The Bell of Freedom (King and human romance)✔

Chapter Eleven

The silence is making my body twitch with unease. They all stare down at their plates that are being handed out from various slaves. From their reaction, I don't think they've seen a plate since they left their nanneries. I turn my attention to a girl with dark hair wearing a silk bathrobe, it's hard sometimes to know exactly how old they are but she looks sixteen, maybe seventeen. She has deeply tanned skin, almost black, and her brown eyes are riddled with pain and fear.

"What is your name?" I ask her.

The girl looks at me, flinching suddenly as a slave sets down the cutlery beside her plate. "Gianna."

"You don't have to be afraid. The King won't send you back."

"How did he do that?" a different girl asks from across the table. She's younger than Gianna, she still has that childish flush to her pale cheeks. "How did he wake us up?"

"It's a weapon," I say. "I'm not sure how it works but he can transfer pieces back to the hosts."

"I've never heard of that," Gianna says.

"I think he is the only one that can do it," I say.

"I haven't felt this strong in weeks," another says, trailing her eyes around the room in wonder. "It's like. . . I am whole again."

The other girls nod in agreement. I know exactly how they feel, it is how I felt when Cain restored my energy after my attack this morning. The life has been brought back to their skin, it's almost like they're glowing.

Christian and the other slaves return with their food and they sprawl it out on the table like a buffet. I am given a large slice of cheesecake that I haven't tasted in years. My mouth waters just by looking at it.

"May we join you?" Christian says, smiling at me from across the room.

"Of course," I say. "The King allowed it."

The slaves bring spare chairs into the room and slide them into places beside the girls, the conversations are slow at first as they all become stunned by the thought of eating so much food. But eventually, the slaves and the girls are introducing their lives to each other as though it's a storybook.

"I had to see it to believe it," a voice says from behind me. I look up to see Wendy sitting in the chair next to mine. She reaches over and grabs a cucumber stick. "What an amazing sight."

"Amazing indeed," another voice says. The girl is very familiar to me as she sits on the other side of Wendy, I remember her from my first day here, the King was feeding on her when I was brought into his room. She's very pretty, with curly auburn hair and freckles along her cheeks. She glares at me over the trays of food, narrowing them slightly. "And very intriguing."

"Not now, Bella," Wendy hisses. "Do not ruin this."

"I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out what is so damn special about you," Bella says, ignoring Wendy. "You're pure? Great, we're all pure. All those that Cain bids on is nothing less. But since owning you, he has discarded all of us. Why?"

"I don't know," I say.

"Liar," Bella mutters. "Don't forget we have spent time with him, we know how honest he is. Since your arrival we have been ignored and forbidden from entering his bedroom. That isn't a coincidence."

I don't understand her anger at that. Surely it's a good thing? They haven't been fed on in eleven days and she's acting as though that's a major issue. If anything, she should be thanking me.

"Why is that a bad thing?" I ask her.

"Because Cain is the only one that can build our worlds," she says. "He can give us peace for eternity. If he sells us because of you, that all gets taken away."