Cassie stared at me. “ You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Your eyes are so blue, it reminds me of blue skies I would use to see in children’s books.”
“ Thank you Cassie. That is kindest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“ I better get going. Madam Windfield will fetch you shortly.” Cassie left, leaving me once more in this small chamber. I took a huge breath, trying to keep this nauseating feeling I’ve had in the pit of my stomach since she told me about those children being slaughtered just for a stupid game. I didn’t know what to expect today. Cassie tried to fill in the missing pieces without me having to ask too many questions, but still, I did not know what was waiting for me.
A knock on the door made me jump slightly. By now, I already knew it was Madam Windfield, because she always knocks before entering my chambers even though I am locked in here.
“ The king is ready to leave.” She said as she entered.
“ Also, he wants you to wear this.” She tosses metal chains to my feet. I look at the chains dumbfounded.
“ Why does he want me to wear that? I’m not an animal.”
“ It is to prevent you from escaping, not that it is possible for you to escape, but just in case.”
“ I am not going to wear that.” I refused.
“ You know, you are quite lucky. The king wasn’t as gentle with his other mistresses who refused him.” A shiver goes down my spine thinking what he has done to them. Giving a big huff, I picked up the chains and cuffed the big metal cuffs around my wrists.
“ Happy?” I asked rudely.
“ Much.” She spoke with much authority.
I picked up the extended chain that was dangling at my feet, and we left the room. I found familiar eyes on me as he stood next to the king, waiting for me at the end of the long hall.
“ You clean up rather nice.” He said with the same identical smirk as the king. It was the bastard who tried to put his tongue in my mouth when they captured me. The one with the deep bloodred main.
“ I see your tongue is still attached to your mouth.” He lift’s his hand, and I close my eyes, waiting for the blow that was about to come, but it never came. When I opened my eyes, I noticed the king holding his wrist in his clutches.
“ You do not touch my Mistresses, unless I say so.” The king barked at the younger man.
“ Yes father.” His eyes darkened with anger, and I am once more left with the wind knocked out of me. But I guess I should have known it, as they are both equally sick perverts. Looking at both of them, I could see the resemblance.
“ And for you.” The king turned his piercing eyes towards me. “ Have you not learned your lesson about that loose tongue of yours, or would you like me to refresh your memory.” He said in that deep rumbling voice of his as he grabbed the chain from my hand and yanking them so hard that I slam straight into his chest.
His clutches is once more around my jaw, digging into the flesh of my cheeks. He lifts my face to meet his gaze.
“ If you try any of that sass today, you will find yourself in the harvest. Do I make myself clear?”
“ Yes.” I gritted through clenched teeth.
We walked to the front door, with king Kyrell firmly holding onto the chain that bounds my hands. Cassie was also standing at the front entrance; she didn’t look at me, but I knew how she felt about today. She looked scared to death, and I was scared as well.
A dark carriage waited for us in the courtyard. Attached to it was two of those creatures that dragged the wagon when I came here. They have somewhat of a horse-like feature with a fleshy leather texture for skin.
King Kyrell opened the door of the carriage and climbed in first, then tugged on the chain for me to follow. His son climbed in on the other side, and his eyes on my breasts line and legs made me uncomfortable, as I knew what was going through his mind after that day they captured me. I was only hoping his father would catch him staring and give him the beating of his life.
“ Tell me, son. Has the marches returned from Valtor.” My face went pale hearing them mention Valtor. What would they want in the kingdom Valtor?
“ No father. We should cut our losses and send new troops when the moon is high. That is when the barrier is at its weakest. Only then, would we be able to sneak off-descendant’s through the barrier again.”
“ Make sure that they are a very far distant relatives, that way it is harder for the barrier to detect them before drawing them back in.”
“ Yes father, I know.” Hezron rolled his eyes in a child-like matter.
“ We must find the girl with the blue flame. It is the only way to break that wretched witch’s curse. Once we find her, we can drain her of all her blood to break the curse and claim the other kingdoms, and the first Kingdom I am going to claim is Calenthe.”
Girl with a blue flame? I have a blue flame. Could they be talking about me.
Shit! Shit!
If they find out that I am the girl they are looking for, I am done for. Now I am thankful for not being able to summon my powers the day they captured me. But, the other question is, how was I able to get through the barrier. According to the book, you need to be a dragon to pass through the barrier.
Than it hit me. The day of the elemental games, when we got attacked by those possessed elementals. They were after me. If they were to find out that I possess the blue flame than I am as good as dead.
The city we arrived at was old and ruined, not much to look at. There were plenty of beggars on the streets, most of them were children. I stared out my own window, and ever so often I would catch Kyrell’s son staring at me. He would make outrageous gestures, by rubbing himself without his father noticing, and licked his lips while winking at me. He was beyond disgusting.
When Kyrell turned his head towards us, he would act like he is busy with something else, as if he had never done any of that.
I tried to ignore his repellent gestures, I really did, but if the day came where he was going to succeed, I was going to be in real deep trouble.
The crowds were lining up, and it was more difficult to get through them with the carriage. It reminded me of that night of The Elemental Games, when to crowd was also this big, if not bigger, gathering for the games.
“ Here is fine!” Kyrell’s son shouted out the window, and the carriage came to a halt.
“ Come.” Kyrell ordered. I climbed out as carefully as I could. I had to admit, it was not as easy as it looked in the movies when girls with their big gowns climbed out of carriages with such grace. Well, I guess they also didn’t have chains tied to their hands like I do.
We walked a few blocks, which killed my feet, and found massive crowds lining up in front of a grant building, not is grand as you think, but grant compared to what I have seen so far. It reminded me of a huge stadium.
We didn’t have to stand in line like at the Elemental Games. we went through a separate entrance. There were plenty of big chairs and it reminded me of an old era event when gladiators were still a thing. I plopped down onto a chair but got yanked back faster than it took me to sit on it.
“ You won’t be sitting on a chair.” Kyrell said with a devious laugh. I dreaded to think where he wanted me to sit. I took a deep breath as he took a seat and gestured to his lap, patting it for me to sit down.
I wanted to vomit, but I took a deep breath, remembering what Cassie said to me, and reminded myself that no matter how bad this day will get, the smile will stay on my face like my life dependent on it, which it did.
It felt like hours before something eventually started to happen. There was a small ceremony of people dancing the most beautiful dances. All sorts of emotions went through me as I saw them dancing out some sort of play, and then it stopped.
The crowd applauded and cheered with joy, joy I couldn’t feel, because of what I knew, but I applauded too.