The next morning, Danika got her slave uniform, a short gown that stopped just after the knees. She dressed and did her hair. They took her to the slave mines early, which were mostly where slaves worked day and night, helping to extract valuable minerals from the ground.
Danika saw none of her people as she walked, only the low-born of Salem. What did the king do with the people of Mombana? She asked herself again. When she started down the route to the mines, all eyes were on her. Even in a slave uniform, she looked like royalty. That regalia and pride surrounded her. She walked like the lady they trained her to be, her stance screaming royalty. She didn’t do it intentionally. Royalty was in her blood, just like the king’s, even when he was still a slave.
If not for the slave uniform, slaves would have bowed to her as she passed, mistaking her for a lady from a privileged family. But once they see the slave uniform, their hate for her became apparent. They hated her even without knowing that she had once been Princess Danika.
But as she got to the mines, the slaves knew who she was, and they treated her badly-especially the slave trainer called Karandy.
“Let her dig the new tunnel alone!” Karandy addressed the slaves. He gave her a smirk filled with loathing. “Surely you can clear a new tunnel for mining, can’t you, Priiiiincess!?”
Everyone laughed at her. Some men called her a whore. She fisted her hands and reminded herself that she had to survive this place. She must survive.”Yes. I can.” She had escaped her bedroom a time or two to watch the slaves work.
Her father had also forced her to witness torture sessions because it was his way of making her strong enough to rule one day. She had seen a lot of torture sessions, including…
She closed her eyes to banish the memory. Suddenly, a hot slap landed on her cheek, her eyes snapped open.
Pain spread through her body as Karandy stood in front of her. He yanked her hair so hard she cried out.
“You answer me properly next time, or you’ll not like the consequences. Am I making myself clear!?” he barked, his grip on her hair firm.
“Yes. Sir.”
Tears burned her eyes, but she blinked them back. No way was she giving them the satisfaction of watching her crumble.
His eyes were on the rise and fall of her breasts. He stared hungrily, and his eyes on her made her skin crawl.
“Good.” He forced himself to stare at her face. “Now, get on to work, you whore!”
Two hours later, her arms ached from digging into the ground alone. Karandy instructed others not to help her. They should work on all the old mines and leave her in the new one alone. The work of twenty slaves, and she was doing it alone. It was too much for her.
As Danika heated the hammer on the rock-hard ground, tears were fast building in her eyes again. She missed her personal maid, Sally. Her Sally. The slave girl had been her maid since she was a child. She’d come upon her torture session when Sally was just ten years old and she, Danika, was twelve.
Danika had pleaded with her father that she wanted Sally as her personal maid, but her father refused. Her father never listened to her. Ever.
And he never listened to her mother when she was alive. It took months before her father finally granted her request when he saw that she truly needed a personal maid.
Sally was the only person close to her, as close as a maid could be to a princess.
“How is it going in here?” Karandy entered the tunnel again, groaning behind her.
“I’m working…sir,” she replied hoarsely.
“In two hours you’ve only done this?” he barked, staring around.
“Youincompetent fool.” He stared at all her hard work and insulted her.
Danika said nothing like an obedient slave and continued digging, even as her muscles protested the movements. She felt heat at her back before Karandy’s body pressed against hers. His breath fanned her ear. He pushed her hair to the other shoulder, leaving her bare neck exposed to him.
“Are you tired of working as a slave, Princess?” He groaned lustfully, caressing her collar.
Danika’s body stiffened. “Leave me alone…please.”
His hands went to her breasts, and he squeezed her through her flimsy shift.
“You don’t tell me what to do, Princess.”
Danika couldn’t scream or react because she’d only make herself suffer the more.
He held her nipples and pinched them so hard her body jerked. He chuckled, and she whimpered, her nipples hurting badly.
“I can make your time here in the mines easier.” He rubbed his erection on her bottom.
“All you have to do is to give me your cunt whenever I want it.”
“I am the king’s slave. You and I know I can only s-service who the king wantsand permits.” She did her best to hide her revulsion.
He kept rubbing against her, emitting a guttural groan. “The king doesn’t need to know.”
His hold on her breasts was becoming too painful for her to bear, and tears spilled from her eyes. She bit her lip hard.
“Where’s the king’s slave!?” Baski’s voice came from outside.
Danika let out a sigh of relief as Karandy stopped touching her as if her skin burned him. He severed contact with her body.
“Think carefully about what I said, Princess. Your stay here won’t be easy. I’ll make sure of that. Besides, it’s better you consent because either way, I’ll still be fucking you.” He turned and walked out.
Danika wiped her tears. The monster wasn’t giving her a choice, even as he pretended he was.
“Where is the king’s slave?” the woman’s voice came again.
“You mean the former princess?” Karandy drawled.
“Yes.”
Danika dropped the hammer, relieved that she’d be taking a break, even if it was just for a second. “I’m here!” she called from inside the tunnel.
“The king awaits your presence in his chambers. Do not keep him waiting!” came the curt order.
The relief she felt quickly vanished. Danika wondered if she was leaving hot water for flaming oil.
Danika entered the king’s chambers to see him fully prepared and knew he was going to court.
“You called me, Master,” she greeted.
He stared at her with displeasure as he took in her dirty clothes and dirtier hands.
His gaze lingered on her cheek, and Danika knew he probably saw the red mark from the slap Karandy gave her.
He turned away from her. “Leave us,” he ordered the servants, including Chad.
They all bowed and walked away. He resumed dressing. “Get out and freshen up,
Danika. We’re going to court. Do not take more than five minutes,” he ordered her.
“To court?” Dread pulled at the pit of Danika’s belly. Slaves only went to court for the wrong reasons. And the king’s slave only goes to court for…
“Today’s your introduction as the king’s slave.” He confirmed her fears with those curt words.
Her belly dropped to her feet, and her face crumbled. The day just went from bad to worse. She wanted to plead with him desperately that she didn’t want to be ‘introduced’-that she wanted to be spared the introduction. But she knew that she’donly be wasting her time and asking for punishment.
Danika hurried away to her room while tears fell from her eyes.
She wondered how many privileged families from all over the country would be coming.
How many kings would come to ‘introduce’ her?
How many kings would have sex with her today?