Chapter II. A desperate bargain 2

"I accept," the woman said halfheartedly.

Djanel smiled. "Wise decision, woman." He looked at the baby in her arms and scowled. "You won't be needing that thing where you are going, feed it to the Nakari behind you—"

"No!" The woman yelled but quickly rephrased with a calmer voice as Djanel raised a brow. "You would want to keep this little one, it is a female. The women in my family are finer each new generation, my mother was fairer than her mother and I am fairer than my mother, my daughter would be fairer than me, I promise!" She bargained desperately, hugging her stirring baby to her chest.

Djanel looked at the baby's little face, even at such a tender stage she was still beautiful but he didn't care. Pleasure slaves are chosen by instinct and not consciousness and he already had a few hundreds of them. "I refuse, "he said, "kill it."

The Nakari cautiously approached the woman fearful that the crown prince might kill him. As he moved, she hastily continued her bargain. "Men have testified that we have the sweetest fruit they have ever tasted, my daughter would be no different, please reconsider, milord."

Djanel stroked his smooth jaw as he plundered. If the woman was speaking the truth, accepting the child would only be a plus to his pleasure slaves although it would be a long wait, the results should pay more, moreover, he was an immortal and she was his chosen, he couldn't refuse her first request. "Fine. She may live but when she comes of age, she will serve me," he proclaimed.

"Thank you, milord, you will not regret this," the woman whimpered, she kissed Djanel's feet before sitting on her heels, shivering from the cold in the room that came with the vampire prince.

Djanel stared down at the woman's quivering lips and felt tempted to bite them, he was not easily swayed by humans but the feeling was different for this one because she was his chosen, his whole body was reacting to the sight of her fair breasts.

"I shall taste that sweet fruit you speak of , tonight," he grinned.

"But milord, I just birthed my daughter today, I am yet to heal—"

Before the woman could finish her sentence Djanel forcefully tilted her head and sank his fangs in her veins. The woman shrieked helplessly in pain but she resisted the urge to struggle afraid that it might make Djanel hurt her child.

He withdrew after drinking almost a bottle full of her blood that instantly weakened and paled her. He hoisted her chin to make her look in his crimson eyes. "You take my soft words for kindness, when I order, you obey without any complaints, you are a slave and I am your master."

"Forgive m-my ignorance, milord—"

"Master. You shall address me as master," Djanel corrected her, all his pleasure slaves address him as master because that was his role in their lives, he owned them.

"I am here to please…Master," the woman said with a barely audible voice.

She knew the bargain she just made would greatly affect her daughter's life in the future but she was desperate to save her newborn, she couldn't bare to part with it so early not when she knows the powers locked within the child…

*-*-*

"Drink it all, Mother, it will give you nourishment, you have lost too much blood," said Josette. Her mother kept turning her head away from the cup she was trying to put on her lips.

Nora resisted a little more but her daughter was not one to give up, she kept insisting until she gulped down all the bitter content in the cup. Whenever Djanel has his way with her , she is always completely drained and weak but she must recover her health in three days or be punished by him.

She laid her head on the pillows, her eyelid felt heavy but she kept fighting a losing battle to fatigue. She wanted to continue watching her daughter, they rarely spent any time together because of the harsh life a pleasure slave leaves. A tear rolled down her pale cheek as she remembered the desperate bargain she made to save her child, the girl was almost of age.

"Joe… I am sorry," Nora whispered with a shaky voice.

Josette knew her mother would soon cry and it made her feel uneasy, she covered her properly with the quilt and sat by her side. She intertwined her fingers with her mother's and kissed them lovingly.

"There is nothing to forgive Mother, you did what you did to save me and for that, I am eternally grateful, "Josette said with a small smile. "I am alive today because of you."

"You are still searching for him right?" Nora asked and Josette nodded slowly. "I think you should stop, your friends… I don't trust them anymore, I fear for you , my child." It wasn't the first time she had complained to her daughter about her trust in her friends but the girl never listens.

Josette let out a soft, childlike giggle. " Again with that talk mother, please stop thinking poorly of my friends, they will never betray me ." She dropped her mother's hand by her side and tucked it under the quilt. "Rest now, mother, you need it."

After Nora finally succumbed to sleep, Josette rose, the smile she had on her face fell , her heart was weighed with sadness , she was already tired of seeing her mother in the same condition for years .

Nora didn't look a day younger than 20 although she was already 27 years old. Pleasure slaves were constantly fed the blood of their masters in other to keep them younger and attractive. Her mother has been pleasing Djanel for almost eighteen years now and in two months time, she would be old enough to serve the prince.

He was the most brutal of all the royals. His blood slaves never last longer than two days on a good day but on a bad day, they won't even last for an hour. All his pleasure slaves live no longer than three years, Nora was among the few that lived past the three years ban and that was because of her secret. A secret that was passed from mother to child genetically, only that the child was more powerful.

They were witches. But they had to hide their true identity or die, they were in an era where their kind were hunted by both the Crusaders and vampires. Nora was living in a castle overrun by vampires yet she was a potion witch. She hid her abilities well , although it was quite difficult to hide that of her daughter who was a spell witch. Pure magic flowed through her veins and when she was younger, she couldn't control it.

Nora had to lock Josette up in her quarters for years until she could control her powers but before she let Josette begin her service as a labor slave, she gave her a potion that completely diminished her beauty, she did it to protect her special child from the evil eyes of princess Geishana.

The princess hated anyone she felt was a competitor to her place as the fairest in the kingdom and beyond, Josette might have been true competitor to the princess with her true face but Nora refused to let her be. Even now, Nora was hated by princess Geishana because of her captivating beauty.