Her Fear, His Obsession

She was his Queen, his everything

"My love, what are you doing?" Luca asked in a low voice. He knew exactly what she was up to and he was furious but he had to contain his anger in front of her.

Alia froze hearing the voice that called her my love. Knowing that only one man here had the guts to do so and that man was going to be angry as ever with her leaving the room, she tensed up, her shoulders retreating into her body as she slowly turned around.  Met with a pair of piercing blue eyes, she slowly spoke, "ummmmm, nothinggggg," drawing out her words while trying to put on an innocent face.

"Really? I could have sworn it looked like my Queen was washing some dishes?" Luca teased back. Her childishness had tempered the anger ever so slightly but only as a bandage not a cure.

She shrugged her shoulders and stayed silent, staring at her shuffling feet.

He sighed. Cupping his hand under her chin so that her "Alia, my love, why were you doing the dishes? You're the Queen, such tasks are beneath you." He spoke softly, but firmly, trying to be gentle but let her know that he was serious about his stance. She would never be doing this sort of work again.

"But I used them, I'm supposed to clean them. That's how it works." Alia whispered.

"That may have been the case before, Alia. But not anymore. You should never be doing these things. And to make sure that it doesn't happen again, every slave present here will be punished severely." Luca turned back to stare at the trembling crowd. "Fifty lashes for every slave and seventy for the one who dared to show the Queen disrespect!" He boomed.

"What? No!" Alia cried. "Your Highness, I swear I won't do this again, leave them be, please! It's my fault, they asked me not to!" She collapsed to the floor, crying.

"I'm sorry, my love, but it doesn't matter. They knew better and they failed in to obey their King. They're lucky I'm not punishing them for allowing you to come into the kitchen and search for food. It should have already been ready to go. And my heart, it's Luca, not your Highness." Luca grabbed her gently by the arms and lifted her up off the ground. "Shhh," he said as he stroked her hair gently, holding her close to his chest. She continued to sob and shivered in fear.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?

As if he was reading her mind, Luca responded, "I know you're scared, my angel, but one day you'll realize everything I do is for you." Hearing him only made her sob harder. He lifted her up into his arms bridal style and held a sobbing Alia close to his chest. "We will be returning to our bedroom. You three, bring whatever the Queen wished to eat and some water to the room immediately. The rest of you, report to the dungeons for your punishment. Except for you- you are the slave that disrespected the Queen- are you not?"

"My King, please forgive me! I did not know it was the Queen." The man collapsed on the floor, his hands clasped in front of him, as he repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Luca ignored his pleas and continued, "I will administer your punishment myself. You will spend every night for the next month serving your Queen and her every whim."

Luca ignored the tap he felt at his chest. He knew Alia wasn't happy about his decision, but this was about setting an example. No longer could he allow anyone to disrespect her, nor could he allow her to determine the punishments of his slaves. They were getting out of hand and he needed his iron fist back. He turned on his heels and began walking towards their room, gently whispering to Alia who was still sobbing and tapping away.

As he got closer to the room, he got curious. Based on what the slave at the door had told him, Liam and the other guards went with Alia because she didn't want to sleep. But why couldn't she sleep? "Alia, sweetheart, why couldn't you sleep?"