02

Desire tried to cry but she couldn't anymore. The tears she'd cried the first day she was thrown here was more than her body could carry. She was scared of the darkness and whatever lies within, not knowing that wasn't even half of what she would go through during the night. 

Even though it had been two days since she had been subjected to the dark hole situated at the lowest part of the mansion, Desire felt life running out of her. She was exhausted and felt the punishment was tough enough to end her life. 

Without food, without water, and she prayed to the heavens to quickly kill her rather than subject her to this type of punishment. 

The dungeon is usually cold at night and hot during the day.  She had to endure the cold nights without an extra cloth to keep her warm. The only thing that gave her a ray of hope was the little sunlight that penetrated through a tiny hole on the wall. She had often heard tales of the dungeon from the other girls in the mansion but she never thought of experiencing it. 

During those two days, she had thought too much about her life, her childhood in her father's tiny hut with her twin sisters and a brother. Their mother had died when she was seven, her brother ten, and the twins, Five. She had managed to take care of her family after her mother's death despite her young age. 

She loved her sisters like her life depended on it and had always managed to protect them from the webs of evil and the dangers that lie in the darkness. 

Desire was fourteen when she was taken from her family to serve at the prime minister's house while some of her friends had been sent to the King's castle. Desire never saw her family again after that day.  Not even one of the girls ever brought to the mansion ever saw their families. They were only allowed out once and it's usually during their eighteenth birthday. 

The privilege they had at the mansion was not in sight for others who resided at the King's palace. The tales being told to them were that some of the girls took to the palace, never got to see the light of the day and some even died before they became a house-maiden. 

She sat straight from the floor that she had rejected herself to and rested her back against the wall. She winced in pain as her hand mistakenly hit her wounded leg. 

During the process of dragging her down the floors, she had sustained injuries, and also, her body was in severe pain. She was a broken mess. She wished she had the strength to last through the night but she doubted if she could. 

A lone tear rolled down her eye. She wished she had it differently. She wished she hadn't been preoccupied with Chang's letter when she was at the market, maybe her head would have been in the right place and she wouldn't have had to suffer like this. 

Startled, she quickly stood up from the floor when she heard heavy footsteps approaching. 

Through the darkness, she was able to see the door of the cell she was in opened suddenly and something or maybe someone was pushed inside and the door was locked back. 

When she turned to her side, she could feel the presence of a person beside her. Whoever it was, breathed heavily. 

"Who are you?" Desire asked wearily. 

She got no answer in response. 

She gave up hope and sat back on the floor. 

A few minutes later, she could hear whimpering and she deduced that the person was crying and also was a girl. 

"I've been here for two days without food or water. My only offense was misplacing the ingredients for the Master's breakfast. I guess we slaves means nothing to them." Desire said, trying to break the silence. 

The girl only started to cry out loud at that and went on with the tears for minutes. 

"My Name is Sandra" it was only when she talked that Desire knew she couldn't be more than 13. 

"I'm Desire. How old are you Sandra?" Desire starts to move closer to her voice. 

"I'm twelve"

"So, that means you're new here" She confirmed her suspicion. 

"Yes, I was brought in from the south" She replied. That made Desire wonder if she knew who this little girl was. 

"I'm also from the south"

"I tried to run away. I did that because I don't want to be here" She suddenly said

"What! Why would you do such a thing? That's dangerous! They could have killed you"

"After I was taken from my parents and brought here, I bit one of the guards by the ear and tried to run. I was almost at the gate when I got dragged back to the mansion. I've been kept here till the Prime Minister decides my fate" Desire didn't have a choice than to acknowledge the little girl's courage. She could imagine what the girl had gone through since she had been in her shoes once. 

"You're strong and courageous, no one has ever done that before. I can't make any promises to you girl, but I know you'll be fine. You're strong enough for this"

"How long have you worked here?" The girl asked

"Six years"

After that, they both became silent, engrossed in their individual thoughts. Sandra's tears had subsidies and she silently hummed a song. 

Suddenly, for the second time that day, the dungeon door was opened and light penetrated into the cell room as one of the knights opened the gate and dragged Desire to her feet. 

"W-what's going on?" Desire asked him

"The Prime Minister wants you in his private suite and I'm under no obligation to answer any of your questions"

"Will you be fine?" The little girl asked

"I don't know Sandra, I can't make any promises to you but this might be a journey to death"