Eris

What was your life like before slavery? You didn't remember it. In those days, black people weren't considered human, no more than animals. Your parents served nobles, and they seemed good to you: they never yelled at them, scolded them, or beat them like others. And what kind of life could you have had before slavery? You were born a slave, into the nobles' house.

Everything seemed more or less calm. What could upset this fragile order? The nobles themselves. At some point, they decided you were just taking up space, that there was no point in feeding another mouth. Besides, they were just then recruiting slaves for the king. The main thing was to be well-mannered, able to read and write, and strong. You met all the criteria: a muscular body, a good education—a strange rarity in those days.

That's how you ended up at the castle. You were divided into groups. You were sent to the gardeners to tend the enormous royal garden. You never understood why it required strength and education, but once the work began, few cared.

Gradually, everything settled into a familiar rhythm. You were fed, you had rooms of three or four people. All that was required of you was to do your job well.

One bright morning, you entered the garden before the others. The others were still eating breakfast, and you were barely hungry—so you arrived first. Stepping inside, you noticed a young man. He was shorter than you, and at first you thought he was an ordinary servant, one of your own. But his porcelain skin immediately gave him away—he couldn't be a simple worker. He stood near the lilies, looking at them so thoughtfully that he didn't even hear you approach.

You were about to ask who he was when suddenly you were forced to your knees—by the guards. You looked confusedly from them to him... and immediately realized: this was someone high up in the world.

"How dare you, a lowly one, approach His Highness?!" growled one of the guards.

You froze. You'd heard that the king was very young and that his name was Eris. But you'd never imagined how young... and handsome he was.