Royal Pain ~ Slave to the High Royals

Chapter Five

The hallways around the mansion were long and bright, with windows at the end and doors placed systematically leading off of the corridor. We walked past them on the way to the slave quarters which is where Aiden said I'd be residing during my stay as a slave here. I followed Aiden into the main foyer and we were faced with the spiral staircase I had previously seen upon entering.

''The slave bit is down the stairs. You'll be sharing a room with the other slaves. I think they're nice.'' He gestured towards the stairs with his hand and proceeded to descend them before me.

''You think they're nice?'' I questioned, nervous about meeting the others.

''Yeah, well, I haven't really spoken to many. Not really interested.'' His voice was fading as he carried on down the stairs so I rushed to follow, being careful of my ankle. I found it strange that Aiden didn't interact with slaves, though this did fit the fact that others had said he had never had past slaves. Maybe he disliked humans more than I had begun to think considering how tolerant he had been of me. At least he was being honest though.

At the bottom of the staircase was a wooden door marked 'Female Slave Quarters' and another marked for males. I felt my heartbeat pick up slightly as I realised in a few seconds I would meet the people I would be working with and sharing my space with for four years at most. The flooring had changed from the marble I had seen in the foyer and hallways to simple hardwood flooring. The normality of this comforted me some. At least I wouldn't feel as if I were lowering the value of the space as I felt amongst the furnishings upstairs.

''In you go then.'' Aiden chirped as he pushed on one of the doors, opening it to reveal a sitting area and a selection of curious faces.

The room was nice. Nothing like I expected it to be. There were two sofas set before a small plasma-screen television with a coffee table cluttered with magazines in between. I spotted several bookcases holding more books than I could care to read around the room and an open door on the opposite side that seemed to lead to a large bathroom. As I entered, following Aiden's orders and squeezing past him awkwardly, I spotted a door leading from the room to both the right and left. On the left it seemed to lead to a large bedroom with single beds spread on either side, and wardrobes beside them. Through the right door I glimpsed a kitchen. All in all, this was a nice place for human slaves. Nothing like I had come to expect or imagine.

During my inspection of the area, I had not gone unnoticed to the many girls spread amongst the room. First their curious eyes seemed to assess me, and then almost all of them snapped to watch Aiden behind me who I could feel was entering also.

''Oh my gosh, Violetta!'' I heard a girl exclaim before I was engulfed in a warm hug that knocked the breath out of me.

Shocked, I pulled back to look into the eyes of Rose, her hair still plaited and the bow intact, though she had changed from her spotted dress into a simpler set of jeans and a casual t-shirt.

''Wow, Rose! I'm so glad to see you!'' And I was. Even if we weren't particularly friends before the slave auction, it was still great to see she was healthy and happy according to her cheerful expression.

She hugged me again quickly, jumping up and down slightly in excitement, ''It's so great to know you're okay! I was so worried after what happened with that Punisher at the auction. He was such a dickhead.''

My heart warmed at the thought that somebody had actually cared about me after the events at the auction. It was a good feeling.

There was a cough from behind me, causing Rose to stiffly pull away from me and take a step back. Her eyes hovered on Aiden's face for a moment, one of her eyebrows rising in question before they returned to me.