ONC 2022 Longlist / Top 25 The Historical Award 2022 & 2023 hosted by @HistoricalFiction / Featured by multiple profiles
In the tyrannical kingdom of Aratta, a young widowed mother returns alive from the den of a mysterious king where women go only...
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My whole body trembles like a barren branch exposed to the icy Zephyr in winter. Even the veil doesn't shield me from the fear.
My throat feels dry, parched. Heart thuds wildly inside my ribcage.
I had never thought such a fate will be mine. I had seen plenty of women succumb to injuries inflicted by a man's lust, sometimes by another woman. Being of purple blood, the daughter of a highly esteemed official, it feels like a smashing disgrace to the hierarchy of society– that a woman of noble birth as me must now die at the feet of a monster.
The door opens with a creak. I can't see anything. The world is as dark as coal and fear claws at my windpipe. Tears brim in my eyes. I take a deep breath.
It will pass.
Why, why didn't he summon Sitara? He seems to know her and even like her. The king appointed so many guards and servants for her. That widow feigned to be not interested but ultimately accepted all his gifts.
Maybe he is wanting her to grow desperate. Can't she just tame him and free all women?
Or does she enjoy this bloodbath like him?
The servants free my hands and I hear the door close behind me. Heavy steps thump on the marble floor and soon a warm breath fans my face.
"Sit on the bed." He guides me to it, making me sit in the centre. I feel rose petals all over the bed.
Tonight, I am the centerpiece. I will be the object of passion and the victim of a quiet massacre.
It is such a shame being born a woman. I will be happy if they tie my legs when disposing off the corpse.
He climbs up and comes to me. The back of his palm feels my face from over the veil, and he sniffs the fragrance of sandalwood emanating from my body. I shiver as his hand lowers and he grabs my waist.
"Lift up your veil."
I gulp, remaining still and unmoving.
"Throw away your veil."
It is an order. I do so as asked. All my life I had been taught to be obedient with a man unless it shrouds the dignity of my family. Alas, I am a bride for just a night and the dawn will see me fly for the clouds.
I pull the veil and keep it beside me, looking down and not daring to match his gaze. He must have noticed my tense features and sweaty palms. It's gelid here, the sinister want that lingers in the air turn me as pale as a ghost.
I expect him to snarl, to spit or to slap me. To command me to smile more affably and to please his godly body.
But he just lifts my chin, narrowed eyes peering into my soul and a frown on his lips.
"I had not summoned you."
My heart feels rejuvenated. Will he send me away and call Cynthia?
I decide to be polite and humble. "You had blessed me, Master. So I came."
