Slave to Destiny

Chapter 4

“Rule number one, you will do as your told,” Master Corban explained in a harsh voice as he paced back and forth in front of the line full of new slaves. We had not even made it past the entrance hall before Corban felt the need to lay down the rules of the house. As he spoke I stared at his jagged sharp teeth. He seemed so animalistic. It was ironic that I was the one with an animal inside of me.

“Rule number two, you will do all chores.”

“Rule number three, you will refer to us as Master or Mistress.”

“Rule number four, you will be silent unless spoken to.”

“Rule number five, you will not escape. The rest you will learn on your own,” he informed us, before roughly grabbing a deathly thin female who had been standing off in the corner. “Now follow Dana, she will explain everything to you.” With that he stormed out of the room. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

Dana stood nervously in front of us fiddling with the hem of her patched blue jean dress. Her thick brown hair looked matted an in complete disarray from lack of treatment. Maybe she was in her twenties, but the excessive amount of labor she’d been forced to endure had aged her. Why Corban would choose her to explain anything to us I don’t know. A silent tear slid down her face. I looked at the silver collar wrapped around her neck, and felt the anger rise in the pit of my stomach.

“Are you okay?” I asked her softly much to the surprise of the four slaves also in line with me.

Her eyes stared up at me in surprise. She scanned my face as if she was trying to place it. Perhaps she hadn’t been in servitude for too long. Maybe she actually knew me. “Come with me,” she whispered to us, before darting up the stairs. We all followed quickly behind her. I couldn’t explain it. For whatever reason I felt low. Like the entire castle was above me. Like I really was dirt. Nobody was watching us like I felt like everything was watching us. As if they would know if I tried to run. They would know if I broke the walls.

The paintings that lined the walls felt as if they had wandering eyes. Even they looked disgusted by our mere presence among their glory. I know its insane. I’m just as royal as them, but something about this place, something about this collar, just left me feeling so controlled. Perhaps I was vermin. Perhaps I was a mutt.

“The castle set up is fairly simple,” Dana whispered to us, “The first floor off to the right holds the dining hall, kitchen, ball room, parlor, and music room. To the left it holds the slaves quarters. The second floor has the library to the right, and the guest rooms to the left. The third floor holds another, smaller ball room, as well as a living room, kitchen, and the rooms of private security and other important people who reside here regularly. The fourth floor is where The King and the Stewards resides. Unless given instructions to you may not go up past the first two floors.”

She lead us off the the left wing on the second floors where a long hallway wrapped around with at least fifty different doors. “Today we are going to clean the guest rooms, and make them presentable. I must warn you they have not been cleaned sense last week when we had a party. If you fail to clean them to satisfaction you will be punished by Master Henry. If you are unaware of who Master Henry is, you will most certainly meet him in due time. He will be in charge of you.”

The information was sending my brain into overdrive. If I was going to achieve my goal of escaping, and taking back my Kingdom, I would need to understand the inner-workings of the castle. It was so different from where I grew up. Werewolves didn’t have slaves, they had servants who were given wages and holidays. They could only be fired not punished. It was this way because half a century ago all werewolves were slaves to vampires, but my family led a revolt.

“Each of you take a room,” Dana muttered pointing at the rooms that had the golden numbers of forty -through forty-five on them. “I will be back to retrieve you in two hours. For your sake I hope your done.”

Dana left us with those kind, reassuring words. It was as if the longer she was away from Corban the mouthier and more confident she became. All five us stood in place confused by the entire situation we’d stumbled upon. This was so outlandish to me.

“I guess I’ll take forty,” I mumbled walking over towards the door. My words set everyone in motion as they picked their own room to clean. My hand grasped the chilly bronze knob, and I twisted it open. Slowly I push open the door. Fear was aching inside me. I didn’t want to know what was on the other side.

The room was a disaster. I’d obviously picked the village drunk’s room. Vomit was spewed across the carpet mixed in with the broken glass of a whiskey bottle. I feared what possibly could have occurred on the sheets that lay spewed across the floor. Is this what Cinderella felt like? If so I could seriously understand why she picked the prince charming. I never thought I’d want one so bad in my life.

“Dark Mother bless me. I surely need your help,” I whispered as I grabbed the yellow gloves from the stack of cleaning supplies that had been conveniently placed just inside the door. It was as if they’d set it their to mock me. I couldn’t help, but wonder as I got down on my hand and knees to clean the disgusting mess out of the carpet, why they never bothered to put hard wood floors in instead of carpet.