Aisha woke with a fright and sat bolt upright. She was taken aback by her surroundings. This wasn’t her room. Where was her canopy bed? Her silk bedding? Her ornate bowls filled with flower petals that sweetened the air? For a moment Aisha was unable to comprehend neither where she was nor what was going on. A moment later reality hit her like a wall of stone. She was a captive aboard a slave carrier heading only the gods knew where.
The vessel rocked violently and a female voice moaned softly. It was too dark for Aisha to make out faces clearly, but she thought that she remembered that it was Keelie who was sitting to her right.
“Aisha? Are you awake?” Leilelle’s voice whispered, cutting through the blackness.
Blindly, Aisha turned her head and reached out her hand until she connected with a warm body to her left.
“Leilelle, why is it so dark?”
“You’ve been asleep for awhile, Aii. We have been sailing across the Great Water for quite sometime. I think night must have fallen.”
“Night fall.” Aisha whispered. “It takes two days to reach the city of Grandiese.” She thought aloud. Grandiese was a friendly neighbor of Lanka. If the slavers took them there they would have a much better chance of escaping and returning home.
“It takes four days to reach Veshia.”
Aisha shivered at the very name of the city, Lanka’s greatest enemy. Veshians were killed on sight in Lanka, and, she supposed, perhaps the opposite was true in Veshia.
“What are we to do?” Aisha asked calmly and without fear.
Leilelle’s voice was fierce as she responded. “We are going to stay quiet and submissive. You are to do whatever is necessary to protect yourself, even if it is the detriment to Keelie or I.”
“No,” Aisha started to argue.
“Yes!” Leilelle responded sharply and gripped Aisha’s hand tightly. “You are a princess of Lanka, Aii. That means that you’re life is more important than either of ours.”
“I do not agree with that.”
“But we do.” Keelie said softly as she entered the conversation for the first time.
“Whatever happens, Aii, you need to be protected. Promise me that you will do whatever is necessary to protect yourself until help comes or you are able to escape. And in the meantime that you must hold your own safety in the highest regard.”
Aisha was quiet.
“Promise me!” Leilelle shouted and shook her friend slightly.
“Fine!” Aisha shouted abruptly before slowly adding, “I promise.”
“Promise what?” Leilelle insisted.
“To protect myself.”
“No matter what happens?”
“No matter what happens I promise to protect myself.” Aisha felt her heart break as she uttered the words. She couldn’t help but feel that she was going to regret this promise when it came to the safety and well being of her friends.
A feeling crept into her broken heart, wrapping around it and shielding it. In that moment Aisha grew detached and her outlook on the situation become very realistic. She could no longer afford to be soft. If she wanted to survive to see another dawn then she would need to stop thinking with her heart and use only her mind to make decisions.
Several minutes passed as the girls sat in stony silence before Leilelle broke it. “We can no longer use your name. It is too recognizable.”
Aisha bobbed her head once in agreement.
“What are we to call her then?” Keelie asked.
“It needs to be similar enough that we won’t forget, as well as something that you will remember to call yourself.” Leilelle answered logically, she’d obviously put a lot of thought into the changing of Aisha’s name.
“Anni?” Keelie tried. “Asanti?”
Leilelle just shook her head as she tried to think of something better.
“Ashonee.” Aisha said quietly.
Keelie and Leilelle exchanged looks before Leilelle asked slowly, “Do you think that is truly the best choice for your name?”
“Yes. I shall from now on be known as Ashonee.” Her tone left no room for argument.
Neither of Aisha’s friends was happy about her choice, for both girls knew the story of the original Ashonee. However, it was not their place to argue with their princess over something as silly as what their enemy would be calling her. Her firm tone had dissuaded them from even attempting to do so.
And so Aisha became Ashonee.
A princess became a slave.
To learn more about the original Ashonee read the short story: The Tragedy of Ashonee.
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Slave Princess
RomanceAisha was a young girl when she was taken from her home and thrust into the hands of her enemies. In order to protect her identity, she changes her name and becomes someone else in order to survive in her new and unfamiliar environment. Will her str...
