A slave?

THE NEXT MORNING

Sabrina stood looking at the bodyguard in front of her. She had expected to see Jamal this morning and had highly anticipated giving him the cold shoulder all through, but the bastard did not even give her the benefits of being able to do that.

"You are here early today," Sabrina commented, even though she knew the bodyguard was not likely to answer her.

"Here, get ready and change into this; you are to get ready to resume your post today," One of the bodyguards said, her face devoid of emotion as she handed the clothes to Sabrina before she stepped out of the room again.

Sabrina looked at the clothes that had been handed to her after the woman left; the clothes were made from plain materials and of carton color.

But without pondering more on what sort of cloth it was, Sabrina got into the bathroom to take her bath, getting ready in no time for where they would be taking her.

So with her heart thumping in her chest, Sabrina stood in front of the mirror, and checked her face, with her red hair pulled up in a tight bun, her face devoid of makeup, and the plain clothes on her body, she looked exactly like a slave and she can already imagine where she is being taken.

"Are you done yet?" A voice called from the other side of the door, startling Sabrina out of her thoughts.

"Yes, I am done," Sabrina said after inhaling a deep breath, staring at herself in the mirror one more time, and stepping towards the door.

Just then, the door was flung open by the woman, they both stared at each other for a while before Sabrina stepped out into the hallway.

For the first time since arriving at this strange place, Sabrina stepped out of the room, also, no bodyguards were by the door this time; they had been discarded.

Sabrina stared around in awe while walking down the hallway towards the staircase, the place seemed dark and eerie despite the daylight and it seemed she was the only person occupying the floor

When they stepped down into the banquet hall, Sabrina stopped dead in her tracks, staring down at her with pride in a painting of her captor.

Sabrina's skin curled with fear, and at the same time, her heartbeat with compassion; the image is that of Jamal's face.

Painted with half of his face intact, his green eyes cruel and predatory while the other half of his face is blown off, Sabrina wrapped her arms around herself as if in protection.

"Come on, you have to keep moving," The woman said in a warning tone and led Sabrina out of the den; Sabrina was unable to admire the upholstery and furnishings due to the attention she had focused on Jamal's painting.

Stepping out into the compound was like stepping into another world on its own, the place was swarming with bodyguards, each in different levels of training, and the gunshots were massive, she had heard some while she was confined to a room but not as much as this, Jamal's compound looks like a place for combat training.

Some were learning how to use a gun; others were perfecting their hand-to-hand combat, and some were using arrows.

Sabrina's heart soared at the scene, and she wished she could join them and be part of this; if she had possessed any of these skills, she wouldn't be here right now.

Sabrina caught a glimpse of a person who looked exactly like the woman who had saved her and was about to call her when she disappeared into a corner.

"We should get going," The woman said, her voice indicating that she was running out of patience, so Sabrina followed her across the training ground while everyone treated her as if she were invisible.

Sabrina had expected them to stare at her, but no one spared her more than a glance; they treated her like a foreigner. Stepping out of their boss's den was nothing out of the ordinary, and Sabrina was glad; she didn't think she could stand the whole compound scrutinizing her.

When they finally stepped off Jamal's compound and into the rest of the palace, where Jamal's place had been dark and eerie, the rest of the palace seemed bright and cheerful, with different buildings, but the main palace was obvious enough, with giant lion head statues adorning the entrance, it screams royalty.

But it seemed they were not headed for any of the palaces as the lady led Sabrina right down to a path directly separated from the rest of the palace.

After they had walked for a long while through bushes and shrubs, they came to a clearing and Sabrina stared in shock at the scene before her.

She had expected to be taken to a kitchen to work as a scullery maid, or at least she could be part of the cleaning crew or maybe a maid to the young princess, but here she stood in front of a mine, with men digging rocks and sweating profusely.

They look battered and tired even though it is only morning and the sun hasn't started shining yet, but the strangest thing about it is that there is no woman in sight; everybody working at the mine is male, at least as far as she can see they are male.

If her assumptions were right, that could only mean one thing: Jamal had done this on purpose; he had promised her suffering, and it seemed he would be fulfilling his promises.

"Here is where you have been assigned; you will work alongside them, and you are expected to work hard and not laze around; laziness is frowned upon here," The lady said to Sabrina before turning to leave.

But as if on second thoughts she turned back to Sabrina again.

"There is someone who oversees everything happening here; he controls the worker; there he is; he is coming over," The woman said, pointing to a figure strolling towards them.

Sabrina stared at the figure with shock, her eyes going round with fear; standing before her was the same bodyguard she had shot on the day she escaped.

"Long time no see, chica," The man said with a voice that sent shivers through Sabrina, his lips curled with a smirk.