“You do—”
“There are whores in the city right now, living in squalor, pissing in buckets and humping in the streets to make a coin with their cunt. And yet, you complain?”
My lips clamp shut. He’s right. My situation could be so much worse. It was worse. And he saved me from it.
Bright side: The fact that I’m the king’s favored gives me lots of advantages and protections that others don’t have. Who knows what would’ve happened if the king hadn’t rescued me? I could be owned by horrible people right now. I could be living where disease and cruelty runs rampant. I could be fearing for my life.
After all, that was my existence before. A victim of child trafficking, I lived for far too long at the hands of bad people. Saw too many vile things.
I ran away once, lived with the only kind people I’d ever met since my parents. I thought I’d escaped the brutality of life. Until raiders came and ruined that too. My life was going to be pushed right back into misery, but Midas swooped in and saved me.
He became my shelter from the harsh, biting violence always raining down on my beaten soul, and then he made me into his famed figurine.
I have no right to complain or demand. When I think of how I could still be living…well, the list pretty much just goes on and on with lots of other really unpleasant things, and I don’t like to think about that. I get indigestion when I think of my past, so I prefer not to. After all, indigestion doesn’t mix with the amount of wine I drink every night. That’s why I’m a bright side kind of girl.
The second King Midas sees the contrition on my face, he looks pleased with himself that he was able to redirect my line of thinking. His eyes soften again, and his knuckles come up to brush against my arm. If I was a cat, I’d purr.
“That’s my precious girl,” he says, and the worry knotted up in my gut loosens a bit, because I am precious to him, and I always will be. He and I, we have a bond no one else understands. No one else can. I knew him before he wore the crown. I knew him before people bowed to him in reverence. Before this castle gleamed with gold. Ten years I’ve been with him, and that decade knotted the string between us.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him.
“It’s alright,” he soothes, one more stroke over the bones in my wrist. “You look tired. Go on back to your chambers. I’ll call for you in the morning.”
I frown as he pulls away. “In the morning?” I fish. He doesn’t normally call for me until after the sun has set.
He nods as he starts to turn and walk away. “Yes, King Fulke is leaving tomorrow to return to Ranhold Castle.”
It takes a lot for me not to visibly sigh in relief. I can’t stand King Fulke of Fifth Kingdom. He’s a sleazy, crass old man with the power of duplication. When he uses his power, he can duplicate whatever he touches exactly once. It doesn’t work on people, thank Divine, or I bet he would’ve tried to duplicate me ages ago.
If I never see Fulke again, it would be too soon, but he and my king have been allies for several years now. Since our kingdoms border each other, he comes here a few times each year, usually with wagons full of things for Midas to turn to gold. Once he gets back to his own castle, I’m sure Fulke duplicates it all. He’s gotten very rich off of Midas’s alliance.
I’m not sure what my king gets in return, but I highly doubt he’s making Fulke rich out of the kindness of his heart. Midas isn’t exactly known for being selfless, but hey, when you’re a king, you have to take care of yourself and your kingdom. I don’t fault him for it.
“Oh,” I reply, knowing what this implies. King Fulke will want to see me before he leaves. He has a near obsession with me that he doesn’t try to hide anymore.
Bright side? His enthrallment makes Midas pay more attention to me. It’s like when children are fighting over a single toy. When Fulke is around, Midas hoards me, making sure Fulke doesn’t get a chance to play.
If Midas notices my discomfort, he doesn’t say anything about it. “You’ll come to the breakfast room in the morning while we dine,” he says, and I nod. “Now go to your room and get some rest so you can be fresh. I’ll send for you when it’s time.”
I bow my head. “Yes, my king.”
With another smile, Midas walks out of the atrium with a flap of his robe, and I’m left alone, the atrium suddenly feeling cavernous.
I sigh and look at the expanse of gold bars that curve out into the room, silently hating them. If only I was strong enough to pull the bars apart and slip out. It’s not even that I’d run away, because I wouldn’t. I do know how good I have it here. But to just be allowed to roam on my own within the castle, to follow Midas to his bedroom…that’s all the freedom I long for.