BEAST'S SLAVE - CHAPTER 1
“It’s a g-girl, your highness,”
Prince Garret froze. His hands, resting on his exhausted wife’s body, shook as he turned and looked at the palace healer.
He had secretly arranged this delivery months ago, and now they were hidden in one of the underground rooms in the palace, where his beloved wife Pandora was giving birth.
“What did you just say to me, Gonn?” Prince Garret hoped he had heard it wrong. Perhaps it had been a mistake. But the look of pity in the older man’s face couldn’t be disguised.
The palace healer turned the little bundle so the couple could get a better look. “The baby is a girl.”
A pin drop could have been heard in the silence that followed. Terror crossed Princess Pandora’s face, and she adjusted herself to get a closer look at her baby.
“No. Oh, the gods, please no…” She shook her head vigorously as fresh tears gathered in her eyes.
The palace healer understood the heart-wrenching cry of Princess Pandora too well, and tears welled up in his own eyes. “I’m so sorry, your highness,” he expressed with genuine sadness.
“No!!!” Princess Pandora cried out and buried her face into her husband’s waiting arms as sobs after sobs ripped from her throat. Prince Garret felt numb as he held his wife, then a deep sadness washed over him.
His first daughter, Aekeira, wasn’t even four yet, and the King was already negotiating with the kingdom of Cavar to sell her to the highest bidder. Because, apparently, Navia “could use more funds.”
King Orestus might be his brother, but he was a tyrant. And it didn’t help that Orestus was still holding a grudge against him for marrying Aekeira.
He had been devastated when he heard what King Orestus had planned. He and his wife had pleaded with the king over and over again—at least to wait until Aekeira came of age before “matching” her. But in the end, they really didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.
Now, another girl child?
Tears filled Prince Garrett’s eyes as he looked upon the crying little bundle wiggling around in healer’s arms. The world was not safe for his first daughter, and it also wasn’t safe for his new daughter.
And lately, King Orestus had been gathering young female children to send them away for what he called “special training” for females, where they would be trained for their roles in society.
What the hell did that even mean? What was to say that he wouldn’t take his little girl away from him?
A lot of people disagreed with the king, but Orestus was a tyrant who h@??d opposition and wasn’t scared to get his hands dirty either.
“Why does the Sky h@?? me thus!? What do I do now?” Pandora was bawling, the sounds of her cries heartbreaking.
With the assistance of Otto, Pandora’s manservant, Gonn cleaned the baby and finally placed her in her mother’s arms.
Pandora looked away. Garrett knew what his wife was doing. She was trying to detach, to begin the training all over again of knowing your child will suffer in the future and there was nothing they could do about it.
“Hold our child, my dearling,” Prince Garrett coaxed his wife.
Pandora shook her head firmly, sniffling. “No, I can’t do this again. I can’t!”
But as Gonn brought the baby over, her tiny fingers closed around Pandora’s forefinger, and the little baby’s cries slowly came to a stop. As if she instantly felt safe with her mama… trusting her mama to keep her safe.
A broken sob escaped Pandora’s lips as she instantly fell completely in love with her new baby. She had the most gorgeous baby blue eyes Pandora had ever seen.
By the gods, it’s going to break her to have this child taken from her. It’s going to ki|| her to know her child would never feel safe in this world because of predators lurking at every corner with watchful eyes.
“I’ll raise her like a boy,” Pandora declared all of a sudden. “This child will never be seen as a girl. No one will ever find out.”
“Are you suggesting we keep her identity a secret?” Gonn asked after a stunned silence.
“Yes,” Princess Pandora affirmed, her resolve strengthening. “I was unable to protect my first daughter, but by the Light-gods, I will protect my second. As far as we are concerned, the child I bore today was a male. His name is Prince Emeriel.”
Emeriel is a neutral name that means ‘Sky’s Protection’ in the old tongue. It’s fitting because her daughter would need all the luck and protection in the world.
“Only the four of us in this room will know the real identity of this baby.” The princess concluded, hugging her child to her chest.
Otto’s eyes widened, “B-but, it’s almost impossible to hide something like this, your majesty. The king might even order our execution if he ever finds out about this.”
Otto added in that unusually soft voice that people would never associate with a man unless they saw whose mouth it was coming from.
Otto’s girlish beauty was one of the reasons Pandora chose him to be her personal manservant. Unfortunately, that has also put the young man in danger a few times when men think he could pass for a woman.
“Then, we would try our best not to get caught, Otto. If possible, we should take this secret to our grave. No one can ever find out that Prince Emeriel was born female.” Prince Garrett injected, in complete agreement with his wife.
This was their best chance to keep their daughter safe, and they would take it.
With the plan fully in his mind, Prince Garrett looked at the two others in the room and swore them to secrecy. They would protect this child at all costs.
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Twenty One Years Later
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PRINCE EMERIEL
Whimpers.
Soft, pain-filled whimpers.
Rage surged through Prince Emeriel as he realized that those sounds were emanating from his elder sister’s bedchambers. Again.
Determined and fueled by anger, he stormed down the hall, his footsteps echoing with purpose.
Reaching his door, Prince Emeriel was consumed by his fury and forcefully pushed it open with all his might. The scene unfolding before him only served to intensify his fierce anger.
Inside, Lord Murphy, the Minister of Human Affairs, lay on his sister with his pants around his ankles, shamelessly indulging in the pleasures of his sister’s body, while Princess Aeikeira could do nothing but cry softly.
Prince Emeriel’s grip tightened around the hilt of his sword as he seethed with the burning desire to protect his sister. “Get away from my sister right this instant, Lord Murphy, or I swear to the Sky I will cut you down where you stand!” he barked, his voice booming with fury.
The temptation to drive his blade into the despicable old fool’s body was strong, but Prince Emeriel managed to restrain himself.
Lord Murphy’s face twisted with irritation, barely sparing Emeriel a glance. “Go away, little prince. You’re ruining the fun,” he sneered dismissively.
Emeriel h@??d that term ‘little prince,’ but surely not as much as he h@??d being called a ‘slight prince.’ Over the years, the people of Navia had given him a lot of names because of how small and feminine he looked.
Some said he was fragile-looking, like he might break when under a firm grip. Of course, he was all those things—he was a girl, after all. But they didn’t need to know that, and they would never know as long as he lived.
In his effort to dispel those ridiculous notions, he had sought to toughen up as early as he could. He learned to fight, and according to one of the palace instructors, he could even be the leader of the guards if anything happened to Prince Daviel, the current leader and King Orestus’s son and heir.
Not that being a master at swordsmanship did anything to change his stature; he barely added any muscle or firmness at all, his skin still as soft and porcelain as ever.
“Get away from my sister!” Emeriel strode purposefully toward the bed and seized hold of Lord Murphy. Utilizing every ounce of his strength, he forcefully pushed the minister away from Aeikeira.
With a satisfying thud, the old oaf tumbled to the floor, finally separated from his sister’s vulnerable body. Aekeira rose from the bed, her face red from crying, her eyes tired and swollen.
Emeriel pulled his sister into his arms, hugging her tightly. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Keira.”
“It was not your fault.” The resignation and pain in her eyes hurt Emeriel more than he cared to admit. That age-old guilt crept down his spine as he pulled back and glanced at his sister.
Aekeira was always bubbly, always happy, playful, and quite talkative, but not in times like this when her body was violated.
Mostly then she looked tired, always scared or panicked, weary of the world and always worried about the next aristocrat the king would have her over to.
Lord Murphy rose angrily, “Why the hell would you do that!? I won Princess Aekeira fair and square in the card game we played at the gathering last night. The king wagered with her and lost to me! I was supposed to have her for two hours at least!”
Emeriel whirled around to face him, eyes blazing. “If you put your hands on her again, I swear to the sky that I would cut off your male organ, Lord Murphy. I’ll gladly take wh@??ver punishment the king gives, but you will be without your manhood. Choose wisely.”
Lord Murphy’s eyes widened, his hands flew protectively over his crotch. His face reddened in anger, and he looked like he wanted to fly over his own head in rage. But in the end, he simply took his clothes and marched out of the room.
“Oh, Em, why did you do that? The king might punish you with the hot whip again.” Aekeira’s eyes were filled with worry.
“I do not care. Let us go to my room,” Emeriel could not even look his sister in the eyes. He felt dangerously close to tears. Instead, he helped Aekeira into her clothes, led her out of her chambers, and down the hallway.
Sometimes, Emeriel wondered if they would live like this if their parents were still alive. They had died from a carriage accident six years ago, and King Orestus had them moved into the main palace after that.
“Em?”
His sister’s voice penetrated his sad thought, “I’m here, Kira.”
“When I was young, it was my worst nightmare to think I would be sold to an aristocrate in Cavar, but now, I almost wish Orestus went ahead with it, instead of changing his mind.” Aekeira said as they cut through a corner that lead to the hallway of Emeriel’s chambers.
“Please, don’t say that. Cavar is legendarily rumored to be filled with heartless aristocrates who don’t just use girls as pleasure beings but also enjoy carving them up for their own pleasures. Anywhere is better than Cavar, sister. Well, anywhere except beyond the great mountain, of course.” Emeriel stated firmly.
“Here isn’t exactly that great either, Em. The only good thing in this land is you.”
Emeriel’s tears almost fell but he held it in. In his chambers, he quickly ran the bath and as Aekeira used it, he prepared a changing clothes, the bed and a herbal soothing medication.
The only good thing in this land is you.
His sister always did everything in her power to protect him. To make sure his secrets remain tightly hidden. Aekeira was ready to go through anything at all, spend the night with anyone for any price at all the king deemed fit, if it ensured that no one looked at Emeriel twice.
He might have disguised as a boy all his life but it didn’t exactly keep him all that safe…because most people of Navia might care a great deal about females, but they would still f-__-k anything with a hole, especially if that thing looks remotely feminine.
For others, they simply don’t care your gender, the rich and strong would always dominate and take advantage of the weak or poor.
So, Aekeira always protected him, even when it made her the sole target. His sister never h@??d him, but Emeriel h@??d himself for that.
Moments later, Aakeira had freshed up, now sat at the edge of the bed. Emeriel ran the comb over his sister’s wild blond locks. Aakeira was incredibly beautiful with her wavy hair that cascaded around her shoulders.
“Let me comb yours too,” Aakeira offered afterwards, even though she looked like she wanted to fall asleep.
“No, I’m good. Please, try to get some sleep here.” Emeriel did want to get his hair brushed if for no other reason but to look in the mirror and see his black hair around him. He has long straight hair that reached the middle of his back. It was a vanity he’d refused to let go off, the one part of him that reminded him of who he really is—a girl.
Once his hair is let down, it’s hard to hide his gender at all. Which was why it’s always up in a ponytail at all times except in private.
However he couldn’t afford to get his hair brushed now because he needed to go hunting. The king loved his streaks, and if Lord Murphy would rat on him, he would need all the bribe he could get.
Aekeira laid on the bed, Emeriel tucked her in and she closed her eyes. But she wasn’t sleeping, “Em?”
“Mmm,”
“Sometimes I wish…” she trailed off, swallowing tightly.
Anyone else would think she’d fallen asleep, but Emeriel knew better, “What, Keira?”
“Sometimes I wish I could leave this godforsaken Kingdom.” A single tear slipped from her eyes, “Anywhere else is better than here.”
Long after Aekeira slept, Emeriel still sat beside her watching her. Was some other kingdom really better than Navia?
This might be a terrible kingdom with an even more terrible king but according to the rumors, it rained everywhere. Most kingdoms were just as bad. Hell, some kingdoms come close to competing with the Urekai lands beyond the Great Mountains.
He would do anything to give Aekeira a better life than this, even if it meant leaving Navia. He would probably leave the rest of his life under this fake identity that has become his whole world.
No matter how much he h@??d being male, being female in this world was not an option. Apart from the deadly punishment he would get for living a lie all his life, if he doesn’t get ki||ed, the king might just sell him off to Dayan—the worse pleasure house in Navia.
So no, there was no future of him. His existence was bleak at best. But he would do anything to give Aakeira a better life. His sister was all he had in the world.
Finally, he forced himself to get up. Emeriel slowly walked to the door and closed it behind him.
As he walked out of the palace grounds, as usual he drew attention like flies, and murmurs flies behind as he walks by. Amongst those words that flew by as he passed, he could hear smatterings of it.
“He’s so pretty,”
“It’s the feminine prince,”
“No man should have a hair that gorgeous”
Emeriel ignored them all, feigning relaxation and nonchalance as he move forward, his head held high. Yet, his sense remained on alert.
As he made his way towards the lonely route that led to the woods, his chest doubled like it always did whenever he walked by these routes, and he doubled his alertness. A person could easily be attacked on these route if a person weren’t too careful. He might be the child of the king’s only brother, but that probably meant nothing in the face of desperate criminals.
When he arrived at the palace in the evening with his meats, he was almost at his door when he sighted the king’s soldiers. Emeriel wasn’t surprised when they announced that the king summons him. That old fat, Lord Murphy had ratted on him, hasn’t he?
Don’t show fear, Emeriel, remember, you’re supposed to be a strong male. Don’t show weakness like the female you are.
The peptalk did nothing for him on the inside, but on the outside, he looked calm as he dropped his deer at his door, and allowed the guards to lead him towards the courtroom.
But, his guess had been wrong—it wasn’t because Lord Murphy ratted on him. It was much worse.
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