Lost In His Kingdom

4. Prison

The sun had set and night had crawled out. Robin and I awaited our fate. We felt cold on skin and numb on heart. The first word Robin said to me after entering the cell was sorry.

She felt guilty dragging me in this situation. No matter how much I assured her it wasn't her fault, that i was the one who talked back, that it was my own choice and action, she would not stop sobbing. Right now however she was done with tears. She had nothing left to cry. 

I on the other hand accepted the situation. I am not brave, not courageous. I do not have anyone or anything to live for anyway. I doubt they will kill us for the incident. Our pack would not. But the rumors are that wolves in the palace are much more vicious. They snap your neck just for looking at them in a wrong way.

Robin, who was sitting on the floor in front of me gave a big sigh. What is worse than punishment is waiting for it.

"What did you do?" came a hushed sound. Robin and I looked at each other before trying to identify the source of the noise. 

"Who is it?" I asked. I sound hesitant and fearful. So I cleared my throat  and asked again. "who is talking?

"Sush, speak quietly girl" came a haste answer. "You will alert the guards"

I realized my mistake and looked outside my cell, watching if any guards were coming in here or not. After I was sure no guards heard us, I softly asked again, " Who are you?" 

Robin and I are both still searching for the source of the voice.

"I am markus. I used to be a slave here." came the reply in a hushed tone.

As if he knew we were looking for him, he directed us to his whereabouts " I am 2 cells away from you. At your left. 

We still couldn't see him because it was dark. 

"Is this always this dark in the prison?" I asked.

"Yeah. Scrums like us do not need light." he said with a small chuckle. 

Robin and I give each other a look.

"I am Robin and she is Theia," she said. "Why are you here Markus?"

"Cause i am a slave and my life doesn't matter?" came his sarcastic reply.

"Yeah, make sense." said Robin. It was a  funny attempt from her side but none of us laughed.

"What about you two? What did you do?"  he asked.

"I broke a glass and she tried to defend me," Robin replied.

"And they didn't kill you on the spot?" said Markus. "Strange". 

That made us laugh for some unknown reason.

"They didn't have time. Celebration preparation." i said.

"Huh , make sense." he said. And another soft chukel left us. 

"Do you guys know about your punishment?" he asked. And we both replied in the negative.

"I hope they kill you. That is for the best" he said. 

Our stomach dropped. I didn't know if he said that because he mentally unstable or genuine. Is death really better than any other punishment by them?

"Why do you say that? Isn't death the ultimate punishment?" I asked. 

"No. especially to women." he replied. 

We didn't know what to say. And our silence gave him a signal to elaborate. 

"You two sound young. Young women who are prisoners here are raped or sold for pleasure." he said.

That was what I was afraid of. And just like he said, I even started to pray for my death.

"How do you know that?" Robin inquired.

"Because my sister had had the same faith as the other young girls before you." he replied. He wanted to sound casual, maybe to hide his pain, but we detected it. 

And we understood how deep in trouble we are. That was much much worse than death. Especially now that we both had accepted our ending. 

Footsteps came our way and we both panicked.

"Here they come. Goodbye" Markus said one last time while the door to our cell opened.

"Get up," the guard said.

"Where are you taking us?" I asked. I was beyond frightened. This can't be happening to us. No no. I refuse to believe it. i refuse it

"Are you taking us to kill us?" Robin asked. Her tone was uneasy and hurried. 

"Shut your mouth before I kill you two" another guard snapped before coming to get us.

We tried to back away. But there was nowhere to go anyway. They picked us up and manhandled us. When I tried to scream, the guard holding me slapped me. The force was so strong I don't know how my jaw was still in contact.

Before we could scream again they shoved a piece of clothing in our mouth. 

Before long they took us to a room. The room looked like it was unused for ages from the outside. But from the inside it looked like another prison. The big room had a big cage-like section and inside it was at least 20 women. 

I noticed all the women were young. Around my age. Some even younger. Robin and I were still struggling to get out of the guards' hands until we were forcefully thrown inside the cage like a prison. We land with a thud.

"These two are trouble," the guard holding me said.

"Yeah they are," another voice said. And that voice belonged to none other than the supervisor that had sent us to prison in the first place. 

To say I was shocked was an understatement. He manages slaves. I didn't think he was in charge of this punishment. Let alone raping and selling girls. 

"Is there anything else or are we done here, Luca?' a guard asked.

The supervisor whose name I now know is Luca looked at all the girls in a satisfactory manner before giving  the guards smile and said " No, that's it. Thanks guys" 

Another guard then went forward and asked Luca hesitantly " are you sure you need to do this today? Selling them during the celebration is kinda risky, don't u think? The king can find out anytime. I heard he is in a bad mood today." 

"Don't worry. Everyone is busy. This is the perfect time for trade. No one will know a thing" Luca said confidently.

The way he said it, felt like it was a secret. They were trying to hide it from the king. Does it mean what they are doing is behind the king's back?

"This don't seem like a punishment. Nor does it seem like they are doing it by the books." Robin said. "I feel like they are smuggling girls secretly" 

"That's what I think too" I agreed. 

"They are selling us for their personal gain. To get some extra money" a redhead said from the far corner.

"This is bad, this is very bad"Robin said eyeing the girls and then Luca.

"We can't let this happen," I hurriedly said to Robin. "No no. I refuse it Robin. I am not gonna be sold. I refuse it. We need to stop this" 

Robin tried to calm me down. The adrenaline  that I feel right now makes me feel brave. I am shaking with anger.

"Calm down, Theia. You can't go against wolves. They will kill you before you can even breath." 

"Then i Will die. I am not gonna spend the rest of my life getting raped " i cried.

Everyone there took a sharp breath when i mentioned the word rape. 

"I will fight them and I will die here. I have made up my mind, ''I said.

Robin tried to reason with me but I was determined. The bravery that i felt right now is my one way ticket. Either I will be free from this cage or free from life. Anything else I refuse.