Reunited

After Elvina had waited for what felt like an eternity, Lynda finally appeared.

"Let's go, a carriage is waiting out for you." Lynda gave her no time to react and just started walking away.

Not wanting to increase her already fowl mood, Elvina quietly followed Lynda to the entrance of the brothel.

"I don't get it." Lynda furiously turned to the confused-looking Elvina. "You've both been here for two days- just two days! so why did the king decide to buy you too? In all my years working here, never, not once has he purchased any mistress so why you two." She yelled. "Not only that, Mikael, one of my greatest guests rejected me- ME! THE LYNDA!... and it was all because of you!"

Elvina was startled by Lynda's sudden outburst. "I'm sorry-"

"You should be!" Lynda slapped Elvina out of anger. "Just get out of my sight... that carriage is meant for you." She stormed off angrily leaving Elvina in shock.

Elvina stared at the retreating back of Lynda while rubbing her now sore cheek. Despite the stinging pain in her cheek, she still rushed to the carriage and got in.

The pain was the least of her problems, Maeve was more important to her at that moment because she had no idea whether she was fine or not.

"The king decided to buy you both..." Elvina recalled Lynda's words.

Why would the king want to buy them, him of all people? The thought bothered her and fearing for the worst, she thought, he wanted to have them both as live-in mistresses. "Someone please tell me this is a nightmare."

She broke down into tears as the carriage rode away. In a span of three days, her life turned upside down in a way she never would have expected. "Am I just cursed with bad luck?" She wondered.

Everything was a mess and in ruins and now, the only friend she made was in the arms of the king of Azar, the most powerful and most feared man in all the five kingdoms.

It felt like they were walking into a trap laid out for them.

"Miss, we've arrived." The coachman said.

Elvina got out of the carriage and stared at the huge castle before her. Despite its beauty, Elvina had no time to marvel at the castle, her top priority was finding Maeve.

As she was racking her brain about where to go and who to ask about Maeve's whereabouts, an old man walked up to her. "Are you miss Elvina?" He asked.

"Yes, I am."

"The king has asked me to direct you to the east wing, right this way miss."

Elvina followed the man to the east wing where she hoped Maeve was located. The distance from the castle gate to the east wing made her wonder just how big that place was. She had heard stories of the castle of Azar being huge back when she was in Dhara but what she saw exceeded her imagination.

"Right this way miss, the king is waiting for you."

Elvina thanked the man and turned to face the door. "You can do this." She gave herself a word of encouragement before opening the door.

"Maeve!" She rushed to the girl lying unconscious on the bed. "What happened?..." She stared at her bruised friend with tears in her eyes.

"She passed out from exhaustion and stress."

Elvina lept to her feet in fear after hearing that voice. It was then she took notice of the king who was also in the room. "Your Highness, I- I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." She bowed, afraid he would do something to her for disrespecting him.

"It's alright, you may take your seat."

She cautiously sat down opposite him right next to Maeve's bed.

"What's your relationship with her?" Ishmael asked.

"We're friends, your Highness." Elvina avoided making eye contact with Ishmael, something about his eyes made her uncomfortable, much like Mikael's.

"Good. Then I suppose she's in good hands." Ishmael got up from his seat. "Her wounds have been treated already. I'll send some food in, make sure you eat and get some rest. If she wakes up later, let her eat too, and in case you need anything, let the guards outside the door know."

"I will. Thank you for your hospitality, your Highness." Elvina stood to thank him.

"Mmm,"

Elvina bowed at him until he left the room then she returned to her seat.

"Oh, Maeve, who did this to you?" She stroked Maeve's severely bruised face.

She cried on Maeve's bed until her body couldn't take it and she fell asleep.

"Elvina..." Maeve tapped her friends' hands.

"Maeve! You're awake." Elvina smiled happily and hugged Maeve. "I was so worried..."

The two cried in each other's arms. The fear from that night had gotten to them and they finally had time to release it.

"I was so scared..."Maeve chocked.

"Me too."

They embraced each other until their tears ran dry and they could speak properly.

"What happened to you?" Elvina finally asked.

"I tried to escape the room by the lord didn't let me and started getting physical... I thought it was the end for me but then he arrived and saved me from that monster."

"Who's he? Do you mean the king?"

"The king?!" Maeve exclaimed, she had no idea her savior was the king of Azar.

"Yes, the king. So he was the one that saved you and brought you here to get treated? Did he do anything to you?"

"No. He saved me just in time and beat up that monster to a pulp before comforting me. He was actually quite nice to me."

Elvina appeared deep in thought. "That's strange. Apparently, he bought us from the brothel... we're free from that place, Maeve."

"Really?" Maeve's eyes widened in shock before a realization hit her. "Does that mean we're his mistresses, and he owns us?"

The atmosphere in the room turned grim as the two thought about the situation they were in.

"Let's hope not. If he has been nice this far, I pray he remains the same and doesn't take us as his mistresses, but we still need to be careful, he's the king of Azar after all." Elvina said.

"You're right... and what about you? Did- did anything happen? Are you okay?" Maeve was hesitant to ask such a delicate question but she just had to find out whether her friend was touched or not.

Elvina reassuringly squeezed Maeve's hand and smiled at her. "Nothing happened. Luckily for me, Lynda got into the room just in time."

"Oh, I'm so glad." Maeve pulled Elvina into a hug, she was happy both of them managed to make it out without losing themselves.

The two reunited and spoke deeply about all that had happened without realizing how much time had already passed.

"Grrrrr!..." Their stomachs grumbled at the same time making them burst out laughing.

"It looks like we're both hungry." Maeve chuckled.

"They brought some food in earlier, let's eat that."

They walked to the table and stared at the delicacies piled up on it. Maybe it was their hunger or the fact that they hadn't eaten proper food since the gathering but they both stared at the mountain of food like they could devour it in seconds.