Chapter 1

A month had passed since Lucians death, but it was only yesterday when I had accepted that he was gone, gone forever. I didn't know how long I had cried but it was the most painful thing I had gone through, even more painful than Pierre's torture.

I remembered the day he died. I had woken up in my chamber after losing consciousness. Pierre stood next to the bed and stared down at me with an ugly smirk on his face.

"Snow White is finally awake!" he said.

"Where is Lucian?"

"Your husband is dead!"

I shook my head as I sat up. "No, he is not! He will come back...I know he will come back."

"Oh really? Tell me how a dead man will come back? I am curious." He taunted.

Lucian was a demon, he couldn't die.

"You will see for yourself when he comes back!" I spat.

Pierre's ugly smirk turned into an even uglier smile.

"Well then, until he comes back you belong to me, princess." His eyes traveled down to my neck and further down to my breasts.

I grabbed the sheets and covered myself but he yanked them away. I did an attempt to run away but he grasped my ankles and pulled me to him.

"Let go of me! I will never belong to you!" I yelled as he placed himself on top of me while I struggled to free myself.

He was strong, pinning my legs down with his and my hands at the sides of my head.

"I decide who you belong to!" He growled. "But don't worry I won't force myself on you. Taming the wild cat that you are is more fun."

Where was Lucian? Why wasn't he coming to save me?

Pierre removed himself from me then gave me a hard glare. "Fight as much as you want, princess. In the end, you will come begging me to do with you as I please." He said then left me alone in the room.

I collapsed on the bed and started crying. Why was Lucian not coming? He wasn't dead, couldn't be. I was not going to accept that.

I felt a hand on my back, stroking gently. "My Lady, please don't cry." It was Lydia.

"Where is Lucian?"

"My Lady, calm yourself first."

"He is not dead! I know it, Lydia, I know it."

She just nodded and continued stroking my back until I calmed down and fell asleep.

***

I woke up from someone splashing water on my face. With a gasp, I sat up and wiped the water away with my hands.

"What is…" I looked up and found princess Elsa. She looked angry but right now I was angrier than her. How dare she?

I rose from bed hastily. "What's wrong with you?"

"Stay away from my husband!" She snapped.

"I don't want your ugly husband!" I spat.

Her face turned red with anger. Crossing the distance between us she slapped me across the face.

"He is your King now! How dare you call him ugly? Guards!"

Guards barged into the room. "Yes, Your Highness."

She looked at me and smirked. "Drag this woman out and give her ten lashes."

My eyes widened. What?

"You can't do that!" I said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes I can and you will see what I can do!"

She nodded toward the guards. "Don't you dare touch me!" But they ignored my warning and grabbed me by the arms before they began to drag me out of the room. "Let go now!" I yelled and tried to free myself.

"What are you doing?" An angry voice spoke.

Pierre!

I stopped fighting and looked up. He gave the guards a questioning look. "It was an order from Her Highness." One of the guards explained.

"Let go of her!" He ordered looking angry. The guards realized me immediately. "Leave!" He told them and they left.

I looked at Pierre. What was he trying to do?

"See princess…" he said coming closer to me. "If you have me by your side nothing and nobody can harm you."

Oh, right. Nobody could harm me except him. If he thought I would throw myself in his arms in exchange for safety then he was dead wrong.

"I rather take the lashes," I said with clenched fists.

He clenched his jaw and looked like he was about to slap me. He brought his hand up in the air, I didn't flinch but then gestured for the maids to come.

"Take her to the kitchen and give her some work to do. No work no food and if she tries to steal cut the arm of one of her maids." He said with an angry expression.

"Yes, Your Highness."

I followed the maids without fighting but it seemed like they wanted a fight. They would give me a push now and then as we made our way to the kitchen and once we arrived they turned my life into hell.

"This is what we do everyday princess. Your life of luxury is gone, now get to work."

I would wash dishes, do laundry, scrub the floor, deliver things to different places and help in general with cooking food and other chores. For someone who had never done any kind of work before this was worse than a nightmare. On top of that, I didn't get enough sleep or food. Lydia and Ylva would sometimes steal some food for me but I would scold them.

"Don't do that if you want to keep your arms."

I wasn't endure all this so that they would lose their arms at the end anyway. Besides this wasn't forever. Lucian would come and save me from all this misery soon. I just had to endure a little longer.

But a week past and there was no sign of Lucian. They maids gave me more and more work for everyday that past by along with insulting comments. At first I used to get angry but then I realized why they hated me so much. People like me lived a luxurious life while people like them had to work very hard to make a living. I had no right to complain when this was their daily life since they were young.

"Wash these as well." I maid said throwing more clothes at me. "And stop being slow and hurry now!" She ordered.

A few maids giggled as they watched me from a distance.

"Would you mind helping instead of giggling?" I called.

They stopped giggling and one of them came to me. "Of course!" She said then kicked dirt at the clothes that I had washed. Now all of them laughed.

Anger boiled inside of me but I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. When I calmed down I opened my eyes and stood up. This was enough and I would teach her a lesson this time.

"Jessica!" The head maid stood at the entrance her arms crossed over her chest as she looked angrily at Jessica. "Get back to work!" She ordered.

The maid called Jessica pushed past me bumping her shoulder into mine.

"Bye princess."

The word princess suddenly sounded like a disease.

I sat back down and continued to wash the clothes. It was almost sunset and I still had some laundry left. I couldn't take it anymore. Every part of my body ached , my head from the lack of sleep, my stomach because of hunger, my throat because of thirst, and my heart because of Lucian's absence. It felt like forever washing the clothes and my hands stung with pain. Anger, sorrow and confusion filled my chest. What was happening? Why was this happening to me? Tears filled my eyes blurring my vision. I wiped my tears with the back of my arm but the world was still a blurb. My eyelids feel heavy and it became difficult to focus. It was as if I couldn't feel the ground under my feet, as if I was drifting away, pulled into a world of darkness.