The Vow Of The Raven Prince

I walk through a smoke-filled room, seeing these beautiful books going to waste. The only thing Kye uses them for is to keep the fire going. I walk up to his chair hesitantly. Knowing what time of the day is. Something that I hated and despised. But if I didn't do what he said, he'd lock me in the basement and harm the children. I cared for those children like they were my own, and I wouldn't let any harm come to them.  "FREYA!" Kye snaps me out of thoughts. "Yes, sir." "What took you so long? You ought to know by now that when I call for you, you are here right away." "I apologize, I was on the other end of the orphanage reading to one of the children."  "I don't care about those little brats."  "I know," I whispered under my breath. "What the hell did you say?!" Kye grabbed my hair and pulled me off my feet, I screamed and dug my fingernails into his wrist trying to get him to let go, nothing worked.  "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" He shouted again. "Nothing, I said nothing. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"  "That's better. Now make it up to me." He grabbed me by my throat and guided my mouth down his disgusting body. He unbuckled his trousers, pulling out the thing I hated the most. He forced me to put my mouth around him and begin.  *** I laid on the bed, a thin sheet covering my naked body. I shivered as his eyes drifted down my body. Every inch of my body retracted away from him.  "Oh please. You like it, Frey, you're a little w***e and you know it. This innocent little petit act isn't fooling anyone." Kye said as he got up and dressed, leaving me in pain, I walked towards the bathtub, it was the one thing he let me have. As I let the water fill up the tub, I gingerly stepped in and let the water sink into my skin. The water soon turned red. I hadn't realized I was bleeding. I cleaned myself off and got out. I took care of my wounds.  Kye was a violent man. He wasn't at first. In fact, at first, he was very sweet. That's why I took the job. Working with children, all the children here were orphans. After a few months of working, he turned violent. One night I saw him harming one of the children, I had to stop him. That's when the abuse turned to me. Except he didn't just abuse me, he r***d me too.  I slipped on a simple dress that served as a night robe and walked to my chambers. The orphanage was small, but enough for 4 rooms. Kye's room. Mine. And two rooms for the children, we had about 25 children. It was a bit cramped. But these children couldn't stay out on the streets. As I walked through the dark lobby, I heard a thundering knock on the big wooden door. I shudder. Who could that be? I stepped towards the door and heard a thundering voice.  "Royal Guard of Corvus! Open up or we're coming in!" I saw in the corner one of the children cowering. I whisper to her to go back to her rooms while I opened the door, it was raining out and hard to see, but there were possibly 5 people surrounding the door." "I apologize for being late to answer the door. I didn't hear it." "It's alright Madam. We are here on business-" "Eldridge, please allow me." A voice said beyond the short man that spoke first.  "Why don't you come in, you're soaking wet, and you'll catch a cold. I could make tea as well." "Tea is not necessary Madam." They walked in and took their hoods off, I gasped when the second man took his hood off. It was the Prince.  "My apologies Prince Theon. I did not recognize you." I spoke softly as I bowed deeply.  "No need to bow Madam. May I ask your name?"  "Freya. How may I help?"  "We are looking for this man." He held up an old ratty piece of parchment. A sketch of a man who I hadn't known.  "I'm sorry, I've never seen him before."  "Do you mind if we take a look around?" The man named Eldridge asked. "Go ahead, but please try not to scare the children, a lot of them feel threatened by authority figures. If you wish, I can wake them up and keep them in the lobby." "That won't be necessary. But how many-" He stopped short as Kye walked down the stairs.  "Prince Theon, to what do I owe the pleasure? I hope my wife here has been taking care of you." I'm not his wife. I clenched my fist to keep from saying anything. He's liable to kill me if I spoke to anyone about what happens in this orphanage.  "She's been very helpful. We are just looking for this man." The Prince helped up the paper again and said the same response as me.  "Do you, sir, own this orphanage?" "Yes, I do."  "Do you mind showing my guards around the orphanage? We are making sure every place is not hiding this man."  "Frey, darling, show these men around-" "That won't be necessary. I'd like the owner of this orphanage to show my guards around." "Of course, my Prince." Kye bowed slightly and led the guards through the orphanage. Once he was out of sight, Prince Theon spoke towards me.  "Madam Freya, is everything alright here?"  "Pardon? I'm not sure I understand what you mean?"  "Well, when he referred to you as his wife, you looked unbelievably uncomfortable. You even clenched your fists. I just assumed that-" "That I was being abused? I'm not." "Are you even his wife?" The Prince asked. "I must go check on the children!" I walked away quickly. But the Prince caught my arm, causing the shoulder on my nightgown to slide down, exposing the bruises and cuts.  "Madam. Do not lie to your Prince. I simply seek the truth." It took me a moment before I spoke. "No. I am not his wife." "Did he do that to you?" I nodded softly. I was going to die for this. Kye will kill me. "Come with me, I will protect you." "I can't."  "Yes, you can." "No. I can't leave the children. Please, Prince Theon, there is nothing that can be done. I've tried everything." He finally released me.  "Then at least meet me at the Corvus River tomorrow at twilight. I wish to speak to you again." "With all due respect-"  "Freya you will obey my order, or I will take you to the castle tonight." After a small pause and consideration, I spoke.  "I apologize My Prince. I will be there." "Please, just Theon. Unless around others, no one must know of our discussion."  "I understand." I kept my head as I excused myself to the children. Making sure they were safe and sound.  "Frey! What's going on?!" One of the children asked.  "Nothing darling. The Prince and Royal Guard are just looking for someone, it's nothing to be frightened of."  "The prince?!" One of the older girls asked. Our oldest orphan is 17, we have a few around that age. They will be under our care until their 18th summer. The rule is if they turn 18 before someone can take them in, then the Kingdom will give them money to start their lives. However, the Kingdom stopped doing that long ago, so we usually allow them to stay at the orphanage and help out. We can give them food and shelter, but our means of money are low, so we can't pay them. Although I usually sneak a few coins to them.  "Yes, the Prince," I replied.  "Can we meet him?" Guinevere, the 17-year-old, asked. "Well, I'm sure the Prince is very busy-" "Of course you can meet him!" I heard Theon's voice in the door, and I swung around quickly to see his figure standing in the doorway. Under my voice, I whispered to the children to bow. They all did. But he told them there wasn't any need for it. He seemed to be down to earth, but I still didn't understand why he wanted to help me. I'd have to be careful sneaking out tomorrow, Kye would have my head on a platter if he knew I was sneaking out to meet the Prince.  As Theon spoke to the children, Kye and the others walked in, Kye pecked my cheek and said hello. I smiled softly. But the smile didn't reach my eyes. He slid his arm behind my waist and dug his nails into my skin. His message was loud and clear, 'See I can even hurt you in front of the Prince and you can't do anything about it.' Prince Theon noticed the welling tears in my eyes. When he caught my gaze I shook my head slightly, begging him not to do anything. He nodded and left the room leading the others out the door. We bid farewell and good luck on their search. As the door shut, Kye turned to me. I braced for impact, thinking he was going to start abusing me once more.  "I need to show you something," Kye said quickly. We walked to the basement door. I had been forbidden to go down there lately. I used to be able to but lately, he has warned me not to. I never questioned it. The basement was mainly used for things we didn't have space for. But he walked over to a bookshelf and pushed it to the side. A hole was left in the bookshelf's wake. Inside was a sickly looking man chained to the wall. I gasped and gingerly walked closer to him, his eye was swollen shut, lip split. "Your job is to keep this quiet, and feed him and give him water once a day." "He-He's the man that they were looking for?" "Yes, he's the King's nephew. Some of my men kidn*pped him, leaving most of the guards searching for him and the King vulnerable. You see, I plan on taking over the throne. I have a plan."  "You'll never get what you want. They will find out and they will hang you in the town square for doing this heinous act. And I won't help you." "If they find out I have him, they will hang me, but they'll hang you, you knew and never went to anyone. That makes you just as guilty as me. And if you don't help I will begin murdering the children one by one." His sickly venomous voice rang out through the thick walls. He was right, I would be hung, and he would harm the children.  "Alright," I said softly. "PARDON! SPEAK UP FREYA!"  "I said okay, I will help."  "That's my girl. Now, how about making me some food, and then doing what you do best." He spoke with evil intent. s*x. He wanted more s*x. I nodded softly and began walking upstairs.