Curse Of The Fire Queen

Chapter 4: Game Plan

"Ahhh…please… P-please have mercy" The maid cried but this poor soul didn't know that all the people were just puppets and they would not help her.

At the 44th lash she lost consciousness and then the cruel princess ordered to drag her bloody body and put her in prison. They obeyed as per her instructions and put her in prison and left her all wounded and covered in blood with torn clothes. It feels like they have no humanity left in them.

I opened my eyes and gasped for air. Again same dream, I put my hand on my chest to normalize my breathing and look towards a small ventilation hole and the sky starts turning blue. It means only a few minutes left until sunrise. I rubbed my eyes to remove the traces of sleep and sat there to wait. After 10-15 minutes someone unlocked my door and the same old lady entered in my room with a plate of food in her hand and ordered me to eat and come outside to continue work. I nodded my head and she left.

I start giving silent answers to all because First, They didn't even care about my answers and Second I have no option other than to say 'Yes' to them so, there is no point in arguing . I start ravishing my food like a cavewoman and then go to the kitchen to wash utensils.

I started my work early today so, Till noon I finished almost half of it because of inexperience. I have slow speed but I still completed half of it. A smile crept on my face and I started mopping the lounge with a little bit of fast speed.

“Saline…Saline left the work and I have another work for you today” The old lady said and I started looking towards her.

Saline, Is my name is saline? If my name is Saline then why does this word sound so foreign to my ears?

“Are you listening? She snapped finger in front of my eyes.

“Ah..Y-yes mam, I am listening” I replied politely but her expression changed.

“Mam? Why are you calling your mother mam?” She starts asking and I don’t know how to answer her question.

If she really is my mom then why can’t I feel a connection between me and her? And then why was she silently standing in a corner with a smile with that young lady? Why does she have a smile on her face instead of tears in her eyes? I want to ask all the questions from her but it is not the right time for all these so, I can’t voice my thoughts in this situation where my voice has no value so, Case of being right and wrong is far from this.

She started yelling and scolding me with fake tears in her eyes like I really hurt her but who cares about her crocodile tears at least not me.

I start looking here and there carelessly when she sees my behavior and her anger shoots up.

“You b***h! Looks like you don’t care about me at all but surely you will care about your punishments” She said and jerked me by my arm and threw me at a distance.

I don’t care about the little scratches by her jerking and throwing but surely I do care about punishment. In the name of punishment my eyes widened with fear and she gave a sinister smile and started calling the name of someone.

“Edward…Eddie darling! Come and see what she does?” I looked towards the staircase on which the same old man had whipped me a day ago.

“You ungrateful brat! What are you doing now?” He spat out these words while looking at me angrily.

“I did nothing, I swear I did not do anything” While saying these words tears welled up in my eyes with the thought of punishment.

“Edward, She said she will not acknowledge me as her step mother and started calling me mam, I raised her for fifteen years. She was three years old when her mother died and I took her responsibility and raised her for the last fifteen years and she gave me the fruit of all my efforts by this”. She started crying loudly while hugging the old man whose name is Edward, Which I discovered a minute ago. The old lady is so dramatic that she is walling like my words really pierced her heart but only I and she knows that this whole drama is fake but her acting skills are really best.

“That’s it, I want to have mercy on her but I think your suggestion is best Valine. I am ready to act upon your advice. Prepare her”. He said and offered me an angry glare and left.

A smile crept on the old lady’s face and she called two maids and started giving them instructions.

I, on the other hand, silently stood in a corner and watched her. She is happily running from one corner to another and giving orders to the maid.

Why has she become so happy all of a sudden? And Edward left me without giving any punishment. I should be happy that he didn’t give me any punishment but my gut feeling tells me that this old cunning woman is up to something and which is definitely not good for me.

Her name is ‘Valine’ What a name exactly similar to her villainous nature. The person must be very wise who chose her name or it might be possible that he/she already saw her future. With this thought a smile crept on my face. Although I hid my smile with a fake cough, the old lady saw it already and with a sinister smile on her face started coming towards me.

I make my face void of emotions because she is too cunning beyond my imaginations and it is not a wise decision to show any emotion in front of her. When she uses your little mistakes against you clearly can’t predict. Cautious behavior is better in front of her and the young cunning lady who is always leeching with her.

“So, You are happy?” She asked and I shook my head in denial.

“No, It’s completely okay if you are happy” She might bump her head mistakenly because she can’t be serious about this.

“Smile, Laugh, do what you want because after this you will be sold as a slave in a Royal auction and then God knows what your future holds for you. You will enjoy a gift from your stepmother there”. She completed her talk with a full-blown smile and my face lost its color.

“She wants to sell me? As a slave? No, this can’t be happening, she must be joking with me”. I looked towards her with a terrified expression but she kicked me hard and ordered her maids to chain me till then to prevent me from escaping.

Two maids came and dragged me to my so-called room and started chaining me. I didn’t do anything to resist all this to happen because I know nobody will listen to me and nobody will come here to save me. This is real life, not some kind of fu*king film where a knight in the shining armor will come and save me. I have to bear this and I have to prepare my escape plan by myself because there is no way in hell that I let them sell me like some fuc*king non-living thing.