Chapter 2: Unwanted Savior
Her breathing was steady. She felt warm and comfortable.
When she opened her eyes, should found herself lying on a soft spring bed covered in heavy blankets. She sat up slowly, looking around the room she was in. She recognized it immediately. It was her own room, in her brother's quarters of the Den.
It was small; she lay in a single bed. There was a chair and bedside table to the right. There was a window with the beaming sun pelting in. The walls were plan brown and the curtains that hung on the window were white. She released a slow breath and looked down at herself. She was wearing the same clothes she had traveled in when she escaped from the Den. The blood was off of her face and her torn cloak removed.
Everything started to come back to her. Her escaped. The journey through the Magic Forest. The tiger who almost caught her. The man that saved her.
The man that saved her. She was sure that it was the Crown Prince who had caught her.
He didn't really save her. He simply returned her to her prison. She sat up slowly. Her body was stiff from the journey and the beating she took. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, put her elbows on her knees, and placed her head in her hands. She immediately began to sob.
How could she have been so foolish to try and escape again? She bit her bottom lip and looked out the window as the sunlight poured in. She had hoped it would be the last time. She had hoped that she would be successful or the Crown Prince would kill her for leaving. That is why she did it. She foolishly hoped she would escape. She stood up after answering her own question and moved to the window. She frowned slightly, leaning into the window frame while crossing her arms.
The window looked out into a small courtyard where other birds were sitting. Small children were playing. Serenity frowned because she wished they could be free from their bondage as well. Despite the laughter of the children ringing in the small courtyard, she knew that their mother's sat there in pain, in fear. It was only a matter of time before their master's called for them. Before something happened to enrage a tiger and prompt them to take their anger out on their slaves.
A young man walked into the courtyard from a corridor that connected to the main wing of the Den. He was tall, with a thin frame. He wore plain clothes that made his silver white hair stand out boldly. His crystal blue eyes immediately looked up to her in the window. She smiled at him lightly as they made eye contact. He moved swiftly across the yard towards the stairwell that would lead him to her room.
"Cevin," she said gently as he opened the door without knocking. He was across the room in three strides. He wrapped her small frame in his arms and lifted her chin so he looked her in the eye. "I'm sorry," she muttered.
"You scared me," he said. "You could have been killed."
Serenity sighed as she pulled out of her brother's arms to return to the bed. "In some ways that would have freed me."
"Don't think like that," he sat next to her and took her hand. "We will find a way to be free. I hate that you're giving up hope. You are letting them break you."
"I don't have any hope left to give, Cevin," she sighed heavily as tears welled in her eyes. "You know what fate waits for me. The Crown Prince…" my voice faded.
Cevin shook his head. "We have to be patient, we have to wait. Jemin and Leah made it out. They made it to Tarzaharth and we can too. But we have to do it together."
"Jemin and Leah were not the Crown Prince's personal slaves," she said coldly. She rubbed her arms that were covered in goose bumps. Cevin said nothing to her blatant comment. He just frowned and squeezed her hand. "It is best if you go, take Mela, not me. My fate is to die here but you two have a chance."
Cevin shook his head. "I can't leave you behind. I promised Mother—"
"You can't protect me," she interrupted. "No one can….I think Mother would forgive you for breaking a promise that you could never keep to begin with."
There was a sharp knock on the door. It opened before anyone could bid the person entry. Cevin stood up from his spot on the bed when a young Bali stood in the doorframe. She was dressed in hot pink silk that made her tanned skin seem all the more brown and creamy. Her dress clung to her, from her neck all the way down her legs. It was embroidered with white flowers down the sides of her breast and hips. Her jet black hair fell down her back in bouncy perfectly formed curls.
Serenity stood up at the sight of Amala Barbura. The King's personal aid.
"His Majesty, the King, demands your presence," she said coldly as she gazed at Serenity with gleaming gold eyes. There was a mild tone of disgust on her tongue. Serenity held her breath for a moment to see if the Bali would say anything else. Why would the King want to see her?
Amala brushed her hair over her shoulder. She did not wait for Serenity to respond. She turned on her heel and exited the room, leaving the door opened.
Serenity frowned and looked at the ground for a moment. "Please excuse me, brother. I must change to see the King."
"Hopefully, I will see you tonight," he said carefully.
"You know the Crown Prince will keep me for sometime if my punishment is not death," Serenity whispered sadly. Serenity didn't stay in the slave or servant quarters often. As she was the Crown Prince's personal slave he often required her to be available to him every moment of every day. Cevin kept a room for her in his small quarters in case she did visit.
"Alright," he whispered. "I'll come watch over the receiving room."
Serenity frowned but nodded her head. She wasn't sure if she wanted her brother to see her meet with the King. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to see her sentenced. There was a small gallery above the center of the Den, often referred to as the receiving room because the King received his visitors there, that allowed servants and slaves to view what was happening in the room.
Cevin left the bedroom without another word. She knew he was angry with her. But she also knew that he did not fully understand her pain or fear. She felt trapped and tortured. As devastating as it was, death sometimes seemed so much easier than this life—her life as the Crown Prince's slave was no life at all.
Serenity immediately turned to her closet, pulling open both folding doors to reveal her clothing and the bathing station. She quickly washed her entire body with a damp rag then dried off. She pinned her messy silver curls up on her head so that her shoulders and neck were revealed. On the nap of her neck there was a small circular brand with a line vertically down the center. It was the brand of the Crowned Tigerian Prince. She had been his for almost a year now…
She pulled on a strapless dress made of white chiffon. It was one of the few nice dresses she kept in her room in the slave quarters. Most of her fine clothes were in her private chamber, attached to the Crown Prince's chamber.
Crown Prince Terran Siberian had four personal female slaves. Serenity had been given to him as a birthday gift last year by the King. It did not take long for the Crown Prince to take Serenity as his favorite. She thought he liked how she defied him. He saw it as a challenge to attempt to break her to his will. Despite treating her like garbage, he also spoiled her far more than his other slaves or even servants. The other three personal slaves were jealous of her, despite being birds of the same station. She had hoped to find loyalty and friendship with them, but did not. Tigerian servants did not care for Serenity either as they felt she held more station than she deserved. She wished they all knew what she had to tolerate to gain their perceived station.
With a heavy sigh she marched out of the room and headed for the Den as she was ordered. She knew if she did not answer the King's demand, there would be hell to pay. If she was being entirely honest with herself, she wasn't sure why the King wanted to see her.
Amala was waiting for her just inside the corridor that led to the Den. Serenity kept her eyes low as she stopped next to the Bali.
"Serenity," Amala said softly. Serenity's heart lifted slightly. Her harsh tone was merely show for Cevin. Amala did not want anyone to think that she was friends with a dove, even the other birds. If anyone knew that Amala was kind to those below her it would put her position with the royal family at great risk.
"I'm sorry," Serenity said quickly as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I should have waited for your assistance. But Amala, he was going to kill me—"
"What do you think he is going to do now?" she hissed crossly. "The King is asking for you, not the Crown Prince. You have managed to enrage his Majesty."
"The Prince went to him?"
"Yes," Amala nodded. "I think your only saving grace is that Prince Theron found you before his brother."
She paused for a moment in the hall. "Prince Theron?"
Amala turned and looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Yes," she said quickly, motioning for Serenity to hurry. "I'm sure if the Crown Prince found you he would have killed you. He's livid—"
"—is he more upset that the Bengal tried to—"
"Yes," Amala said quickly.
"I'm confused. Why did he go to the King?"
Amala sighed heavily. "One of two things are about to happen, Serenity," she said quickly and sternly as she continued to march through the halls towards the main hall of the Den. "First, the Crown Prince could request you be killed as you are a completely intolerable and disobedient slave. Or, second, he could simply request to be rid of you. He'll give you away to someone else."
"The Crown Prince does not need his father's permission to kill me," Serenity said. She stopped abruptly in the hall. Amala continued to walk down the hall. She stopped a few paces ahead of Serenity and looked back over her shoulder. "You think he's sending me away?"
"No doubt, to a far worse tiger," Amala admitted sadly. "Come along."
Serenity caught up to Amala quickly but bit her bottom lip. Who could possibly be worse than the Crown Prince? She frowned again. The Crown Prince was cruel and abusive; he had hurt her in unimaginable ways physically, but she never broke to his mind games. She never gave in to his emotional and mental abuse. She never believed for a second that he had any affection for her. She never believed what he told her – that she was worthless, or a waste of space unless she was naked.
Serenity stopped short behind Amala and took a slow breath. They had arrived at the center of the Den. The King's receiving room. This was the room that the Tigerian Royal family conducted all of its official business within the realm. Serenity grasped her hands together and tried to remain calm. She did not know what fate waited for her in the receiving room. New torture? Death?
Amala pushed open the door to the room and walked straight across the hall to the Tigerian King, Tomas Siberian. She bowed low to him and motioned to Serenity who followed her slowly into the room. Amala took her place to the right of the King's throne. She placed her hands behind her back and looked down at Serenity like the rest of the tigers in the room.
Serenity was not surprised to be surrounded by tigers of the court and royal family. King Tomas sat on his throne with is fat hairy chest revealed. His hair was long, stringy and gray. He did not meet Serenity's definition of a king in the least, but she knew he had once been the strongest and most fierce Siberian in the land.
Other tigers of all varieties stood around the edge of the room. They were all dressed finely in suits or beautiful dresses. Serenity stepped forwarded and glanced up to the gallery. She saw Cevin and other birds clustered together staring down at her through the wire fence that lined the gallery. She was sure that the fencing was not always there; it had been installed when the Tigerian race began enslaving birds.
"Your Majesty," she said softly with a low bow at the waist. She stood up straight and looked King Tomas in the eye which was daring for her. He stood up from his throne, glaring at her with hatred. He stepped down towards her, grabbed the back of her neck, twisting his fingers into the feathers at the nap of her neck.
"You should be dead!" he spat. "If you were not the only female dove in the territory, you surely would be!"
Serenity said nothing. She doubted that her uniqueness was the reason she was still alive. It had more to do with Prince Theron finding her in the field and not someone else.
She held her position as he pulled on her feathers. She did not cry out or make a sound. Her eyes welled with pain but she dare not look away from the fat tiger king. He threw her to the ground. She sighed heavily as her body was still sore from the beating it took the day before. She kept her eyes on the floor as the King continued to yell at her.
"My son does not want you killed despite the monstrous pain in the ass you are! We have lost more of the royal guard to keeping you here than to thieves in the streets!"
Serenity grimaced as she glanced around the room. Where was the Crown Prince? He was not in the crowd of the Tigerian court or lurking in the shadows by Amala. None of the Princes were present. She caught Amala's eye for a moment who was also looking around at the Tigerians. She met Serenity's eye for a moment and shook her head to say she didn't know where he was. Was he not present because the King was going to kill her, despite the Crown Prince not wanting that?
Somewhere in the darkness a door could be heard opening and closing. Quickly the three Siberian Princes walked into the room. First, Prince Telson who was the youngest. He stood about six feet tall, shorter than both of his brothers, and had jet black hair and stern yellow eyes. The Crown Prince had the same black hair and yellow eyes as his youngest brother, but he was much larger. At least six and a half feet tall with massive muscles and broad shoulders. He was the next to enter the chamber. He did not look at Serenity as he followed his youngest brother across the chamber to the steps where the king stood.
Last to enter the room was Prince Theron. He was the middle brother and by far the most handsome. He was as tall as Terron with just as broad shoulders, but his muscles were more modest. They were well toned, defined and proportional. His hair was dark brown and fell in handsome long waves to his shoulders. His eyes were purple – a trait he inherited from his Mother who had passed shortly after Telson's birth. Of the three Siberian princes, Theron was the only white tiger, like his mother.
Unlike, Terron, he looked directly at Serenity with stunning violet gaze. Serenity met his eyes and felt her breath catch her in chest for a moment. He left the Den a year ago and resided in Allur along the west border. Serenity remembered the last time she had seen him like it was yesterday, despite trying with every fiber of her being to forget him.
"What have you decided?" the King asked his son.
Crown Prince Terron turned to Serenity and glared at her harshly. "Theron will take her. She is no use to me anymore."
Serenity sat up straight in shook. This couldn't be happening—of all the people to take her after Terron, it had to be Theron. She felt rage boil up in her center. She would rather stay with the Crown Prince than give Theron the pleasure of thinking he had saved her.
Theron stepped forward towards her. "Stand up," he commanded in a deep voice that echoed through the silent chamber. Serenity stood up slowly. She grinded her teeth together as she glared up at the Prince. He lifted her chin as she pierced his purple stare with her own harsh glare.
He released her chin without a word and turned to the Tigerians lining the hall. He motioned for someone to come forward. A young Bengal stepped forward, fully dressed in shining armor.
"Take her to the horses. We'll leave immediately," Theron said to his soldier
The Bengal bowed his head and grabbed Serenity's arm. He pulled her away from Theron's body and towards the exit of the receiving room. Theron turned away without another word and walked back to his family. He bowed low to the king.
"You will not stay any longer?"
"I must return to Allur," he answered his father. "It is my soldiers that keep our border safe from the panthers. I do not want to be away too long."
The king nodded his head. "Very well."
Serenity looked up at the gallery to see Cevin leaning against the fencing. She looked up at him with sad eyes but gave him a weak smile. She wished she could say good bye to him. She would probably never see him again. She watched as he pushed through the crowd of birds around him, trying to get down from the gallery to get to her. Tears welled in her eyes at his expression. The Bengal dragged her down the corridor and Cevin disappeared from view.
Within moments she was standing outside the Den in the open air near the stables. She frowned slightly as she watched the Bengal prepare the horses for them to ride to Allur. There were only two horses being prepared. She had no doubt in her mind, one was for her and the other for the Bengal. She assumed the Prince would travel in his tiger form. She crossed her arms over her chest as a breeze tickled her skin. She heard footsteps approaching behind her. She turned to see Prince Theron walking towards her with another Bengal tiger and Cevin slightly behind him.
"Cevin!" she said in surprise. She threw her arms around her brother's shoulder and clung to him.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes," she whispered. "I know I will be fine," she stressed quickly. Cevin nodded in understanding. He pushed a bag into my arms.
"I packed you some traveling clothes, Prince Theron wants you to keep your identity hidden."
She glanced at the Prince who was tightening the saddle on one of the horses. She frowned slightly. She shouldn't be so angry with him, now that she would be forever in his debt – but that is what made her so angry. He really had saved her and he was being kind to her and her brother.
"I will write you," she said quickly opening the bag. Cevin hooked her arm and escorted her away from the horses to a large pile of hay so that She could change without everyone seeing her. He stood, facing away, as she quickly pulled off the dress and threw on the men's shirt and pants he had brought. She sighed with mild annoyance because they were too large.
"Serenity," called Prince Theron. She frowned and sighed heavily as Cevin helped her pull on a long cloak.
"Keep your hood up," he said sternly. She nodded in understanding.
"I love you, brother."
"I love you, sister."
He kissed her forehead before she moved away from him. She approached the Prince who was staring at her with impatient eyes. He didn't say a word to her as he lifted her up onto the horse. She sighed quietly as his fingers grazed her waist and moved away. She swung her leg over the horse so she was straddling it easily. It took everything in her to not let her thoughts linger on the Prince's touch. She took the reins and looked to the other horse next to her.
The Bengal who had walked out with Theron and her brother mounted the horse. She recognized him as one of Theron's soldiers. If memory served correctly, his name was Joss. He was Theron's best friend and Captain. It was clear to her that both Theron and the other Bengal were going to travel in their tiger form, while Joss stayed with her to ensure she arrived in Allur. Theron no doubt knew if he allowed Serenity to travel in dove form that she would try to escape.
"Ride hard," Theron advised Joss.
"Of course, your Highness," Joss responded. "Let's go," he said to Serenity before steering his horse away from the stable. She bowed her head and gave one last look back at Cevin who waved to her as she rode away on the strong stead.
The journey to Allur was long. A large forest and barren fields divided the Den from most of the rest of Tigerian territory. Allur was on the west side of the territory, bordering the Black Morning Mountains. The mountains were so named because even with the sunrise shining on them from the east, the mountains always looked dark and forbidding. In the mountains, wild cats lived. Beyond the mountains was the panther's territory.
Besides her attempted escape through the Magic Forest, Serenity had not traveled outside of the Den since she was a small child. She was lucky if the Crown Prince gave her permission to ride a horse on the grounds. Serenity enjoyed riding, but the journey was wearing her down – her entire body was sore from the strong moving horse. Sure wasn't sure how much longer she could take it when Joss pulled his horse to a stop on the forest path.
Serenity stopped next to him with a heavy sigh. He was peering around, taking in his surroundings. This portion of the forest was not as dark or dense as the Magic Forest, but they both knew that magic still grew deep within the roots of the trees.
"We'll rest here," he said as he swung his legs off his horse. "But not for long. I doubt the Prince will be stopping."
"He'll be worried if we do not arrive soon after him."
Joss glanced at her. "Not worried, dove. Angry."
She nodded in understanding. "I don't need to rest," she lied.
Joss looked at her carefully, taking in her serious face. "You don't wish to defy him?"
"I will have plenty of time to defy his Highness when we arrive in Allur. At the moment, I would like to get to my new home. I'm exhausted and wish to take a hot bath."
"You are demanding a lot for a slave," Joss laughed as he climbed back onto his horse. He was looking at Serenity with curious eyes. She studied him for a few moments. How much did he truly know about her?
She looked at him wisely. "I have no doubt in my mind that the Prince is going to require attention from me when we arrive. I need to give myself as much time as possible to be prepared for him."
Joss nodded his head. "Let's go, dove."
They didn't speak again as they rode through the forest.
Across the fields, the sun was beginning to set behind the Black Morning Mountains. In the orange glow one could see the prepossessing white city line of Allur. Serenity had heard of the beauty of the white marble city, but to see it with her own eyes overwhelmed her with awe. It looked like a gleaming diamond at the base of the black mountains with a glowing orange background soaring over it.
The gates of the city were wide open, welcoming to all who may wish to enter. Serenity followed Joss closely as he tore through the city streets, which were almost bare. Not many tigers lived in Allur. The large city was mostly populated by Tigerian soliders and members of court who were visiting for summer vacation.
It was short ride through the city to the palace. Joss waved to the royal guard standing on the wall over the gate. The guard waved back and yelled for the gate to be opened. Slowly the iron gate lifted up to allow them entry onto the palace grounds. Serenity followed Joss easily up the white stone path to the palace doors.
A plump looking sparrow was descending the front steps of the palace as they approached.
"Lord Michael," she said in greeting but did not look him in the eye. "His Highness is waiting for you in his private study. He asked that I escort the dove to her chambers."
"Thank you, Jemma," Joss said as he slid off his horse.
"I'll call for the stable boy," she said anticipating his needs before he could speak.
Serenity stared at her curiously. Their exchange was unique, even respectful compared to what she was used to. She could not remember the last time she had seen a bird and tiger exchange words cordially.
Lord Joss Michael disappeared up the wide staircase to the palace. Jemma, the sparrow, looked at Serenity with raised eyebrows.
"So, you are Serenity," she said as she looked Serenity over. Did Jemma know who she really was to Theron?
"Yes," she responded calmly. She slipped off the horse and almost fell over from exhaustion when her feet hit the ground. Jemma stepped forward and took her arm with a strong hold.
"Come on, we'd better get you in the bath so you can relax before the Prince calls for you."
Serenity frowned slightly as she followed Jemma's lead into the palace of Allur. She wasn't so sure if Theron would call on her as everyone expected. She was sure that he knew she would not want to see him. Theron, unlike his brother, had always respected Serenity's desires.
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