When they arrived at the Palace, Prince Seian dismounted his steed and greeted the Gatekeeper Sanxar. "Who's the Wolven wench, sire?"
"You will mind your language in my presence, Sanxar. The Wolfess is to be my new personal servant. I purchased her and quite a few other servants at the market this day. Defeated race or not, you will show her respect and call her by her given name Vorel. She is a rare breed now. Make way, Sanxar!" said the Prince.
"Yes, sire..."
Sanxar opened the Palace gates and gave way for the whole of the Prince's caravan to pass. Sanxar, being a Buck, did not particularly care for Wolves as a band of them had decimated his birth village, raped his mother and sisters in front of him, and killed everyone he knew. He had managed to escape, but he would never forgive the Wolven race for what had happened that night. The only thing that would keep him from expressing his rage toward Vorel would be the Prince, but should opportunity present itself, he would make her pay dearly.
________________________
Prince Seian and the group following behind had reached the Throne Room and were awaiting an audience from his father the King. It was rumored that the Dragon King was large and fearsome and could slay someone with a mere glance, but then how often are rumors true?
This one in particular, to Vorel's relief, was false, of course, as rumors often are. Vorel noticed when the King entered the room that his gait was not as regal as she had expected and his posture was a bit stooped as though he was growing weary with the weight of the Kingdom on his shoulders and eager only to retire and let Prince Seian take the Throne. Unfortunately, without a wife, the Prince could not claim the Throne just yet nor could he marry any woman he wanted. In fact, in order to become king, the Prince had to marry royalty, but said royalty could not be related as there were strict laws against incest.
Vorel stood in silence while the King and Prince Seian spoke. The King spoke first. "What have you brought home now, my son?" said he.
"More servants, Father. Their merchant was not keeping them well and I felt we could have use of them. Many are strong and can help build and repair while the weaker ones can help clean and maintain the rest. One, though, I picked for myself," Seian replied.
"And which is that?"
"The white wolfess, Father. She was chained, gagged, and caged as well as undernourished, even for a slave, and naked. Even female slaves for sale ought to be shown more respect than that, it is, in fact, a law of the land that their merchant chose to ignore."
"Hmm. Step forward, little wolfess."
Vorel was shocked to be spoken to directly and froze for but a moment before stepping forward and showed respect just short of falling flat on her face before the King. "Yes, your Majesty?"
"You certainly have been mistreated by that merchant of yours. Do you know his name?"
"Yes, sire, his name is Balthor. He is the one-eyed tiger."
"'One-eyed,' you say? Like a cyclops?" The King smiled and winked.
"No, your Majesty. Like one that lost his eye. I relieved him of the extra burden the day he captured me."
The old King laughed. "I'm sure he's thankful that it was only his eye and that you had a very good reason, indeed!"
Vorel smiled. "Of course, my King."
"Well, I'm sure you'll take good care of my son. Just do what he requests and try not to let him get into too much mischief. You and the Prince are dismissed. I'll assign the others to their tasks and I will deal with the merchant."
"Yes, your Majesty." Vorel said as she bowed and stepped back behind the Prince.
"Come, Vorel. I want to show you the Palace and tell you of your daily tasks," Prince Seian told her. "You won't ever have to worry about Balthor again nor will anyone else. The law I spoke of is true and any merchant who violates it to the degree that Balthor has is imprisoned for eight years and whipped daily."
Vorel was silently shocked by this. She had not even known that what was being done to her was as illegal as it really was. She figured that some of it had to have been, but not as much as what the Prince had told her. She wouldn't have known either, because in Wolven culture there was no such thing as a slave; Everyone helped each other when things went sour. She shook these thoughts off and continued to follow the Prince.
"In the mornings, you will wake and bathe me. There is no need for you to help me dress; There's no fun in that for anyone and I'm perfectly capable of putting my tunics on the right way," he instructed, choking back a chuckle.
"You will be sleeping in my room," he said, guiding her into his chambers. "I trust you will not attempt to kill me in my sleep?..." He grinned as he turned to face her, trying not to leer. He looked her over, taking in her well-shaped, perky bosom, the curves of her waist, and contemplated the current state of her cunt. He wanted to know how badly she wanted him, if at all. He feared only slightly that she may only be behaving so well due to the kindness he had shown her, but still despised him for his race. His face fell then as he turned away. He grabbed her some clothes and handed them to her.
"You will wear this until I get you something better. I hope you like it; I don't want you to despise serving me," he said softly. "You won't be doing much manual labor. The cooks make my food, so you will only have to bring it to me. If I'm not in my room, just set the food on the table by the bed and wait for me. Don't leave my food unattended. I also want you to undress me for bed when I have had a difficult day. Apart from that, you will just be tidying the room and keeping me company."
"I would never harm you, sire. It doesn't seem as though you truly needed me, but I will do my very best to please you," Vorel said confidently. She looked down at the clothes he had handed her. "Oh, sire! This is beautiful! Surely, you-"