Throne of Blood

Expectations

I'd seen the king of Turan naked, stitched his wound, been rescued by him, shared a bed, and planned to travel to the capital with him. And now he lay beside me, his breathing soft in sleep. He was no blood king now,no king, just Cassius and with him like this, I find it hard to see him any other way.

The silence was unsettling and despite how much I needed to sleep, all I could accomplish was annoying tossing and turning. Even if I had intended to leave Hopchill at some point, leaving in a matter of 24 hours from being assaulted, was still a lot to process. Throwing my legs over the side of the bed, I decided fresh air might be a good idea. A firm hand gripped my arm and I turned, those crystal blue eyes kissed with sleep greeting me.

"I'm going for some air," I said softly and for a moment he didn't move, but he finally let go.
"I'm coming after you if you're not back in 3 minutes."
"It'll take me that long to reach the door." I sighed and he blinked at me.
"5."
" Deal."
I closed the door behind me pulling my arms around myself as I realized, I'd left my cloak. The inn was completely silent save for the sound of the creaking stairs under my feet. I had 4 minutes before my paranoid companion would come for me. I inhaled the sweet night air, still heavy with the scent of rain. The lively shops were dark now, the street lanterns the only light besides the moon. Footsteps came from behind me and I sighed.
"It hasn't even been a full 4 minutes."
No response. Instead, I was greeted with a sword handle to the head, my lips parting but missing the opportunity to cry out.

¥

Rattle
Rattle
Bump
It's been the same for weeks now. First 2 weeks on land, and then a small ship overnight. It'd been two weeks since I'd been hit over the head outside of Huckle Inn in Fiyiat and chained. My captors moved by night. On my fourth night my captors, by my count, sold 50 girls. We'd be slaves to counts and royalty. They fed us at the end of every week and only gave us water daily. We were blindfolded and separated into small cells below the deck. I hadn't spoken in 4 weeks, and sleep only found me when they drugged the water. I couldn't bring myself to think about what might happen to me, only that I needed to survive. The door to my cell swung open and hands pulled me from the floor.
I heard the other girls around me. They cried out in distress, only to be hit. That's why I stayed silent.

"Take this one to the gentleman in the black. Make sure he pays for all eight even if you have to count every coin."

I was dragged along and finally thrown into another cart.
"You're short 100 keirs."my captor spat at the buyer.

"I told you I wanted them well fed and bathed." My buyer snapped and swords were drawn. "I need a replacement for my daughter, not slaves. Slavery in Canese is illegal, I'll be hung if the king finds out."

"Fine. No need to be hostile." the captor conceeded.The door to the wagon shut and again the rhythm began.

Rattle
Rattle
Bump.
It was morning when the wagon stopped. Four weeks in silence and I almost sobbed when I felt the sun's familiar kiss on my skin. We were roughly grabbed from the wagon and hurriedly pushed through some building.

"Master wants them all bathed and dressed in the young misses clothes." The women spoke in canese.

The blindfold was ripped from my eyes and for a  long while, I was blinded by the light. However, to my horror, I realized the eight other girls beside me all had dark brown hair and green eyes. The other women surveyed us head to toe, pulling me from the line.

"Have her bathed. She's the only looker in the group." The oldest one spoke.

I was dragged into another room with a tub in the center. Stripped, I was forced into the scalding water and scrubbed against my will. My hair combed through, the wavy locks falling pass my shoulder brown, any trace of blonde gone. Blonde. Cassius.

"She's crying." One of the girls commented.

"Has the king of Turan married yet." I asked barely able to bring my voice above a whisper.

"No, he's been throwing a fit over gods know what. He pushed the picking back a month."
"I hear he's killed three ministers in the last three days and then ran off to the front lines just to let off steam."
"He's the blood king after all."
But he wasn't. I could still see him beside me breathing so softly.
A loud voice interrupted the chattering girls.
"The master wants to see her now."

I was quickly stuffed into a simple straight bodice gown, with fanned-out sleeves and a soothing lilac tone. I was brought through a stone wall corridor and outside to a carriage. This time I wasn't chained inside but instead helped in where a man awaited me.
"You're better than what I expected."