King Wrath

I cried because I was hurt by his action. I hate how he throws me and calls Athenodora. He could simply be gentle with me. He told me that if I ran off to the harem, I would be punished. He did not tell me how I would be punished, but I was not prepared to find out.

I was crying and sitting in the dark with lost hope and a broken heart. The sound of crickets, owls, and night frogs is the only thing I hear. I lean against the wooden door, my legs hugged to my chest and my hair covering the sides of my face. I feel tired, but my mind is alert.

And then I hear it; a drunken laugh, and a pair of stumbling feet down the hallway. I stand and press my back against the door. The torches in the hallway light the way a little bit, well enough for me to see the figure of a barbarian man emerge.

My heart pounds. "Karuna," I hear him say. I've been around long enough to know what I'm being called, and that karuna means 'whore.' I'm suddenly very afraid. This man is not Cesar, and he will most cert