Lyra's POV
She was asking me to do what? Athena ordered me to put my tongue on her filthy feet. This was cruelty. Even slaves weren't treated this badly.
Was it a fetish of some sort? It's totally evil.
I hesitated, pretending not to hear what she had demanded.
"Did you not hear what I just said?" She questioned me as she slapped me across the face. "Clean my royal feet with your tongue, you weak woman. You had your eyes set on the alpha, didn't you? You thought he would choose you over me? Your existence is useless. Maybe I should have you do this in front of people"
Just like that, she had called attention. Guards and maids came running into her room. Athena had a smirk on her face. Public disgrace. The way she liked to humiliate me.
"Now, lick it like the hungry woman that you are." She demanded it again.
By this time, I had already been crying, and tears rolled down my eyes as a result of everyone present in the room laughing at me.
Not a single person felt a shade of pity for me.
"Sister, please don't do this. Please" I cried out to her, hoping she'd hear my pleas. Members of her audience were already on their phones.
They were waiting to watch me do it so they could capture it again and make me go viral for the second time in two days.
"Pig!" she kicked my chin as she exclaimed. "Your dirty tears will ruin my perfect skin. Have you gone mad?" she added.
"Athena, if you've ever considered me family, Please—" I was interrupted in the tracks by her cutting in.
"I have never and will never consider you family. You're an irritation to me. An eye sore that I can't wait to get rid of. Family? Give me a break!" she remarked.
There and then, I knew that my efforts were futile. I knew that there was nothing left. I didn't have the right to be treated as a person.
I moved closer to Athena, on my knees. Everybody laughed and started making videos. This was the type of thing that she enjoyed.
I took her feet, and the room went silent in anticipation. Just as they expected, I put my tongue on her feet and started cleaning it like a lioness cleaned its cub.
I cried bitterly while cleaning her feet; tears rolled down my chin to her feet. She slapped me for that as well.
"Get up and get out. You've ruined the fun with all your stupid crying. Always whining like a child," she said, shaking me off her feet as she stood up.
"As for the rest of you, what are you waiting for?" She inquired in a furious tone, and the guards as well as the maids hurried for the door.
Athena pushed me out after them and shut the door. I didn't know where I could go to escape this fate that I was dealt.
The quarters where I was given to sleep in the palace were in a small room. Not even big enough to contain a good bed. I laid on the bare floor as my body ached and drifted off to a brief sleep.
After what seemed like a few minutes, I was awoken by a familiar voice. "No, Athena, no. You messed everything up. You're going to ruin my reputation if you keep things going like this," was the Alpha's voice.
Apparently, he and Athena were having a heated argument concerning an issue of importance.
By the time I stepped out of my room, I saw the same guards and maids that were present in Athena's room. They knelt down as the enraged alpha scolded them. What could possibly be wrong?
"You've got to learn to control yourself, Athena. Yes, she's worthless, and yes, she's a slave, but do you know what you've just done? Yesterday, a video of her getting rejected went viral, and today, a video of her using her tongue to clean your foot went viral. Are you trying to destroy the reputation of this kingdom?" The alpha asked Athena, gripping her hand tightly.
"Alpha Alexander, you're hurting me. Please let go of my hand. Please." Athena pleaded with tears in her eyes. She was the one pleading and crying now, a sight that made me joyous.
"If other kingdoms see these things, then they might withdraw partnerships and territories and stop doing business with us. Do you understand??" Alexander barked with rage-filled eyes.
"I understand, and I'm truly sorry; I wasn't aware of all this. I didn't mean to make you upset; please forgive me." The proud Athena, who never said sorry to even her own parents whenever she disobeyed them, was here putting up an act in front of the alpha.
As expected, he fell for her pleas and her fake tears. All his rage had disappeared, and he stopped fuming.
"Listen, you can't be doing things like this for the public to see, okay? Treat your slaves however you want to treat them in private, but you have to always put up a front when you're in public, okay?" He said, holding Athena's face and wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't notice when these lowly servants came in and started making videos," she said, looking up at him with passionate eyes that she had never shown me before.
Athena was a snake; she might have fooled everyone with her little act, but I knew her for what she was. I wasn't deceived.
"All of you will be locked in the dungeon till I decide whether to kill you or let you go," the alpha instructed, and some other guards took the defaulters away.
Athena's eyes caught mine, and she smiled before proceeding to kiss the alpha in front of me.
"Athena, I have cancelled the wedding plans," Alexander told Athena after the kiss.