Princess

NATALYA POV :

I was woken by a knock on the door, indicating that it was already morning.

Time for business as usual, which practically meant I needed to get my ass off the bed and get ready, at least if I didn’t want to get dragged out of it, especially if my father heard of me being late to the company.

I jerked up when the knock came again.

“One more knock on that fucking door and I’m gonna send your head rolling on the floor!”

I said, because I was already pissed off, and they didn’t want to know what it’s like to get me pissed off. I got up from my bed and stood on my full height.

“Ah, what the fuck did I drink last night?” I cursed, because my head was practically aching, but my body was active though… I’m already used to it, by the way.

I walked over to my bathroom to freshen up. I took my time to groom for the day, and today seemed like a good day to use my skincare products.

It’s been long since I made use of those.

Not when I have a busy schedule down my neck, practically looking for an opportunity to choke me.. but that’s not gonna happen.

I was already trained for that… when I was about five, I think, because since I could remember it vividly, it meant I must have been really smart.

Then, when my father got the title of being the Russian mafia boss, he became so focused on shaping me into guarding myself. I didn’t have a mom.

I didn’t know what it looked like to have one, so it wasn’t a big deal to be brought up tough then. The very day I turned thirteen, my dad passed out an order that was to be carried out immediately.

I was sent to Base Two.

It was a training ground where you would be treated like an animal and made to go by strict orders.

Unlike Base One, where you get princess and king treatment, the training there is not tough.

Base Two was specifically made for prisoners my dad bought whenever he won a war. He bought most captives, at least that’s what he would say.

If it was most other mafia leaders, they would just drag you, leaving you with no dignity well, that’s if you still had one after losing a bloody war.

My dad went by the name Boris, which means butcher in English. He was so skilled that he could do anything with a sword. Twenty men with five guns each didn’t even stand the slightest chance they were better off dead already than being killed by him.

It’s not always a good sight to behold, and not to say the least that he is the most powerful and feared man in the history of the Russian mafia.

He held great wealth, which he got from how many wars he had won and through his wisdom. He could be anything you wanted him to be, but he could never be a dad to me.

He didn’t even let me call him that. On one occasion, I casually called him “dad” it was just a slip of the tongue but I was put in chains and beaten to a pulp for calling the mafia boss “Dad.”

So when I was taken to Base Two, I was locked up in a very dark room. I guess because I was practically blindfolded all the way to the place, so even if my brain was thinking of escaping from this horrible and inhuman place, it was impossible.

I mean, even if I did escape, where would I run to? To Boris, of course then I would be tortured to death.

Normally, women are not given the privilege to be trained in Base Two, because the first and second candidates who went actually died even before the practice was over, according to rumor.

But Boris, being a ruthless man, sent me to the training. It had a duration of two years, but it’s better you die and go have punishment in hell than experience this and be alive.

When I was thrown into the dark room, I didn’t stay for long before my body was exhausted. My eyelids were already on the verge of disappointing me. I couldn’t hold it in anymore, and my eyes went shut.

Not long after I fell sound asleep, I felt a ray of brightness shining directly into my closed eyes. I immediately blinked them open.

I thought maybe I had already died and gone to heaven, but utterly, it was the opposite. I took a glance at where I was, then I noticed a figure staring down at me.

“Hey, cutie, get your ass up there. The training is starting soon, and yeah before you start to act stupid, you were switched to this room when you fell asleep.”

I was still taking in who was talking, because my sight was a little bit blurry. Maybe I was drugged or something, because I’m never this lame-looking.

The figure stretched out its hand and gave me something.

“Here, drink it. It’s water… it would help you see clearly for the meantime, yeah.”

I wanted to take the water, but I stopped midway. Yeah, I’m thirteen, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid enough to take whatever from a stranger not when I had been drugged without my consent.

“Princess, just take the goddamn water already. We don’t have all the time, and I’m not ready to be punished for being late to practice because of your dull ass.”

Without hesitation, I took it from her and shoved it to my lips and drank it. I just took one gulp, though, just in case it was something else so the effect wouldn’t be much. But to my utmost surprise, it really did clear my sight. That was when I had the opportunity to take a close look at… a GIRL. I was more than shocked.

I thought they said girls can’t survive here, so what the hell is she doing here? And the funny part about it was that she was my age I mean, from her height and stuff.

“Stop staring and get your ass up. Let’s head for the training,” she said, and started walking toward what I presumed to be a door, though it looked weird, like we were in a military base or something.

I immediately followed her suit, because if I sure wanted to survive here, I should start by following whoever saved my drugged ass from turning blind.

She was already about to take a turn when I called out, “Hey, slow down, please. I can’t keep up with you,” I said, almost screaming.

“Then try to run faster, princess. We’re already late,” she retorted, but not before she practically stood in one spot and waited for me to catch up.

When I got closer to her when I was sure I was close enough not to lose track of her when she started walking as usual I told her, “I’m Rose, actually, not Princess.”

The statement made her turn her head at me and say, “Every new inmate here is called Princess if you are a girl, and Prince if you are male, not until you get a name for yourself based on your fighting skill on your first day. And if you act dumb like you are acting right now, you might get a dumb name that you would carry for a lifetime.”

“So what name did you get when you passed your first day trial?” I asked. I was seriously interested at least to know what name she got on her first trial.

“Anastasiya (Nightingale). That’s my base name,” she said proudly. I mean, who wouldn’t be proud of that name?

“Now that really is something, Tasi,” I immediately cut her name short, giving her a nickname.

“Are you okay if I call you Tasi?” I asked, looking in her direction.

She just shrugged and said, “Okay, but you gotta keep it low. Don’t call me that at the main base front, or I’ll get in trouble. Do you get me, Princess?”

“Yep, sure… I mean, it’s not a… waoh, what the hell is that stuff?” I asked, staring at an open place we stepped out on.

“It’s the base, Princess. Now move, and when you get there, keep your head low. You don’t stare into a commander’s eyes unless you’ve gotten your base name. Do you understand, Princess? I don’t wanna get beaten for not telling you the rules, okay?” she said, staring right at me with a serious face.

Oh crap, she really wasn’t joking.

We walked for a short distance before I saw the view of most people talking and chanting away, but I noticed just about two or three with their heads down at a particular corner. Great .. I already knew the category I fell into.

I took my steps one after the other slowly, so I wouldn’t mistakenly trip and disgrace myself on my first day at the front base yeah, that’s what Tasi called it, and I got it stuck in my head.

I took a seat next to the very few whose heads were down. Tasi had already joined her friends. Not long after I took a seat, a loud trumpet was played.

It was loud enough to make a high blood pressure patient surrender their soul to God, because the sound of that shit scared the crap out of me. But I still kept my face down. I didn’t want to get Tasi in trouble just yet, though I desperately wanted to look up and see what the hell a trumpet was doing here. It was fancy, though, because we didn’t have it at my former Base One.

After the sound of the trumpet, the already fully pledged inmates stood at attention in a straight row, like they were literally acting like robots. Because tell me how the hell did they get into order with just the sound of a trumpet? Seems like I’m in for something way more than me.

I immediately heard the voice of a man who, from his tone, I assumed was the head instructor. “Are they the new inmates?”

“Yes, sir, they are the new in..”

He immediately cut the man off. “Bring them in,” he said with great authority. It was obvious, as the man who answered him was stuttering his voice was shaking.

“This way, please,” he said, directing us to a different stage. It looked like a fighting ring, which it obviously was but what the fuck were we doing here?

“You guys are well aware that on the first base you are to look down, so since we are past that, I would like you to turn your dumb faces up and stare at me, idiots.”

“Now that’s what we call rotation of power,” I muttered to myself, because he was the same man that almost peed his shorts when the commander was talking to him. Now we were under him, and he suddenly wanted to take it out on us.

“So here’s the rule for the fight, don’t be surprised. Mummy or daddy won’t save you inside that ring. You either kill your partner or you get killed, and I’m not letting you guys off until one of you stops breathing,” he said, with satisfaction written all over his face.

The statement made my fellow inmates stare at each other. They were scared as fuck. I can’t say I wasn’t, because I could feel my legs trembling under me. So this really was a game of kill or be killed.

“And by the way, my name is Thomas, just for the few of you that would be dead and disposed of. So I’m gonna start picking, since we’ve not got all the time to ourselves,” he said, laughing like a maniac. I mean, what’s funny? You’re literally killing us and still got the guts to laugh.

He looked around for a bit and pointed at a young boy quite my age, but he was very muscular and tall, with a death-trap face.

“Yeah, Prince, get your ass up the ring.”

The boy did as he was told. He scanned the room to get a partner maybe definitely a boy his size that he could challenge but I was snapped out of my thoughts when his gaze fell on me.

Nah, it can’t be me. At least he’s not dumb enough to send a young girl like me to face this hefty-looking boy. It’s pathetic but his gaze was still on me, then I heard it.

“Hey, you Princess with the black hair doing an eye contest with me, come over and get your stupid ass up the ring.”

I remained still where I was. Maybe he was joking. Then I noticed everyone’s gaze on me. That’s when I said my last prayer and moved toward the ring, because I just knew I was dead before I even got there.