do kings like those even exist in this cruel world. If yes, then why did I come across the most merciless one?

I look towards my reflection in the mirror. I can see visible changes in my physique. I have changed so much in my one year of stay here. I have gotten weak and I have not seen the sun for a long time. Yes, I have not stepped in sunlight for months. It is not like I did not want to but because I was never allowed to.

My headache has gone away thanks to God. I am feeling much better than yesterday because it felt like I would die from a headache. When Lillian came with the physician, she woke me up. She was quite worried about me. She did not leave me alone with her for even a second.

The physician thoroughly checked me and told me that I am completely fine. She gave me a liquid made with some herbs which according to her were effective for headaches. After drinking that liquid, I slept and then woke up today. Thank God! No one disturbed me the whole day after that. Not much time has passed since I woke up.

My thoughts wander towards Lillian. I think she was worried about me just because of only one reason and that is the king. From what I have understood, I think that Lillian is really scared of the king. Well, everyone should be scared of the king. I have heard that he is a ruthless king and he shows no mercy even to his servants who work in his palace. I have seen his cruel heartedness with my own eyes when he had ordered his guards to light my small beautiful village on fire.

I tie my hair with a loose string using the wooden comb. I don’t like my hair open. My mother always liked my hair tied and that is the reason why I also like my hair in a tied form. I still remember what she used to say about this. According to her, it was bad to keep hair open and scattered all the time.

That’s why I always keep my hair tied with a string. Girls in my village usually had their hair tied but what I have seen in this palace is quite different. I must say, things here are the opposite. Here girls keep their hair open all the time and there is no such restriction about this.

A sound brings me back from my thoughts about hair and palace. My eyes immediately move towards the door of my room and I see Lillian standing at the entrance near the door. She is looking at me with a straight face. Why is she here now? It is quite rare for her to visit my room and now she has come to my room two days in a row. Why? Does she want me to do something? Is she here to tell me to do the chores like other maids?

“I see, you have woken up. How are you feeling today?” She asks me after looking at me from top to bottom with her scanning gaze. She is back to her normal attitude and behavior. The worried expressions she showed me yesterday are nowhere to be found. As if the Lillian who brought the physician yesterday never existed.

The tone she just used with me is quite different from the one she used yesterday. I look at her face and she is looking at me with an impatient look awaiting my answer.

“I am feeling quite better today. Thank you for asking”. I politely replied to her and put the wooden brush back on the wooden table placed near the mirror.

“Good. I can see that you are dressed too. As you are feeling better, I think it is time for us to finish some important unfinished works”. She says looking at me with a serious look. I  look at her confused. Unfinished works? What is she talking about? As far as I remember I did not have any work to do. Then about which unfinished works is she talking about? Is it something bad? Why am I getting dangerous vibes from this?

“Why are you still sitting? Get up! We don’t have much time. You should not waste my time like this”. She angrily says. After hearing her strict tone, I stood up at once.

“Now follow me”. She orders and leaves my room. Where is she going? I follow her because I do not want her to be angry at me. Her anger is something that slaves like me should fear. I have seen how dangerous her anger is.

Whenever she is angry at some slave, she throws that girl in the dungeon. The reason could be anything like not following her orders, doing something in a wrong way, or not following the rules. She has the power to throw anyone in the dungeon for punishment and I have heard that it is a very dark place. I have heard that there is no light and rats are also there. They don’t give you food or water there.

As I don’t want to spend nights and days in the dungeon so I follow whatever she says like an obedient girl. I never give her any reason to be angry at me.

“Now listen carefully, Isabelle. The king will return to the palace tomorrow, and still important works related to you are unfinished”. My legs involuntarily stop moving after hearing her and my mind goes into shock for a second.

The king is returning tomorrow. Like TOMORROW! I knew he was coming but I did not know that it would be too soon. I thought it would take almost four to five days and I would have time to think about some escape plan but now this seems impossible. I do not want to face the king. I know what will happen to me once he is here.

As her words register in my mind, one more thing catches my attention. What unfinished works related to me have anything to do with the king? What does she mean by this? I am not understanding anything.

“Why the hell have you stopped walking? Isabelle, don’t irritate me today. I have too much work to do and I have no time to waste. Follow me quickly”. Lillian orders angrily and I just noticed that she is too far from me. I quickly run towards her.

“I am sorry”. I mutter and she just waves her hand.

We take many turns and I don’t know where we are going. I want to ask her something but I fear that she will get angry. She would definitely become angry if I asked any questions. But I don’t think she should get angry at such a simple question. Yes, I should ask her. It is related to me. She should not have any problem answering this.

“Umm… Lillian, I want to ask something. What unfinished works are you talking about?” I ask Lillian in a low voice. She glances at me for a second and then again looks forwards.

“The dresses, the accessories, the shoes. You should have all these things. We have to take you to a hairdresser too”. She tells me. Her answer increased my confusion instead of decreasing it. Why would I need all these things? From what I know, slaves are not given those things. These things are like a luxury only destined for queens then why Lillian is talking about giving these things to me.

“Why should I have all these things?” I ask Lillian. I could not stop myself from asking this question because I know if not answered then it will keep bugging my mind. An angry growl comes from her.

“Because you are a special slave and hold value in the eyes of the king. Now don’t ask me any more questions. You ask too many questions”. She says rudely as if tired of my questioning.

She stops in front of a big beautiful door and opens it before entering inside. I also enter behind her and I am surprised to see such a room. I have never seen a room as beautiful as this. This whole room is filled with dresses and dresses. The dresses are too beautiful to be even worn by someone as low as slaves.  These elegant clothes are perfect for a queen.

The dresses are of different designs. There are dresses of every color. There are some colors which I have never seen in my life.

“She is Isabelle for whom you have to prepare dresses”. I hear Lillian's voice and look towards her. I just noticed that she is not alone anymore. Along with her is standing a lady quite old in age with a straight face. Her age is reflected in the wrinkles on her face, and the gray hair on her head. She looks like a strict person.

“Isabelle, the lady here is the royal seamstress”. Lillian starts telling but stops when the lady looks at her. “Let me introduce myself, Lillian”. She says in her sharp voice.

“My name is Edith. I am the royal seamstress of this palace. I have been here for years and the late queen loved my dresses. She even gave my dresses as a gift to the queens of the other kingdoms”. She tells me. Why is she telling me all this? What do I have to do with any of the things she mentioned? Why would I care if her dresses were loved by the queen or not? I don’t say anything and just continue to look at her.  

“Edith, as I have already told you that you have to make clothes for her. You have the whole day for this. Take her measurements carefully. Not even a needle should prick her skin”. Lillian says and then they both look at each other as if telling something through their eyes. I wonder about what they are secretly talking about? What is so secretive between them that they cannot talk in front of me?

Lillian comes towards me and stands near me. “Be cooperative. Edith knows her work and doesn't trouble her. I will be back to take you from here in some time”. She instructs in a strict tone.

She was going when I stopped her by calling her. “Lillian, just tell me one last thing, are we still in the harem?” I ask her while looking around me. I have hope that if we are not in the harem then I can escape. The chances are few, but I should try. She smirks at my question. The smirk she gave me is not any usual one but a cruel one.

“Yes, Isabelle. We are still in the harem. I know what you are thinking. Let me tell you one thing, what you are thinking is impossible”. She says and leaves me with Edith.

“Come here Isabelle. I have too much to do. I have to start right away”. Edith calls me and I stand where she tells me to stand.

……………..

I look at the ceiling above. It was such a long day. I am very tired and I don't even have the strength to stand up. It took hours for Edith to finish up her work. First, she took my measurements then she made a dress with pins and small pieces of clothes. She asked which colors I liked. When I told her that I have never seen some colors of dresses which were present in the room, she was surprised.

After some time, Lillian came and brought me back here. A hairdresser was already waiting for me here. I did not want them to cut my hair but they still did a little cutting. I do not mind it because now they are looking more beautiful.

When I think about tomorrow, certain questions fill my mind. What will happen tomorrow? I feel like my life will completely change tomorrow and I don’t see it changing for betterment. I hope that tomorrow brings a new light to my life. I hope to leave this palace soon. I pray to God that I meet my parents soon.

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