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Luna entered the room just as I was stepping out of the tub and drying off. She smiled and handed me undergarments, which I slipped into. The dress she had brought swirled with the color of autumn. Beautiful sunset oranges and hazy reds trailed the skirt while the bodice was an auburn brown dotted with tiny golden crystals. I gasped when they tightened the corset and forced my chest to be more prominent, which was unnecessary considering how large my breasts were to begin with. In fact, the dress accentuated them so much I wondered if they were being served for dinner.
The girls worked on twirling and pinning my hair until little tendrils covered my neck. They ended my primping with a stunning jeweled black collar necklace with a glittering crystal in the center. Once they clasped the collar on my neck, they removed the magical dampeners on my wrists.
I searched for my inner flame but found darkness instead. Was it the collar?
“Here,” Luna said, holding a mirror in front of me.
I’d never seen a more beautiful girl. I rubbed my cheeks, relishing in the sight in the mirror and how bright my blue eyes shone. The last few times I glimpsed myself, it’d been in the broken mirror in my parent’s room.
“You are definitely the prettiest prospect,” Ara said, gently squeezing my shoulders.
“Prospect?”
Luna cleared her throat and nudged Ara. “Everything will be explained at dinner, my lady.”
“Please, call me Rosalie,” I said with a smile.
They both nodded.
“Now follow us, it’s time to meet Lord Demious,” Ara said.
Longingly, I glanced at the large fluffy bed. “Can’t I rest for a bit?”
Two weeks locked in a wagon not only made every single muscle cry out for a soft place to rest, but all my energy had seeped out in the tub’s warmth leaving me drained and tired.
“Lord Demious has crafted a wonderful feast,” Ara said, gently ushering me toward the hallway.
Food. Real, hot, delicious food? No salted wafers or beef that had long passed its expiration? I could go to dinner for that. With a nod, and awkward stomach grumble, I followed the twins down the winding staircase to the main floor.
A butler dressed in a perfectly black tailored suit and matching bowtie opened a set of gold doors to the dining hall. There were ten other girls already sitting at the table in the banquet area. Each one uniquely beautiful, all of us human. The other girls sat quietly, staring at one another. We must have all been separated until now, but why? Examining all the girls, it occurred to me on what prospect might mean and I would rather be a slave.
When I had sold my freedom, it was under the assumption I’d be a servant in Lord Demious’ home for a total of one year. One year, then I could return to home and hopefully this time with enough money to heal my firehawks. It was obvious the troll duped me, but into what and why? I had only shown him a tiny aspect of my magic. The flicker of a flame, strong enough to showcase my power, but not powerful enough that the magi would come after me.
One empty seat sat at the head of the table. I envisioned what Lord Demious would look like: fat, old, and full of dark evil secrets. The rumors spoke of him as being crazed and obsessed with magic. Eccentric and unmarried. A living nightmare who used his shadow magic to ensnare and seduce any who came too close. Then there were the stories of women going missing, nobles come for a grand party only to disappear by morning.
Working for Lord Demious was a risk, but I had no choice. I needed enough coin to pay off my debt to the bank and have enough to pay a healer from the Golden City. Not only were my firehawks weak, but because they couldn’t hunt the plague snakes destroying the crops, the poison continued to spread through the rest of the North. I prayed to the All Father that one year wouldn’t be too long to save my home.
I took a seat between a waif of a girl and a woman whose skin reminded me of the caramel candies my brother used to sneak to me at night. Her haunting sea-green eyes had even me hypnotized.
“Hi,” I said to both. “I’m Rosalie.”
The waif gaped at me with a wide-eyed stare. Her stark blonde hair and pale skin made her frail frame seem even more fragile than it ought to be.
“I don’t think she speaks,” said the beauty next to me. “I’m Janetta.”
Janetta’s chestnut wavy hair hung around her shoulders and almost grazed the bowl of soup when she leaned forward.
“Why are we all sitting in the hall, and did you all just arrive?” I had so many questions and needed someone to answer them. “What are we doing here?”
“I arrived yesterday.” Janetta held her spoon right before her lips, as if savoring the sweet aroma.
Breaking a piece of bread off the roll on my plate, I dipped it into the soup bowl. “Why would a lord buy so many pretty slaves? Are we to be some obscene harem?”
Each passing moment I regretted giving myself in exchange to pay off my family’s debt, but with my brother, Calvin, at war and our parents gone, someone had to save our home. The money Calvin left me had quickly run out. I had no more options. Desperation led me to that blasted troll at the market.
“I hear he’s searching for a wife,” Janetta whispered.
The banquet doors opened and a tall lean man with wavy brown hair and handsome chocolate eyes walked into the room. “Hello, ladies. I am Lord Demious. Welcome to my home.”
