Property Of The Empress

ABEL'S POV

The mighty Prince sits on a monstrous bed surrounded by six naked concubines. Their hands caress his chest and back in a seductive manner, but his attention is fully focused on the wailing slave being whipped by the guards.

Deep red marks appear on the slave's bare back as the two guards swing the whips with vigour to impress the Prince. His sadistic smile broadens with every strike that makes the restrained slave wail in pain.

Two other slaves already underwent the same severe flogging and died at the spot. Yet the Prince doesn't seem to be getting enough of the hideous entertainment. They seem to be at liberty to kill as many of us as they wish.

I am next in the line and I fear that I may not make it out alive. I would be lucky if the guards wear out their strength and fail to swing their whips as hard as they are doing.

"Leave that one. I am more interested in watching that bastard son of a whore have a ruthless thrashing!" Prince Elon orders, pointing a finger at me.

My body quivers as one of the guards unties the slave's hands from the rope attached to the ceiling while the other comes for me.

"Time to pay for your mother's sins," he hisses as he takes hold of the chain around my neck and drags me towards the dangling rope. His partner awaits with a new whip in hand, one that appears more lethal than the former.

The rope is quite close to the massive bed for all it's occupants to have a clear view of their sick entertainment.

"So that's the famous illegitimate prince? He looks a lot more ravishing that what the rumours say," one of the concubines comments as the guards force me to my knees under the rope and attach the restraints around my neck and wrists to it.

"At least his punishment will be captivating to watch," another says, sounding just as deviously ecstatic as the prestigious prince.

"Hit it like a bastard dog," Prince Elon orders in a furious tone.

The guards step back after tightening my restraints and ready their whips.

My jaws clench in anticipation of the inevitable pain, yet the sheer force of the whip knocks the air out of my chest. A wave of excruciating pain spreads across my back and an instinctive yelp escapes my mouth.

The second guard swings his whip with even greater force and the resulting pain becomes impossible to withstand without letting out a raw scream.

I bite down on my lower lip as more strikes continue landing on my bare back, some hard enough to cut through skin. The blows hurt worse when the whip hits the same place twice.

"I thought he was going to cry out more," one of the concubines says in disappointment even as the tired guards continue raining down heavy lashes on every part of my back.

"It's these imbeciles that haven't hit him hard enough!" Prince Elon mutters angry, pushing aside some of his concubines as he gets off the bed.

He approaches and the guards step back.

"Your punishment would have been most delightful to watch, if only these incompetent idiots didn't wear out so quickly," he says, taking the whip from one of the guards.

I shiver because his massive strength can rip fresh out of bones. He is the most gigantic man in the entire kingdom thanks to the king's pampering.

"My girls want to hear you holler like a proper slave. And I want to see your back bleed!" he hisses before landing the first powerful strike on my lower back.

The pain makes my vision blur. I feel the wetness of my blood against my skin as it flows out from the cut that the whip made.

The grinning concubines applaud their master, and he lands a dozen more strikes on my already sore back in a ruthless display of immense strength.

My body feels like it has been trampled on by an elephant. Five more strikes would kill me.

"Father has always barred me from actually killing you. Which makes me wonder if you really are not his son," the arrogant Prince confesses in an amused tone. He then bends and whispers in my ear.

"But after I wear King Elowen's crown tomorrow my decisions will final. I will have you shamefully executed to celebrate the beginning of my reign."

I sigh because I was expecting to die tonight. Tomorrow isn't that far either. But the threat of execution isn't something new in my wretched life.

There is however a chance that one of the other Princes will be the crown's heir and they won't be as eager to kill me.

Tomorrow's momentous ceremony will be the greatest there has been in centuries, and the beloved princes needed to be delightfully prepared for it.

Seven days ago the eye of Elowen's crown awakened, a sign that the mighty crown was ready to choose a new heir from Elowen's royal bloodline.

Elowen was an ancient powerful king who built a kingdom so great that it became the envy of all other kingdoms and empires. Under his reign his subjects enjoyed safety and prosperity. But the more his kingdom and wealth grew, the more envious those closest to him became. Soon they could not control their jealousy and plotted to end his life.

Upon his death, his great powers moved to his crown. But none of his traitors could wear it, as Elowen's crown had developed a mind to choose it's own heir.

None of the members of Elowen's royal family was deserving the crown's powers, so the eye of the crown slept for many years. And a prophecy arose that it would awake after three centuries to grant it's powers to a new heir, but only from Elowen's bloodline.

King Roderick's five sons; Elon, Rehan, Edmar, Callum and Tedmond are the youngest descendants of Elowen there is. One of them will be granted the crown's unraveled power, to rule over all neighbouring kingdoms and far lands, as their lord and emperor.

Hundreds of Royals and rich men will be gathered in the palace grand hall tomorrow to see which of the embellished princes shall become the emperor, even though none of my father's adorned children deserves such power.

Yes, I was not born a slave. My dead mother was once King Roderick's beloved wife, and I was their first born son.

I was a cherished young Prince, until the day that King Roderick realised that he could gain more influence if he married women of royal blood from the neighboring kingdoms.

My mother was a commoner. Her marriage to him had brought the kingdom no more influence than it already had. But because of their love she still did not expect his betrayal.

He could have divorced her. But instead he chose to accuse her of infidelity and banish her without a single possession.

The soldiers that had escorted her to the land of outcasts outside the kingdom later returned with the news that she had lost her mind on the way and attacked them, forcing them to kill her.

King Roderick immediately married three royal women from different kingdoms. They all bore him healthy sons, the five Princes, whom he adores with all his heart.

A day after the first was born he declared that since my mother was unfaithful to him he did not believe that I was his legitimate son.

He did not kill me like my mother. Instead he turned me into a slave, to always serve his noble wives and their beloved sons.

Since it was expected that one of the sons would be the heir to Elowen's crown, everything they wanted was given to them. Even a slave's death if it pleased them.

Tonight we were to serve as their entertainment. A slave's suffering delights the mighty Royals. So those of us that got selected by the palace officials were dragged inside the big palace and punished for the viewing pleasure of the mighty princes.

I had hoped to escape the selection, but Prince Elon had specifically asked for me.

Each Prince has a particular type of slave punishment they like to watch. Elon especially enjoys whipping of captives and slaves, sometimes to death. It's a gift that his father and the palace grants him every year during his dreaded birthdays.

His brothers are not kind either, because Tedmond, the youngest, enjoys watching slaves being locked in a cage with one of his predator pets. He loves watching them desperately try to evade being eaten for an entire hour before being released. Many are obviously torn apart by the hungry beasts, and that's the part that amuses him most.

Tonight everyone is sending their best tributes to them ahead of tomorrow's ceremony. Not even their father, King Roderick, could risk being on the bad side of the crown's new heir. So he has his own gifts prepared.

"Take the slave back to it's cell," Elon finally orders, tossing the bloody whip aside.

The guards detach my restraints from the rope and I fall flat on the floor. With all the pain that was being inflicted on my back I failed to notice that my legs were growing numb. The guards take hold of the chain around my neck and jerk me up.

I do my best to make my legs work as they drag me out of Prince Elon's opulent chambers.

Outside I am met by screams of other selected slaves coming from the nearby chambers of other princes. It's clear that many will die tonight. And the Princes will be highly pleased by their father's tribute.

I can still feel blood flowing out of the wounds on my back as the guards drag me down the grand staircase.

King Roderick and two of his wives stand in the palace parlour, directing servants on which gifts to take to the Princes immediately.

"Why is this wretch out here already? Has my son not enjoyed himself fully without restraint?" Prince Elon's refined mother asks in a furious tone, causing her husband to turn and look at us.

The guards halt in their steps.

"Did Prince Elon stop the punishment out of mercy?" the king questions, frowning at the sight of me.

"No your majesty. Prince Elon stopped the punishment because he didn't want to upset you by killing it," one of the guards answers.

"Why would his majesty care if a pathetic slave dies? We all know that it is not his son," the second wife questions in a voice laced with bitterness.

"True. It's nothing more than a slave. Whichever of my sons gets chosen by Elowen's crown tomorrow will have my permission to kill it," the king says.

Both of his wives smile.

"You finally made the right decision, dear," his second wife says and proudly pecks his cheek.

I don't know why my father's decisions still break my heart. My mother has been dead for twenty five years and I have been a slave for just as many years. It's clear that he never cared about any of us.

The guards drag me out of the beautiful palace. Outside, pretty carriages filled with most priceless gifts from the rulers of the neighboring kingdoms and rich men of far lands line up on the path leading to the palace. Some of the gifts are too unique and too huge to fit in carriages, like the stunning mysterious creatures on leash.

It's astonishing to see carriages bearing the unmistakable emblem of the great Dragon Kingdom also in the line of carriages delivering precious gifts to the palace. King Draco has never been known to submit to any royal. He rules his kingdom with fearsome magic and his people worship him like a god. Yet he too has sent tributes to appeal the Princes.

The gifts have been arriving throughout the past five days ever since word got out that the eye of Elowen's crown has awakened.

The goal is to show unwavering loyalty and profound admiration to the mighty princes before one of them gains the crown's potent powers and becomes the king above all kings. No meager gifts like slaves or exotic horses have been sent.

I am also sure that kings will be bringing their beautiful daughters in hope that they might catch the eye of the crown's heir. But it is obvious who every one of the Princes would be pleased to marry with or without the crown.

The famous Princess of Silvermere empire, Rowena, is said to be an angel living among men. We have heard incredible tales of her beauty and wisdom, but it is the touching stories of her unusual sense of compassion that make me yearn for a chance to see her.

She will be present in tomorrow's ceremony, but slaves are not allowed in the grand Hall. Not to mention I might not live through today if I am unlucky enough to get selected by the palace officials. I shouldn't hope to have a glance at her in this life. We are like beings of two different worlds.

The guards drag me towards the dilapidated slave castle set several metres away. I will be locked inside one of it's cells until the new emperor orders my execution. The slave castle is heavily guarded to make sure that no wretched being ever escapes. So for the first time my fate is quite sealed.

The guards toss me inside my cell like a worthless meat sack. I slowly crawl to the bunch of rugs at the corner of the cold cell and lay down.

"Do you think that Prince Elon will really be the heir to the crown?" my fellow slave, Cassius, asks from the next cell.

"We would all be doomed if that devil becomes the emperor," the slave woman in the cell next to his mutters in an equally fearful voice.

"We are doomed no matter who the crown chooses. All of King Roderick's sons are monsters," I say.

"Except you. You would have been kind," Cassius responds in a sad tone.

I scoff, wanting to avoid the subject. Everyone else believes that I was conceived of my mother's unfaithfulness. They all fell for the lie that King Roderick told to safeguard his reputation. It didn't matter how loyal my good mother was to the kingdom.