Victor felt a niggle of disappointment when Robin dismissed him. When the guards said Robin asked for him in his bed chamber he had been excited and worried at the same time. Excited because he was going to see Robin again and worried because he didn't think he would be able to control himself this time.
"You have another one waiting for you, Mr. Popular," the guard announced, nudging him to the side.
Victor frowned. He noticed they were walking him away from the slave cells, towards the Royal quarters.
"Katrina has asked for your company," the guard informed.
Victor cursed inwardly. It had been since he met her. Katrina, Robin's aunt, had been the one who saved him from being executed after he was taken in as a war prisoner. She thought Victor would be better used as a sex slave. She had been useful in extracting inside information about Palace politics. Victor didn't mind entertaining her for his benefit. Today though, after the confrontation with Robin, he didn't think he could sleep with her. It shouldn't matter, Victor was a sex slave after all, yet he couldn't go with the idea of hurting Robin.
"Come on. You know the route." The guard pulled towards the familiar path. A wide hallway lead to rows of rooms, each one belonging to a Marcella family member.
The guard knocked on Katrina's room and she opened it after a few seconds. She always wore bright colors. Her ample cleavage peeked through the orange corset that hugged her curvy body. But it wasn't her body that shocked him but the scent of roses that hit him like a brick. She had a tendency of drowsing herself in rose oil, which wasn't a bad thing but the intensity of it made Victor's nose hurt.
"Come in, lover boy. I have missed you so much," she said, taking him in a big hug. "I was so furious when I heard Robin stole you for himself. I didn't think he had it in himself to request an Alpha like you. He had always been so timid."
Victor let her babble as he got into her room. She opened his bound hands immediately and carelessly tossed the collar remote on the table. She had grown to trust him in the last two years and there was no need to take safety measures when they were together.
"So how was it?" she asked.
"How was what?" Victor asked, taking an apple from her fruit basket and biting on it.
"The sex. With Robin? Was it good?"
Victor leaned back on her bed and eyed her as he ate the apple.
"I love when you become so brooding, like this," She said, hugging herself and giving him a wide smile.
"Where were you? You weren't in the palace?" Victor asked.
"You noticed? I thought you were too busy fucking the King's son," she said, hardly containing the jealousy in her voice.
"Answer the question, Katrina."
"Why? Did you miss me?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
He walked to her, took her chin and tilted her head up. "Did you accompany the King to Sarai?"
Her eyes widened. "How did you know?"
"Everybody has been talking about it. They think the King is looking for a suiter to marry you off."
"I am forty-eight years old," she said with a hardened face.
"At the prime of your life. So tell me did he find you a suiter?" he asked, breathing on her cherry-colored lips.
"I will never marry that old scumbag."
"You mean the King of Sarai?"
"King or not, I will not tie myself to a scrawny old man for my brother's interest. I denied the proposition."
He searched her face, trying to see if she was lying. "Good girl," he said, giving her a small peck on the lips. She tried to deepen the kiss but Victor pulled away and sat on the bed. "Your brother is trying to use you to strengthen his ties with the Sarai Kingdom."
"You are right. He is always using his family to gain something." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking agitated. "Did you think I was going to get married?"
"I didn't know. You always listen to your brother, so I couldn't be sure."
"I…I don't. I didn't listen to him this time."
"Hmm," Victor went to her bed and lay down on it. He missed sleeping on a soft bed. "Save yourself, Katrina. Your brother won't care if you live or die when the hard time comes."
She stuttered to him, got up on the bed, and straddled him. "You are the only person I feel close to, Lover boy."
"How are you feeling? Did you see the healer like I asked you to?" Victor asked. She had been suffering from heart palpitations and breathlessness. Victor had held her through the many episodes of anxiety she suffered.
"I did. He gave me medicine." She leaned forward and tried to kiss him, he averted his head and pushed her off.
"Not today. You need to rest. Last time you passed out. I am worried for you."
The smile on her face died down. "You are lying and you aren't even subtle about it." She took his collar and pulled. "What is it, huh? You have got a taste of an omega's tight ass and now you don't want to fuck me anymore."
"It isn't about you…"
"Don't fucking gaslight me. I know you were in his bed chamber before you came here."
Victor got up and stood by the wall. He folded his arms and leaned back. He decided to let her vent.
"You think I am ugly?" she asked. He never thought she was ugly, insecure but not ugly. She let the wrong people walk all over her while she hurt the ones who loved her. Victor kept his thoughts to himself. It wasn't his place to make her understand. She had to come to the realization herself.
"Don't just stand there like a moron. Open your clothes!" she demanded.
"No."
She barged in on him and pushed him with all her might. "What do you mean, no? Did you forget your place?" She looked around frantically before getting hold of the remote to his color. She pressed the yellow button and watched as he fell to the ground and convulsed.
"Do you want to change your mind yet?" she asked, pausing.
Victor was up in a second. He had her hands in his grip and pried the remote from her grip, completely on her mercy.
"You can't torture me into submission? Don't you know what I am capable of? Two years and you have learned a thing about me."
"Let me go," she mewled.
"I could kill you right now and blame it on the medicines you took. I saw the empty shells on your nightstand. I don't think your healer recommended three pills at once."
She breathed heavily in his hold, hyperventilating. He let her go and stepped away. "Now lay down on the bed and take a rest like a good girl. I will make sure you don't die in your sleep."
She kept quiet, perhaps sensing his upper hand in this whole situation. She walked to bed and pretended to sleep. Victor slept on the floor. Sleep was hard to come, his mind being clouded by Robin.
The guards came to take him away the next morning. He was to be brought for judgment.
He didn't expect Katrina to retaliate. She had always been even tempered but she must have seen something in his eyes last night.
He was put behind three other offenders. One of them was a farmer who didn't pay taxes on time, and two thieves who stole from palace treasure. King Marcella sat on his throne looking utterly bored as the royal reporter recited their crime. All three of them were sentenced to death by beheading.
Victor strode forward, standing in the middle of the yard. He got King Marcella's attention. The king leaned forward and eyed him with interest.
"The soldier who killed thousands of my men," the King said. "Why do we have him here?"
Katrina came running from the crowd and stood by his brother, she whispered something in his ear. The king straightened, smiling at him.
"You denied the only work given to you," The king said. "You do realize why we have kept you alive? You have a duty towards the palace. If you deny your duty you will be executed."
Katrina's eyes widened. She whispered something in her brother's ears once again. The king looked annoyed.
"I am giving you one more chance to rectify your mistake. Give him one hundred public lashes as punishment."
The executioner moved forward, pushing him on his knees then went back to retrieve the whip. He had seen the whip before. The long whip had thick knots along its body to maximize the pain it inflicted on the victim. The whip landed on his back without warning. Victor sucked in a breath but kept his head high as he readied himself for the second blow. He looked up to show King Marcella his feeble attempts of punishment did nothing to him. But the throne was empty. The King had already left. Katrina was sitting on the throne's armrest, smiling evilly at him. But it was not what caught his attention, it was a familiar face in the crowd on the other side of the courtyard.
Robin was standing with several court members on the other side of the room, reserved for high officials. Victor knew Robin attended the King's Court but he didn't expect to see him today. Victor couldn't help the smile that crept up his face as he saw the worry in Robin's eyes. He hadn't fully rejoiced in his discovery when the second lash came in and then the third. The executioner grew tired after thirty lashes. Another man took his place and started to whip him. About fifty lashes later Robin had grown utterly still. Katrina walked to the executioner and asked him to stop.
"I think he got his lesson. He will think twice before saying no to me again."
"I feel sorry for you, Katrina," Victor said, looking up at the woman. The woman's hand came flying in the air landing on his face with a force he didn't think she was capable of.
"Throw him in his dirty cell. Don't give him any water," she demanded, before storming out of the courtyard.
The guards dragged him across the hallway by his bound arms. The pain was nothing new to him. He had worse injuries during the war. He could go through the pain but he knew he couldn't keep denying Katrina or any other royal women. He had to act fast. Find a way to execute his plan.