SAYA

CHAPTER 1

If selling me to the King isn't what my father did, then I am definitely daft. Which father in their right mind would willingly give up his daughter to a King I have never met. Unless, he wasn't the one who gave me up. I told my father to choose me out of my 4 beautiful sisters. You may think I'm crazy for me to willingly give myself to King Xerxes of Moore. Everyone from my land fears him.

A beast in battle, a heartless man and ruler whom his people fear but take pride in. Also, a heart breaker. Women would give anything to be the one he sees differently but every woman's story is the same. Noble women, other princesses, even maids and servants have tried but either get killed or kill themselves. I have never been useful to my family in any way except to stay put and look beautiful, attend events and let men dance with me. I did learn to cook, sew, and treat simple illnesses...all of which a 'woman' is supposed to learn. So as you can see, I'm useless. Unless, I learned to read and write in secret. They say women are not supposed to know all that unless they have been married to royalty and the husband gives her a go head to do so. It's to test their "loyalty" to their husband. A woman who can read and write before marriage believes she can do anything, and everything with the knowledge she has received, but she's supposed to be submissive to her husband until he grants her the go ahead to learn to read and write. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It does nothing but make women even more useless! That's why I learnt to read and write...honestly that has been the best part of my life. Sneaking in books and reading all sorts of stories of the great kings and wars that have been fought. That's how I know so much about King Xerxes.

He has conquered so much land that Moore is the largest Kingdom anyone has ever known. My Father's Kingdom, on the other hand, is pretty small. We are known for our brown skin and kinky hair. That's my pride, honestly. King Xerxes had conquered our Kingdom and the ones close to us, but decided that we could 'keep' our Kingdom if my father gave him one of his daughters. None of my sisters wanted to go so I had to. I didn't want such a unique Kingdom like ours to become part of a large one  like that. What makes us 'us' will be gone. That's why now, I am on my way to the Castle where King Xerxes awaits. He obviously just wants another toy to his collection. So long as I only serve the purpose of staying by his side, I'll be okay. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Besides, I'm not even half as beautiful as my sisters, and I definitely don't possess the curves and womanly figure they have. My breasts are really small, and my curves are there if you use a magnifying glass. The King would easily toss me aside and I can just live my life, and maybe find a lover. 

I arrive at the Castle and it is gigantic. I get down from the carriage in my gold and blue dress that I designed. The embroidery is perfect and I needed to look nice if I were to stay as one of the King's women. As I look around, I see horses walking up and down with different items. Are they preparing a feast or something? A woman a little bit shorter than I am walks up to me with her head down. Her chestnut hair is beautiful, but I don't tell her that.

"Welcome, Princess Saya of Laine. We have been expecting you"

I smile at her but don't respond. Did I mention I'm very shy? I have millions of conversations in my head but when it comes to voicing them out, it's hard.

The lady looks up at me after she didn't hear a response and I mouth "Thank you" to her which she smiles and says "I am Nabir, your personal maid and I shall take you to see the King. He has been expecting you as well." I nod and follow her.  So the king is expecting me, that's a great start right?

As we enter the Castle, the gold walls are everything! I can't help but marvel at the beauty of this castle. It is so alive with maids and guards everywhere! I hope Nabir is my only maid, conversations are just not for me. We go up a flight of stairs and appear in front of a large door. The guards there hit their spears on the floor twice which cause me to jump a bit. The door opens and Nabir nods at me which I assume is the queue to walk inside. I take small steps and keep my head down. Just then I hear someone chuckling, it sounds like...a lady? I look up to see a woman completely naked on top of a man I assume is the King. I quickly look back down not wanting to see such nudity. I have only seen the body of myself and that of my sisters when we go to play in the stream, so this one is very new to me.

"Look up," I hear a deep voice say. His voice is actually frightening. I swallow hard, look up and come face to face with the most handsome man I've ever seen. His eyes are dark blue and I can tell his body is built by the way his clothes hug his frame. The woman on top of him is still chuckling as she runs her left hand over him, keeping her eyes on me.  His intense stare causes me to involuntarily look back down.

"I never repeat an order to anyone," he says and I can tell that I might've made him upset.

I look up again and I see his eyes trailing my body which makes me so insecure. "She's a shy one my love," the woman says smiling. "Maybe we can just throw her out like the re-" and before she could complete her sentence, the King yanks her off his lap and throws her on the floor, which makes her yelp in pain. "Get out" he says and I quickly turn around to leave, fear gripping me.

"Who told you to leave?" I hear, making me freeze in my tracks. I turn around and shake my head. So he has a temper, got it.

"You're not much of a talker I suppose. But when I speak to you I demand an answer"

"Y-yes My Lord" I manage to get out.

I look to my right as I see the lady who was once on the King's lap scurrying out of the room. I turn back to get a good look at this place I believe is the throne room. The throne is large with the head of a bear at the top, with gold all over the arms of the chair. This room is large!

"I assume you know why you're here," he says as he gets up from his throne making me take an involuntary step back. He stops once he sees me do that "Scared?"

"Is that what you think?" I talk back. What in the world am I saying? I AM TERRIFIED!

He walks towards me, and with every step he takes, my heart beats faster and I try hard to control my breathing. Once he's in front of me I notice how short I am, or maybe it is just his height.

"What is your name?" he asks

"Prince-"

"I said what is your name? Here you are not a princess. You are just as common as everyone here."

"Saya, My Lord," I reply feeling my heart clench. He walks around me as he says,

"Saya, I must say I am very disappointed. I thought King Jerob would do me well by sending one of his beautiful and attractive daughters, but instead he sends...you"

I already know I'm not pretty, he doesn't need to rub it in.

"Anyway, the deed has already been done. We'll just have to see if the outer can make up for..."

He grabs my waist from behind and slams we into his chest which makes me gasp. He whispers in my ear "...the inside"

He lets me go and calls out

"Nabir!"

Nabir comes running in and bows her head "Yes, My Lord"

"Prepare her for tonight"

Tonight?