SAYA

CHAPTER 2

I follow Nabir up 2 flights of stairs and into a bedroom. She turns around smiling brightly. "I am so excited for tonight Princess."

"Don't call me princess. Just Saya, I am your equal now."

"Oh no you are not! Please don't say such." She responds with pleading eyes before she turns and heads behind a room divider. I look around the room and see it painted with gold again, but black is used to create Medieval designs which are amazing. If I could do that on my dresses, I would look great! There are two chairs and a table, about 6 feet away from the large bed, and a black wooden chest by the corner of the room. Nabir comes out with a white outfit and puts it on the bed.

"I'll help you change"

I raise an eyebrow to her in confusion

"For tonight" she continues

I still leave my eyebrow raised because I have no idea what 'tonight' is supposed to be.

"We never know what happens when he says 'tonight', what we do know is that we are supposed to dress the woman in a white outfit"

"How many women does the King have?" I ask

"Two, you will make them three. Although he hasn't married any yet."

That's good news.

"How about children?"

"None. I don't know if it's the women or the King," she says chuckling nervously. Now that's not good. But he said I'm ugly so surely he wouldn't try to do anything.

"His first woman is Cordelia, she's 27, the second is Oma, 26, she's the one you saw when you entered the throne room." He throws his women around? Remind me never to anger him.

"And...the King?"

"Oh! He's 28, and needs an heir. I don't know why he hasn't gotten one yet."

He's 28? That means he's 10 years older than me! That shouldn't matter, I can find a lover and he wouldn't care, it seems like he will take more women after me, so I shouldn't worry.  Just then, there's a knock on the door and another woman walks in, carrying a tray of food. She drops it on the table, bows and leaves.

"Eat Princess, and get dressed, we wouldn't want to anger the King." I go to the table, sit down and eat a few grapes and a pear. I'm really not that hungry, I miss my home already. After, Nabir informs me of my prepared bath which I take before I wear the white outfit. The top has no sleeves and stops after my breasts, while the skirt is long and flowing. Nabir tries to comb my hair but I take it from her to do it myself.

"I'm sorry, I have never had to dress hair like yours."

I nod and smile at her. When I'm done she smiles "You are very beautiful Princess"

Right, who would believe that. She seems to sense my doubt. "I am very-"

The door opens immediately and the King walks in. Nabir bows and leaves immediately. I stand up from the dresser, turn around, and bow my head. I begin to walk towards the door when he grabs my arm and pulls me towards him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"You, said I-"

"Look up at me, when you're talking". I raise my head and look up at his face but not his eyes.

"You said I'm just as common as anyone else, so I wanted to leave since I saw her do the same." He doesn't say anything so I look up at his eyes and see him staring at me intensely. I can't deny the sexual attraction I feel for him. He is so masculine, and handsome, but I fear him. He pushes me on the bed and climbs on top of me.

"What are you doing?" I ask as I see him remove his top. He doesn't respond and throws it across the room. I try to wiggle out from under him but he doesn't budge. "Please don't do this" I beg but he smirks at me and crashes his lips against mine. I resist and hit my hands against his chest as hard as I can. He grabs my hands and pins them above my head with his mouth still on mine. He then releases my mouth and dives into my breasts. Switching both his hands, that are pinning mine, to one, he uses the other to pull away the clothing that is restricting him full access to my breasts.

"Please, no. I don't want this" I plead again, as tears start falling. He hears my sniffles and stops to look at my face. I am crying so hard that I can't seem to control it. The tears are just pouring like a stream, and soaking my neck. He seems a bit annoyed, but mostly shocked.

"You said I'm not beautiful, and obviously not attractive so why would you want to do this to me?" I ask, my tears flowing even more. He frowns but releases my hands, gets off of me, and immediately walks out banging the door. That is when I allow myself to cry a river, adjusting my top and using my hands to cover myself. I don't want this, yes I knew what I was getting into by volunteering to be his woman, but I don't want him to take me when he doesn't feel a single thing towards me. I know my body belongs to him now, but I couldn't let him do it. It felt like I was just a toy he wanted for fun, and this feeling is heartbreaking. I am undeniably attracted to him but I didn't want it like this. Now he's angry and might just kill me tomorrow and no one would challenge him. I'm just so tired and scared, I really want to go back home. I cry for a very long time that I don't know when I fall asleep.

The sound of someone barging in my room and a loud thud wakes me up from sleep. I sit up immediately and find a woman rambling, looking annoyed and another following her in. Nabir is on the floor looking at me apologetically.  The blabbing one looks familiar.

"So this is the rat that made My Lord so angry last night that he showed me no mercy?" The first one yells. Ah! That's Oma, The King's second woman.

"That's the king's Third, My Lady" Nabir responds, still on the floor.

"You are making a huge fuss over nothing," The other woman says, Cordelia I suppose. She comes to me and pulls away the sheets to look at me.

"He didn't touch her," she says smiling.

"Yes! That's why he took it out on me!" Oma retorts, glaring at me.

"Then came to find solace in me. Relax, we both know you like our King rough on you"

"I do but yesterday was different, and it's all thanks to this rat here!"

"I am...not a rat, Lady Oma," I say quietly, tired of the insults.

"So the rat speaks" Oma laughs sarcastically.

"Hello dear, I am Cordelia, the King's first woman. If you have any questions don't hesitate to look for me. Although I doubt you would need to because the King never gives second chances," she says with a smile.

"I hope he chops off your hands and feet and sends you back to your father on all fours!"

I feel my heart beat faster. Is that what he's going to do to me?

"She's even uglier than-"

"Oma"

We all turn to the door because we recognize that deep voice. The King is standing there, clearly frustrated, mostly angry. I honestly can't decipher which. We all bow our heads "My Lord!" we say together.

"If you don't have anything better to do with your life, I can banish you on all fours"

"Forgive me My Lord, I was just upset that this one made you angry-"

"Get out!" He orders, causing all of us to flinch. Oma runs out of the room, followed by Cordelia and Nabir. I get down from the bed to do the same.

"Not you," I halt staring at my feet. He's frowning at me, I can feel it, but I don't know what to do.

"Whenever I am speaking to you, I need you to look up at me" I raise my head immediately and look at him, fear gripping me.  He stares at me for like a minute or two before he leaves the room. I release my breath, one I didn't know I had held in.  One castle, One King, Three women, drama is written all over it. I just need to find a way to get the king to forgive me, before I am actually banished on all fours.