The War Lord's Prize

Chapter Fourteen

~~~~

I kept walking closer.

"Listen, human, go again and live. And, be quick!", Madam Fray ordered.

I stopped and swallowed the invincible lump in my throat.

"While he continues, by all means, continue telling me about that shit of a favorite the Mistress has ", the voice said.

I had just made it to the door and stopped.
That person was talking about me.

Madam Fray's sinister laughter was like a whip being thrown in the air. "That useless human thought she was special. All these years, that fool had no idea what the Mistress has been planning for her".

My body shook, and I glided closer till my ear was pressed close to the door. Fairies had a sharper sense of hearing and smell than humans but because they were too engrossed in their discussion, they couldn't notice me.

"Stop the suspense Fray, do not withhold information". There was laughter in the other woman's voice as well.

"Remember when the Mistress traveled?", Madam Fray asked.

I imagined the other was nodding. In the background, I could hear two people making noises that sounded something like a moan and a cry for help at the same time.

"Before she traveled, she took that fool's blood while she slept. Mistress Elena instructed me to make sure she wouldn't wake up while she does this so I added some powder to her food".

The other gasped.
The halls were closing in fast. I couldn't breathe.

"The Mistress had taken her blood to her friend, a fairy that had some business at the vampires palace. And there, the woman had given the vampire king and princess the blood as a gift", She chuckled. " That fool's blood drove them wild and they craved more".

"Is it because of the blessing Fray?".

" It is. The Mistress's original plan was to take her into the meeting room and as soon as the King and Princess perceive her blood, she would sell her to them. But things didn't go according to plan, and they were too distracted to notice the scent of her blood so the Mistress -long live her brilliant soul - made her the prize of the battle between the vampire King and alpha King tomorrow", she finished.

I clutched my chest.

The other gasped. " There will be a battle between the alpha king and vampire king?!".

Madam Fray thundered. " I do not care about that!", I could hear her breathing loudly. " All I care about is watching that human leave this place forever, and each time I think of her, I want to smile because I know she would be getting her bones crushed day and night", she laughed. " Of all beings to anger, she chose the alpha king. If he wins, he would treat her like the whore she is supposed to be, and once he's bored of her, he would smash her skull".

" I heard the vampire king is more brutal. He would drain her dry, and use her bones for decoration". The other said.

A pause crawled by, and then they started laughing. Loud, and piercing.

A sob broke through my lips and I clamped a hand over my mouth as I turned around to flee.

"Who is there Claudia?". It was Madam Fray that asked.

I was already reaching the entrance so her voice was an echo.

"It must have been one of the workers passing by Fray. There's no one here", Claudia (the other) replied.

When the night air hit my face I broke down. The sobs wrecked through my body, making my body convulse and I let it. I felt tired and, stupid.

I should have noticed her plan. I was always with her, I should have noticed something. I fell to my knees on the ground and welcomed the sharp jab of pain the action brought me. I didn't care, there was nothing that could compare to the pain in my heart. I didn't care if anyone saw me right now.

I rested my head on the earth and cried into the soil. I was such a fool.

***

The beautiful paintings that had made me smile, seemed to mock me from their polished frames as I walked back to Mistress Elena's chambers.

I wanted to run away from this place, but the only escape from Ryauche was death. There was no way out.

I easily lied to her that I didn't find Madam Fray and she bought it. She was probably thinking of all the money she was going to acquire tomorrow after she sells me.

"These bruises look bad beloved", she pointed out as she touched my knees. "But don't worry, Mistress Elena will heal you later", she said, and kissed my forehead before walking out of the bathroom to let the maids continue bathing me.

Until today, Mistress Elena had bathed me but because she was selling me tomorrow, she had called in a total of twenty-seven maids who had spent hours, treating and tending to every part of my body. From my hair to the soles of my feet.

I was in a huge bathtub filled with all sorts of oils when one of them called Mistress Elena in to check the bruises on my knees.

"I think it's enough. You may come out pet", one of them told me. I didn't know which, I didn't bother checking. My eyes had been fixed on the weirdly shaped scratch at the opposite wall. I was too tired to notice anything else.

Gripping both sides of the tub, I hoisted myself up to my feet and stepped out with the oils streaming down my body. Immediately, almost all of them came to me with weird sponge-like things and began torturing my body with them.

I stood there, like a statue as my body kept moving involuntarily in several directions.

When they were done, they rubbed several other things on my body. And I noted, they took an extra amount of care to my private areas, especially between my legs which barely had hair but they still felt the need to scrape off what was barely there.

They clothed me in silk and braided my curls and wrapped my head after oiling my hair. And at the end of everything, I just wanted to shut my eyes and never wake up again.

The maids left and soon, it was just Mistress Elena and I.

I had no idea what she was doing while I lay on the unnecessary large bed staring up at a painting of a naked Mistress Elena as I willed sleep to come. Who had even painted her naked on the ceiling?

When she came back, she smelt of roses and her scent mixed with everything that I was smelling of made me feel even more sick.

She laid beside me and also stared up at the ceiling before she opened her mouth to say.
"I do love you dearest. This situation is just out of my control, but tomorrow I will find a way to rectify the situation", she muttered.

Her lies were unnecessary at this point.
I kept silent for a while.

" You have never called me by my name. Not once. Do you even know what it is Mistress?", I asked, then turned to face her and she was already looking at me. Our eyes met, and hers were confused.

"Of course dearest".

"What is my name?", I asked her.

She seemed to be thinking before she said, "Prefon".

I shook my head. "That's something your maids and Madam Fray call me out of spite. The human that helped my mom deliver me while you let her die because you didn't have any use for her anymore, told me my mother had whispered the letter p before she passed. So, my name is not dearest, or love, or Prefon. It is p".

" P isn't a name love", she cut in.

The endearment angered me. My eyes narrowed. " Maybe she wanted me to bear a name that started with P. You would know that if you cared to be there to stop her from bleeding to death. I'm an item to you. Stop with your lies".

Shock took over her calm expression.

I turned the other way to sleep. She wouldn't punish me. As she said, I was her greatest treasure.

I needed to be in good condition for the duel tomorrow.

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