The King's concubine

Chapter 15 : Lives on the line

Mei

We were driven inside the palace , we walked straight in two lines and bent our heads as we were escorted in barefeet,
I wanted to look at the place so bad , becuase looking at the marble floor itself , it's showing how much richness this place has .

Not soon, we halted our movements and found ourselves in the middle of a very large hall with men inside them . I tried averting my eyes and peeped at how they look only to bend my head with a gasp .
They  were wearing red cloaks that hidden what they are wearing inside them , and looked at us with the most interesting gaze ,As I keep on thinking why they are here , They started talking to themselves .
Can this end right now ? So that we can be assigned where we have to go ? I am pretty sure I and the others are having a hard time standing , bowing and kneeling for no reason . my subconscious reasoned out .
minutes later , The men  bowed and yell out loudly, " Respect to the mighty king "
" You may rise " I heard his voice from a far .
A pregnant silence formed as we kept on kneeling on the ground,
Where are the head maids of the harem  ? The king's voice boomed making my insides chime. 

The hell is the harem ? My subconscious asks me only to find myself thinking about it even more , " Is that like a place where they all put us gather us  and burn us all together ?"
Hmm that would be alright to me on my part considering I won't be alone and we will breath our finals peacefully and together . I thought ,

but that's like being selfish , you can't let anyone die inside one pit just becuase you want to die peacefully,  everyone has dreams you know Mei, My subconscious says to me and I felt guilty of even thinking about that .
My king,I heard a lady say ..
Well , choose the preety ones and put them in my harem , And others you know what else to do .The king said curtly,
Yes my king ; She replies and started the selection . She passed by on each of our two lines and started dragging every beautiful young girl out  . I mean I have eyes and by a glance I would also know who to pick and who to not pick .

In the mean time , I looked at the selected girls and an ankle chain caught my attention which made me breath in relief , I looked at the person who clinged on it and my smile spared out as I looked at the familiar face of my sister .
Though we were in a hard time ,she still looked as preety as the flower . Prickles of tears streamed down my eyes as I looked at her  , she wasn't in fear but confident as always bending her head submissively  .
Thank you Goddess , i Whisper .
Not soon, the woman announced Done !
The training girls can be put as the palace maids and to the brothel's who are not as pure as how they are supposed to be .
I frown at their statement .
What do they mean  by as not pure as they are supposed to be ? They better be kidding me .. I look around and found few of us have remained and majority have already been selected .
Goddess !! What are they going to do to me ? I whisper unknowingly  with fear , In that moment I look at my sister one more time who was dragged with the others to what it looked the hell of the harem .

I sniffled and thought of mom , and Alessia . They are all that I have but what should I do now ,? I am not even sure if mom is alive or not. And I am not sure enogh if Alessia is thinking about any of us .
I don't know if I should act pitiful or cry the pain that's overwhelming me, The answers are stagnant and a stab on my chest .

Before we were told anything,
One man walked Infront of the king and said " My king "
Talk , he barked ,
I wanted to suggest something of these young beautiful women you have attained , " why shouldn't we take the remaining few and bid them to your enemies so that we could establish a temporary peace treaty with them ?"

My heart stopped for a moment , and I heard the breathing girls breathing heavily , some of them muffling their sobs just like  me .
I have never in  my existence thought about this , " It's like something in me snapped and told me to never accept it .. "
As I had the bitter taste on my throat ,I dared  to lift my head and looked at the man who presented the suggestion . Has he no shame , ? Doesn't he have a family ? What does he take us for  ??

" Trophies ? "

"Bargaining objects ? "
I didn't cry this time as I shaked my  head  gritting my teeth waiting for the foolish king's answer .
Hmm that's a very wise suggestion Mr Lynn . Oh so the elder man's name is shit Lynn ??
Oh alright !!

I will try not to  forget that name in my life , Such a despicable man .
"Yes my king," Becuase we should be careful of the intake of the girls in the harem and  also the enemies that are a threat to our state and our People .
"Excellent idea .."  I thought about that too . He says with a little arrogant chuckle .
Then a woman came and told us to follow her , " With a heavy heart , I closed my eyes and breathed out heavily amd followed the woman behind .
My cold feet touching the cold marbles as  I shield my chest with my hands .
Why us goddes ??! I asked myself .

As we walked something caught my eye , I averted my gaze and saw a ring that shined  . I looked at the owner only to find out that he had a hard expression and was looking right at me making me cower in fear and bend my head following the others with embarrassment.

I could feel his intense burning gaze on me , making my legs wobly and my chest pound a million times .
We were escorted to what it looked like a very large building named The maids cotters as it was scribbled right on the front of the building .

Now get in you ugly girls , Take a bath and each one of you will be assigned to wear a uniform and after   you will be told and assigned to  what your jobs will be  .
I expect you all to be respectful if you don't want any of your lives to be on the line . The king was generous to even let you filthy animals to take a step in this cotters and let you bath , there are more important people who the king might have chosen them to , but he was generous enough to take you in .

Yea .. like I care . 

"Yes  , "We all whisper lowly . Two women guards jogged inside and closed the door and escorted us to the small baths.
I can't lie this place is beautiful.  The maid's cotters itself makes you want to live here and stare it all day long, They were small mattresses that were lined up ,The walls are plane but the floor looked elegant as it shined  with every step that I take.

I couldn't help but stared at every little thing, and design that was scribbled in this small room .
Oh shut up, worry about what they are going to do to you.  You sound like a lost choice , do you want to get killed ? My subconscious says to me and I thought about it .

"What are you waiting for ??
"  Walk !!!
The woman who is the head maid  barked at me right on my ears  .

What's  with these people barking like dogs ??