Draco's quest

6. enslaved 2

Draco pov.

I had to clean the entire place. The kitchen, dining area, the hall way and did I tell you that this place was enormous? This palace was freaking huge! By the time I was halfway through my work, I was dead tired and just too hungry. My nose had bled awfully and blood drops kept drizzling out of my nostrils. After a huge deal of blood loss, I leaned against the wall for a few minutes, as I felt dizzy. It was hard trying to clean the floor and trying to prevent the drops of blood falling onto the floor I just cleaned. But I did by wiping off the crimson liquid from my already tattered shirt. 

My shirt had viable stains of blood, but no one bothered about it. I mean, I did meet a couple of guards and strange people as I was doing my work. But no one even bothered to give me a second look. 

That was until I came face to face with a young girl who looked like a demigoddess. Her hair was in deep shade of red with streaks of silver, that cascaded down her slender back. Her beautiful, wide brown eyes was curtained by long eyelashes. Her fair complexion was already flawless, but it was perfected by her rosy cheeks and soft lips. She held her elegant body with such confidence, that I could only wish I had at the moment. 

“Hello.” She said in a melodious voice and all I could do was blink. 

“Oh you must be new here.” She muttered and tilted her head at me. 

“You are bleeding!” she whispered, as her eyes studied my face. 

I gulped. Here an extraordinary beauty was talking to me and all I could do was stare. I shook my head. My head was still throbbing with pain and it was hard for me to focus. 

“Here. Let me help you. Otherwise your nose will be in a bad shape.” She cooed in a soft voice, once again surprising me. 

Damn it Draco! Where the hell is your voice? I scolded myself in my head.

I gawked at her as a slight smirk crooked her lips as she placed her cold fingertips on my wounded nose. She closed her eyes and started to murmur some incoherent words under her breath. I slowly felt my headache receding. By the time she opened her eyes, I felt better already.

She smiled, making my heart flutter. She was the only one who had shown me any form of care or affection in this weird world of freaks.

“Sasha!” 

Someone’s voice made her gasp and shudder. 

“I am coming!” she called out and looked at me once again. “I...... should go....” she stammered, as a frown wrinkled her forehead. 

I watched, bewildered as she ran off lifting her gown as she ran. She looked as if she was in a hurry. Perhaps she also was being bullied here? That thought didn’t sit right with me. I always despised bullies. But she certainly belonged to this place. From her rich attire and her ability to heal me instantly, told me that she too was one of them. But at least she had a heart which showed sympathy towards ‘slaves’ like me. And that made her a lot more beautiful than she already was.

I shook my head, trying to clear my head of unnecessary thoughts. 

“I better do my work.” I murmured to myself and continued to sweep and mop.

By the time I was finally able to complete cleaning, my entire body was once again begging for me to get some rest. But I better report back to Volga before anything. Besides, where was I supposed to rest anyway? 

When I entered the kitchen, Volga had already had some of the remaining broth in the pot, and when he once again grunted as he pointed towards the almost empty pot, I kind of understood that it was time for me to wash it. 

Good for me, he left me alone. I hastened to have whatever was left in that pot. It smelt fine so the taste couldn’t be that bad, isn’t it? The soup had a distinctive taste, more like seafood. And was a little spicy. It wasn’t bad and it did satisfy my hunger. I was quick to empty it out and wash the pot before I was caught. Who knew what awaited me if I was caught eating from the pot. 

At least now I can focus a little better. Volga returned. It looked like he was inspecting the whole place. To my relief, he nodded in satisfaction and gestured to me to follow him. 

Oh good Lord. Please let this be something good. As we walked along the corridor, I noticed that it was just as bright as mid day. Wasn’t the sun supposed to set? This is one hell of a place.

Bewildered by my new discovery, I looked around as I followed him. The entire palace was such a dream come true. The grand room had a transparent floor which allowed us to watch the colourful fish swim, wiggling their tails as they did. However, the interior changed as we reached what looked like a passage that led towards a set of stairs. The whole place was marbled with pure white marbles, giving it a very pure look. 

I followed Volga, still studying my surroundings. He took me down a flight of stairs which I believed led to the basement of the palace. Perhaps this part was built on land? How could I know? This was the most bizarre place I have ever seen in my entire life. As we walked down the stairs, the light of the day slowly dimmed down until we finally reached a small room, which looked like a normal bedroom to me. Though it didn’t have a bed, it did have a pillow and a blanket. 

Volga grunted, as if he wanted me to enter. Still unsure, I stepped inside, timidly, carefully scanning the place. Why was Volga putting me here? Was this part of his plan? Was he going to trick me into something? I stared at the buff, hairy man in front of me. 

“This is your room” his voice was deep and gruff and it sounded more animalistic.

“What! You can talk!” I exclaimed involuntarily. s**t! I should have stopped myself.

“Shut up human! Yes I can talk! I just don’t want to waste my time talking to a worthless piece of s**t like you!” he bellowed before slamming the door shut.

I blinked a couple of times at the closed door, unsure of how I should be feeling. A slow smirk made its way to my lips. My room? I looked around. It is a place to rest my tired bones! A place away from those control freaks! My own safe haven! What could be better than this right now? Of course, it only had a blanket and a pillow, but that was better than having to doze off on that uncomfortable stool in the kitchen. 

I love this place. Now I have a place to be myself. And perhaps get some rest. I looked around. There was nothing much but I suppose there must be a toilet. I was right. There was one attached but that was it. Thankful that I at least had access to running water, I removed my ruined shirt and pants and washed it with water to the best I could and hung it to dry, hoping that it would dry for tomorrow morning. After washing my body, I went to lie down on the blanket, stark naked. 

I didn’t have any spare clothes anyway. I was alone in this room so it was fine. After covering my n*ude body with the blanket provided, I lay down on the floor. My life had taken a hell of a turn. Let’s just hope I survive this. 

I thought about the recent events. This certainly was something I never thought was possible. I thought the worst thing that could happen was to die in one of my expeditions. Never have I thought that I would get trapped in a world so strange.

I thought about how my mom would support me the most in whatever I would want to do. She was my number one fan and my mentor. She would always tell me to never give up. No matter what life throws at me I must face it bravely. Even when my ex cheated on me, she gave me the support I needed. 

My eyes stung as I thought of her. She used to tell me that everything always happens for a reason. We may not understand it, but soon, I will find out what hidden reasons were. She was always so full of wisdom, oh how I miss her. 

A sad smile curved my lips. It has been a couple of years since she had left me. But every night I think of her. Specially when I am in a dilemma. After I caught two people who I trusted the most going behind my back, she became my best friend. I was lucky to have her in my life.

And I am thankful that I was able to make her last days enjoyable. She was diagnosed with leukaemia and when we found out it was already too late. I had watched painfully as she slowly succumbed in to he illness. The day she died was the day I lost everything. I lost my number one fan, my mentor, my best support and my best friend. I spent weeks all alone, in her memory, but then, something just snapped. I wanted to make myself busy. 

So I started to take bigger risks as an explorer after she died, because I sort of felt that there was no one who would care even if I die in one of my voyages. It had proved to be good for me, because I managed to complete lots of tough expeditions and discover new things, until I fell into this hell hole that is. 

This bizarre place was way different than any place I had seen before. I was lost deep in my thoughts when I started to find it hard to keep my eyes open. Finally I dozed off.