by Kate Sheperd
"I'm Lilith," she replied, a bit uneasy at how they were both staring expectantly at her. They had done pretty much the same to everyone else, however, so she didn't let herself get too concerned.
"Follow me," one of the guards said, and led her though endless winding halls and staircases until he finally dropped her off in a rather grandiose room. She almost suspected that this was Draci's room, and wondered if she had been taken on such a perilous route for the express purpose of confusing her, making it impossible for her to run away.
The first reason she assumed this must be Draci's room was the elegance of the place. A large bed, big enough to host about five or six people comfortably, without them needing to touch each other, was the centerpiece of the room. A large canopy made from what looked like a silken material topped off the extravagant sleeping quarter.
Aside from the bed, there was a magnificent chandelier, a fascinating vanity with bejeweled brush, and lovely carpets made of felled and skinned beasts from some exotic planet. The room was so magnificently furnished that Lilith knew it was for the royalty of the home, even if he wasn't in sight.
"Does everything in your room suit you, Mistress Lilith?" the guard asked.
So many things about that sentence confused Lilith. She almost didn't know where to start asking questions in order to get all the answers that she needed. "I'm sorry," she began. "Could you explain what you meant by that?" she asked, just wanting him to explain why he addressed her like that, and why he said that this was her room, and asked her if it suited her. She was a slave! These weren't the types of quarters given to a slave.
"Does the room please you, madam?" the guard repeated.
"The room is nice, but why did you call it mine?" Lilith replied.
The guard was a bit dumbfounded for a moment. "I'm sorry, madam. This is your room. I wouldn't have brought you to it if it wasn't yours," he explained patiently.
"You mean that this is Master Draci's room," Lilith said. Surely that was what the guard meant. However, did this confusion arise from the fact that perhaps Draci wanted her to share a room with him? That was a less than comforting proposition.
"The whole castle is Master Draci's, in a technical sense, m'lady. But insofar as anything belongs to any resident of this castle, this room is yours. Master Draci sleeps elsewhere," the man replied patiently.
Lilith just stared at him a bit dumbstruck, then looked around the room again to make sure she wasn't just imagining what she saw here. No, the opulence of the room far exceeded what even the most generous and gentle of masters would make a slave's quarters out of.
"Sir, I'm sorry. I can't be meant for this room," Lilith said, getting a bit exhausted with how slowly this guard seemed to catch on. The situation was so clearly not right! How did he not see it?
"One moment," the guard said, and stepped out of the room. Lilith remained where she was left, not daring to sit down at the vanity, or on the bed, or the divan. She was afraid that she would get dirt on something and be punished, so she remained still for a little over fifteen minutes before the door opened, and the guard reentered. He was not alone, however. Draci followed him into the room.
"The lady is not happy with her quarters," the guard explained to Draci, whose face seemed to be growing darker and more troubled.
"Why have you taken umbrage at your home, Miss Lilith? Is it not so nice as what you enjoyed back under Lord Slorn?" Draci asked, his pitch a bit high. He was not the happiest that Lilith had ever seen him, that was for certain.
"D…Draci," Lilith began, shrinking back from him, a bit worried now. Did he really give her this room? Was it no mistake? And had she made herself seem so ungracious as to scorn it? "I thought--I mean, this can't be my room."
"What do you mean? Does it not meet your expectations?" Draci demanded. "Were you so spoiled by Slorn that my rooms do not suit you?"
"That's not it," Lilith replied, shrinking away from Draci more. "I simply never expected such an extravagant room to myself. Or am I waiting on roommates?" Lilith asked in a timid squeak.
Draci had to process this information, but when he did so, he at least was able to calm down a bit. "Oh, so you're saying that my hospitality was so far above your expectations that you thought you received it by mistake?" he asked with a chuckle. "Well, Miss Lilith, I assure you that you were not met with a mistake."
Lilith sighed in relief when Draci's temper subsided. She was starting to worry that she was in serious trouble, but now she felt a good deal safer. "I'm sorry for making you think I am ungrateful. Really, this is just so much more than I ever had expected. How do you afford to give this to your slaves?" Lilith asked.
"Well, now that we've got that settled," Draci said, pretending as though he didn't hear a word of what Lilith said after she apologized, he just pulled out his watch to check the time. "Yes, well, I've got to go. Princely duties and whatnot," Draci said.
"Wait!" Lilith said, stopping him before he could run off. Or trying to, at least.
"Hm?" Draci hummed, giving Lilith a stare that seemed to imply "this better be good."
"What am I supposed to do? What are my duties?" Lilith asked.
"This is your first day. Simply wash yourself and stay in your room. You will be given work when you are needed," Draci said, pointing off to the en-suite bathroom so Lilith saw she wouldn't have to leave the quarters to wash. Then, before she could protest, Draci left. Following his master, the guard quickly vacated as well, closing the door behind him as he went.
Just like that, Lilith was left alone in the huge room. Her first order of business was to wash, as instructed. The tub was a huge one, and there were many types of soaps and bath oils--the usage of which she got a bit confused about. Still, when she left the bathtub, she smelled like she had been frolicking through a meadow of the sweetest flowers.
After doing that, however, she could think of no better occupation than to stare at the ceiling and wait for herself to feel tired so that she might drift off to sleep. Being ordered to stay put was cruel indeed, whether it was intended to be or not.
Chapter Three
Without a clock in the bedroom, sitting around with nothing to do was undoubtedly a sort of torture for Lilith. How could it be otherwise? Her whole life she had been kept busy. Either she had work to do in the field, sewing for her mistress, or cleaning around the manor. Her days were filled with labor, only allotting small breaks to eat and enough time to sleep. Perhaps she would be allowed certain holidays to enjoy herself, but those holidays still consisted of at least six to seven hours of labor, with only a few hours left open for her to enjoy herself.
Being given a huge span of time with no work whatsoever to occupy her, as she was now, made her uneasy. The only conceivable source of entertainment in the room was a bookshelf, but a slave caught reading anything besides work-related manuals would be harshly punished on Slorn's manor, so she at first restricted herself and didn't allow her curiosity to pull her towards the bookshelf. However, there was only so much idleness her busy mind and body could stand before she got up and, as if trying to hide from some unknown pair of eyes, stealthily went over to the bookshelf and perused the volumes until she found something that looked as though it might be interesting.
The volume was titled "A Basic Field Guide to Inhabitants of the Vorox Planet, Simplified." Lilith had never read a fiction piece, and didn't really understand what the appeal was. So, she took the field guide over to the bed, and got herself comfortable under the covers before she cracked open the book and got to reading.
She mostly finished the book before she heard footsteps outside of her door. Instinctively, as a person guilty of any crime would do, she hid the book under the blanket and just returned to blankly staring at the walls. She was just in time, because no sooner did she manage to do that than the door opened and Prince Draci walked into the room.
"Hello, Lilith. Sorry I kept you waiting for so long," Draci said, gently closing the door behind him.
"Me? Wa
iting? For what?" Lilith replied.
"Well, I suppose you have been waiting. Seeing as the walls haven't been painted recently or anything," Draci replied with a bit of a laugh. "Or is staring at walls just your pastime?"
"Not normally. Normally I have work to do," Lilith replied. "I don't have pastimes."
Draci looked at Lilith as if she were some strange and foreign thing when she made that remark. "A woman without a pastime? Strange," Draci said.
"Typically, people like me don't have much time to pass," Lilith replied, and Draci smiled at the witty remark.
"Perhaps you're right, and I've simply been too spoiled to notice. Well, I've gotten a few books here for you, so you can make reading your pastime from now on," Draci said.
Lilith was astonished to hear that, because she couldn't believe that Draci would let his slaves read without a care. "Those books are for me?" she asked, just wanting to make sure that she understood.
"That's why they are in your room, Lilith," Draci replied easily. "But, enough of that. I wanted to broach a much more meaningful topic with you."
"More meaningful than reading?" Lilith asked, and wondered what that could be. Reading was quite a meaningful topic, especially to her. The permission to read was simply an act that would be hard to follow for a slave who had never been allowed to read before.
"Well, context means a lot. To me, this is more meaningful than reading. To you, I can only hope that it will be," Draci said. Lilith didn't reply, but her attention was fully on the alien before her. "Perhaps I've neglected to mention this before, but your room is a bit special compared to the fellow slaves I've taken from Slorn."
Lilith thought that this room was a bit too good to be true, so she waited to hear what conditions it would come with. "Most of the people I brought from Slorn are simply to be servants tasked with doing domestic chores around the house--but I have much larger plans for you."
"I am afraid I don't understand," Lilith replied a bit warily.
"I wish to take you as my bride, Lilith," Draci said, and Lilith instantly tensed up, staring hard at Draci as if to question what sort of a joke this was. His expression was calm, inviting even.
"I don't like people making jokes at my expense, or making fun of me," Lilith finally said.
"Then I believe we shall get along, because I can assure you, my dear, that I'm doing neither," Draci replied. Lilith's hard expression did not soften at this assurance. "If you don't believe my intentions are honorable, I should assure you that I won't force you into a marriage. I won't force you into anything."
"But you will get bored of me and throw me to the side if I don't meet your expectations?" Lilith asked, pulling the blankets around her.
Draci paused at that, remembering how he threatened what may happen if Lilith bored him while they were talking together in the small lounge on board his ship. "If you fear me, and reject every attempt at communication, perhaps I may get bored. But I won't treat you unfairly, Lilith."
Lilith didn't stop staring at Draci. She was so confused by the sentiment.
"I know this is a lot to take into consideration for you, Lilith. But, please at least keep in mind what sort of delicate position you're in before giving me a hasty ‘no,’" Draci said.
At that, Lilith felt her blood run cold as she did indeed take into consideration what would happen if she denied the proposal. Draci could send her back to Slorn, who would execute her. Otherwise, he might execute her himself for scorning his affections. At the very least, she would be given the worst possible jobs around the castle, and be made miserable for denying Draci his request.
"I can see that you're thinking. Well, continue to do so. Before you make a final determination, it's important that you think of all the different avenues of possibility," Draci said, and with that, he left.
Lilith did spend some time thinking things over. She realized on one hand that she didn't have much of a choice whether or not she could refuse Draci, but on the other hand, she had so many reasons to be reticent.
For a girl who had been a slave her entire life, and done nothing but toil, the prospect of being the princess of an affluent planet was a dream come true. In addition to that, Draci was a handsome man who had a reasonable temper. Perhaps he was no saint, but he was kind enough, and Lilith really did like him. However, there was no way he actually wanted to marry her unless something was wrong with his head. A prince had no business taking a slave as his wife.
The only thing that Lilith could figure was that it was a test or a game, and she did not appreciate being toyed with. Perhaps it was better to some people than the physical exhaustion and abuse that she'd faced before, but in her mind it was worse. This was a torment she had never had to endure before, and she didn't want to start enduring it now.
Chapter Four
Lilith awoke early the next morning, and after some deliberation decided to venture out of her room and explore the castle. Even if she had been ordered to stay in her room by Draci, she was feeling stir crazy by being cooped up in her room with nothing to do but read and worry.
So, she left the room and began exploring. The corridors she traveled were as elegantly decorated as the main foyer where she had first entered the castle. She used to believe that Slorn was a wealthy and powerful man, but Draci absolutely blew him out of the water. No wonder he had to fall silent when Draci ordered him to. The difference of wealth was amazing.
For over an hour, Lilith explored the twisting pathways of the cave until a guard seized her, quite unexpectedly. "Mistress! Where have you been?" the guard asked, turning Lilith around to face him. Though he was obviously in some distress, he was still rather gentle with her--a surprising observation to Lilith.
"Just looking around for the food hall. I wasn't brought dinner last night," Lilith replied, lying about her intentions, but not the fact that she hadn't eaten dinner.
"Is it normal for you to eat at night?" the guard asked, though he didn't give Lilith time to answer. "Master is worried. Come," the guard said, and pulled Lilith along as he led the way towards the dining room, where Draci was pacing.
"Lilith! I thought you had run away after our talk last night. I was so worried," Draci said, going over to Lilith and the guard. As the prince advanced with wide and quick strides, the guard retreated so as to be out of the way.
Lilith looked at Draci with a confused expression, and tried to push him away when he wrapped his arms around her. The nerve.
Her feeble strength didn't even seem to register to Draci, as he hugged her anyways, then led her to the table. "Stop dragging me!" Lilith protested, trying to jerk her arm away from him.
Now it was Draci's turn to look confusedly at Lilith. "Dragging you?" Draci asked.
"Yes, dragging me," Lilith grumbled.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Draci chuckled, and motioned for Lilith to take a seat. She couldn't think of much of a reason to argue with that, though she was still extremely mistrustful of Draci. She sat down and examined the table, which was loaded down with much too much food for only two people. Draci paid no heed to the amount of food, though, and filled his plate.
Lilith hesitantly followed suit, only because she was quite hungry. Then she began eating, but not without some unease.
Though Draci didn't strike her as the most observant, especially not when it came to the emotions of others, he wasn't blind to how upset and uneasy Lilith was. That absolutely needed to be addressed, so he finished his food and looked at her.
"Lilith, is something wrong with the food?" Draci asked, wiping his mouth and putting down the napkin.
"No. Not with the food," Lilith replied quietly.
"Then the atmosphere? Too much light?"
"No, not the atmosphere, either," Lilith replied.
"Then your bed must have been too soft--"
"Draci, it's none of those things," Lilith interrupted. "I just don't understand this," she said.
Draci paused, wondering what "this" meant.
"Why does a prince take interest in a slave? Explain that to me," Lilith said.
"My dear, that question doesn't make much sense. Why does anyone take interest in anyone else? They feel an attraction, of course!" Draci replied.
"But, you are a prince. Shouldn't you marry some noblewoman who has connections?" Lilith asked.
"Do you mean to say love is a transaction? What an ugly sentiment, my dear," Draci replied with a frown.
"Isn't that just how royals work?" Lilith asked.
"That would be like me asking you if you wanted to go to war with my people, because 'that's just how humans work,'" Draci replied.
Lilith paused, surprised at how poignant that answer was. "So, what will happen to me if I agree to be your wife?" Lilith asked, curious to know what exactly royal life would entail. Especially because she was coming from a slave background, she wouldn't get her hopes up too high.
"Well, I suppose it's fair for me to lay out my expectations before I make you tell me your decision. I expect that you willingly share your bed with me, or come share my bed. I expect that you spend your time with me, and that you travel with me. In return, I will support you both mentally and physically to the best of my abilities," Draci replied, laying it all out in the plainest terms he could.
Lilith was surprised to hear that the expectations that would be placed on her were more or less the expectations for any marriage. She mulled it over for a moment, before asking her next question: "So, there's no need for me to be involved in any diplomacy?"
"As far as I know, no. But, if the need does arise, you will be properly instructed," Draci replied.
"And how will your father feel about you taking a slave woman as a bride?"
"He would care only if you were unworthy. Just your beauty alone would be enough to satisfy him that such is not the case. But your wit and personality won't hurt, either," Draci replied with an ease that made it seem as though he was talking about the weather. This certainly wasn't a conversation he really had to think too much about at this point. He obviously had already done his thinking on the issue, and mulled over everything that needed mulling over.