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Chapter : 3. Hiding myself..

Flora's point of view:-

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The announcement we heard today in the market, made me worried. Although other girls of this kingdom are excited to become a slave of the prince, I'm not. I don't know-how can they agree to be a slave, no matter who your master is? Being a slave means your freedom will be taken from you and you have to stay locked in a place, without your family around. Although we are poor, and we don't have enough to feed ourselves with but still, being a slave is not my choice. Specially not, if they are giving gold coins for you. And the reason behind my thought is, agreeing to be a slave for money means selling yourself to them. I don't want to be sold.

This is my concept and I strictly believe in it. But I never imagined that my family carry different kinds of thoughts than me. At first, I imagined that they would strictly strive the king's orders and tell me not to attend the gathering. But the scenario was completely opposite than I imagined, when my mother informed my father. Instead of refusing the idea, they become excited to let me participate in the gathering. According to them, if I get chosen to be a slave, the 100 gold coins they get, will give them a chance to have a better life. And most of all, they will have one less stomach to feed.

They kept talking about the event the whole day. Who is going to accompany me, what will I wear, what are they going to do with that money, what my siblings will get once they have the money, etc.. But they never asked me what I want? What will I do or how would I feel once I'm out of my own house? What work they would force me to do or how they will behave with me? Nothing… It seemed like my own family doesn't care about me at all. So I also didn't mutter a word and kept doing my work.

Before the day ends, I went out to help my father with his harvesting in the field. While pulling out weeds and excess roots from the mud, few locks of my hair was falling down on my face despite the bun I made out of them. It was really disturbing me. So I tried to remove them from my face, but I got mud all over my face in that process. I would have laughed at my own condition if this situation had happened in any other day. But today, my mood was really sour because of the king's announcement.

“Flora, look… The Prince's coming.” My father called me out, and I stood up to see what he wants to show me.

A few feet distance from us, I saw a royal carriage going towards the palace. And from it, a head was peaking out and looking at us. The sun hasn't set yet, so the sharp ray was fallen directly on the head, hanging off the carriage, making me unable to see the person clearly. All I could make out from my place was that the person on that carriage, holds light brown hair. I knew the prince of South Orundal Kingdom was coming back to his house today. So I know that the person on the carriage is none other than the prince himself. But is that him?

I looked at it with wonder eyes until it disappeared from my sight. I was looking even after it was long gone while thinking, who is this person that came to our land after so long time? What is his character? What are his morals? Did he have a part in planning this gathering and choosing a slave? He must have, because why would the king do this all of a sudden, if his son doesn't agree to this. What kind of king our Prince will become if the first thing he does after returning is, taking a personal slave?

“Flora… The sun is about to set. Hurry now…” suddenly my father's call took me out of my imaginary world. However, this prince is, we will see real soon. But for now, if I don't work hard, my family would have to sleep tomorrow night with an empty stomach. So without wasting any time, I focused on my work again.

It's already dinner time, but unfortunately mother and I have to starve again for tonight. We couldn't make enough money today. So what we earned today can only feed my father, my two brothers and three sisters. This is the third time this week, we had to hide the shortage from my siblings. They are too young to realize the harsh time we are going through. But I don't have any problems today, for not getting anything to eat the whole day because I don't have a bit of appetite. The bare idea of becoming a slave has put me in a bubble of fear. I have to do something. I have to let my parents know what I want.

“Mother, father… Can I please not attend the gathering tomorrow? I don't want to be a slave. A gasp filled the whole room as soon as I said those words, like I said something horrible to them.

“What are you saying? Do you know what pleasure it is for a poor peasant like us to become a slave for the royal family? You get a better life, food to full your stomach, new clothes, and money to help your family. How can anyone reject such a good offer?” My mother and father both protest against my request.

“But I don't want to leave you guys…” I said barely above a whisper and with tearful eyes.

“Flora… This is a very good news for us. It will give all of us a chance to have a better life.” My father said.

“And honey… It's still not sure that they will choose you. So many girls around your age will be attending it tomorrow. We will see, what happens when it's time.” I couldn't say anything further after my mother said those words. If they want me to go there, I can't fight them about it. For now, I can only hope that the prince doesn't choose me.

The next day came sooner than I expected. The gathering is going to be held tonight. So my parents decided to finish our work sooner than we normally do, and I kept following their orders. At the market, I noticed a different rush going on all around. People were buying new clothes, accessories, and many more things to look presentable in the gathering. Young girl was also here and there in excitement. It made me wonder if I am the only one who is not happy about the thought of being a slave? Maybe it's not that bad as I'm thinking. But then I heard something from a group of girls that made my mind change.

“Being a Prince's personal slave means you will get a chance to be his mistress. But for that, you have to impress the prince first.”

“Is it truly possible?”

“Yes. Personal slaves can be used to sleep with too. Our Prince is a young man with warm blood. It's certain that his slave will lose her chastity the first day together. And if the prince gets attached to his slave, he might accept her as his mistress.”

“I heard that one of our king's mistresses used to be his slave once. Maybe his son will also follow in his father's footsteps…”

“Oh, my god… Being a king's mistress means you will get everything you have ever dreamt of. This is great news.”

“Yes, indeed…”

While those girls were being excited from imagining all these thoughts, my throat dried from it. I'm not that naïve to not understand what they were talking about. Although I like to stay quiet, and I don't gossip like other girls, I know everything about being a mistress or a wife. And I perfectly know what is the difference between these two titles. I could have handled being someone's slave anyhow, but not a mistress. I will not give my chastity to any other person than my husband. I am not going to attend the gathering today.

I packed up my shop sooner than my mother and told her that I'm going home before her. But the truth is I'm going to hide somewhere until the time of the gathering ends. This way my parents won't force me to go there too. There's a huge tree beside the waterfall of the river that flows through our Kingdom. The cliff of the waterfall is the end of the west border of our Kingdom. And beyond it is an empty dark forest. Although this place is really beautiful, not much people come around this part because this is the place where the female causers get their punishment.

Yes. In our Kingdom, females are thrown down this waterfall while males are beheaded. This was our queen's order when she was still alive. According to her, females are the creator of new life. So females could also get a chance to have a new life after their death sentence. Since then, the king made this decision of throwing guilty women down this waterfall. If they survive the fall, they would get the chance to have a new life out of this kingdom. If not, then may she rest in peace. Till now, there's no news about anyone's survival from this 30 foot distance fall.

Sitting under the tree, I kept enjoying the view. The river was glistening from the sunlight while the waterfall was creating a sweet melody. And in front of me lies miles of deep greenery which belongs the forest below. Although the roaring of the waterfall and the birds' continues chirping could annoy anyone, but I found it really peaceful. I don't have to worry about anything anymore. So, taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes to enjoy the soft breeze of this place and don't know when I was drifted into sleep.

“There you are. How dare you to run away? Let's go home and get ready.”

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me up from my place. I was still a little drowsy by then. But when I gained my senses, I saw my father dragging me towards home. I looked around to find that the sun has just started setting down, but it's not the time yet for the gathering to be finished. Instead, the time to attend the gathering is near. I don't know how my father found me, but he's really angry, and he is would surely be taking me to the palace today.

He dragged me all the way to our home harshly, where I found not only my mother and father, but my siblings were also searching for me here and there. Seeing us coming, they gathered in one place and kept looking at me angrily. Their eyes were glowing in a manner which seems like I have done the biggest crime of all.

“Where have you been? We've been searching for you the whole day…” my mother shouted at me.

“She was hiding near the waterfall.” My father gave her the answer.

“What were you doing there? Never mind. Come quickly and get ready. It's time. People are already started going to the palace.” My mother said, taking my hand from my father.

“Please mother, I don't want to go. Please don't send me there.” I plead to my mother. By now, I've made myself a crying mess

“Don't be such a stupid girl. Do you think we are doing this purposely? Don't you think we love you? But we are helpless. Remember what the bellman announced at the market. If they find out that we didn't listen to the king's order, they would banish is all from this kingdom. Do you want your brothers and sisters to roam around some forest or into some other Kingdom, without food or shelter? Please be the good girl you are and do as we say…”

My mother gave me a speech for which I have no answer for. What she said is right. I can't let my family to get banished from this land and roam in the streets because of me. I have to do it. For my family..