ISABELLE’S POV
I enter the harem and I am surprised to see it. I look from one corner to another. My eyes move toward every single part of it. It is beautifully decorated. It looks like a place from heaven. The addition of candles and rose petals is just adding beauty to it. I have never seen a harem decorated beautifully like this. At festivals, it used to be decorated but not like this. These decorations themselves seem to be from heaven. Different types and colors of flowers are hanging on the walls. Every color of the rainbow is present here.
I know all these decorations are only because of the king’s arrival but why have they decorated this place? It is not like the king will straightly come here after coming to the palace. It seems like there is going to be a huge party here. This makes me think, is there really going to be a party here? Will the king attend?
I look around me. All the other slaves and maids are busy with the work. Some are decorating the area with flowers while some are arranging the things. Where are Ivy and Elise? Unlike me, they are allowed to roam in the palace because they have to do the chores. There is no prohibition on them if they want to leave the harem. They have told me numerous times about what the other parts of the palace look like. From what they told me; I can imagine that it is nothing less than magnificent.
My eyes fall on Ivy. She is standing with Lillian. I was going towards them but stopped when I noticed Ivy’s expressions. Ivy's head is bowed and her eyes are cast downwards. Lillian’s anger is visible on her face. It is evident that Lillian is scolding Ivy for something. From Ivy’s face, it seems like she will cry at any moment. Why is Lillian angry?
I decided to check myself and move toward them. Why is Lillian scolding Ivy? It is not like Ivy is an irresponsible girl. She does every work with perfection that’s why I don’t see any reason for Lillian to be angry at her. When Lillian’s eyes fall on me and she sees me approaching her she becomes quiet. This all looks weird to me. Why would Lillian become quiet after seeing me?
“Ivy, are you ok?” I ask Ivy when I am standing close to them. Ivy looks at me with her sad face. Her face is red. I wonder if she is fine? Is she sick?
“Yes, yes. I am fine”. These words quickly rush out of her mouth. It seems like she is hiding something from me but what could she be hiding? What is the need for her to hide anything from me? I am her friend and if she shares everything with me then why would she hide anything from me.
“Isabelle, what are you doing out of your room?” Lillian asks me with a rude tone. Her rude voice is enough for me to come back from my thoughts. I look at her confused. Why is she asking me this question? As far as I remember, I was allowed to leave my room whenever I wanted. I don’t remember her telling me that I should not leave my room. She never misses a chance to show me anger.
“I was feeling lonely in my room so I decided to come here”. I told her. Upon hearing my answer an angry expression takes power on her face. Did I say anything wrong?
“Well then go back to your room. You are not allowed to leave your room”. Lillian orders angrily. I am now more confused. Why should I go back? Why am I not allowed to leave my room? It is not like there are chances of me running from here. Sometimes I don’t understand the rules here. They change with Lillian’s mood.
“Why?... I mean why am I not allowed to leave my room?” I ask Lillian. I am not understanding anything. I am hearing danger bells in my ears.
“Because I ordered this. Go back to your room this moment Isabelle”. The moment Lillian spoke in her angry voice, I knew that it is now time for me to stop asking her questions and to obey her. I nod and turn back towards my room.
I have questions but I am not stupid to ask them when she is angry like this. What is going to happen today? I enter my room and close the door. What should I do now? I have nothing to do here. I lie on the bed and think about my boring life.
I wish I was back in my village. I wish I was lying on the warm grass and the sun was shining above me on a cold day. The warmth of the sun was giving me a pleasant feeling. I was still lying on the ground and then I see my sister and mother coming towards me carrying a basket filled with fresh oranges from our farms. They would smile upon seeing me.
A strange loud sound brings me out of my thoughts. What was this sound? Where did it come from? I hear it again and then I realize that it is from the door. What is happening? Is someone attacking the palace? I quickly stand up and move towards it.
I have to check what is happening. I forward my hand to open the door but it does not open. No one can ever imagine the amount of shock and fear that I felt when I again tried opening the door but it did not open. I tried again with full force. No, this cannot happen to me. Why would someone lock me in my room? I tried again but it did not budge.
This door is locked. Someone locked me inside the room. Why? Why has someone locked me inside? Who could do this? Is it some punishment but I have not done anything wrong then why will I be given punishment? I try to open it again. I hate locked rooms. It scares me. I hate to be locked.
“Who has locked the door? Is someone there? Open the door!” I shout and again try to open it with full force. My heartbeat is increasing with each passing second.
“I am sorry Isabelle. I did not want to lock you inside. It was Lillian’s order. Now I have to go”. A voice reaches my ears from behind the door. This voice belongs to one of the maids from the harem. Lillian’s order? Why has Lillian ordered this? Why did she do this with me? I have not done anything wrong then why did she order to lock me here?
“Open the door! Please open the door!” I shouted again. I hate locked doors. One day I had made a mistake and mom had angrily locked me inside my room as a punishment. I screamed, cried, and then fainted. My dad was angry at her for locking me inside my room. Since that day, my mother has never punished me like this.
I look behind me at my room and I feel like the walls are crushing me. Please someone open the door. I continue to shout and ask for help. Tears are rushing down my face. She told me to return to my room and I did then what was the need for her to lock me here?
Why has she done this with me? I continue to cry and bang on the door. Soon my eyes start feeling heavy and I let myself get lost in the dark depths of darkness.
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What is this sound? Where is it coming from? I was woken up by the loud noise of drums and other musical instruments. I look towards the window and notice that it is mid-afternoon. What is happening here? Has the king returned and that is the reason why people are celebrating?
Yes, this can only be the possible reason for this. I am sure the king has returned. As I am leaning against the wooden door, I hear some hasty footsteps approaching the room. From the voices of footsteps, it feels like two people are coming toward my room. Are they coming to unlock the room?
“The king has returned. I have never seen him. There are chances that I will get a glimpse of him today”. One girl speaks with excitement.
“Yes, let’s go there fast”. The second girl says with the same enthusiasm.
So, I was right. The king has returned. Their celebrations are for the king’s return. For the king, these musical sounds are for his bravery and his return but for me, these sounds are nothing more than the burial songs.
I know that now that the king has returned, my life is going to take a turn towards hell. My agony has started and no one in this world can free me from this agony. Lillian has given me a nice view of the life I am going to have by locking me here. From now on this is my life. Always in captivity. God knows when I will be free from the place which is nothing more than a cage for me.
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ERIC’S POV We enter the boundary of Ash Ville and even from here I can see the citizens of AshVille waiting for my arrival. They are all lined up to welcome me and my army which has never failed in protecting them. If not for the army, then some other kingdom would have destroyed us. People of every age are present here. They all are holding baskets filled with flowers in them. I can see the excited faces of children. They are eager to see the king and the army. “Long live the king”. They all chant loudly when we reach them. They shower flowers on us as we pass through the narrow streets of Ash Ville. I can see that people are scared but happy too. I love to see this fear in their eyes. They all are scared of me and they know I show no mercy but still, they are forced to be happy at my arrival. We continue to move forward toward the magnificent palace. When my palace came into view, a smile crept onto my face. My Belle is there. I have not seen her for such a long time. I cannot wai
ISABELLE’S POV I look towards the door. It is still locked. No one came to open this. I don’t know how much time has passed since I am locked in this room. I don’t understand why Lillian has locked me inside the room. I think the sun must have set by now because I have started to feel cold. The weather is changing and winter is in its initial stages so it is cold at night but days are usually normal. I feel like as winter is approaching the coldness inside me is increasing. There is an unknown thing freezing me from inside. I am feeling like a trapped bird in a cage that has wings but is not allowed to fly. The bird who was once free in the blue skies is now trapped inside the hard walls of the cage. I think soon my wings will be clipped too if things continue to be like this. Is there any purpose in life? Is there any point in living a life like this, the life of a trapped bird? Life is not meant to be like this. It is us people who make it like this. Life should be meaningful an
ISABELLE's POV “No Belle. I don’t want to escape from this palace. I don’t feel trapped here and I don’t want to return to my previous life. I am happy here and you should be too”. She tells me. In her eyes I see honesty. I can see that whatever she is saying is true. She is really happy here. “But why?” I ask her. I cannot understand why does not she feel trapped here. Why does not she want to escape? “Are you asking why I am happy here?” She asks me. At her question, I nod my head a little. “Who would want to leave when here you get clothes to wear, food to fill the stomach and you are not worried whether you will have food for the next day or not? You don’t have to worry about anything here. I have no family, Belle. My parents died when I was nine years old. I have no siblings. I am alone in this world. Before coming here, my life was a mess and I was living in poverty. I hardly had clothes to properly cover me. I hardly earned money to have one loaf of bread for the day. At n
ERIC’S POV “The mistress is here, my king”. The servant says. I pour wine into the goblet and look toward the servant. I move my eyes from the servant towards the big windows from which the magnificent gardens are visible. The windows are open so cold winds are coming inside my room chamber. I like this cold wind. I am sitting on the couch. This couch is placed near the windows. “Send her inside”. I order the guard and he leaves after bowing his head. I am feeling so lonely tonight. I know this is all because of Isabelle. This room feels so lonely without Isabelle. Before her, I never felt these foreign feelings but now because of her, I have started to have feelings that I never had. I am feeling bored. I want her to be beside me, near me so that I can touch her. More than this, I think I want her presence. Only her presence can bring peace to me. She is the only one who can give me peace. I want to inhale the beautiful scent which comes from her. I want to roam my hands in her bea
ISABELLE’S POV Another day passed with me inside my room. I was not locked inside like yesterday but I stayed inside with my own choice. I did not step out of my room the whole day. Simply because I did not want to. There were many reasons why I decided to spend my whole day inside this room. I woke up early as usual. I have had a strange feeling inside me since the moment I woke up. I was feeling like something bad was going to happen but then I thought what worse can happen to me as compared to what has already happened. I chose to ignore this feeling as it was making me worried. Moreover, where can I go except to the harem. It is not like I can roam the palace. I am tired of this whole place. I cannot leave this harem and I am feeling caged. Whenever I think about this, I feel my throat constrict. I snicker at my misery. I have to live with this. I thought to meet Ivy and Elise and spend some time with them. At first, I did not want to meet Ivy after yesterday but she is my fri
ISABELLE’S POV “Don’t cry. Everything will be fine”. I say to the other girl who was chained with me. I am feeling so bad for her. I don’t know why but I just want to console her. She is so young to bear all this. She looks so young. I am sure she is not fifteen yet. Two girls are chained with me. One is continuously crying while the other one is unconscious. I want to help them. If I get a chance to run, then I will surely take these two with me. My heart is beating wildly inside my chest. I am so terrified. “What will happen with us now?” She asks while crying. This question has been roaming inside my chest since the time that soldier chained me. I am also trying to find an answer to this question. What will happen to me now? I don’t know but what I surely know is that whatever is going to happen will not be good. “I don’t know what will happen with us now”. I reply and look around me. I am still hoping that from somewhere my dad comes to rescue me. My heart is saying that this
ISABELLE’S POV The soldier stops in front of a tent. There is a fire near and some soldiers are preparing food. Everyone is looking at us. Some are looking at us with lust as if we are meat that they want to eat for dinner while there are some other soldiers as well who are looking at us with pity. Their eyes hold kindness and pain for us. They know that it is bad what is happening to us but they still cannot do anything about this. My attention moves towards the man coming toward us. He is none other than the commander Hugh because of whom I got slapped. He is walking towards us as if he rules this place and there is no one stronger than him. He has his big sword in his hand. “I have talked with the king. King has ordered me to shift them in a tent. These are now slaves and will be taken to the palace. We will leave for the city tomorrow”. He says and leaves. I just want to cry at my misery. I have now become a slave. Why did this happen to me? I was a free person who could do any
ISABELLE’S POV “Take her to Lillian. She knows what to do”. The king orders. I don’t look up again. I did not dare to. His voice is so harsh and holds authority. I never knew that one day I would come face to face with the cruel king whose stories I have heard. I never knew that when I will come in front of the king who ruined my village, I will not even have the courage to see his face. “As you order king”. The soldier says and bows his head. There is still time. Please change your decision and let me go. Please! “Come behind me”. The soldier says to me and I start following him. I don’t want to be in the king’s presence ever. I am too scared of him. He is the same as I heard about him. Now, what will happen to me? Now I am also a slave. When I think about my future my legs start shaking. I see only darkness in my future. I just hope that good things happen to me. I hope that I soon find a chance to escape before the king uses me as his slave. I don’t want to be used like a sex sl