BEAST'S SLAVE - CHAPTER 2
Something was very wrong.
The court was always noisy from the outside—mutterings, murmurs, arguments—they were always expected. However, as Emeriel walked down the hallway towards the courtroom door, it was surprisingly eerily quiet.
That should have been his first clue.
When the door opened and all eyes didn’t turn to gaze at him condescendingly, as they usually did when the massive entrance door made a sound, that should have been his second clue.
Instead, everyone’s eyes were fixed at the center of the king’s court. Emeriel’s eyes followed theirs, and…
He froze.
At first glance, you would see two men dressed in all-white apparel robes, with long, straight, waist-length blond hair. They appeared pretty harmless, right?
But with a second, longer glance, you would notice the muscles those robes barely concealed, the slightly elongated and pointed ears, and the incredibly unnaturally handsome faces that were completely unreadable.
They weren’t humans.
They were the Urekai. In the ancient tongue, that word means ‘fearsome beast’.
An Urekai is the most dangerous and ruthless being in existence, sworn enemies of humans. They owned the lands beyond the Great Mountain. These ones looked expensive and aristocratic.
Emeriel’s throat suddenly went dry at the sight of them. No one prays to meet an Urekai face-to-face. He certainly never thought he would see one in his entire life—and he didn’t even want to.
“What do you say, King Orestus?” one of them spoke up, interrupting the dead silence.
This Urekai was incredibly handsome, just like the other one, but he had a long scar that ran from his cheek and disappeared into his clothes. It made him look even more intimidating.
“No, this cannot happen,” King Orestus protested.
Emeriel got a good look at the king, and it did nothing to alleviate his fear when he saw that even the almighty King Orestus looked terrified. And he was doing a poor job of hiding it.
The frown on Scarred Urekai’s face deepened. Clearly, this was a being that did not take no for an answer.
“You are mistaken if you think we are giving you a choice, human king,” he said, taking a thr_@tening step forward. The ministers of the court gasped collectively and shrank back into their seats.
“Easy, Lord Vladya,” the other Urekai spoke up, his voice gentler, as if he was imploring rather than commanding.
Scarred Urekai—Lord Vladya—simply fixed the king with a hard look that would make any man tremble. “It is the least you can do, human king. Give us the princess, and we will leave quietly.”
“Not to mention that we are ready to pay for her,” the other one responded, reaching into his robe and withdrawing a large bag of coins.
Fear receded, and the king’s ears perked up with interest. “Money?”
“Not just money, there are gold coins inside too.”
Everyone gasped, including Emeriel. Those coins were rare and highly valuable.
Not-Vladya continued, “All you have to do is hand the princess over, and this bag is yours.”
Wait, what?
Princess? There was only one princess in Navia. They couldn’t possibly mean…
And that was when the grand entrance opened again, and two guards led Aekeira into the court.
No, no, no, not his sister.
Emeriel instinctively moved forward, but the guards who had escorted him in stopped his movement. He bit his lip hard, trying not to draw attention to himself, but it was incredibly difficult.
Surely, this couldn’t be what he thought it was. It had to be a dream, right?
There was no way the Urekais were here to buy his elder sister as a slave…?
However, the two guards led his sister to the center of the court, stopping a few feet away from the Urekais. The terror on Aekeira’s face mirrored Emeriel’s own feelings in that moment.
“So, let me get this straight,” King Orestus began, “All I need to do is sell her to you as a slave, and all this money is mine? There are no other conditions? Nothing else?”
“Yes,” Not-Vladya responded.
At that moment, Vladya moved forward, closing the distance between him and Aekeira. His sister was visibly shaking now, and if the rumors about the Urekais’ heightened sense of smell were true, Vladya could likely scent her fear.
Either he didn’t or the male was every bit as heartless as the legends portrayed them to be.
Vladya gently cupped Aekeira’s cheek and tilted her head to the side to get a better look. He appeared utterly disgusted, even as he said, “She’ll do.”
King Orestus picked up his gavel and struck it hard on his desk. “Sold! From this moment on, Princess Aekeira belongs to the Urekais.”
“WHAT!?” The word, filled with shocked horror, escaped Emeriel’s lips before he could stop it. Then, he found himself running towards the center of the courtroom. He fell to the floor, kneeling, his head bowed. “Please don’t sell my sister to them. Not to the Urekais! Please, your majesty.”
The king gave him a bored look. “It’s out of my hands now, Emeriel.”
It’s out of his… Emeriel couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“You can’t let this happen. She’s your niece too! How could you do this!?” Emeriel wasn’t proud that his voice turned high-pitched like a girl’s, as he practically screamed. But he didn’t care. “You know that a fate worse than death awaits her beyond the great mountain! How could you agree to sell her to them?”
“As if he has a choice,” scoffed the scarred Urekai, his deep baritone resonating with cynicism.
Emeriel whirled around to face them, anger blanketing his features. However, as he stared into those intimidating grey eyes with flicks of yellow, he couldn’t bring himself to give in to his rage.
He had read in one of the books that an Urekai had the power to take a life without physical contact. It might just be a rumor, but with his sister’s life on the line, he had no intention of testing that theory.
“I will go too. Where Aekeira goes, I go,” he said, lifting his chin defiantly.
Aekeira snapped out of her panic-induced trance, her eyes widened in terror. “No! What are you doing, Em?”
“I’m going with you,” Emeriel stated firmly.
Lord Vladya arched a perfectly shaped brow. “No. We have no need for you; we only want your sister.”
“I don’t care. Take me too. If you leave me here, I will always try to come to her. I will climb the great mountains if I have to!” Emeriel declared.
Lord Vladya laughed, but there was no humor in that cold sound. “Without the rite of passage, the great mountain will swallow you whole. You’ll never make it to the other side.”
Emeriel had also heard of that. “I’ll take my chances.”
“No! My brother is not coming,” Aekeira interjected, before turning pleading eyes to Emeriel. “Don’t do this, Em. I’m already doomed. I don’t want you to face the same fate!”
“If you come with us, you will also be taken as our slave. Urekai do not care if you’re male or female; you will serve in any way your master wants you, whether it’s in the mines or the cellar, on your back, bent over, or on your knees. If you agree to be our slave too, your freewill ends today,” Lord Vladya spoke up again. He pinned Emeriel with a stare. “Do you know what it means to be an Urekai’s slave, little human? You’re a pretty boy; you will not lack masters to service.”
A shiver ran through Emeriel’s spine, fear seeping through his core. If everything he had heard growing up and read in books were true, being an Urekai’s slave was worse than being a human’s slave.
Once he said yes, there was no going back.
“Where my sister goes, I go.”
“We did not agree to get two slaves,” the second Urekai began.
“That is settled then,” Lord Vladya stated. He reached into his robe and pulled out another bag of coins, throwing both on the floor towards the king. “We will take both.”
“Sold!” King Orestus banged his gavel again.
**************
Aekeira had cried for over an hour since they left the courtroom. At first, she had been angry, shouting at Emeriel about his foolish decision. And then, she broke down. She cried as if her heart had been shattered.
Now, they were left alone in the tiny room on the boat they were sailing in. It would take two nights to get close to the great mountain.
Emeriel remained quiet throughout his sister’s breakdown, the weight of his decision finally sinking in. By the Light-gods, he was now a slave.
Lower than a lowborn, lower than a carpet servant.
And not just any slave, but a slave to an Urekai. They were heartless, ruthless beings who despised humans after the Cleansing War that had happened five centuries ago.
He had witnessed the horrors slaves went through during his time at the palace. Their lives were not their own. And now, his sister, who was far from being a slave, was subjected to such horrendous acts too.
You’re a pretty boy; you will not lack masters to service.
A shiver of fear coursed down Emeriel’s spine. They were going to violate his body, weren’t they? They would subject him to that painful act he dreaded so much, wouldn’t they?
Emeriel had witnessed the aftermath of segzual encounters and the state it left his strong sister in. There was nothing good about it, just a humiliating act that inflicted immeasurable pain on the recipient while the perpetrator derived pleasure from it.
Emeriel swallowed the bile that rose in his throat.
“Breathe, Em. Come on,” Aekeira suddenly appeared by his side, rubbing his back. “In… and out… come on, Em.”
Emeriel was so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten how to breathe. He was panting, his lungs burning from the lack of air.
“Breathe with me, Em. Come on, my darling,” Aekeira’s voice was gentle and soothing, and Emeriel had no choice but to follow its sound. Aekeira continued rubbing his back, just above the wrap-bandage that held his B??@Å¡?s pressed against his chest. “Good girl. That’s my girl.”
AEKEIRA
Aekeira watched her little sister as she struggled to regain her composure. Em was so strong that sometimes Aekeira forgot she was actually a girl living in disguise.
But seeing the fear and dread in Em’s baby blue eyes reminded Aekeira that Emeriel was still her baby sister, no matter how tough she pretended to be.
It pained Aekeira that Em had put herself in danger as well, but she wasn’t even surprised. Em would do anything to protect her, even if it meant throwing herself into a pit of fire.
Aekeira knew that Em carried the guilt of escaping the torture of being born female, especially when she witnessed the degradation Aekeira had to endure.
Aekeira had no idea how to make Em stop feeling that guilt, as if she had to take responsibility for something that wasn’t her fault. Aekeira would gladly make that decision for Em if she were their mother. She loved her sister with all her heart and would do anything to protect her, even in this new world they were entering.
“You’re fine, you’re fine. I will do everything I can to protect you, Em. Don’t ever forget that,” Aekeira vowed, her voice cracking with emotion, and her little sister nodded vigorously, now breathing easily.
By the Light, even disguised as a boy, Emeriel was incredibly beautiful. Aekeira had never seen anyone as pretty as Emeriel, which drew the attention of everyone wherever they walked.
May the sky protect them, Aekeira silently prayed. This was certainly not what she had in mind when she prayed to be free from Navia.
Minutes later, two Urekai soldiers entered the room, extending pills to them along with a glass of water.
“Drink,” one of them commanded.
Aekeira swallowed tightly, still holding her little sister protectively. “What are those? Why should we drink them?” she asked suspiciously.
They glared at her. “Drink now, or we will force you,” the other Urekai barked, taking a thr_@tening step forward.
“Fine, fine, we’ll drink,” Aekeira stated quickly, taking the two pills and the water. She handed one to Em. Surely they hadn’t paid all that money just to ki|| them off before they even became slaves, right?
With that thought, Aekeira swallowed her pill. Em followed suit and swallowed hers too.
Minutes later, both of them lay unconscious on the floor.
.
.
.