Chapter 21 21

Chapter 21 21
Selene 

The news that I received that evening had to be the happiest news of my life. Dain was not in the palace. According to my sources, he had to leave for an emergency and that was the perfect news ever. No Dain, No sex. He wasn't even around for breakfast and I had to return the food after cleaning up his room. 

I was in my room when I heard a soft knock on my door. My brows furrowed and I wondered who it was. I knew that it was not Ravenna. She never knocked calmly. She would knock so hard to the extent of wanting to break down my door. If it wasn't Ravenna, then who would it be? A guard that Dain sent? How was Dain back so early? 

“Im coming.” I walked to the door and relief flooded inti me when I opened the door and saw Mira standing there. Thank fuck, Dain was not back. 

“Hey,” I waved at her. “How are you? Do you need my help with anything?” It was very unusual for her to come to my door and knock. We were friends, but mira barely came to my door, just as I barely went to hers. 

“Not really. Princess Gracia is the one seeking your presence." I frowned. Why was Gracia seeking my presence, as far as I was concerned, I had nothing to do with her. Since the tea, accident, Ravenna had not sent me there again and I have not had any reason to go there.. 

“Why?” I couldn't help but ask. How did she even know my name and what did she need my help with? 

“I don't know. But I don't think that it's for something good. Let's go. You don't want to delay.” I sighed heavily and I stepped out of my room, gently closing the door behind me. 

“Why do you think she is seeking my presence? I did nothing to her.” I sounded kind of worried because anytime in my shoes would be worried. It was so sudden and why princess Gracia of all people? She was not nice. She did not have a good reputation. She was actually very mean and it was only the other sister Gina, that I knew people said good things about. 

“I don't know.” Mira shrugged. “Let's just go and see.” She told me and I modded my head, taking in a slow and deep breath. We both went to her chambers and as I walked in, I could see Gracia waiting and staring at me. 

“So she is the slave?” 

“Yes, your highness.” Mira replied, keeping her head low. 

“You are the lowly maid that dared to delay my tea time. You did not bring my tea on time.” She accused me and my eyes widened in surprise. I could not believe that was the reason she called for me. It had been days since that incident and I thought that she forgave me after Cassius begged on my behalf. 
My eyes widened. That was it?
“That… that incident was days ago, Your Highness,” I whispered, unable to stop the tremor in my voice. “I thought…after Cassius begged…. I thought you had forgiven—”
“Forgiven?” She laughed, a sharp, cold sound that made my stomach twist. “You actually believed I would forget a slight committed by a slave? Oh, you poor, deluded thing.”
She rose from her cushioned seat, the golden embroidery of her gown shimmering as she walked closer. The torchlight behind her crowned her in an almost divine glow, if only divinity could be this cruel.
I dropped to my knees instantly, lowering my head so fast it ached. “Princess… please. It was not intentional. I had bumped into—”
“Excuses,” she snapped, and the word cracked across my cheek like a slap. “Your reasons do not matter. Your job is to obey, and you failed.”
“I beg you,” I whispered, my voice barely a sound. “I swear it won’t happen again. Please, Your Highness. Please don’t—”
“Oh, hush,” she said, tilting my chin up with the sharp tip of her nail. “I don’t want to hear your pathetic pleas. They disgust me. Look at you, shaking like a leaf. A true born slave.”
I swallowed hard, but the lump in my throat barely moved. Her eyes sparkled with a cruel delight; she wanted me afraid. She fed on it.
“Guards,” she said lazily, as if ordering a snack. “Take her outside.”
Panic exploded through me. “No….no! Princess, please!” I grabbed her gown without thinking, desperate. “Have mercy, I beg you—”
The back of her hand struck my face so hard my vision spun. Before I could regain balance, two guards grabbed my arms and hauled me upright.
“Let her go!” I cried, trying to dig my heels into the ground, but it was pointless. They dragged me out of the chamber and into the cold courtyard.
The evening wind sliced through my thin dress. I shivered, not entirely from the cold. Gracia followed at an unhurried pace, a smile playing on her lips as if she were walking toward entertainment.
“Strip her back,” she ordered.
My heart fell into my stomach. “No….please, please, Your Highness, I beg you!”
“You should have thought of that before making me wait five minutes for my tea,” she replied, her tone sickeningly casual. The guards forced me to kneel, ripping the top of my dress down until my back was bare. Goosebumps rose across my skin.
Gracia walked in front of me, her heeled boots clicking against the stones. “Do you know what your problem is?” she asked softly, leaning down until her breath brushed my ear. “You think you matter.”
A tear slid down my cheek.
“You don’t,” she whispered. “You are dirt that happened to learn how to walk.”
She straightened. “Ten lashes.”
My blood ran cold. “Princess, please! I swear I’ll do anything. I’ll work double, triple. I won’t sleep, I won’t—”
“Silence her.”
A rough hand clamped over my mouth. My scream died inside my throat.
The whip cracked through the air.
The first lash landed with a fiery sting so sharp I jerked forward, choking on my own breath. Pain exploded across my skin, burning, tearing.
Gracia watched, entirely unbothered.
The second lash made my vision blur. The third ripped a soundless cry from my lungs; I felt blood trickle down my spine. “Pathetic,” she murmured, folding her arms. “I’ve seen children endure more without tears.”
The fourth blow stole whatever remained of my strength. My arms trembled violently as I struggled to stay upright. The fifth…my body crumpled, but the guards forced me up again.
By the sixth lash, I couldn’t feel where pain ended and my body began. Each strike felt like fire eating into my bones.
The seventh tore my skin open; warm blood slid in rivulets.
The eighth made black spots dance across my vision.
“Look at her,” Gracia said with a mocking laugh. “A trembling, bleeding mess. And to think she thought she deserved forgiveness.” The ninth cracked across already raw flesh; I whimpered behind the guard’s hand.
The tenth felt like death itself had touched me. When it was done, I collapsed fully, my cheek pressed to the cold stone, breaths shallow and ragged.
Gracia crouched beside me, lifting my chin with two fingers, forcing me to meet her gaze. “Let this be a lesson,” she said softly. “You are a slave. Nothing more. And someday…”
She leaned closer, lips brushing my ear. “…I will break you completely.” She released me, and I fell back to the ground like discarded cloth. Above me, she smiled. A smile made entirely of cruelty.