"If you come with us, and you are a good girl, you can be our princess."
Panda looked up at the large man towering over her, and she could hardly believe her eyes. She had seen pictures of this man. His tall stature, the braid of hair down his back, the crown on top of his head...this man was the King!
Beside him stood a radiant woman, with eyes as green as grass in summer. Her dark hair flowed in feathered waves down her shoulders. Her pale skin seemed to shine like the moon in the dingy darkness of the market house. This was his Queen.
Panda was thinking how dirty she looked herself, compared to the royalty in front of her, when the Queen offered her a kind smile.
"What's your name?" the Queen asked, her voice smooth as silk.
"...Panda..." she replied softly.
"Speak up," barked a gruff voice and Panda jumped as the trader who held the key to her shackles aimed a blow at her head.
"Stop," the King said to the man, his voice clear and authoritative.
"Do you want to come with us, Panda?" the Queen asked kindly. "We live in a castle, not far from here. There are gardens, horses..."
Panda glanced shyly up at the face of the King. He was looking her over intently, but when she caught his eye, he gave her a reassuring smile. Panda quickly looked away, feeling her face flush.
"Yes please," she mumbled, looking down at the ground.
Panda was not fully convinced she was not dreaming as the trader released her shackles, gold coins changed hands, and she followed the King and Queen out of the market house. She squinted in the bright light of the setting sun and rubbed her wrists where the shackles had bitten into her skin. Not a dream then, she thought to herself. Pain didn't hurt in dreams.
"We walked from the castle to here. It is a mile or so. Are you able to walk that far?" the Queen asked her. "We could always borrow horses."
"I'm used to walking," Panda replied quietly, not wanting to admit that she had never actually ridden a horse before.
"That settles it then," said the King and the trio began walking away from the market house and out of the village.
As they walked, Panda observed her new
Masters silently. What did they want from her exactly? She thought back to what the King had first said to her. Surely he had been joking. No one in their right mind would look at her scrawny, dirty self and think 'princess'.
No, Panda decided, it was more than likely they wanted her as a servant of some sort. She was fine with that. She had done that sort of work most of her life - cooking, cleaning, waiting hand and foot on various Masters. And this couple, the King and Queen, they seemed nice. She was lucky this time.
As they walked, the Queen began to talk, telling Panda about the castle, the different rooms, the library, the grounds, the gardens, the stables...she talked about the different horses, told stories of wild stallions the King had tamed himself. She liked to talk, it seemed, and Panda enjoyed listening to the sound of her voice. She liked it even more when the King spoke, his strong voice offering occasional additions to the Queen's stories. Panda wished he'd speak more.
Occasionally the King would catch her looking at him and Panda would quickly look away. She kept her eyes down until she was sure he wasn't looking. Then she would glance up, catching the remnants of what seemed to be a smirk on his face.
The sun was dipping below the horizon, painting the sky a brilliant pink hue as they approached the castle. Panda followed the monarchs through a set of heavy wooden doors. Almost immediately, a white-haired man appeared at the King's side. The man gave Panda a disdainful look, before turning his attention to the King.
"Your Majesty, several important messages came today from the East," the man said. The King nodded briefly, then turned to his Queen.
"Forgive me, my love, but this requires my attention at the moment. Will you-?"
"Of course, Sir," the Queen said, placing a hand on Panda's shoulder. "Shall I bring her downstairs afterward?"
"I think that would be best," the King replied, a strange smile twisting on his lips as he looked at Panda. "I will see you later."
Panda found she could not speak, only nod and watch silently as the King walked away.
"Come on then, little Panda. We are going to get you cleaned up and find you something to wear," the Queen said, guiding her out of the Entrance Hall.
Within half an hour, Panda was neck-deep in the largest bathtub she had ever seen. The Queen sat nearby in a comfortable-looking chair, instructing the servants as they washed Panda's hair, scrubbed her skin of dirt, and scraped the grime from beneath her nails. Panda tolerated all this through gritted teeth, feeling very exposed, but thankful, at least, that all the servants were female.
"So, Panda," the Queen asked, as all this was going on. "How old are you?"
"22, I think," Panda replied, wincing as one of the handmaidens began scrubbing her feet.
"You think?"
Panda hesitated. She waited until the girl finished her feet before she spoke.
"I was young...when they took me to the trader. There was six of us kids. I was the oldest so I was worth the most. They said I was 14 but I think I was 12...No I'm not even sure anymore."
"Are you a virgin?" the Queen asked casually.
The question was so unexpected the Panda jerked her hand away from the girl who was clipping her nails. She felt her whole body flush, to the roots of her wet red hair.
"No ma'am," she mumbled in a small voice.
"Good," the Queen said, sounding pleased. Her tone confused Panda, but she wanted to drop the subject so badly she dared not even look at the Queen.
Soon Panda was released from her cleansing and one of the servants pulled a simple black dress over her head.
It was cotton and comfortable, but shorter than anything she had ever worn. She tried tugging it down as she looked around expectantly.
"No panties," the Queen said. "Not within the castle walls. King's orders."
"Oh," Panda said, surprised and confused. Did this mean none of the girls here wore underwear? Why?
"Are you hungry?" the Queen asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yes ma'am!" Panda replied eagerly. The Queen laughed.
"Come on, then," she said, motioning for Panda to follow her from the room.
About an hour later, Panda was fuller than she had ever been before in her life. She couldn't' remember a time she had eaten her fill of food, and certainly not the exquisite types of food available to her in the castle's kitchen.
She realized just how drowsy she was as the Queen left her down a flight of stairs and she began to stumble.
"We are almost there," the Queen said, putting a hand out to steady her. "Soon you can sleep."
"Thank you," Panda murmured sleepily. "For everything..."
The Queen just smiled to herself, seemingly amused.
"In most castles, the dungeons are used for prisoners," the Queen explained. "Prisoners, traitors...here, however, the King and I converted the dungeon into our bedchamber."
The stairs ended in a wooden door, which the Queen pushed open, allowing Panda to enter first. What she saw took her breath away. It was the most amazing room she had ever seen.
