His Personal Maid

Desire stared at the mirror in front of her, observing her curves and how long her legs had grown since she clocked 18, two years back.

How time flies!

She smiled at the memory of her eighteenth birthday that also happened to be her first day out of the mansion ever since she was brought by the master of the house.

Every year, a new girl is brought to the mansion as a slave and gradually ranks up to a servant till she becomes a house maiden which is the highest rank ever held by a slave girl.

The slave is the lowest rank in the mansion and it's usually held by a set of girls who were brought from the southern part of their region that is plagued by poverty, diseases, and hunger.

The servant rank is usually for girls who had served the house for more than four years, they're believed to have more experience and insight on how to please the master.

While the house-maiden rank, also called the House maids is held by girls who have spent more than 7 years in the house.

Even though none of the girls living in the mansion has seen Mr Ho up close, the only thing they're familiar with is his voice, side views and really loud intimate sessions his friends have with girls brought from the Harem.

Desire picked up the love letter in front of the mirror stand and smiled at the memory of Chang, the guy who had been secretly sending her love letters after they had met on her first day out of the mansion. She'll be thrilled to see him again.

It has been six years and eleven months since Desire was brought into the house and a month to her becoming a house maiden. She longed for the outside world and would love to fulfill her dream of becoming a nurse rather than stay in the mansion and become a house Maiden.

She had always wanted to learn under the great physician and become a helper or a nurse under his service.

'From Slavery to slavery' her subconscious self reminded her.

She hissed at the sudden thought that came to her head. At least, one had a length of freedom more than the other.

She quickly put on her dress and went out of the room before the court lady came barging in and cursing at her for being too late to the kitchen.

Once when she was only five minutes late to the kitchen, she had been punished for three days by not giving her food nor water.

"Good morning, Lady Nor" she greeted the court lady's assistant who was in every way nicer than the court lady.

"My dear child, Bless you. Hope you slept well?"

"Yes, I did, and thank you for the green tea you gave me, it aided my peaceful sleep"

"No need child, I do what is expected of me as a mother to you girls" Desire smiles at her as memories of her mother come back to her.

They stopped talking immediately when the court lady entered the room and they resumed their daily chores almost immediately, out of fear for the woman.

With Desire cleaning around the kitchen and Lady Nor getting the utensils ready to serve the table while the others in the kitchen cooked the master's breakfast.

"Master has requested for his breakfast in his private suite, is it ready?" The court lady asked in a stern voice.

"f-f-few minutes is required to get everything ready, my lady" the cook answered with fear lacing her words.

"Do you mind explaining what you have been doing all day!?" She barked at the young girl.

"We were looking for the spices to add to his breakfast and it took a while before we found it, my lady"

Desire froze at that moment, she had been in charge of getting the spices at the market yesterday and she had forgotten to put it at its normal position.

The court lady turned to Desire and she knew she was going to die at that moment. Smirking wickedly, she called her name, "Desire darling, how long is it till you become a house-maiden?"

"One month, my lady" she couldn't look at her in the face.

"Well, how about you begin your duties immediately as a house-maiden?" Desire could hear gasp around her. At that moment, everyone feared for her life and no one dared question the court lady, not even her assistant, Lady Nor.

Normally, before a servant becomes a housemaid, she's introduced to the ropes and most precisely, to Mr. Ho. If he pleases, he'll order for them to keep her and if not, send her to the Harem.

Any slave or servant that appears before Mr. Ho without prior notice might be beheaded or stoned to death at their village square. It all depends on his mood.

With shaking hands and an unknown fate, Desire took the food, accompanied by two other housemaids to serve their Master his breakfast.

After the door was opened by the knights in charge of protecting the prime minister, who is also their master, she stepped in and placed the food on the table.

"Who are you? and why are you in my suite?" The loud voice spoke behind her and if she could lean a little bit, she'll be resting on his torso.

"I'm Desire and the court-lady asked me to bring your food up, my lord"

She was still not looking at him and had her eyes fixed to the ground.

After a few minutes of checking her out and seeing if she wasn't any form of danger, he moved closer to the food, inspected it, and sat down in front of it.

"Go stand at the corner" he directed her and told one of the ladies to get the court lady.

Shivering from fear, she stood at the corner and almost couldn't breathe so as to not make a sound that'll disturb him.

"You asked for me, my lord, " The court lady said as she entered the suite.

"Why did you send her up here?" He asked, pointing to Desire.

"She exchanged some of the ingredients purchased for the preparation of your food with poison and I thought it would be better if she explained herself about why she had to give you something that could kill you. Maybe she was planning to get rid of you all along" Even though Desire knew the court lady was evil, she just didn't know she was that evil.

She watched huge feet stop in front of her and suspecting it was her master, she refused to look up and confirm her suspicion.

"Look at me, Dove" Her Master commanded.

"I can't, My lord" She was scared, too scared to look at him.

"Why!?" He demanded loudly. "Why have you refused to look at me in the eyes?"

"Because it is forbidden my lord, for a mere servant like me to look you in the eye" He laughed wickedly.

"You're too scared to look at me but not too scared to give me poison"

"I didn't try to poison you, my lord, I can't do that. I swear on my life, my lord" At this point she was crying and shivering suddenly from the coldness radiating from his body to hers.

"But at least, you tried" Next thing she knew was him grabbing her by the hair so tight she felt some of her thick hair removing.

She was screaming from the pain.

He dragged her through chairs and tables, running her body down the long stairs down to where all of them feared the most; the dungeons.

He opened the gate of one of the rooms and pushed her inside.

"You'll be spending three days in here, without food not water nor sunlight and till then, pray that God changes my mind or else, I'll kill you once you're out"

Desire tried to cry but she couldn't anymore. The tears she'd cried the first day she was thrown here was more than her body could carry. She was scared of the darkness and whatever lies within, not knowing that wasn't even half of what she would go through during the night.

Even though it had been two days since she had been subjected to the dark hole situated at the lowest part of the mansion, Desire felt life running out of her. She was exhausted and felt the punishment was tough enough to end her life.

Without food, without water, and she prayed to the heavens to quickly kill her rather than subject her to this type of punishment.

The dungeon is usually cold at night and hot during the day. She had to endure the cold nights without an extra cloth to keep her warm. The only thing that gave her a ray of hope was the little sunlight that penetrated through a tiny hole on the wall. She had often heard tales of the dungeon from the other girls in the mansion but she never thought of experiencing it.

During those two days, she had thought too much about her life, her childhood in her father's tiny hut with her twin sisters and a brother. Their mother had died when she was seven, her brother ten, and the twins, Five. She had managed to take care of her family after her mother's death despite her young age.

She loved her sisters like her life depended on it and had always managed to protect them from the webs of evil and the dangers that lie in the darkness.

Desire was fourteen when she was taken from her family to serve at the prime minister's house while some of her friends had been sent to the King's castle. Desire never saw her family again after that day. Not even one of the girls ever brought to the mansion ever saw their families. They were only allowed out once and it's usually during their eighteenth birthday.

The privilege they had at the mansion was not in sight for others who resided at the King's palace. The tales being told to them were that some of the girls took to the palace, never got to see the light of the day and some even died before they became a house-maiden.

She sat straight from the floor that she had rejected herself to and rested her back against the wall. She winced in pain as her hand mistakenly hit her wounded leg.

During the process of dragging her down the floors, she had sustained injuries, and also, her body was in severe pain. She was a broken mess. She wished she had the strength to last through the night but she doubted if she could.

A lone tear rolled down her eye. She wished she had it differently. She wished she hadn't been preoccupied with Chang's letter when she was at the market, maybe her head would have been in the right place and she wouldn't have had to suffer like this.

Startled, she quickly stood up from the floor when she heard heavy footsteps approaching.

Through the darkness, she was able to see the door of the cell she was in opened suddenly and something or maybe someone was pushed inside and the door was locked back.

When she turned to her side, she could feel the presence of a person beside her. Whoever it was, breathed heavily.

"Who are you?" Desire asked wearily.

She got no answer in response.

She gave up hope and sat back on the floor.

A few minutes later, she could hear whimpering and she deduced that the person was crying and also was a girl.

"I've been here for two days without food or water. My only offense was misplacing the ingredients for the Master's breakfast. I guess we slaves means nothing to them." Desire said, trying to break the silence.

The girl only started to cry out loud at that and went on with the tears for minutes.

"My Name is Sandra" it was only when she talked that Desire knew she couldn't be more than 13.

"I'm Desire. How old are you Sandra?" Desire starts to move closer to her voice.

"I'm twelve"

"So, that means you're new here" She confirmed her suspicion.

"Yes, I was brought in from the south" She replied. That made Desire wonder if she knew who this little girl was.

"I'm also from the south"

"I tried to run away. I did that because I don't want to be here" She suddenly said

"What! Why would you do such a thing? That's dangerous! They could have killed you"

"After I was taken from my parents and brought here, I bit one of the guards by the ear and tried to run. I was almost at the gate when I got dragged back to the mansion. I've been kept here till the Prime Minister decides my fate" Desire didn't have a choice than to acknowledge the little girl's courage. She could imagine what the girl had gone through since she had been in her shoes once.

"You're strong and courageous, no one has ever done that before. I can't make any promises to you girl, but I know you'll be fine. You're strong enough for this"

"How long have you worked here?" The girl asked

"Six years"

After that, they both became silent, engrossed in their individual thoughts. Sandra's tears had subsidies and she silently hummed a song.

Suddenly, for the second time that day, the dungeon door was opened and light penetrated into the cell room as one of the knights opened the gate and dragged Desire to her feet.

"W-what's going on?" Desire asked him

"The Prime Minister wants you in his private suite and I'm under no obligation to answer any of your questions"

"Will you be fine?" The little girl asked

"I don't know Sandra, I can't make any promises to you but this might be a journey to death"

Desire found herself standing in the middle of her Master's room as if she was a dancer on display. The scene reminded her of how ladies from the Harem were made to perform in front of senior ranked citizens.

The only difference was the clothes she was putting on, the prostitutes were said to be made to dance naked. The Harem is a place where prostitute stays and the only place where prostitution is legal.

She looked around the room and realized there were mirrors everywhere, at almost every corner of the room. Something was glaring back at her. It was her reflection.

She observed herself for a while and realized she had lost some weight within the past two days, her hair was all over the place, her eyes swollen from the tears and her clothes tattered from dragging her down the stairs. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

The Knight that was standing beside her was the one holding the chain used to lock her hand and leg. The height of the punishment made her wonder what she actually did to deserve such punishment. Angry, she was but she had no right to voice out her anger.

After standing for what seems like hours, she was feeling dizzy and anytime she staggered, the chains were drawn to keep her standing. She was thirsty, hungry, and tired despite wondering the sort of punishment this was exactly. She hoped they had left her at the dungeon, where she could at least sit down.

She had received all types of punishment in the past but none was as bad as this. The court lady had made them sleep in the rain, because the meat prepared for the Prime Minister was not tender enough. They were beaten terribly and refused food nor water and also made them sleep in the rain.

Their region had two seasons- the rainy and dry season. The rainy season was one to look forward to as it was always cold and refreshing for their souls and even their farm products flourished at such a period. The dry season was the worst of all, dry crops and even dry humans. Many people die during this period as a result of lack of food. This was the period when the servants at the Prime Minister's house were grateful for being there.

Desire was pulled out of her thoughts by the heavy sounding of footsteps. She quickly diverted her attention to the floor, looking down so as to avoid the gaze of her Master. She hadn't really looked at him ever since she had been at the mansion as it is forbidden for any Slave or Servant to look at the Master. Only the HandsMaiden were allowed but only when permitted.

"You May leave us alone" He instructed his Knights. They bowed before leaving the room. He looked over at the tiny girl standing in front of him and wondered what could be so special about her that the assistant to the court lady could risk her head for.

"Someone came to plea for you" His voice resonated throughout the room.

"The person risked her life to report how you had been a great servant and how you never broke any rules. If you had been a good servant, then why did you decide to poison me?" He asked.

Desire couldn't find the voice to respond to his question.

"Answer me!" He barked

"I'm sorry my lord but I swear on my life I didn't poison you. I only misplaced the ingredients, I'm sorry" She trembled.

"Look at me and explain yourself, " Desire thought of how he was trying to get her killed by all means. She couldn't take it anymore.

"It's forbidden, my lord" She mumbled out.

"Look at me, Dove, and don't you dare question my authority"

"My Name is Desire, my lord, and I didn't question your authority. It's the rules and I'll be killed if I look at you. I'm deeply sorry my Lord" She bowed her head lower in Submission.

He moved closer to her and touched her neck before moving his hand to touch her shoulder. Desire jerked back at the sudden contact and tried to pry away from him but that didn't stop him from placing a finger on her chin to try to lift her head up to him.

"Why do you defy me, little dove?" He demanded and Desire was torn. Torn between pleasing her Master and bending one of the rules holding their region together.

Deciding to take fate as whatever it'll be, she allowed his hand to move her chin up and when she finally looked at her Master after staying in the same mansion as him for seven years, after breathing in the same air and drinking from the same source of water for years, she almost couldn't breathe. He was beautiful.

So beautiful, she could hardly take her eyes away from him, he was mesmerizing. The dark mark that crossed his face only made him more beautiful and he was so young. Probably in his mid-30s and that made Desire wonder how he became a Prime Minister so early.

His blue eyes bored into hers for a while before Desire finally looked away again, waiting for her judgement, her dead judgement for breaking a rule.

He quickly cleared his throat and moved back from her a little bit.

"You have a decision to make, little Dove. There are three options available, three things I could do to you, it'll be better if you're wise enough to pick the better option"

Fearing what the options could be, a lone tear found its way down Desire's face.

"The first option is to have you killed by hanging, the second one is to send you to the Harem while the third one is to make you my private maid and you're the only person who has the privilege of this rare chance. So, my dear little Dove, what do you say?"

Desire knew the second and third option was a death sentence, a life sentence that could get her killed at anytime, so why not take the death right now?

Much to his disappointment, Desire looked at him without thinking about the rules.

"I'll pick the first option, let me die at stake or by hanging. Whichever option suits you, My lord but please just let me die a quick death"