Possessing Andley Part 1

Chapter 5 continued

I Followed the the royal family up the staircase to the main entrance of the vast castle, watched my feet pass the stark barrier of the sunlit doorway into the awaiting darkness, where the stone no longer glittered. The cold settled into my skin and my stomach lurched as the doors were slammed shut behind me.
*
I couldn't eat. Although the richness of the food presented to me was such that I'd never seen before, I found myself disgusted with it. In the forest, we always had more than enough, even lately in Rathon's house we had more than enough, although our people were growing leaner by the day. I was sold to resolve this Scarcity. I looked around the great hall where every noble of the kingdom had been gathered for the Mating Feast. The roar of their careless laughter and chatter was deafening within the great hall. There were however, two morose faces other than my own looming starkly against the rest.
The Queen was seated at a high table next to the King. She her beautiful face was drawn as she drank deeply from cup after cup of red wine. She stared bitterly at her food and seemed as unable to eat as I. Once, a servant asked bowing, if she wanted something else from the kitchen. She picked her tray of food up and fully poured it out upon his head, the food ran down the neck of his shirt in a river of soup and gravy. A clatter echoed across the hall as the dishes shattered on the stone floor. The man had simply risen from his bow with an air of polite servitude plastered firmly upon his face.
"I will tell the servants the Queen is not hungry and to bring your wine" he said pleasantly.
He strode across the hall just as though hot soup was not running down his back and wetting his trousers. The King only looked mildly annoyed by the scene.
The other face was that of Annabelle, the Prince's old headmate. Prior to the feast there had been the oath swearing ceremony. She'd been compelled to stand before the court of nobles, the royal family of which she'd once been a high ranking member, myself and Marston, and declare her blessing of the new union. In turn, Prince Marston declared that she would have a place of honour in his concubine and would be allowed to remain with the children in their own quarters. She had stood stoically to that point but her face flushed deeply in that moment as a look of relief and despair crossed her eyes in quick succession. Her hard eyes kept Marston's gaze with an intensity that rightly should have had the man begging forgiveness. At the end of this, she'd leaned into him and he kissed her cheek with the softness of a butterfly.
"You are still my love." I heard him whisper, as though this whole horrible ordeal was not his idea at all.
I watched as she closed her eyes in pain and returned his kiss. She stepped back with her hands clasped over her wrist, nails digging into the joint so hard the hand beneath was turning red. She and I accidentally made eye contact, I could feel her seething hatred for me radiating from her watering brown eyes. I wondered how, if they had love between them, could he have done this terrible thing to her. Was his hatred for Rathon and our independence so strong that he could tear apart his own life and family for it? Why?
Right now she sat with the rest of the Prince's harem at the first table in front of us. She alone remained in her human form and I wondered why, for she was very plain and slightly plump. But I had been informed that all the harem were required to hold their bodies in the exact forms Marston liked best. There seemed to be an order to the tables, that the harem came second to the prince's table was only a little heartening. The lesser mates seemed to be part of the decor. They were all scantily clad in brightly coloured gowns which seemed to be fitted to expose the parts of them Marston likes best. Some were in their full Therio while others were allowed to remain half formed in dedidium. However, they seemed to be pressed to maintain themselves, they did not seem relaxed in their bodies.
I saw that only Silvie seemed comfortable. She wore a deep blue sleeveless satin gown with a bodice split in two all the way to her pelvic bone. In the center, instead of bare breasts, there were bright pink feathers. They split tastefully to expose a small gap between her pert breasts. It was the first time I had seen her face in her therio form but I doubted it was fully formed. Her lovely hair was replaced with more pink plumage, each feather faded to white at the tips. Her eyes were that of a bird, large and round but now the colour of amber. Small soft feathers lined her temples near her eyes and cheekbones, highlighting her features like make up. Her nose had taken on a slight sharp downward turn. As I watched her Marston saw my gaze and called a servant to us.
"yes my lord?"
"Tell Sylvie I will have less feathers upon her breast and more over her shoulders, she will know what I mean". He said.
I looked at him startled wondering how anyone could hold a form so specific. He looked at me with amusement.
"All of my concubines are expected to hold their forms to my liking. I expect you will figure it out soon enough".
His eyes glittered and he smiled wickedly.
"Sylvie is best at it. You should follow her lead, it will make your life here easier. Look how happy she is, you could thrive here Andley. It doesn't have to be a torment for you, just Rathon. Matter of fact the happier you are the better. Perhaps after a time you will forget all about that dog. Won't that be painful for him?" He finished with a laugh.