THE AGONY

Scrubbing was more challenging than sweeping was and the worst part was that they could not use their abilities as Ceaser and Crow were there. The to men were sitting at the front of the room on a raised platform silently watching them and scheming of ways to make the work even more challenging. Crow got up from where he had been sitting and picked to taunt Elizabeth because he didn't have the heart to give his niece a hard time.

"There is a lot of dirt behind you." Crow said walking behind Elizabeth on the spot she just finished cleaning.

"Where?" she asked and when he had moved away, she scrubbed the places he had messed up.

When she was done, Crow who had been watching her while standing close to a wall slammed his fist into it and loose concrete from the ceiling came down all over the room.

"There." Crow said answering Elizabeth's earlier question.

Elizabeth frowned deeply while Crow grinned down at her. Eve got up from the ground to start sweeping, the right way this time.

"I don't want to see any dust escaping through the windows in a whirlwind." Ceaser said dusting himself.

He left with Crow and Elizabeth started hitting the wall where Crow had been standing earlier as if he was still there.

"Calm down. I can't use mine but you can still use yours, can't you?" Eve said sweeping slowly as she didn't know what she was doing.

"No. I am too weak." Elizabeth confessed,"The latest I can use them is in a fortnight."

Eve nodded her head and sighed thinking about how much easier it would have been if she still has her hair. Elizabeth started humming the song of the lady of the lake and Eve joined in. It was easier to not concentrate on the fact that they were now slaves and singing made their minds preoccupied. Crow who was in the room above the hall listened to the sweet melody with concentration and his mind wandered to his past. Ceaser watched Crow who was lost in thought and after a few minutes he left the room to go and see how far they singing ladies had gone with their work.

He pushed open the doors to the great hall and saw that they had finished sweeping and were now scrubbing the floor. Ceaser looked at the corner where they had gathered the dirt and he used Elizabeth's ability and spread it out, forcing it into cracks so they would have a hard time cleaning it. Eve who saw what.he.did was surprised to see him using her friend's ability. It was like when he killed Bezel. Ceaser smiled at her while Elizabeth scrubbed her heart and soul away. He left as quickly as he came and Eve remained standing glued to the ground.

"What are you doing just standing there?" Elizabeth asked standing up and wiping her hands on her dress,"Don't Tell me you are falling in love again."

"We never could win. He knew what we could do." Eve answered in a hushed and shaky voice that made Elizabeth come closer.

"What are you talking about? Eve look at me!"

Eve stared blankly at the closed doors and then she turned to face her friend.

"He...he has our magic. His ability is to copy other abilities."

Elizabeth was quiet for a while then she sighed and went back to what she was doing.

"Aren't you concerned?" Eve asked dumbfounded by Elizabeth's lack of interest in the matter.

"What.good will that knowledge do any one of us? Are we suddenly a step ahead because we now know what his ability is? No Eve. We aren't." Elizabeth said in a sad tone,"We are already slaves. We have to finish this quickly. My arms are aching and I'm hungry."

Elizabeth continued scrubbing and Eve joined her. Eve knew that somewhere deep in Elizabeth's heart her friend blamed her for everything. She knew it was her fault and she wished she could turn their situation around but that was not possible anymore. Ceaser would have begun his conquest of other kingdoms and he would have won at any time so their situation was inevitable but because of her it had happened sooner rather than later.

Two hours later they finally finished cleaning the huge room and their backs were sore by now. Fiona came to check on them and she was glad that they had finished the work in time for supper. Fiona happily hurried to Ceaser's room to inform him that the work was done and she didn't forget to make sure she was looking appealing.

"What are you adjusting your dress for?" One of the guards stationed outside Ceaser's room asked Fiona.

"I'm going to meet the prince." she answered with a titanic smile on her face that showed her teeth.

"He rejected the princess yet you think he will choose you. What a joke." the other guard said grinning at Fiona,"People like us belong together and not with royals like him."

"Unlike you I have dreams and aspirations." Fiona said still smiling.

She pushed her breasts up and and confidently knocked on the door but she received no answer. She knocked again and still got no answer. She frowned deeply at this and the guards started laughing at her.

"Isn't he in?" she.asked in annoyance but they continued to laugh.

"What is so funny?!" she asked and to her dismay the answer did not come from them.

"Who is that screaming in front of the sire's room?" Crow asked emerging from the other side of the corridor.

Fiona started shaking at the sight of him. Though no one knew that he was Crow they were still very afraid of him.

"This mad woman here is trying to wake the sire from his slumber." the first guard answered straightening himself.

"And the only thing you thought of doing is laughing." Crow said in a serious tone that made them all stiffen,"Take her and yourselves to the dungeon."

Fiona fell to the floor with her face downcast and the guards followed her action.

"Please, sir, I didn't mean to! Show mercy!" Fiona pleaded knowing that going to the dungeon meant nights and nights in darkness without food or drink.

Sometimes the people in the dungeon were forgotten and died like animals and their corpses would even be half eaten by little rodents.

"You are still shouting." Crow said smiling down at her,"If the sire is awake I will kill you myself."

Crow kicked her away from the door along with the guards and he opened the door opened to the room but Ceaser wasn't there. He went further in and found Ceaser submerged completely in cold water. Ceaser's eyes were closed and under the water and he was holding his breath. Crow went closer to the tub and waited for his master to come out of the water. Three minutes later Ceaser was still in the water and Crow was becoming inpatient.

'You'll drown yourself.' Crow said the his master in his mind.

"Count to a hundred and I'll be out.'

Crow sighed and started counting aloud, skipping some numbers to make his wait shorter but Caeser made him count all over again and when Crow did it properly he finally came out.

"Is it something important?" Ceaser asked.

"They have finished cleaning and there are three fools outside shouting." Crow answered ready to leave the bathroom.

"I didn't hear any shouting but do as you please. I'll check the work later." Ceaser said getting out of the water.

He picked up a towel that he had left on the ground and he started rubbing it in his head to dry his hair.

"Should they be fed?"

"Yes. The portion assigned for people of their status. When the finish eating bring them here to clean the bathroom and refill the tub with warm water."

"Warm water? You never use warm water so who is it for?" Crow asked narrowing his eyes.

"Myself. Who do you think I would ask them to prepare water for?"

"But you never use warm water so why the sudden change of heart?"

"It will be difficult for them to warm the water and bring it up here so the change of heart is for fun."

Crow bowed slightly and he left the room.

"Dungeon, now." Crow said to the three people who were still on the ground.

They started begging for mercy while Crow ignored them completely and walked away. He found Eve and Elizabeth standing at the door of the hall and when they saw him they bowed their heads, trying to look as meek as possible. They opened the doors for him and he inspected from where he stood.

"The sire will also check later on."

"How much later?" Elizabeth asked and her stomach growled to justify her question.

"You can eat so don't worry. Follow me."

They both sighed in relief and followed Crow to the kitchen. He told the head maid to give them the food rations for slaves and Elizabeth almost cried seeing how little it was. It didn't taste good either so much so that they couldn't finish it.

"Don't be so picky. Finish it or no food for the next seven days." the head maid told them with a look of pride on her face.

Crow had stepped out for a while so they were at her mercy and the woman took full advantage of it. When he came back she was about to flog them for not eating and she was certain that he would fully support her.

"What do you think you are doing?" Crow asked calmly looking at the elderly woman.

She first bowed to him and then cleared her throat and said,

"They have refused to finish their food rations so I was going to....."

"Then you eat it." he interrupted her and her eyes widened in shock.

"What?" she asked trying to clarify.

"You are so worried the food will be wasted so why don't you act like the food and dutiful servant you are and eat it. They are special slaves if you must know. One scratch on them and your head is gone." he said with a blank stare that made the woman start trembling,"You two. Follow me."

"But shouldn't we be allowed to rest?"

Eve asked hoping he would listen to her because of their relation.

"No. Special slaves also means worse treatment compared to a regular slave. Follow me."

Eve glared at his retreating figure and she got up from the ground, her back still aching from being bent over for hours. Elizabeth got up as well and they followed him to Ceaser's room.