The Masked prince

Note : The first chapter of book is inspired from series The Princess agents but everything else is my original imagination and you will find out the same after reading initial chapters. I hope you will enjoy. Thanks

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The streets of the Royal City were crowded with people today.

The Empire of Alfaros and the Empire of Zamorin had been at a war.

The four other empires — Alcazar, Hertz, Verral and Calliope had already tried their best to stop the war. However nothing resulted the success when Zamorin's crown prince refused to bow down and was determined to win Alafros.

However, the prolonged nine years of war had finally come to the end.

And today there was a huge banquet in the Royal Palace.

The huge banquet was to celebrate the great Empire of Alfaros' victory over Zamorin. Alfaros won and Zamorin was now merged with Alfaros making the already large Empire larger.

Those who were invited to attend this banquet were eager to step inside the Palace and have a glance at its grandeur.

Amidst this crowd, unaware of everything around them walked slaves. Their hands were tied with shackles and their eyes were blindfolded.

Amidst these almost fifty slaves, walked two slave girls beside each other, with each other support.

"Where do you think they are bringing us to?"

The slave girl asked her friend in a whisper.

"We will know once we reach there."

Another slave girl told her softly making her friend sigh.

The slave girls were feeling hungry and thirsty and they wished that their master would give them something when they would reach their destination.

Suddenly, the slave girl hissed sharply when she felt something stabbing her feet. The pain made her stagger and a hand held her waist quite firmly.

"Thanks, Evelyn."

The slave girl whispered in a choked voice. She knew that it must be Evelyn.

Evelyn continued to hold her and help her walk forward. When she realized that her friend was crying, she said softly

"Peri, don't waste your energy by crying. Bear it."

The words could sound cruel to someone who was in so much pain and wanted to cry. But Peri was aware of Evelyn's personality and …she also knew that Evelyn's words were reasonable.

They didn't have that much energy in their body that she could waste it on crying.

Because of the wound on Peri's foot, their speed of walking slowed down.

But soon, a harsh voice sounded in their ears, and at the same time, the shackles in their hands were pulled more hardly making them stagger forward.

"Why are you crawling like a snail? Walk fast if you want to keep your legs intact."

Evelyn sucked a sharp breath at the pain in her wrist and Peri cried out loudly because of the pain she felt in her feet and wrist both.

Without saying anything, Evelyn held Peri again and tried to walk a little faster.

When they stopped walking, the slave girls finally breathed a sigh of relief.

People's shouts could be heard constantly …as if they were in some crowded place.

Peri gulped to wet her dry throat with her own saliva.

On the other hand, when Evelyn heard the man who brought them here talking with someone, she listened carefully

"You have brought a lot of them. Royal Palace doesn't need that many slaves."

"Hehe…Your Excellency, I just hoped that Your Excellency will have many options to choose from."

The other man chuckled on hearing this but soon said coldly

"They better be well-tamed. If I was humiliated in front of His Highness because of you then don't expect to stay alive for long."

"Hehe…"

This time the slaveowner laughed nervously and tried to assure that all the slaves were well-tamed.

"Evelyn…we are in the Royal City."

Peri also heard everything and whispered to Evelyn in an excited tone.

"Evelyn…if we got inside the Royal Palace as a slave then our life would be easier."

Peri was so excited that her lips were trembling. Even her hand were trembling as she held Evelyn's arm.

Because of the kind of life they lived...even the hope of being inside the Royal Palace was too much for her.

However, Evelyn's calm response doused her interest.

"It is the same everywhere. For them, we are merely slaves. We are allowed to breathe as long as they will let us do so…"

Peri's smile was wiped away when she heard these words.

She didn't like what Evelyn said.

She actually wanted to tell Evelyn that as long as they could sleep with the Royal Prince even for one night, they will at least be treated a little differently from others.

But she didn't know what stopped her from saying this out loud to Evelyn.

'I can do this for myself. Later, I can take Evelyn as my maid, and that way, I will protect her.'

She thought inside her heart.

The slave girls were brought out of their trance when they heard the same man's voice again.

"The Prince wants to play a game with these slaves. Whoever wins will stay by Prince's side."

"Game…As Your Excellency wishes."

The slaveowner didn't dare to question much and agreed readily.

Peri was excited and determined to win this game so that she could stay by the prince's side.

A few moments later, they were dragged to some other place.

The crowd's shouts were now more prominent.

Their eyes were suddenly uncovered.

Evelyn blinked as she tried to adapt to the light after so many hours. Her green eyes were unusually calm as she looked around.

They were standing on a stage and she saw a huge open ground in front of her eyes. The ground was surrounded by a large number of people.

In other words, it was a huge arena.

Evelyn looked around the arena. Her eyes went towards the stage that was higher than theirs. Though it was quite far away from them, she could see a huge chair that seemed to be the throne.

Was the king seated there?

Then her eyes went to another stage that was just beside the throne. There seemed to be more chairs on that stage. She couldn't see the people seated on the chairs but she could guess that they must be the princes or minsiters.

Her thoughts were distracted when she heard some people's talk who were sitting near the stage.

"Hehe…Let's place a bet on which one of them will win. I bet on the one who is standing in the middle."

"I bet on the one standing beside hers."

Her green eyes flickered with confusion as she looked at the huge arena which didn't have anything but sand Its walls were higher enough for them not to be able to go out.

What kind of game could it be?

"Evelyn, your feet."

Peri's concerned voice sounded in Evelyn's ears and she looked down at her foot.

Her right foot was slightly bloody.

As Peri looked down at her own foot, she thought that she had less pain tolerance as Evelyn could continue to walk even with such a foot while she was crying because of the thorn.

She put aside her thoughts when the slaveowner returned and dragged them inside the large ground.

The ground had high walls but people seated in a circular arrangement around the ground could easily see inside it.

There were almost fifty slaves inside the arena. All of them were surprised when the slaveowner and his people suddenly started to free their wrists from the shackles.

Peri was still excited and determined to win this game. She held Evelyn's hand and said as a friend

"Evelyn, do your best."

Evelyn didn't say anything in response.

She frowned as she saw the slaveowner and his people leaving the ground in hurry.

The sounds in the arena suddenly decreased for some time. The atmosphere became unusual.

'Click'

A sound that seemed to be of a door being unlocked came.

All the slaves looked around the arena only to stop at a gate that was opening slowly.

'Roarrrrr!"

The next moment, a loud roar sounded in the arena.

More roars followed.

People suddenly cheered loudly in excitement.

Evelyn inhaled sharply as suddenly understood what the game was.

It was A Game Of Survival.