The Blade Princess

--- Sold---

It was summer and I could hear the chirping of the birds and the warm breeze of the noon as I swirled around in the courtyard. The shadow that danced with me was my only companion. I was forbidden to make friends. But it didn't matter too much. My time went by drowned in words and wars.

"I would like you to meet someone, Lia." My father said and I looked at him shocked at his words.

Why was I meeting someone?

Nevertheless, I followed him hiding my dirty hands behind me in case I got a scolding for being a princess that played with the stones in the garden hitting a target on the back wall.

"Meet Prince Henley." My father introduced to me another seven years old and I couldn't help but cower away.

I seldom made contact with the outside world and now he was introducing me to a child who gave me a toothy grin.

But it took me exactly seventeen minutes as Henley likes to remind me again and again, to play hide and seek with him as the little prince and princess developed a friendship for ages.

****

My dream ended when my head hit the rod in front of me. I was in a moving carriage and as I tried my move, severe nausea hit me. I had a concussion from the previous hit on my head.

In front of me, two other girls were unconscious both from our palace because I can recognise the little crest on their dresses. My eyes watered as the reality hit me and I saw the dead body of my father and Gerald.

I gulped back cries building in my throat as I tried to remain strong through this. I can't behave this way. My father trusted me to be better than this. But my brain was being fickle and I kept seeing the painful images of them dying and our beautiful Kingdom perishing right in front of my eyes. I clutched my chest as a sharp pain hit me and I sobbed feeling the hollowness pull me in.

At that moment I had no one.

Suddenly the carriage came to a halt and I tried to peep out from the crack of the bamboo mat over us. The sun was shining too brightly for the kind of dark day it was. I could hear the loud chatter of the crowd and rhythmic tone of the sellers and vendors in the market. I had been to the bazaars before, annually held to honour the farmers and the handcrafters. But most of the time I was inside the royal carriage and just waved to the people around barely looking up fulfilling my role of the coy princess that I was.

But this sounded nothing like the annual bazaar. People were too loud and used crass language. I could hear drunken men laughing hysterically and everything even from the sound of the crowd was making me cringe. I saw a shadow approaching me and I squeezed my eyes shut pretending to be unconscious as other girls were. To fight back I needed to know what I was up against.

The approaching shadow belonged to a man who splashed water on our faces. I woke up pretending to be shocked while other girls screamed. He pulled us out roughly and harsh sunlight hit my face as I lifted my hand to shield myself from it.

"Keep your feet moving." He yelled threatening us by showing us a knife he was holding which was nothing I can't handle.

But I kept moving, I needed to case the surrounding and make sure even if I did manage to escape where will I be going from this direction. My eyes scanned the market and it started sinking in slowly as I saw the dirty surroundings, the crude language being used and the half drunk and corrupt nobles. I was here to be sold as a house slave. And that was the refined word used for girls being sold in the families.

I have only heard about how the kingdom that lost and males killed in fights, their wives and daughters were sold in this market. I was now living the nightmare. Fear ran through me as I realised my chances were close to nil to escape as this bazaar is hidden far from the main city and kingdom. Also if I did kill people present here and escape, I could not leave these poor girls that came with me alone.