The Prince's Punishment

Chapter Twenty- Four

Chapter Twenty- Four: Eshe 

Days had passed since I was forbidden from seeing the prince and I could feel its toll taking over me. I slowly made my way to my work station, I wasn't really feeling up to working today or any day for that matter; I just wanted to stay at home and never come out again. I wished I could do that, but I knew it wasn't an option. I needed to help out and bring food to the table, I couldn't just think of myself; I had my family to think about.

I worked nonstop for a few hours and decided it was now time to take my break and so, I closed my station and wandered over to mine and the prince's hiding place. I hadn't expected to see him in our place; he hadn't come around before so when I saw him in pain it worried me. I couldn't help but step closer and call out to him. "Prince Tepemkau? A-are you alright?" It took him a while to answer me which only made me worry more but just then, he spoke. "I'm fine, thank you." He cleared his throat and brushed himself off as if it was nothing but I could tell differently. I could see something was bothering him.

We stood there staring at one another until I saw him clutch his chest tightly. My eyes widened and I ran towards him. "Prince Tepemkau!" I wrapped my arms around him just as he fell to his knees. My eyes were now beginning to fill with tears. What was happening to him? I looked at him trying to examine him more closely but I couldn't see anything wrong that would cause him to do this. "What is the matter? Please tell me, should I call for help? Are you ill?" I asked him frantically. He looked at me and shook his head. "I'm fine; it was just a moment of weakness." I blinked and looked at him in confusion. A moment of weakness? "What do you mean it was a moment of weakness?" He sighed. "I worked myself too hard in training. I may need to stop my training for a little while. I apologize for having you worry over nothing." He cleared his throat and stood up cleaning himself off once again. I knew he was lying but I couldn't bring myself to push the issue at hand; no matter how much I wanted to, I was not going to give in. I couldn't. I needed to think about my family and do what I had to do.

I sighed and swallowed my worry and returned a smile to the prince who had smiled at me to reassure me that he was fine but I knew otherwise. "Well, I hope you feel better my Prince. I must go now; I need to get back to work." I bowed my head to him and slowly turned and walked away. I knew if I stayed there any longer I would not be able to bring myself to leave him and I didn't want to leave him. I wanted to have him wrap his strong arms around me and tell me that everything would be okay. I wanted him to tell me that my family would be okay and that we could still continue to see each other and not have to worry about all the repercussions that would come along. As I walked away I could feel the tears slowly spilling over and down my cheeks; my feet slowly carrying me back to my station to finish up the days' work. Damn my life as a slave...

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