The Prince and the Slave: Book One

The Prince and the Slave Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen 

Abey awoke at dawn like usual the next morning. She went to sit up, but only managed to lift her head when she realised she couldn't move. She felt herself start to panic before she remembered where she was. The Prince was still fast asleep behind her, his warm breath tickling the back of her neck. His arms were still wrapped around her waist and his legs had managed to entwine with hers during the night.

She rested her head back on the pillow and stayed in her comfy position for a while, listening to William mutter quietly in his sleep behind her and watched the sun come up through the window. She smiled and sighed contentedly.

After a while she shook her head and scolded herself, forcing her to come back to reality. Remember who he is. She told herself. More importantly, remember who you are.

She lifted her head again to see where William was holding her. She gently took hold of the hand he had over her and went to slowly move it back to rest by his side. When she had got his arm halfway across them, William murmured something and put his hand back over her stomach, pulling her tighter to him, intertwining his fingers with hers as he did so.

Abey sighed in frustration. She could tell this wasn't going to be easy. She tried a second time and successfully managed to free herself from his hold. He rolled onto his back, his legs still mixed with hers and one arm now scooped under her shoulders. He turned his head to face her as Abey tried to free her legs. She looked back up to find the Prince's face inches from hers, his handsome features painfully close.

She quickly sat up and shuffled back, sliding her legs out and freeing herself completely. She stood beside the bed and watched William's chest rise and fall as he slept. She sighed sadly to herself.

She was sure that he would never hurt her, she had been his slave for over four months now and he had never even raised his voice to her, let alone beat her, or tried anything else. He had told her himself he would never hurt her, but she remembered how others had told her that. How they had gained her trust. And then...

She shook herself out of that train of thought. William would never do that. But still, she thought, this is getting too dangerous. She turned away from the sleeping figure of the Prince and started on her usual routine, leaving him to sleep until the sun had fully rose.

William roused himself a little later, and turned to find his bed empty yet again. This was the second time in seven days that Abey had slept in his bed, and he found himself enjoying the experience of having her next to him despite himself. He just wished that she didn't insist on rising so early, and leaving him alone on the vast mattress. He wondered what she would look like in the morning before she awoke. He imagined her asleep next to him, her face peaceful and still, her dark hair giving off hints of red as the morning sun touched it through the window. He imagined himself brushing the hair out of her face and leaning down, her clear features coming closer, seeing in detail the contours of her face, her closed eyes, her nose, all the way down to her lips-

He sat up with a bolt. Woah! He steadied himself mentally. What's happening to me? He asked himself in shock. He couldn't think of a time he'd had those kinds of thoughts, and the reality scared him. Am I...? He looked over to the window to see Abey standing there, looking out over the gardens.

She looked so serene, the sun's rays outlining her body like a halo. She was the total opposite to how William had found her during the night before...

He didn't know how long he had been asleep for, when he heard quiet yelps and shouts coming from Abey's bed. The storm was still raging outside, and the fiercer it became the more violent the poor girl's cries were. He sat up and squinted through the darkness. As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he saw Abey tossing violently in her sleep, crying out into the dark.

“Please. I'll be good. I promise” she pleaded to the invisible demons of her dream.

He stepped out of bed and carefully moved towards her. As he came closer he saw the sweat running down her face and her forehead scrunched up in lines. He couldn't guess what her horrors her nightmare contained, but he couldn't bare seeing her this panicked.

He gently shook her shoulder and she awoke with a start.

“Abey, come with me”. He slowly prised her out of her sheets and led her to his bed. He knew how terrified she must be from the fact she didn't say anything or protest as he helped her get under the covers.

He went to the other side of the large bed and crawled back in to sleep. He hoped that just knowing he was near might calm her down, but she was still shaking uncontrollably, her hands over her ears.

William didn't know what he was thinking as he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her. He just knew she was scared, and that he wanted to show her everything was fine, that he would keep her safe from whatever was haunting her...

William got out of bed and went to stand behind Abey in front of the window. She looked over her shoulder as she felt his presence behind her.

“William! I was just about wake you”

William smiled and ran his hand through his tousled hair. “Good morning.” He said as Abey turned back towards the gardens. “How are you feeling? After last night, I mean. You were so scared I...” He trailed off as he lost the words to say.

“I'm fine. Thanks for...what you did” She smiled, turning around to face him. William felt his heart quicken as he realised how close they were standing in front of each other, Abey not seeming to realise the charged atmosphere in the space between them.

“It was nothing.” He smiled, embarrassed. “But can I know – it's not just that you don't like storms, is it? What happened to make you react like that?” William felt a shiver of relief as she walked away from him, and sat on the edge of his bed.

“When I was younger, they used storms as- It's one of my first memories...they used the storms as a...punishment” She looked down at her hands.

“What do you mean 'punishment'? And who?” William said from where he was standing.

“The old woman, when I first became a slave. I must have only been with her about a week. I'd been helping in the kitchen, preparing a meal or something, and she'd caught me stealing one of these little cakes from a tray. Like I said, I'd only been with her a week and I didn't understand that I couldn't just take them, I was only about six.”

“What did she do?” William pressed when she paused.

“She'd sent me to this small, dark cupboard that they'd make you sit in when you misbehaved. But I didn't like it and got out before I was told. She found me wandering around and was forced to give me a harsher punishment to teach me not to disobey.”

“The storm?”

“Yes, the storm. She had a long pole stuck in the ground in the middle of the lawn outside. It was a lightning thing, attracting the lightning to that metal sphere on top instead of the house. My punishment was being tied to the bottom of the pole during the storm. There was no chance of me being hit by lightning or killed, or anything like that. But it was still a horrible punishment. The lighting would strike all around you and the rain would be hitting your face. You'd be left out there all night in the dark until morning, when you'd be brought back inside and given clean clothes and something to eat. The Old Woman didn't want to punish us too severely, but sometimes she was forced to. I was the model slave from that day on, never stepped out of line, and I never had to go through it again, but I still can't shake those memories. And whenever there's a storm it just brings it all back, and I revert to that terrified six year old out in the dark”

“But it wasn't your fault!” William exclaimed in disbelief. The image of a little girl all alone in a monstrous storm wasn't a pleasant one.

“It was my fault. I disobeyed, twice! She only did what she had to do” Abey said, standing up and taking a deep breath. “Now let's forget all this. It's a new day, let's focus on that” She said with a smile.

William watched as she walked to the wash room, saying she would prepare it for him. He watched her go and stood where he was in shock. The answer to his earlier question had just popped into his head as he was looking at her, a mixture of pride and love and care washing over him.

I think I am. He thought in surprise.