Danika woke up the next morning to see the entire room swept and cleaned. She didn’t need anybody to tell her it was Sally.
And speaking of Sally…
She looked around but couldn’t find her former personal maid. “Sally?” she called.
When she saw that Sally wasn’t around, she got up from the bed. The previous night was hazy. She could still remember the session. The things Chad taught her.
The things the king did to her…
Danika didn’t understand how it was possible. How could something that gave such tormenting pain give such a pleasurable sensation?
She remembered the way he was with her last night, and her insides warmed up. It was a side of him she never thought he had.
How many other sides did he have apart from the side that hated her and wanted to punish her?
The king was the most unpredictable man she had ever known. Not that she has known a lot of men.
She got up from the bed, holding the white sheet to her body, when she realised she was naked underneath it. Her jaw hurt from overuse.
She groaned miserably when she realised she fell asleep on the king’s bed. Would he punish her for it later?
Danika forced the thought out of her mind. No need to dwell on the things she couldn’t change.
Danika found her sandals cleaned and waiting beneath the bed. A smile crossed her lips as she slipped her feet into them.
The room smelled fresh. None of her clothes were in the small clothes cabinet.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Sally entered, carrying a bunch of red roses. “Good moooooorning, my princess. I see you’re wide awake now.”
“That I am, Sally.”
“How do you feel?”
“I feel very good.” Danika looked around. “This place is looking so beautiful. Thank you, Sally.”
Sally blushed at the compliment. “You know it’s nothing, my princess. You’ve always liked the place tidy and airy, and I brought roses too!” She stretched out her arms, grinning excitedly.
Danika took the bundle and sniffed it. The fresh scent of the flowers almost brought tears to her eyes. Golly, she missed this so much.
“I know how much you love them, my princess! I might not be so good in learning to read and to write, but I still remember a lot of things!” Sally enthused excitedly.
“They’re so beautiful, Sally.” Danika could barely speak with the emotion that tightened her throat. Her day always started by looking grim, and her wondering how much suffering she’d endure. But here Sally was, changing a lot of things for her.
“I know, right!?” Sally whirled towards the wardrobe and looked guilty. “I’m sorry about the clothes. I washed them because they no longer had fresh scents, even though they were still clean.”
“You should have woken me up to go wash together. I would have helped.”
Sally looked absolutely horrified at such a prospect. “No way. Never.”
Before Danika could say anything else, Sally was grinning and talking again. “I want to go into the village and get some things the room is missing. I’ll be back soon!”
“Oh, Sally. You might get in big trouble staying here with me. I love that you’re here in my room, but I don’t want you to get in trouble for leaving the palace slave’s quarters to stay with me.”
“No one cares in the palace quarters, so no one will tell on me.” Sally lowered her voice in a staged whisper. “I think Madam Baski knew I was here, and she didn’t mind. She didn’t tell on me.”
“Really?” Danika whispered too.
Sally nodded her head enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve got to go into the village, but I’ll be back reeeeeal soon!”
Danika nodded. “Alright.”
Sally stopped at the door and turned with a huge grin. “The day is looking so bright, my princess!”
Danika’s lips stretched into a big smile of its own. “The only person brightening up the day is you, Sally.”
CHAPTER 17
THE MISTRESS AND THE SLAVEA
fter Sally left, Danika made her way to the bathroom and took her bath. Then she dressed.
There was no going to the mines today because of the gemstone Sally found the previous day. The reminder made her smile a little as she put on her petticoat. Danika thought perhaps she’d go into the village too and try to find a library. It had been so long since she’d read, and she missed it terribly.
The thought firmly on her mind, Danika was putting on her slave uniform when the door suddenly burst open, and Mistress Vetta strode in like she owned the place, with two hefty guards following.
Danika bowed her head to the woman even as she fixed the last button of her dress together.
Vetta walked closer to Danika, her eyes filled with loathing. She didn’t say a word to her. Instead, she turned to the guards.
“Get her,” she ordered as she turned and marched out of the room.
Before Danika could process the command, the two men grabbed her arms and started dragging her out of the room. Her heartbeat wildly in her chest, and her breathing turned from erratic into hyperventilating. Danika always knew that the woman hated her.
Sometimes she didn’t know which of them hated her more—the king or his mistress.
“Where are y-you taking me?” she gasped, asking no one in particular, but she needing the answer all the same.
No one answered her. They dragged her through rounded hallways, and Danika recognized the routes.
It led to the underground dungeon—the place she spent her first week.
At the dungeon, they pushed her inside, and she barely caught herself. When she regained her footing, she stared at the king’s mistress as she drew closer to her.
“Well, well, well. Look who we have here,” Vetta drawled, obviously enjoying herself.
Danika’s insides quivered in fear and panic, but she didn’t let it show on the outside. She wouldn’t give this woman the satisfaction.
“What am I doing here?” she asked politely, her chin tilted in that upward manner only a royalty could attain.
Vetta stepped closer and slapped her so hard across the face, Danika’s head whipped to the side. For a full minute, she couldn’t hear a thing as her ear rang, the pain reverberating throughout her body.