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The slam of iron jolted the woman from her slumber, and she glared at the guard who made the noise.
“Wake up bitch!” The hellhound guard yelled, “Breakfast is served!”
Said breakfast was a bowl of watered-down gruel and a piece of two-day old bread that was stale. It was all served in cracked bowl with a chipped mug of plain water.
Stella looked at the beggar feast with a scowl. Even plebeians ate better shit than this!
“Eat it bitch!” The guard yelled, banging the bars with his baton, “That’s as fancy as you're gonna get!”
She wanted to shout at the mutt but after being force fed the last time she refused to eat the disgusting food, Stella crawled out of her straw bed and reached for the bowl. There was no spoon, so she was forced to put the bowl to her beak. The gruel was revolting, and the bread might as well be a rock. Stella slammed the bowl down and crawled back to the straw mass that made her itch.
It wasn’t fair!
She was a princess! A princess deserved to sleep in the finest of silk beds! Not a pile of smelly straw!
Stella seethed and scratched at the burlap that served as her clothing. She was meant to wear silk!
She was also meant to live in grand apartments! Not this tiny damp cell that smelled like shit!
Where did it all go wrong?!
Why was she forced to live like this?!
Goetic women are meant to have nice things!
That was what mother told her a long time ago when she was ten years old. If Stella remembered correctly, it was the day she was told that she destined to produce a precautionary heir to the Goetia family and that she was now engaged to king Paimon’s youngest son. She was then shown a picture of the boy she was intended to marry, an innocent owl boy standing in front of a stained-glass window, holding a book and smiling a stupid smile.
She was against it, she yelled that she didn’t want to get married, but mother dearest simply looked at her and said that she was meant to be a wife and mother.
Stella remembered crying in her room that night, Andrealphus did his best but not even his encouraging words were enough to sooth her.
It wasn’t fair!
She didn’t want to be a wife or a mother!
Why did it have to be her?! Was it because she didn’t inherit her father’s magic like her brother and eldest sister?! It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t have any magic!
Stella tore up her room that night.
Her mother walked in and berated her ‘unladylike’’ behavior. But she did console her in a way.
She was told that Goetic women are meant to have nice things. They were not meant to lift a finger. That was servant’s work.
Goetic women were meant to have the best. The best clothes, the best jewels, the best silks for their beds and the best foods to fill their stomachs.
And all they had to do was be docile wives to their husbands and bear them children.
As much as Stella wanted to protest, she held her tongue and begrudgingly agreed. Even though deep down she wanted to pack all her dolls and clothes so she could run away.
Years later she met her soon to be husband.
A tall, lanky of an owl who dressed as if he were going to a funeral and he had that stupid smile on his face. Was he mocking her?! Was his pathetic offer of friendship a way of saying that he looked down on her?!
Fine!
The least he should have done was give her that nice closet he had. So what that he used it as a ‘safe space’, she wanted it, and Stella was accustomed to getting what she wanted. It was only fair.
If Stolas had agreed to give it to her instead of sealing it like he did, then maybe he would not have been hit!
It wasn’t her fault!
Stolas was the one who decided that his ‘safe space’ was more important than her comfort!
He deserved that slap!
As much as he deserved to do his part on making sure she produced those heirs! It was the least he could do! Did he have to cry like a little bitch about it on their wedding night?!
He didn’t have to carry the egg like she did!
Being gravid was agony! She hated every goddamn minute of it! The back aches, the swollen belly that almost destroyed her perfect figure and the constant movements of the damn egg! But she was doing her duty they say, bringing a precautionary heir to the goetia family and all that shit.
Don't remind her of the laying.
All she wanted to do was lay the egg and get it over with but imagine her surprise, and pain, when another egg was laid.
Twins.
That has never happened in the history of the Goetia!
Everyone praised her but she brushed it off and told Stolas that those things were his problem now. Stella was not going to incubate them and would not hold them the entire egg stage.
So she threw parties.
Grand parties to ‘celebrate’ the twins before they even hated. Stella loved the attention it gave it; she loved the status those brats were going to give her.
Stolas would tell her later one that they hatched.
A girl and a boy.
That fool was over the moon for them.
Happily wrapping them in blankets while telling her who was who. Stella didn’t bother with picking names, so Stolas did that. The girl was Octavia, why did he choose the name of his dead mother? And the boy was Orion, great from those stupid stars stolas loved so much.
Stella only held them out of obligation, a small hint of affection was there, and she hoped that maybe they would take after her but then she saw the few feathers sticking out of their little heads.
Slate gray.
Like that damn prince.
Great, fucking great!
Stella was not motherly material; she made it known to Stolas when those runts were starting to recognize their parents. It wasn’t her fault that they preferred their father, she was busy, and Stolas had so much free time.
As long as Octavia and Orion knew who she was and respected her as they should then it didn’t matter if she was busy.
So why did they choose that imp their father slept with?!
Were they angry at her for being firm with their education?!
She had to teach them discipline! Her mother was very strict with her as well, if not worse! It was those brats' fault for not being the prim and proper royals she tried to mold them into! They had the nerve to say that they didn’t want to get married even when she said they could choose their respective partners!
So, what they were not interested! Stella wanted to marry them off and boost her status!
She had to be firm with them.
She had to make them see that everything she did was for them!
She would have given them the right to choose their partners!
So why did they look at her and say they hated her?!
Those ungrateful imp loving brats! They were just as useless as their father!
It was not her fault that they were almost killed by that stupid cowboy. She simply wanted them to be taught a lesson! Why did they have to fight back?!
In fact, why did they have to lie to the court about being the ones to give that imp the grimoire?! They almost lost their heads, and she almost lost her meal tickets! Did they not know how worried she was?!
Stella would have taken care of them after they lost their magic! But instead, they still wanted to stay with Stolas!
Why did they hate her?!
Why did they say she was abusive?! Her mother abusive! Stella at least gave them an explanation to why she had to discipline them!
This was all Stolas’ fault!
She wouldn’t be in this situation if he kept his beak shut and gave her what she wanted when he announced that divorce!
All she wanted was compensation and those brats!
But no! He had to have them! He had to keep those brats!
Stella gripped her short hair and let out a screech in frustration. The guards at her cell covered their ears, this was their normal since she was thrown in there. She kept screaming and she threw her bowl of gruel against the bars before she ran to them, gripping them tightly with her chipped talons.
“Let me out of here!” she screeched, “Do you know who the fuck I am?!”
One of the guards growled and pointed his spear at the shrieking woman, “We know who you are! A wannabe princess who betrayed the Goetia!”
“I did no such thing! You flea ridden mongrels!”
The second guard barred his teeth, “Why you-”
“Enough!” a new voice echoed throughout the stone halls, causing a small rumble.
The two guards turned to the voice and knelt down to the ground with their heads down. Stella trembled and before she knew it, Belial was in front of her cell, he was still as imposing as ever, and his eyes were seething with fury.
“Two months and you still will not shut up?!” the king roared, “Be grateful I did not kill like I wanted!”
Stella was still trembling, but she could not make a sound. She tried to back away, but Belial grabbed her by the throat, making her scream.
“You are giving me a headache! I should have done this a long time ago!”
The guards stiffened as Stella’s voice grew louder until... it was gone? They both rose their heads and saw Stella on the ground holding her throat and her beak was flapping. Belial stood there holding a small glowing orb in his hand.
“Your voice is mine until I decide when you can have it back!”
With that he stormed off, grumbling hoe now he can have peace and quiet. The guards stood up and saw Stella holding her throat in distress, she tried to speak but nothing came out. Not a sound but gasps came out.
The guards smirked and began to laugh.
“That’s what you get bitch!”
“You’re lucky his majesty did not rip your throat out!”
They looked at her and then at the discarded gruel, smirks stretched on their faces.
“You know, his majesty hates it when you waste food.”
One guard opened the gate, “It seems that you were never taught how to eat properly.”
Stella scooted back and tried again to scream but nothing came out. The second guard grabbed her by the arms as she thrashed while the first guard scooped up the gruel from the dirty floor.
“Force her mouth open!” he ordered.
“Yes sir!” the guard said, prying the swan’s mouth open with his gauntlet covered hand, the sharp metal pierced her skin.
Stella watched in horror as the guard approached her with the bowl full of gruel and whatever shit was on the floor.
“Eat up princess!”
The dungeons halls were soon filled with sounds of gagging and choking until coughs were heard.
Snickering, the gaurds left to go on their lunch break, king Belail was kind enough to offer home cooked meals in the palace kitchens, leaving Stella alone in her cell. She kept coughing up the vile trash that forced down her throat. Curling into a tight ball, Stella let out a silent screech as tears of bitter frustration fell from her eyes.
All she wanted was to go back to her soft bed of rich silks and satins. To enjoy a proper meal of rich meats, fluffy bread with delicious teas and wine!
With a silent scream, Stella cursed at Stolas, she cursed at Octavia and Orion, she cursed her brother who dragged her into this.
She then cursed at the Goetia who turned their backs on her.
Damn them she thought to herself, damn them all!