The Prince And The Prostitute

Ishi

My name is Prince Ishi. I live in a kingdom far removed from your own. Yet I came to yours to find a bride. The kingdom that I live in has many beautiful women, has many royal women, has many women with many admirable qualities. And I should know. I’ve met every single one of them. At the age of thirty, a member of the royal family (especially one next in line for the throne) is expected to have been married by now and to even have had children.

But I had neither a wife nor children.

My father, King Eli, never worried, didn’t let it bother him that I hadn’t married and fathered him grandchildren. He seemed to know where my life was leading and that all would resolve itself in a while.

I told him of my plans to venture to other kingdoms to find my bride. This also didn’t worry my father. My father has high expectations for me, yet he trusts my judgment and doesn’t worry that I’ll fail him. As things go, he should have been shocked (or in the least, skeptical) that I was venturing away to find a bride.

Marrying outside of the kingdom was a practice that was frowned upon and generally didn’t win confidence with the people. But my father just smiled and said, “Go with God.”

I had journeyed into other kingdoms before, so a quest into the outside world wasn’t a new experience, but there was an underlying excitement about the whole trip because I felt that I would meet the woman that I wanted to marry, a woman that would make my father proud.

The day came, and I was off after a prayer of help to God above.

Lilei

I was weeping again. He hates it when I weep, but I couldn’t help it. I was hurting so much today, and I could barely walk. And to keep up with the master I had to nearly run.

I felt so dirty. I needed to bathe, but the only time I would be getting a bathe was right before…right before the sale. My hair was in tangles, spilling across my face, smearing the last bit of make up that I had on.

I wasn’t a pretty sight. And, after years of verbal and emotional (not to mention physical) abuse that I received from the master, I knew I wasn’t beautiful. No one like me can be beautiful. Oh, I couldn’t move another step, not for the ache! But the chain around my ankle….the slack was drawing thin and I knew that if I didn’t speed up then I would trip up.

But it hurt so much that I couldn’t, I wouldn’t, take another step! And I fell. I was dragged for several yards before the master took notice. And when he did he was furious.

“Get up, whore!”

The painful words were accompanied by the more painful smack of boots on my sore thighs and chest. I was wailing, but as usual the master didn’t care.

And the people in the streets…they must have been used to seeing an unkempt, teenage girl, with long tangled hair, a tan face lathered in makeup, wearing revealing robes, with bruises in places no stranger should see-much less any man in the street,-, being dragged through the streets on a chain, wailing at the top of her lungs, and being abused by the man who was dragging her. Was that a normal sight to these people? Didn’t they care that I was hurting!
No…they just passed by and-if I was lucky-didn’t even look at me. If I wasn’t lucky they might give me a dirty look and even dirtier words.

Finally, the master stopped dragging me, but he was seething.

“You lazy slut!” He screamed, “You’re as useless as the pig-mother of yours was! I‘m only glad she‘s not here with you for then there would be two wenches wasting air! But she can‘t breathe! And if you don‘t start moving you‘ll soon join her in the afterlife, you pitiful excuse for a dog!”

And on his barrage of words went. I tried to tune him out, but if he knew I wasn’t listening he would smack me across the face. I was so ashamed, for I knew the words that he spoke were true. How could they not be?

I should have been getting up to move but I was still so sore from the nights before that I couldn’t had I even tried.

It seemed like days later, but was really only hours, when we arrived at our next stop: the city called Kr’Yan.

I knew that I would be able to bathe, to wash the stench of the filthy vermin from me…but the joy from that was to be short lived, because right after that I would attend the auction…again.

Ishi

The neighboring kingdom to the east of us was called Opelia. The capital city of Opelia was Kr’Yan.

Kr’Yan was a city with a fierce reputation. It was known as the City of Pain and Pleasure.

To look at the inhabitants of the city you couldn’t always tell that there was something wrong about the place in general. The men were strong and tall and cheery; the woman were pretty and knew that their place was with their family at home.

Yet, the city also had a reputation for purple. Purple was a plant that would be ground up and the remnants burned in a glass bowl. What was left would then smoke for a few hours filling the room-or, if lucky, the entire house-indwelling the occupants with the noxious fumes, and making them unaware of all that went on around them. They were prone to all sorts of behavior afterwards, anything from uninhibited sexual notions and acts, to murder, to self-mutilation…the list goes on.

When purple wasn’t being used by the majority of the population, prostitution helped pass the time. Slaves, harlots, and adolescents just starting to grow up were available somewhere if one wanted them badly enough. There was an underlying sense of disease to the whole city. The men and women were lucky to have grandchildren before they were dead, and if they did they could almost be assured that it would live a life of pain. So much pain.

The ones who lived the life of pleasure didn’t live very long, and only ached when they realized that their life was a waste…

The ones who lived the life of pain lived even less and lead the more miserable existence. But everyone lived a life of misery. It just took some longer to realize then others.

And that was the first city on my quest to find a bride. I had no doubt that she wouldn’t be found here. I just wanted to move through that place and then wash my hands of it. But unfortunately we had some business or another to attend to and would be stuck there for a few days. I sighed.

Lilei

The bath was refreshing. I could have spent hours soaking, just washing the cares of the day away…but only if I lead a normal life, only if I lead a pretty life. I hate knowing there’s only one reason I’m allowed to bathe. I hate knowing that the only reason I’m allowed the luxury of cleanliness is so that some strange man won’t be more disgusted when he places his hands on me, when he….I started crying.

I couldn’t take this existence anymore. I just wanted my life to end! But as much as I would have liked to, I was too much of a coward to end my own life. But perhaps I could get someone to do it for me?

No. Customers wouldn’t kill me, they would only make it hurt more and last longer. I was in hell. If the stories I had heard of the gods and punishment were true, then I was a living hell. I had never known a day of happiness in my life, never a day of joy, never a day where I didn’t have to worry about scars, and scabs, and bruises, and bleeding., and tears, tears, and torture.

I was still crying, and I was supposed to be finishing up. I was supposed to be putting on my special clothes now, but I would take my time. The master could only hurt me but so much, maybe kill me…but then, wouldn’t that be grand? Oh…will this hurt ever end?

The master opened the door. He didn’t say a word to me, just motioned to the clothes, laid down some cheap perfumes, and then left.

I bit my lip, and reluctantly, and tearfully dressed.

Ishi

“So, Ish, what do you think she’ll be like? That is, if you don’t mind my asking?”, my friend and advisor, Captain Kendal, asked.

I sighed. I wasn’t sure how to answer this question without inspiring more. The truth was, I really didn’t know. I knew what qualities she should have, the standards, attitudes, and beliefs should be that of someone who was to help me rule a kingdom one day, yet…I had met many women with everything a woman should have and I didn’t love any one of them.

“I don’t really know, friend.”, I eventually replied, and prepared myself for the questions to come.

“Well, I suppose if you knew that, then you probably would have found her by now.”, he simply replied.

I smiled. That was a grand response. And it made me think, if I did know what I wanted wouldn’t I have found her by now?

I sighed and took a swig of my drink.

“Well, sir, whoever she is, I’m sure you’ll know her somehow.”, Kendal said as he stood, “but for now, we need to be about our business.” His tone seemed to imply that he knew she wouldn’t be found in this city.

We were in for several surprises before our business was through, that being one of them.

Lilei

I had dressed, perfumed, and put my make up back on. I hated the garish colors that it produced around my eyes and cheeks. I hated the bright color that my lips became. I hated the lack of covering the clothes produced. I hated the person that I was.

The master was probably still angry at me but he knew that it wouldn’t matter in a few hours because he would start making his money again.

I walked out of the tent towards the master, making sure that I was looking towards his feet and not making eye contact like he commanded.

“Oh! There you are, pup! Ready already? Well, come along.”

He situated the chain on my ankle and started pulling me towards the square where the business was to go down.

Along the way I saw dozen of men and women dressed similarly as myself. There were all there for the same reason, yet some of them looked excited, some were smiling, some were willing, and some were defeated to the point where they knew they had nothing to lose. Not all had masters such as myself. Some of them were there of their own choosing, trying to make a living.

I bit my lip to keep from crying, but even then tears welled up anyways.

We walked for what seemed like an eternity. I endured the leers of would be customers, the angry, dirty looks of other men and women being sold, I heard filthy words hurled at me, and even rocks and food. I had to take care that the food didn’t spoil my outfit or my hair. The master would be furious. I let the tears fall as I walked behind the master. I was hated by everyone and myself. What was love?! Not this repulsive idea of physical intimacy that everyone seemed to thrive on! It had to be more because I knew I wasn’t loved!

I felt the sting on my arms from the rocks that found their target. I felt the sting in my ears as the words found their mark. I felt the spit on my face when I walked too closely to those why were vying against me for the affections of man…man or woman, you never really know from one till the next.

But already my heart was becoming numb. I could only take so much before I broke. And breaking didn’t seem like such a bad idea right then.

And then the auction started.

I watched as one by one, man, woman, boy, and girl was lead up before me and auctioned off for a price to the man (or woman) who could pay the most the longest. I heard the scream from the young ones who still weren’t sure what was going on, and didn’t seem to know that this was their future, their hell. I also heard those who didn’t mind their life of lewdness, those who didn’t seem to realize there was something wrong with selling their body and mind on the street to the highest bidder.

How many of these would not survive this night?

How many would have a baby killed because they realized they were with child?

How many were too young to be with child and were forced into this anyway?

And then, so much time had passed that it was once again my turn to climb the steps that led to the stage, that led to more pain and ache.

My knees buckled as I walked up the stairs, and then I was up and looking at a vast crowd jeering, leering, yelling, and cursing. I felt it in my stomach. I was going to vomit. But no, that was just my heart sinking out of sight, never to be felt again.

My master stood up on the stage beside me, yelling things out at the crowd, incentives for them to buy my soul and desecrate it in as many ways as they liked. I tried making my belly protrude, hoping to look maybe fat, or if I was lucky, with child. But it was hopeless. I hadn’t eaten so much that I had a belly. And my womb was barren so there was no hope of ever having a child. And even if I did…even if I did, the master would make sure the child didn’t last for very long, so as to get my mind back onto my work…his work.

And then the moment that I had been fearing came; a winner. Someone was willing to pay a high enough amount that they had me for as long as they wanted me.

My stomach started churning. I felt as though I were about to pass out, and I had to sit.

I saw the man who had ’won’. He was a fat man, bald, in his forties, missing several of his front teeth, his eyes were just vaguely crossed, and his nose was turned upwards resulting in a vaguely swine-like face.

And this was to be the one who gave me his ’loves’? This man knew nothing of love. But he was only one of a long line that had used me, and abused me in their self-centered search for satisfaction and pleasure.

I tried to hide my disgust but failed miserably. The man only seemed to enjoy the fact that I found him so disturbing as to turn away. I lead him over to an empty tent and entered without him. It was dark, which was only a small consolation, for if he couldn’t see my tears he would soon feel them, among other things.

I didn’t look at the entrance as he entered. But I heard the dull clank as his belt hit the floor. I still didn’t look up.

The man growled and spoke, “Look at me, whore! This is what I want.” And as he set about telling me exactly what he wanted, I retched. I needed help! I couldn’t do this! Not one more time! Was there no one to save me?!

When the man realized that I was not going to give him what he wanted he got angry. He left the tent in search of my master. I thought briefly about escaping, but my legs were still in no condition to run. And anyways, he was just outside the tent. I could hear a few words reach me.

“…slut won’t do a thing!” A laugh. More, louder laughter.

He came back in and said with a twisted smile, “Your master said that I didn’t pay so that you would do anything, but that I paid so I could do everything!”

I could see the darkness shining in his eyes as he approached me. I could smell his stench as he neared. And once I again I bit my lip, and willed myself to go numb, to feel no more.

Ishi

We walked in silence for some time. Both Kendal, and myself had other things on our minds. I was thinking once again of my quest and the inevitable conclusion; that I would find a bride. I was thrilled, of course, but it seemed so difficult. How was I to know her? And if I had met many wonderful women, what would set this one apart?

“Sir, why don’t we step into the tavern that way for a spell?” Kendal asked.

“Of course, Kendal, that will be fine,” we neared the tavern but as we did, our gaze was taken further down the road to the square.

There was a stage with people on it, details were indiscernible. I could see the crowd around the stage, I could hear cheering, the occasional scream, and I had a feeling that something was amiss. I saw tents with men and women running to and from them. But for all that, I didn’t want to check it out. I didn’t want to be sucked into the politics of the City of Pain and Pleasure. I had no desire to find out what was happening.

We entered the tavern and got a table in the corner. An inconspicuous seat with a view of the door so that we could watch all that was coming and going.

A maid approached the table and asked us what we’d like. We told her. I was anxious by this point to be through with this town, to be gone. I felt dirty just walking through the streets.

And then we found out what the crowd in the square was all about.

“Oh, the auction! Oh, that’s something that’s been going on for a long time. Sad, really.”

“What do they auction and why is it sad?” but even as Kendal asked, I knew I didn’t want the answer.

“You mean, you don’t know?”

We shook our heads.

She sighed. “They auction off people.”

Our faces must have told her that we still weren’t fully understanding. I was, I just couldn’t say anything.

She looked uncomfortable as she spoke, “They auction off all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons, but it’s usually so that a man can have his way with a woman…” She got silent, “…or a man…or….” She couldn’t finish, and she walked away.

It was some time before Kendal or I spoke. Of course we had heard of such things, we had heard stories, but nothing like that ever happened in our kingdom.

We finished our drinks, and still we couldn’t speak.

When we did, it was only to ask the maid where we could stay for a few nights.

“Well, if you have money enough, there’s a cottage you can stay in, just down the road. It should be empty now, what with the…Anyway, check there.”

We voiced our gratitude and left.

We returned to our two menservants, Stephan and Michal, who had stayed behind with our carriage as our carriage had all our belongings on it. We told them of the cottage and we set out.

We had no trouble paying for a couple of nights and set about settling down for the evening.

We were in for another surprise that very night.

Lilei

When I came to, my head was groggy, I was incapable of coherent thoughts, and I almost couldn’t remember what happened during the hours that I was awake. I felt strange, disoriented.

Then I remembered that the man had brought in a small dose of purple, and I was still suffering from the after effects.

Immediately after remembering, I realized just how much I hurt. Emotionally, I was incapable of crying. There was nothing but a dull ache inside of me. I knew that in a few hours the pain of what had happened would drive itself into my heart and wedge itself in deeply beside the other hurts that I had. I was hurt physically as well. My lip was bleeding, nearly ripped off from biting down on it, and…

There was blood running down my legs.

I was torn. I was battered. I was bruised. Again. I could barely stand on my legs for the pain, and I was still dizzy from the purple. I felt like I had been hit on the breasts repeatedly, which was probably close to what happened.

I was so tired, tired of living (if living was an applicable word) this way. I was tired of living in hell and wanted so desperately to leave. I was still bleeding, and would have to clean up before I was able to leave the tent. I could barely move though.

I sat back down, and fell on my back.

And then…I wept, and wept.

I heard the man outside the tent making a comment about it not having been worth what he paid, but knew that he had a sickly, twisted smile on his face saying differently.

The master came in and saw me weeping, but I didn’t care.

“Oh, shut up, you miserable whore. You got me two silver pieces. Not a bad price for an ugly dog like yourself.”

He threw a towel and my clothing at me and then left. Probably going to the tavern to have a drop of ale as a pat on the back, to let himself know that he did well.

I hated him. I wanted nothing more than to the take the chain from my ankle and wrap it so tightly around his throat that his tongue would turn purple, his eyes would bulge out, and then maybe, maybe he could get a sense of the pain that I endured day after day after day in this hell! I had imagined killing him in so many ways, but I wouldn’t. He fed me, after all.

No one would take care of a miserable creature like me. No one cared, and no one loved me. I may as well die just to spite the wretched…

I cleaned up as well as I could, but I couldn’t stop the bleeding.

I pulled my dress on and kept the towel underneath in hopes of catching some of the blood. I tried to walk, but fell to the ground. I didn’t want to cry. I had cried enough. I didn’t. Want. To cry.
So I vented my heart by taking one searing step after the other, embracing the pain…enjoying the pain. And I cried. With each step I took, fresh tears sprung to my eyes.

But I walked.

I stopped. Where was I walking to? And while I didn’t have my chain on, would it not be best to try to run away? But where to? And for how long could I survive? I needed money, but I would never again touch a man. Never.

I saw a carriage coming down the street. I saw some men on it. I watched them. I don’t know why I watched them, because I knew that they would be like all the other men in this city, except…except they looked like foreigners. And maybe I was foolish (so foolish) but they looked kind. But I knew it was wishful thinking. I would not find help there, I would only find hurt as they would use me and abuse me and then throw me out with a laugh.

But still I watched them. They looked sombre. Yet, I could tell that their lives had plenty of laughter. They pulled up to a cottage sitting right beside the tavern down the road from the town square. It was on my way. Couldn’t I just peak through the window to see what kind of men these were? No! I couldn’t do that, they were probably dangerous.

Yet.

Something told me to, and I heeded the voice. I knew just a little look wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Ishi

I was relaxing in the chair by the fire, conversing with Kendal about the day when I first heard it. I shrugged it off as imagination, or perhaps a small animal rustling around on the tree by the window. But then Kendal heard it too.

And that was when I saw the face staring in at me.

“Kendal!”

I was quick to call his attention but the face had gone. I told him what I had seen as threw my cloak on and ran outside, preparing perhaps for a pursuit.

But I didn’t have far to go.

For the person had turned to run but had fallen on his face and was writhing in pain on the ground.

And then I realized it was a girl. I say girl but I didn’t know how old she was. She looked like she may have been twenty. A woman then.

I quickly bent down to lend a hand but she just crawled away. I stood in front of her, and said with as soothing a voice as I could muster, “We’re not going to hurt you. Let us help if you are hurt.”

She stopped moving. I held out my hand, but she fought her way up despite the obvious pain that it brought her. She looked cold. The night air had made the temperature drop, and the wind only made it colder.

So we took her in and set her by the fire.

Kendal was the first to bring my attention to the blood. “Sir,” he said, pointing.

The blood was running down her legs. In fact, it had been running for a while for they was quite a bit of it dried already. And then I noticed two things almost simultaneously; one, she had a callused ankle, and two, she had a lot of make up, a lot of gaudy make up that had since run and smeared for all the tears that she had cried.

And I knew what had happened.

Kendal looked away. I saw his eyes shining and knew what he was thinking and knew he was trying to keep from crying. He had two daughters.

My blood ran warm and started to boil. She was a slave, a slave so that one man could make money from selling her.

I wanted him dead, and I wanted him dead in so many painful ways.

“Who did this to you?”

The girl wouldn’t make eye contact. She would look away, fearful. “The master,” her reply eventually came.

“Is he out there? Where is he? I’ll kill him!” I became frantic.

“Ish!”, Kendal said, but I didn’t want to hear any of it. “Ish, just sit and calm down.”

“NO! Someone put her through this for money! Look at her!! She’s hurt, she’s bleeding!! Because of one man! ONE! Think of your daughters, think if it was one of them!!” I was practically screaming then, getting into his face spittle flying everywhere. “She…she was someone’s daughter, she was someone’s baby girl.” I said quietly, tears making their silent course down my cheek.

I left without another word. What more could I say? I would find him.

I didn’t get very far when I was stopped by a man running around the streets.

“You!”, he started “, have you seen a girl running around.”

He described how she was dressed, what she looked like, and I knew…I knew this was him. This was the contemptible, rotten…

I hid my anger just below the surface, letting it simmer and boil, biding my time…

“Oh, yes! I was looking for, maybe, a friend of hers. I think she’s hurt.”

“Well, good. I’ve been worried sick for her.” But he didn’t sound very worried. And I wanted to hit him, wanted to gouge his eyes out for what he had done to the poor woman.

I led him back to the cottage. I opened the door, and I made sure to watch her eyes as he entered. I saw what I needed; fear flickered briefly through them, until she squelched it and let it go.

“Lilei! I’ve been so worried! We must go, girl. Com’mon.” He beckoned for her.

“Wait,” I said, “she’s not going anywhere. Not with you.” I was emotionless, calm, yet seething just under the surface….waiting.

“What do you mean! Of course she is, she’s my daughter and she‘s only fifteen!” he said with some degree of righteous indignation. He was lying, wasn’t he?

“Is this true?” I asked the girl. She nodded, slowly.

And then I blew.

I grabbed him by his coat and swung him into the nearest wall. The cottage shook with the impact. And then I beat him in the face.

“She is your daughter?! She is fifteen, and you havve done this to her?!” I hit him again. He tried to protest, but I continued screaming at him, “a father is supposed to love his daughter.” I hit him again, breaking his nose. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kendal, he wasn’t sure which of us to help, so he didn’t. “A father is supposed to care for her, and nurture her, and protect her!” I hit him again and again and again, he started going limp, he murmured a few incoherent words. I threw him to the ground.

“Look at her!” I screamed. “Look!!!”

I grabbed his hair and forced him to look at her, forced him to see the blood running down her legs, the scars on her ankle, the bruises, the many paths of many tears that had flowed during her life time. I forced him to see a girl that he had hurt so much. And I wanted to hurt him as much, but knew I could never do it.

I let him go. He tried to stand up, but couldn’t, so he lay there wheezing, bleeding, blubbering like the coward he was, a coward who deserved nothing less than death.

I wept. I wept bitterly and did not stop.

He was silent, and unmoved. He simply didn’t care. He was pathetic, because he almost didn’t understand why I did what I had. Kendal hadn’t moved. He was still standing there, weeping as I was.

Lilei watched, shocked and torn between pleasure and terror. She simply watched and made no noise.

“How much,” I asked him.

He looked at me, hate written across his face, silent. Fearful.

I wanted to scream, but lacked the strength, emotionally and physically.

So I asked again, “how much did you make?”

He stared at me still, and then finally answered, “Two silver bits.”

I wanted to hit him again and again. Two. Silver. Bits. That was one weeks pay of honest work! One week! He had sold his little girl over and over, so he wouldn’t have to work for a week at a time!

I was drained. I wanted to scream, to hit, to cry, to kill, but I was empty.

“Kendal. Please get the chest from under the bed.” I asked.

Kendal wordlessly retrieved the chest and set it down in front me.

I gestured to it, and spoke to the man, “This is one thousand gold pieces. I will buy her from you.”

Instantly his eyes lit up with greed. He took no thought for her. With one thousand gold pieces he wouldn’t have to work a day of his life. He looked at her, and then he looked at the chest. I opened it to show him I was serious.

“And,” I continued, “I will give you a mule to carry it. Kendal, help me out please.”

So Kendal and I took the chest of gold and went outside. The man wordlessly followed, and he watched us as we hefted the chest onto our own mule, and strapped it down. Then without another word we went back into the cottage.

“Sir,” Kendal started, “shouldn’t we have-”

I interrupted him, a steely edge to my voice, “He knows the danger as well as any man, if not more. If he wants to travel at night, I will not stop him.”

We wordlessly watched him make his way down the road to the town square. But he was hurrying too fast, trying to escape the town, and the mule wouldn’t have any of it, so it stopped. The chest fell from the back of the mule, hit something hard, and popped open. Gold pieces were instantly illumined by the light of the full moon.

And then…

Two shadows separated themselves from the shadows of night. They ran towards the man as he was hurriedly cleaning up his treasure. I watched the glint of steel as they raised their hands to the heavens and then came down, again and again and again.

At last, sickened by the sight, I turned away.

I looked at Lilei. She was still so scared, unsure, unable to make eye contact.

I knelt by her bed and began to speak

“Lilei, is that your name?” She nodded.

“Do you like that name?” A tear streaked down her face, she shook her head-no.

“I am going to give you a new name. May I?” A shy nod.

“Ok, how about Lady Rose?” A nod accompanied by the briefest of shy smiles. She still would not look me in the eye.

“Rose,” I said, “Would you look at me? Please?” She slowly lifted her eyes to meet mine. They were a dazzling sky-blue.

“You have beautiful eyes.” I said. She started to look away, but caught herself and stopped.

“Lady Rose, I bought you from your father for a thousand pieces of gold. He will never, never bother you again. In his greed and haste, he set out from this place, this city, never to return to you again. In that haste, he uncovered his secret and was killed by thieves. He cannot harm you any more. Rose, I am going to take you far from here. My name is Prince Ishi and my father rules a kingdom in the west. I set out in hopes of finding a woman to be my bride and help me rule in the stead of my father one day. I promise, Lady Rose, that I will never harm you all the days of our lives. I will never hurt you. I will only love you, and cherish you. I will treat you with kindness, with compassion. I will care for you for as long as you live so long as you marry me. I understand that the road will be hard. You are incapable of touching anyone even being assured of their love. But if I can only stare at you for as long as I live, and tell you that I love you, and tell you that you’re beautiful everyday, then I will. Will you join me?”

Lady Rose

I was weeping sorely at that point. How could he love me? He knew who I was, what I was…and yet, I could see it in his eyes, and hear it in his voice. I knew by the tears that he had shed that he cared for me as a person, and would do everything he said he would do. I didn’t understand why, but knew that I was precious in the sight of this man. And I also knew that I would follow him to the end of the world if his love was anything like he said.

Through my tears I was able to reply to his tear soaked question. “Yes, yes I will!”

And then I embraced him, and even though it hurt, and even though it made my skin crawl with memories, and even though it made me want to retch, I embraced him.

Epilogue

Prince Ishi and Lady Rose returned to his kingdom. And the road was rough. It was several months before she could hug him without hurting, without being sick. It was many more months after that, that they discovered her womb was opened and she would bear them a child. It was to be a boy. And they named it Kendal. Ishi’s father was extremely pleased with his son, and instantly loved Lady Rose as his own. Lady Rose had never known the love of a father, a real father, until she met the King. And though it took time, so much time, Lady Rose was healed. And then the crown was passed to Ishi so that together, he and Lady Rose, would rule. And they lived a long time, doing good for the kingdom. Together, they sought out auctioneers, slave owners, and the like and eradicated that evil from the dark places on the border of their kingdom. They formed alliances with neighboring kingdoms. They fought wars, but they lived in peace. Their life was not easy. There were many hard times after that, but they lived in joy, knowing love, true love, and happiness.

The End