Chapter 3
“Samantha
my darling, I have found a Prince for you to marry” the King informed his
eldest daughter.
“Ooh”
Samantha responded not sounding to thrilled about it. She knew she was 23,
ready for marriage but mentally she wasn’t ready for it at all.
“What’s
the matter sweetheart?” the King asked a little concerned by her reaction.
“Nothing
father, who is he?” she asked giving him a fake smile trying to convince her
dad.
“His
name is Prince William. Prince of our neighbour Kingdom” he said proudly this
man wanted to marry his daughter.
“When
will I meet him?” she asked sadly but with a smile.
“He
will be here in about a week. I’ve organized a ball on the evening of his
arrival day so you two can get to know each other”
“Thank
you” she said before hugging him, he never saw the sad look in her eyes when
she buried her face in his chest.
“Let’s
get ready for dinner” the King stated and Princess Samantha left the room
heading for her private wing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JC
lay in bed that night still fidgeting with the shackles around his wrists. They
weren’t tight but irritating nevertheless. They were about 5 cm long and made
of iron; it had a number on it and a hook. He wasn’t quite sure where that was
good for but he guessed it had something to do with chains, which could easily
be put in between the two shackles, bounding his wrists together. Then the
number, 803885, was that all he was now? Nothing more than a number? A slave?
Just yesterday he was lying in the grass, as free as the birds that flew above
him, calm and peaceful. Now he was someone’s property, someone owned him. He
wasn’t free anymore and he was sure he would never be free again. He would
spend the rest of his life being someone’s slave.
He
sighed heavily as he thought about the events of the day. After he’d gotten the
shackles he was guided outside by Darren. He’d gotten a ‘tour’ of the place
well he saw where he was supposed to sleep, eat and he was told what his job
would be. They’d seen that he was strong and they could certainly use a man
like him. The King had instructed Mr. Norton to let the slaves build a home for
the future Queen and her future husband. The King trusted Mr. Norton and had
told him about the upcoming wedding. The future King and Queen needed somewhere
to live together and like her bedroom wasn’t big enough, it was actually a
wing, he wanted to give his daughter a couple of new rooms in extension.
JC
was instructed to report to the carpenter early in the morning, the carpenter
who was in charge of making the new rooms the King wanted to give his daughter
once she got married. He had no idea what he was supposed to do, he had no
experience in carpentry what so ever but he guessed he would be used for the
hard work, like hauling with wood, hold things and maybe paint a few things but
he guessed that was about as far as it would go. He sighed once more, rubbing
his hands over his tired face as the harsh words of Darren invaded his mind
once again,
“You’re
new at this whole slave thing aren’t you?” Darren asked after the tour, smiling
slightly. JC nodded in response. He’d been free all his life and this was
definitely something different, he had no clue how this worked.
“Alright
well, it isn’t really that hard. We command and the slaves obey. No questions
asked” JC jerked his head up looking at Darren incredulously.
“Ooh
yeah and no eye contact, slaves are not allowed to look someone in the eye.
They should always bow there head, especially when it’s someone important.
Never. Never look the King in the eye” JC took in the information and slowly
lowered his head again, looking at the floor in front of him.
“You’re
not allowed to go around the palace unless for your work. If we do see you
there without a reason you get punished. You do something wrong, you get
punished. You disobey someone you get punished. It’s as simple as that. Do as
you’re told and you’ll be fine” he shrugged, ending his explanation while JC
thought about how ridiculous that sounded. I’ll be fine! Huh sure! JC wanted to
ask a few questions but wasn’t sure if he was allowed. Darren hadn’t mentioned
anything about asking questions although he kind of knew it wasn’t allowed, he
tried anyway.
“Can
I ask a few questions?” JC asked quietly not looking up from the floor.
“Just
a couple please” he pleaded. Darren agreed till JC’s surprise and quickly
thought of his first question.
“What
are these things for?” JC asked tugging at his shackle.
“We
can identify the slaves easier that way” was the simple reply from Darren.
“Why
did you and your friends take me with you?” JC asked sadly, regretting the
decision of ever trying to rob them from their food.
“Because
you attacked us” Darren replied with a hint of anger in voice.
“I
didn’t mean to, I was just hungry” JC said apologetically.
“Maybe
you didn’t mean to, but you did it anyway”
“That’s
not a reason to make me a slave is it?” JC asked getting a little angry
himself.
“We
decide who we make slaves not you alright?” Darren said aggravated.
“Now
shut up before you say something I’m going to have to punish you for” JC nodded
in response allowing Darren to guide him to the sleeping area. He had trouble
falling asleep that night but finally managed to push the events of the day aside
and he fell asleep just a few hours before it was time to get up again.
“Daddy?”
Katherine, Samantha’s 4 years younger sister, approached her father.
“Yes
sweetie?” the King answered his youngest daughter; he always had a weak spot
for her. She looked the most like her mother and when she died; he wanted
Katherine to be happy at all time.
“Is
it true that Sam is marrying Prince William?” she asked curiously.
“Yes,
that’s true”
“Is
he cute?” she asked.
“Katie!”
her father warned.
“Prince
William is here to marry your sister” he stated. Katherine always had the habit
of wanting everything Samantha had. It didn’t matter what. Katherine wanted to
have it all, not because it was worth having but just because she was jealous
of her older sister and thought she dissevered it more than her.
She
didn’t have that problem with her middle sister, Elizabeth, Katie wasn’t as
jealous of Elizabeth as she was of Samantha. Samantha had always been the
future queen, she was the eldest and that meant she inherited everything, which
made Katherine extremely jealous and made her want to have everything Sam had.
It
had always been that way, when they were little Katherine always wanted to have
Samantha’s dolls. The King remembered the time when he came into Samantha’s
bedroom finding her sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by all of her
broken dolls. It turned out that Katherine wanted to have the dolls but
Samantha refused and Katherine thought if I can’t have them, neither can she so
she broke all of them. Samantha, although the eldest, never fought back she
just wasn’t the type. Katherine pouted at the information and the strict look
on her father’s face softened quickly.
“You’re time will
come sweetheart. I’ll find you a Prince when the time is right ok?” her father
reasoned and she agreed. She happily hopped out of the room leaving her father
with a smile on his face.
