“Let’s get one thing straight, Slave,” Vetta intoned, fastening her hand in Danika’s hair, and yanking it back to stare at her face. “You do not get to question me!”
The king’s torture was one thing, but torture from his mistress angered her—especially when she hadn’t done anything to deserve it.
Vetta saw the fire in her eyes, and it only infuriated her more. She smiled wickedly as she let go of Danika’s hair with a hard tug and stepped back. “And to answer your question as to why you’re here. You’re about to get your first torture session. One you deserve.”
Something curled up inside Danika and died. She’d always known in the back of her mind that this woman didn’t bring her here for chit-chat. The woman’s hate for her was as clear on her face as boldly written words.
For a moment—just a moment—Danika felt the urge to beg her to have mercy on her. Then, just as quickly, the feeling passed. She knew for sure that this woman would never have mercy on her, even if she rolled on the floor and pleaded from now till the creator came down to earth.
“Won’t you say anything, Slave!?” Vetta snarled angrily with an evil smile. “What? Won’t you beg me? I know you will when you find out what I have in mind.”
“If I plead, would you pardon me?” Danika asked.
“Let me think… let me think…” Vetta pretended to think about it, then gasped and grinned. “Nope, I probably would say ‘over my dead body.’”
“Then there’s no reason to plead, Mistress.” She shrugged.
Vetta hated the attitude. She came closer and slapped her cheek. Again. “Do not give me attitude, you useless slave!”
Danika decided she had nothing to lose. Vetta was about to torture her, and there was no escaping it. She might as well do what she’d been longing to do since she became a slave. Danika mustered all the energy she had and slapped Vetta so hard that the sound of it echoed in the chamber.
The guards gasped. Vetta groaned in pain, utterly stunned.
How dare she? “Tie her up! Now!” she raged angrily, her cheek hurting.
The guards rushed forward and took hold of Danika’s arms. Danika still glared at Vetta, a small smile on her lips when she saw the blood that trickled down the side of Vetta’s mouth.
“I’ll make you regret this!” Vetta vowed.
Sally had just finished buying the things from town that she needed to keep the room fresh and beautiful. She was so happy; it was all over her face as she skidded into the palace.
Suddenly, she ran headfirst into a wall. No, not a wall, a person. Her wrapped bundles fell to the ground and shattered. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking. I’m so sorry!”
She found the King’s Guard when she took several steps back and stared into the man’s face. “I’m so sorry, sir!” she cried again.
“It’s alright, Miss,” Chad said when he saw how panicked the girl had become. He bent down and helped her pick up her goods.
“No, no, no—you don’t have to worry yourself, please. I’m still so, so sorry,” she said in a rush to get him to stop helping her pick up her fallen items from the ground.
Chad helped her with all of them and placed them in her outstretched arms. “It’s nothing to worry about, Miss.”
Sally flushed and bit her lips. “I’m a slave…Sally.” The way he called her ‘miss’ made Sally feel like a privileged person when she was just a slave.
“I know you are, Miss.” He inclined his head in respect for her. “Have a nice day.”
Sally watched him as he moved past her and started down his road. The man was so polite and looked upon her like a person of respect. A thrill of pleasure ran down Sally’s body. She found it was something she liked.
Just as quickly, Sally started down her path again, smiling widely and greeting everyone she met. She stared at the wrapped bundles in her hands. She didn’t pay much for them at all. All the sellers seemed to know her from back in the days in the Mombana kingdom. Some gave it to her for free. The others sold it to her at a very cheap rate. Sally still had almost all the money she had budgeted when she went to the market. The money she made from the little time she worked as the help.
It surprised Sally when she got to the door and found it open, but couldn’t find her princess. Where was she?
“My princess?” Sally dumped everything on the table and headed out in search of her.
She started from the small laundry room at the back of the palace to the bush where some maids cut grass. None of the slaves she came across saw her.
A maid came to her when she was in the palace again. “Are you looking for the slave princess?”
“Yes, yes—please, did you see her?” Sally was out of breath from running around and searching.
The maid nodded. “The mistress took her. I saw them taking her to the dungeon.”
Sally’s heart skyrocketed. “D-dungeon?” She thanked the maid in stuttered words and took off in a race.
When Sally reached the dungeon, her eyes widened. They had tied her princess up, with her arms splayed, the clothing on her back torn, and a guard was whipping her with the devil’s whip that hurt like hell. Her back was bloody, and when Sally saw her eyes, they were red with tears. But even as another stroke of whip landed on her back, the princess didn’t make a sound at all.
“Oh, Creator!” Sally cried out, tears filling her eyes at the awful sight. She threw herself to her knees and faced the mistress.
“Please! Please, have mercy! P-please, Mistress, please! Let her go, please!” she cried sorrowfully.
Vetta kicked her. “Get out of here! How dare you burst in here and think you can do anything you want!? Get out, now!”
“No, no, no, no, please! Please, Mistress, you have to l-let her go,” Sally sobbed. “I’ll take the s-s-strokes for her, just let her go!”
“Isn’t that so generous of you!? Well, too bad. She’s the bitch I want to take it!” Vetta snarled at her.
Danika watched the woman under her eyelashes, her body hurting massively. She couldn’t stop glaring at the mistress.
Vetta saw the look and only smiled. “What? Do you feel like hitting me again? Killing me?”Slowly, she stepped close to Danika and smiled. “I’ll have you know that that’s the exact way we felt when we were being tortured.”
Danika watched the woman as she laughed in her personal space, standing so close to her as another lash of whip fell on her back.
“Too bad you can only feel. You can never do a thing about it. Nothing,” Vetta whispered in her ear. Then she snaked her hand towards the collar wrapped around Danika’s neck. She caressed the red button and watched Danika closely. “I’ve always wanted to know how you’d react to this.”
She pressed the button.
A massive shockwave traveled through Danika’s body. She cried out as her knees buckled; she would have fallen if the ropes around her hands hadn’t held her up.
Sally screamed, crying unbearably, while Vetta just laughed.
“Oh my. You do react so well to it,” Vetta drawled, watching as spasm after spasm racked Danika’s body.
Sally pleaded and pleaded, but the mistress refused. Instead, she ordered the guards to give Danika more lashes. The guards complied and continued to flog the former princess.
The sight was so painful and heartbreaking to Sally; it hurt her greatly. The mistress would never listen to her, she decided. She got up from the floor and ran out of the dungeon. The mistress wanted to kill her princess! She would not allow it! Never!
Sally needed to find help. She just needed to, and she didn’t care who she had to ask—even if it was the king!