The week has been passed with the grand celebration for the princess birthday.... it was grand as it was the first time in 12years that king of Sapphire has sent the ambassadors to Emeraldah... this made people of both kingdoms beyond happy.... though everything was grand and everyone was happy and celebrating, a sort of tension and uneasiness can be felt from the Prince...
The Chief of Staff has heard about the incident happened between Mew and p'Off and wanted to punish Mew.. a servant has disrespected an Alpha from a high class family that too an important Guest invited by the King himself.... but due to the happy occasion the chief has decided to wait until the celebration gets over... this made the young prince uneasy, though he can understand that punishment is indeed necessary and the slave he bought should know his place, he cannot shake the weird feeling gripping his heart...
He doesn't have the heart to see the slave getting punished... or is it Mew getting punished? Through the uneasiness there is also the confusion creeping towards his brain... did really Off and Tay backed of when Mew glared? Though he doesn't know about Off he know for sure that Tay is indeed a powerful alpha that too a Knight that the king personally liked... is he not a Beta? How can a slave be powerful? But why can slaves not be powerful? Though they were Beta they should be powerful than omegas atleast but why their energy is low than a omega?
As he was thinking and walking he dashed into someone and the young man in front of him almost fell if not for Gulf's quick reflex to catch him... thanks to his training all these years...
The young man was gripping tightly to him as if his life depend on him... so Gulf carefully bought the young man to a sit down under the tree in the garden that was beside the lobby he was walking...
Gulf: brother Kokliang!! You are safe now, you can let me go...
Kok: sorry my Prince...
Gulf: p' Iam your brother dont call me like that...
Kok: but
Gulf: no buts... now tell me why you were so afraid the fall might have not caused anything... just a light pain in the bum...
Kok: oiii, the prince shouldn't talk like that...
Gulf: ah dont change the subject.... tell me..
He saw Kokliang hesitating for a second....
Gulf: p' Iam your brother you can trust me...
Kok: I think iam pregnant...
Gulf: wow its amazing why didnt you say anything before... this calls for celebration...
Kok: no... iam not sure... it's just the feeling... have to wait another two weeks or so to confirm it...
Gulf: wow, brother Hiter is gonna be very happy...
Kok gave a heavy sigh...
Gulf: what p'
Kok looked at Gulf and saw the genuine concern for him..
Kok: I dont know p'Hiter is not the same now... I feel distant to him... maybe the kid can change that...
Gulf: oii, p' I know for sure he loves you... dont worry...
Kok: hmmm, why were you absent minded before?
Gulf: huh?
Kok: you know you were very distracted and bumped into me...
Gulf's mind wandered to the thoughts he was having...
Kok: see you have the confused face now.... tell me what happened..
Should he tell him? Then a thought came Kokliang was always studious so he might know answers for his confusions...
Gulf: huh p' I have some doubts!! Can you clear me...
Kok: sure if I know..
Gulf: p' is all the slaves beta?
Kok: yes
Gulf: why p'?
Kok: hmm because Alpha's can control them...
Gulf: why not omegas?
Kok: omegas can get very weak and cannot work sometime but most probably my thought was that they can be abused easily physically, mentally or even sexually so the ancestors came up with this...
Gulf: cant they come up with no slaves!!! It would have been better..
Kok: Maybe you can change that, My prince
Both Gulf and Kokliang smiled at each other..
Gulf: even though they are Beta how can they be controlled by omegas... p'Gun said their energy is also very low, why is that?
Kok: they are slaves N'Gulf... they were tamed to be obedient through series of punishment... the punishment initially weaken their wolf who is protecting them... and when they weaken the masters that train them put the shackles on them
Gulf: shackles?
Kok: yes the shackles are made up of Valyrian steal with some encryptions spell on them to break the bond between the Wolf and the human form...
Gulf: isn't it cruel... for us the wolf's are the life source.... isn't it similar to killing...
Kok: who said the world is fair... yes its cruel... but to some the slaves are just products that can be sold for profit... the shackles break the bond but doesnt kill the wolf... the wolf will be always present in them...
Gulf: so if we break the shackles, we can free them?
Kok: yes.... but breaking the shackles is not easy...
Gulf: what do you mean by that...
Kok: the suppressed wolf may go into rage and can even kill powerful and innocent lives... there are several steps to be followed before breaking the shackles...
Gulf: so how to do it...
Kok: I dont know
Gulf: u dont know?
Kok: I was not interested in these... so I didnt read it... I just learnt some facts for knowledge but I think our royal library has some texts about it... if you want you can read it...
Gulf made a face when he heard the word 'read' which made Kokliang laugh... Gulf was always an athletic one..
"Prince"..
Both of them turned to the new voice..
"P'Hiter" both said in unison...
He bowed to the prince and said, "Chief of staff asked me to inform that he is planning to punish Mew, he has requested your presence to witness the statement"..
Gulf was quite for sometime, does he want to witness this? But he wanted to go and talk to chief to reduce the punishment whatever he has in his mind.... so he nodded at them and started to walk...
Hiter started to follow him, but was stopped by Gulf.. " you can stay here with your mate"
"But prince..."
"Iam going to be inside the palace and with chief of staff, so you dont have to worry, you can stay here"...
With that said Gulf walked towards the chief's work place inside the palace with a uneasy heart...
Once the chief saw the prince he got up from his seat and offered it go the prince.... Gulf looked around the room there were minimal guards and Mew was also present... he was quite and looking down at the floor... he had no fear of the punishment... then again Gulf thought about what p'kokliang has said, they were disciplined through series of punishment...Mew is a slave and he is used to the punishment... his heart ached at the thought how could that be possible for any living beings....
Gulf: chief, what do you have in mind for the punishment?
Chief: usually in this kind of situations the servants or slaves will be flogged 40 times...
Gulf: but chief...
Chief: but every witness and evidence has been analysed.. he tried to help but then again going against a very important guest of king is punishable so it will be reduced to flogging for 20 times...
Gulf couldn't say anything other than nod... very important guest of king was the one that stopped him from questioning further... because if King got the word of this even Gulf maybe punished along with Mew...
Gulf looked at Mew who didn't even flinch on hearing the punishment he simply nodded and accepted it... this made Gulf frustrated... the other servants would have protested or begged anyone in the room but Mew just stood there... is this how all the slaves behave? Accept anything without questioning it... even if it's unfair...
"Chief dont you think it's too much"
Chief and Gulf turned to the voice that interrupted them, there p'Gun walking towards them with his own personal servants...
Chief: n'Gun.. welcome, why are you here?
Gun: I came to talk about this punishment...
Chief: what about it nong?
Gun: I think flogging is too much of a punishment afterall he just helped me... but he disrespected my Mate and p'Tay the knight of the kingdom but I think he did because Off Pushed the Prince... he just wanted to protect his master...
Chief: so you want to forgive him..
Gun: No, afterall he disrespected a powerful knight who is cherished by the king and most importantly my mate.. I just want less severe punishment...
Chief: do you have anything in your mind nong?
Gun: yes, let him be punished by kneeling on punishment stone in front of the palace for 3days...
How is this a less severe punishment? Was Gulf's thought but then again he thought about flogging it was like bloody hell... he looked at p'Gun and wondered how much power he hold, the chief didnt even protest and agreed... Gun's family is the very big traders and he was their only son... their money contributes to half the revenue of this kingdom.... making strong alliance, Gun's family is a strong alliance that King would desire. He is more powerful that the prince of the kingdom.... Gulf laughed internally at the thought... atleast he kind and friendly... but why this punishment? Gun wouldn't punish recklessly like this for petty things. But his mates pride was questioned by the slave...
Gun: my prince, p'Off formally apologise for pushing you here...
He gave a letter of apology written by Off himself and bowed to the prince..
Gulf: it's ok p'Gun... I will write my apology and send it to you too..
And everyone agreed on the punishment....
Three days has passed the days were hot and nights were cold no one could withstand this kind of punishment... Gulf wanted to go see Mew but no he could not, he stopped himself from going towards him... he heard from his trusted personal servant Mixx that Mew didnt even look tired at the end of first day... after that he stopped hearing about him...does he not feel anything?
After three days...
First thing Mew did was enter the Royal kitchen after cleaning himself.... it was breakfast time and everyone was hurrying to prepare the food... all the servants should eat only after the royals and officials that are in the palace... suddenly the Royal cook has asked him to accompany another cook to the prince's chamber... Joss begin to speak against the order as Mew hasn't ate anything for last three day, but was stopped by Mew...
Joss: Mew I will bring it to his chamber, you can rest and eat something na...
Mew: it's okay, we dont want to go against the order again and I dont want you to be punished...
Joss sighed heavily, "then let me help you carry, these looks plenty and heavy..."
The cook, Joss and Mew started to walk towards the prince chamber...
Joss: I thought working in palace would be different... but still we are treated like a slave... all the other servants ordering us like they own the place...
Mew: atleast the punishments are less and we get good food and dress
Joss: but still
Mew: remember we are still slaves or we are less than other servants atleast...
Joss: why do you say that
Mew: our shackles are not broken.... so we are slaves...
Joss: are you not hungry
Mew: little...
Joss: how could you
Mew: a night gaurd would give me water... I said no but he said its order from higher up... see the palace is not so bad...
when they entered the prince's chance Gulf was sitting on the small dinning table inside the room and had his hand on his head
"My prince the breakfast is here" he heard his personal servant Mixx say...
Gulf looked up to see the three new members in his chamber, he looked as if he was in a daze.. waved his hand as if asking them to proceed...they place the dishes on the table and put some food on the golden plate for the prince and placed in front of him... Gulf raised an eyebrow at them... all of them looked one another not knowing why the prince looking at them without eating...
Gulf: that's all...
Cook: my prince, if you want we can prepare more breakfast...
Gulf turned to Mixx..
"Mixx what did they forgot to do?"
"My prince....", even Mixx didn't know what he wanted... he looked at the cook and at the prince..
Gulf: even you dont know what did they miss???
Mixx: my prince, forgive me... if you can tell what it is we can prepare...
Gulf looked angry...
Gulf: call the royal cook and chief of staff immediately...
Mixx hesitated....
Gulf: I dont have all the time in the world call them immediately...
Mixx was little taken back at the sudden outburst, the cook was partially hiding behind Mew... Mixx immediately sent word for royal cook and chief of staff..
Both of them hurried to the prince chamber with worry written over their faces....
Chief: my prince, what happened..
Gulf: tell them what you guys did...
Cook: we bought the food prepared and served to the prince in his plate..
Gulf: then?
Cook: we dont know what we missed, but the prince says we forgot something..
Gulf turned to look at both Royal cook and chief of staff... they both looked at one another not knowing what went wrong...
Gulf: Mixx...
Mixx: my prince, please I would bring anything you want please say it...
Gulf sighed and looked at both the higher officials... both of them looked concern but still didnt know what the prince had wanted...
Gulf: should I be the food taster for whole palace... as you guys clearly forgot your role...
On hearing that chief of staff, royal cook and Mixx eyes widened and knelt before the prince.. bowing to ask for forgiveness...
On seeing their higher officials kneel Mew, Joss and the new cook also knelt before the prince...
Gulf: I dont have that much time... iam hungry...
They got up...
Chief: who brought the food here...
The three who bought came forward..
Chief: you three taste every food now, to check whether it is safe for prince to eat..
Three of them nodded...
Gulf took his plate and looked at Mew "here". Mew got the plate and looked around asking as if he can eat...
Cheif: what are you looking taste it... taste every dish...
Mew nodded and ate a piece from every dish... and placed the plate...
Gulf was looking at the other two... they went to take the plate..
Gulf: check from these vessels...
He showed them the other vessels that contained the food and they took it and ate it...
Gulf: Mixx, bring me, another plate..
Mixx went to bring another plate..
Gulf: so chief who is gonna be responsible for this...
Chief: forgive me my prince, I didnt teach them well... I will take the responsibility...
Gulf: what do you think is the punishment for this?
Chief: I will accept anything my prince..
Gulf: it's okay... I will forgive this time... but iam ordering you to teach every staff the rules of palace again... now all of you dismissed..
He waved the hand at them to move out...
Mixx: I brought the plate my prince..
Gulf: sorry I ate already I was hungry...
Mixx's eyes widen when he saw the empty golden plate...
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*# I got the Valyrian steel idea from game of thrones...
*# the last incident with food.. it's a scene from my favourite movie jodha akbar... I love that movie like crazy... I changed some but the original plot is in the movie and my most fav scene too.. it's in netflix if you guys wish to watch...
*#A food taster is a person who ingests food that was prepared for someone else, to confirm it is safe to eat.
In ancient Rome, the duty was often given to a slave (termed the praegustator). Source- Wikipedia
*# flogging - offenders (mostly those convicted of theft) were usually sentenced to be flogged "at a cart's tail" along a length of public street, usually near the scene of the crime, "until his [or her] back be bloody". (Wikipedia)
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