FOUR

ALEJANDRO

The longer I thought about it all, the more my anger intensified. As the minutes passed, it became more and more harder to contain it.

I wondered how I was able to stop myself from exploding until now. The room was silent along with my two advisors who stood with folded hands, waiting expectantly for whatever I had to say next.

“I want you to send letters to the lords. To all of them, requesting their presence immediately,” I said. Surprise flashed across Elias's face before his expression became neutral.

“Whatever my lord wants,” he bowed slightly.

“Don't you think that this would cause some odd tension between you and the other lords? Having sex with a slave is the most common thing anyone could do.

It would be absurd to gather everyone here because of a slave,” Malachi said dismissively.

I froze and turned around until my glare was fixated on him. Any anger that I thought I might have felt earlier intensified.

Elias swallowed nervously and looked away from me immediately. At least, Malachi had the decency to look uncomfortable. I stormed towards him and paused. He looked like he wanted to say something but completely decided against it.

“Nothing, nothing is normal about sleeping with a child. She was fourteen. Fucking fourteen,” I growled.

My statement was accompanied by silence before Malachi spoke up again.

“You need to understand that her father had done so much worse. He had raped and brutalized women who had refused to warm his bed.

This is just a case of karma doing its work, my lord,” Malachi said.

“That doesn't justify taking advantage of a child. If it were to be your daughter, would you dismiss it as nothing?” I snapped. My mouth suddenly tasted so bitter that I needed to explode.

“My daughter wouldn't be the daughter of a tyrant and traitor. Her case is absolutely different from this. You know what her father had done,” Malachi spoke up again.

“They went against my orders.

No one goes against my orders. I would be careful about antagonizing me, Malachi. You're treading dangerously,” I yelled. He paused.

His complexion went pale almost immediately at the sound of my raised voice. Elias shifted uncomfortably where he stood, I caught sight of his trembling hands.

“I'll send out the letters. I'll do as my lord pleases. It wasn't my intention to offend you. Forgive me,” Malachi finally spoke quietly but something about the way he said it didn't seem genuine.

I didn't allow myself to linger on it too much.

“Both of you are dismissed,” I turned around and headed back to my seat.

The door clicked quietly as they left and the room returned to a state of silence as I settled into my seat. Unfortunately, my rage didn't dissipate. I could remember it as clearly as day.

Meandra's father's tyranny ended when I was eighteen. I could remember it as clear as day because my father had died and I had to step into seat, into reign. The coward had settled for killing himself when he found out that he had been outnumbered.

The Lords couldn't punish him as they would have liked so they decided to take it out on his daughter instead. The thought alone made me sick to my stomach. Lords over thirty forcing themselves on a helpless child.

Fourteen and defenseless. Something within me shattered and I couldn't stomach it. I couldn't digest any of it. I called for the guard outside my door and I ordered him to fetch Meandra.

In the space of a few minutes, he appeared along with her. She looked slightly confused as she was dragged into the room and made to stand in front of me. Her eyes met mine.

They were cold and empty and held no form of emotion at all. I couldn't help but notice how the edges of her face held a startling resemblance to her father.

Her eyes resembled his as well. I took my time observing the paleness of her skin, how her shoulders were rigid and how she showed no sign of fear as I stared at her.

Every inch of me ached to break her. I wanted to get a reaction out of her somehow but I had to reserve that for later and focus on the task at hand.

I finally stood up from my seat and approached her, slowly closing the space between us as I headed towards her. I paused when I was finally close to her. She regarded me with empty eyes that held nothing as she remained silent waiting expectantly for whatever it is that I had to say.

Silence lingered between us for an odd moment.

“To make things clear, I still consider you vermin, a slave and the daughter of a tyrant,” I spat the words with venom. There was no reaction.

“But the lords did a terrible thing by touching you and forcing themselves on you, so you're going to have to provide their names,” I concluded. Something cracked in her eyes. Surprise.

I could have almost sworn I watched her eyes water before she masked it back into a neutral expression.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she finally said. Her voice was quiet and barely audible. I knew she was lying. I grabbed her elbow not so gently.

“Don't even think about making the mistake of lying to me if not, I'll force you to face their punishment without thinking twice,” I growled.

The emptiness in her eyes faded as she stared at me, astonished. Silence lingered.

“Martin,” she whispered breathlessly.

“The first one was Lord Martin,”

I saw red for a brief moment.

“How and when did he do this ?” I said after I was able to recover my voice. She hesitated.

“It was when I was newly taken captive. It was in his office. He whipped me and pinned me down to the ground right after,” she looked up at me and I caught a sigh of the wrenching pain in her eyes.

I suddenly couldn't look at her. I turned around.

“Get out,” I snapped. I don't know if I could call what I felt rage but I left it fester. I called on the guard who stood by my door.

“Get me Phillipa,”