Once A Princess, Now A Slave

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Kelsie's POV

D*mn it! Why does this have to happen now?!

I gritted my teeth while the smug look on my stepsister's face makes me want to rub it off her face.

"I'm fine. Secure the girls," I heard the elder say.

I look at the man. My eyes widens when I realized who it was. It's my mother's ex-boyfriend! The one I was talking with earlier.

Two girls from the crowd helped him to stand on his feet. On the other hand, Kristine is still ranting and screaming, She keeps on pointing her finger at me.

"You all saw it. She hit me first!" she ranted.

"You attacked first. I just dodged it because you were too slow," I calmly replied.

The guy in front of me is tall. He's trying his best to block my view of Kristine, but I can easily peek above his shoulder and give my stepsister a smirk to annoy her more.

"What is happening here?" A woman's voice made the crowd stop. Even I was halted from annoying my stepsister.

The audience split into two to give way to the woman. I bite my lower lip when I saw Mrs. Percy walking towards us.

As she come near us, her brows furrowed. She looked at me and Kristine alternatingly, then her eyes landed on the old man that I accidentally hit.

One of the girls handed him a clean cloth to wipe the blood under his nose. I notice a small cut on the left side of his head. The other girl pressed a leaf on the cut area and placed a bandage on top of it.

"I am asking you. What happened here?"

My eyes shifted from the man to Mrs. Percy. She travels her eyes at everyone, looking for someone who can explain to her the situation earlier. However, everyone lowered their heads and I even notice some of them walking away.

Mrs. Percy scoffed. She then landed her gaze on me. I did not move in my place nor lowered my head. I met her eyes but I did not say anything.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Kristine harshly freeing herself from the guy's hold.

"Mrs. Percy?" she called her attention. Mrs. Percy faced her with the same expression that she gave me. The difference is, Kristine is way more confident to tell her what happened.

"Kelsie fought with Laine. She hit her first and broke her arm," she says.

I almost rolled my eyes at what she said. I knew she was going to put all the blame on me!

Mrs. Percy looked at Laine who is standing on the corner with her friends. She's caressing her arm while a grimaced expression is plastered on her face.

Mrs. Percy's eyes dropped to her arms and sighed. She then shakes her head.

"I stopped Kelsie from attacking her. She got mad and attacked me too. I defended myself so we ended up fighting. Then sir tried to stop the both of us and Kelsie hit him."

"I did not mean to hit him. It was an accident."

"This won't happen if you stopped attacking people--"

"I was just defending myself. I did not start the fight!"

Kristine parted her lips to throw her rebuttal, but Mrs. Percy immediately cut us off by speaking in her most serious tone.

"I want to know who started the fight. Who threw the first punch?" she asked. She looked at the both of us, but no one answered her.

"It was Kelsie," said the girl. I looked at her and saw her standing behind Laine. She's caressing her back while Laine is looking at me with pure disgust in her eyes.

I want to arch my brow to tell her I disgust her more, but given my situation, I have to behave myself.

While glaring at me, she said, "It's true, Mrs. Percy, she hit me first, yanked my hair, and broke my arm!" she said angrily.

My jaw drop at what she said. Why does it sound like she is the victim here? She brought this to herself!

Tears started crawling down her cheeks while she angrily looked at me. The girl who spoke rubbed her back, trying to comfort her.

Mrs. Percy sighed. "Escort her to the Salutary. She needs to get treatment," she says.

The girl nod while Laine bowed her head and uttered a 'thanks' to Mrs. Percy. They both exit the room.

I am still watching their back when suddenly, another voice from the crowd resurfaced.

"It's true that Kelsie was the one who punched Laine first."

"If Kristine did not stop her, Laine would be dead meat now."

"She's too violent, Mrs. Percy. No one can stop her."

The once silent room is now filled with blame thrown at me. I glued my eyes to the floor. I did not notice my palms curling into a ball until I felt my nails digging into them.

"I think this should be talked about in private."

We all turn our heads to the elder. He wiped his nose with a white cloth that already has blotted drops of blood.

"You're right, Bane," Mrs. Percy agreed and nod at him. She then looked at the e both of us. "You two, follow me."

She did not wait for us to reply and quickly turn her back to us. Kristine harshly pushed the guy who was holding her and marched to follow Mrs. Percy. On the other hand, the guy who was blocking my view quickly stepped to the side when I throw a dagger-looking gaze at him.

I crossed my arms over my chest as I walk away from the room.

"Hold on, I forgot." Mrs. Percy is only a step closer to the door when she stopped. She raised a finger and turn to face us. "Bane, go to the Salutary. Make sure to get your wounds treated."

Mr. Bane, my mother's ex-boyfriend nod. He then chuckled. "I'm fine. It was an accident and Kelsie did not hit me that hard. My body is just too old to block a soft punch from the young ones." He looked at me and winked.

I pursed my lips to stop myself from smiling. At least I have someone in this room who sides with me.

"Fine..." Mrs. Percy looked at me and Kristine. "Let's go," she ordered.

***

We are walking up to her office. No sound can be heard except for our shoes clanking against the tiled floor.

I and Kristine are walking side by side while Mrs. Percy is in front of us. We stopped at the door of her office. She unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"Come in," she said calmly.

Even with her soft tone, I can notice the monotonous voice that she usually uses whenever she's in serious talk.

I and my stepsister stepped in. The door is narrow and only a frame of a single person can fit in. We both glared at each other when our shoulders bumped. I am too irritated at her so I did not dare stop and forced myself in. She did the same so we struggled to get inside the office.

"Sh*t!" Kristine cursed when she almost tripped onto her foot as she pushed herself to get in.

Mrs. Percy turns her face at us. We immediately fixed our stance and cleared our throats.

She sighed and shake her head at us. "Close the door," she commanded and turn her back to walk towards her desk.

I quickly held the door knob. Kristine did the same but since I was faster, her hands landed on top of mine. We looked at each other and once again glared. We both pushed the door close. Since we did not control the force, the door slammed shut, making a loud noise in the quiet room.

"You two!" Mrs. Percy shouted.

I sigh while Kristine shut her eyes closed for a second. We both walk toward her desk and stand firmly in front of her.

Mrs. Percy clasped her hands together and placed them on her desk. She looked intently at us.

"Now, I want to hear both of your sides. You first, Kristine."

Kristine did not think twice and went on with her original story.

"Like what I told earlier, Mrs. Percy, Kelsie hit Laine. She almost breaks all of her bones!" This time, I did not even try to hide the way I rolled my eyes. She's exaggerating things! "I stopped her and she got angry so she hit me. We fought and Mr. B-Bane stepped in. She then hit him."

"It was unintentional!" I intervened.

"I am not asking you, Kelsie. I was talking to your sister," she warned.

"Step-sister," I corrected.

This time, Mrs. Percy furrowed her brows at me.

"Alright, that's it! Kristine stepped out of the room. I'm going to talk to your STEP-sister," she said angrily. She even emphasizes the word 'step-sister'.

"Will she be punished--"

"I said get out," she said, cutting her off.

Kristine harshly drew a sigh. She throws aglare at me before turning her back and walking out of the room.

I did not dare watch her leave but I heard the door opening and shut.

The room was enveloped in dead silence. Mrs. Percy is looking at me with no ounce of humor on her face.

"Kelsie, we gave you a chance to retake the test..." she said, breaking the silence. I know this is the first thing she'll say. I shouldn't be surprised anymore. "Why did you waste it?" she rhetorically asked.

I lift my chin and bravely met her gaze. "Mrs. Percy, I was just defending myself." It frustrates me that no one wants to hear my side. She did not respond. I take it as a sign to continue.

"Laine was mocking me. I was cleaning the quarter when she intentionally spilled a drink on me. Instead of apologizing, she mocked me," I explained.

"That's why you broke her arm?" Mrs. Percy asked with disbelief.

I frantically shake my head.

"No, no! She was about to punch me first. I dodge her attack and twisted her arm so she can't hit me anymore!" I replied.

Mrs. Percy sighed.

"Then Kristine butt in. She said things to me--"

"Like what?"

"Like, I am using Connor to get what I want. She also said it is unfair to give me another chance. She accused me of using my connections! I was so angry because I am trying my best to do things right but she kept on insisting in others' minds that I don't exert much effort and I only got the things I have now because I was the Alpha's daughter!"

My chest rises up and down. I did not notice that my voice turned louder. This is so frustrating!

Mrs. Percy shakes her head. The disappointment on her face is evident.

"Do you think it justifies engaging in a fight INSIDE the Guardian's quarter?"

I shut my lips close. I understand what she is pointing out, but I want her to know that I did not start this!

"Guardians are supposed to help the injured, weak, and the elders. Fighting and throwing punches inside the home itself is strictly f*******n!"

Her tone rises. I can sense the anger in her but I am determined to save myself.

"But, Mrs. Percy, it was self-defense. I did not start it!"

"It doesn't matter who started the fight. What matters is how you handle it!"

Her answer made me shut my mouth. She stands on her feet and leans forward to her desk.

"Kelsie, I am expecting a lot from you. I know you since you were a kid. I watched you grow up. But this isn't something that I am expecting."

I feel like my heart fell from a high building. The emptiness in my stomach grow and my lips started quivering.

"I am sorry but I have to fail you. You hurt three people inside the quarters!"

"They hurt me too!" I yelled. Tears are now pooling in my eyes. "Why am I the only one who got punished?"

"I will also sanction Kristine and Laine. But right now, my decision is final. You're failed."

My jaw drop. My eyes are now getting blurry due to the angry tears that are forming in my lower lids. I blinked the tears away and take a deep breath.

"But Connor-- Alpha Connor allowed me to retake the test," I answered, trying to save myself from failing.

"He is allowed to give chances but since I am the head, the final decision still lies on me. I already gave you a chance, but you failed to cherish it."

A tear dropped from my left eye. I chew my lower lip. It took me a couple of seconds before I composed myself. With my bloodshot eyes, I looked at her directly in her face.

"What do you want me to do then? Let them bully and hurt me?" I said in a weak voice.

"No. As the daughter of the alpha, you are far higher than them. You should show them that you deserve the position and the privilege you are entitled to."

I did not reply to what she said. Instead, I lowered my head as the tears started running down my cheeks.

"You should be the bigger person instead of proving to them what they think of you."

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Unedited. English is not my first language. My apologies for the grammar, sentence construction, and wrong spelling.

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Once A Princess, Now A Slave

By: Joanne Cristel

©2023