Hell's Consort

A moan escaped from Luna's lips.

She rolled to her side, burrowing deeper under the covers.

She must have fallen asleep again because the next thing she knew, her eyelids fluttered open, taking the sunlight.

"Girl, wake up." Luna heard a woman's voice so soft and soothing, she barely heard her.

A long while had passed before she was able to orient herself.

The room appears hazy at first, but everything slowly slipped into place.

Her eyes blinked open and closed.

"You must be thirsty." The moment she spoke, she realized how dry her mouth was.

"Yes." She rasped, and the woman reached for a pitcher near the table, poured water in the glass, and offered it to her.

Luna tried to sit up, but the feat proved impossible.

She gripped the glass tightly, careful not to let even the droplet spill.

She drank deeply, the cool liquid soothing her throat, her stomach, and moving through her overheated blood.

Her increasingly heavy eyelids fluttered open and closed as she eased back onto the pillow and set the glass back to the table.

Sleep. Luna needs sleep.

Just a little longer.

She gave her shoulder a soft shake instead.

As Luna struggled to sit up, the ache in her head roared to full life.

She groaned and flopped against the pillow.

Her increasingly heavy eyes fluttered open and closed as she eased back.

Her brain wasn't functioning on optimal levels, but common sense finally slipped past the thick labyrinth of stupidity blanketing her mind.

She jilted into wakefulness.

Panic washed over her, she demanded.

Her alarm making her voice scratchy. "Where am I?"

"Welcome to the harem, consort." She gave her a warm smile. "I am Lady Clarence. You were unconscious for hours. The head eunuch, Vali, is summoned for a meeting and is busy for the preparations of the Banquet tonight, so I'm in charge of telling you what is expected of us and our roles in this Kingdom."

Lady Clarence was beautiful with her flaxen hair, pouty mouth, and wide hips.

Luna looked down at her chest. It was small. She can't please anyone with this.

How can she be a consort when Luna can't even beat the size of her companion's breasts?

"I don't think I'm physically capable of being consort," Luna said as she cringed inwardly. "I'm ugly."

"Why don't you see it for yourself?" Lady Clarence handed her an enormous mirror with polished seashells surrounding it.

Luna was stunning as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Her face and body felt clean for the first time after days of hiding in the forest and being carried around by that stupid warrior general, Cederic.

Her long silver hair was unbound and coursed down her back while a pair of jeweled combs drew it away from her face to expose her elegant cheekbones.

A thin line of kohl accented the feline tilt of her silver-grey eyes.

She stood up and turned around.

"Oh, my goddess." Like Lady Clarence, she was draped in strips of blue silk deliberately designed to tantalize a man, showing hints of treasures that lay beneath every time she moved.

'Even her giggles were lady-like.' Luna mused.

"What is your name, consort?"

"I am Luna, Lady Clarence," Luna replied, held her hand, and smiled in gratitude.

It wasn't bad to make friends in her time of need. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"You're welcome. I knew you just got here." Lady Clarence said as she tossed her an apple. "You should eat while I show you around where we are allowed to go."

She caught it and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

She had been eating root crops and fruits while she was hiding from the werewolves.

Her stomach grumbled in protest, too, but she had no choice but to eat it.

Maybe she could escape and hunt for meat somewhere in the castle's kitchens.

"There are five ranks in the Consortium. The Empress, the Concubines, High Consorts, Consorts, and Escorts. As we are Consorts, our role in the harem is for entertainment only. It limits to singing, dancing, and bloodletting."

Lady Clarence continued as she gathered her skirts and continued down the corridor. "Males are not allowed to have sexual congress with us. Keeping our virginity will serve as a bargain when a King's guests from outside the Kingdom or one of the royalties aspire to a trophy mate. The castle barters us as gifts in exchange for something that will give advantage to the King."

"Consorts are trained for being the perfect wife or mistress. The scholars will teach us ancient languages and classics, science, Mathematics, and History to keep things interesting for our future husbands. We are taught to sing, play instruments, and dance to entertain visitors during celebrations and war victories."

"What you mean is we are pawns here in a game of chess?" Luna remarked as she followed her down the dimly lit corridor that led to the harem's door.

So will it be like living in the Sacred Mountains again surrounded by maidens with a price?

At least as a consort, she can avoid unwanted attention, unlike the others in the Consortium.

Luna sighed with relief.

She'd rather kill than be touched.

"Yes." Lady Clarence answered. " Sometimes, gold, ancient treasures, rare magical objects, or knowledge of the dark arts are on the line in exchange for us. Most of the time, we are bargained for hexed witchcraft books to break the King's curse, you see."

"The Vampire King has a curse?" Her brows knitted together, confused. Luna touched her throbbing temples with her fingertips.

At that moment, all she desired was a moment of privacy to sort out the maddening whirl of her thoughts.

Too much information!

"He was cursed by the first Empress whom he did not know that she was the first wife of Adam and the first female vampire created in history, the Queen of Darkness Lilith. It was rumored that the Blood Beast possesses the Vampire King, and his soul is tied to it. He can't control it when it is hungry."

Lady Clarence added. "Blood slaves are the sacrificial lambs and food for the vampire king. They are expendable and are considered as livestock here. Most blood slaves are prisoners from other kingdoms, females who committed unspeakable crimes, or servants who cause trouble. After taking his pleasure, the Beast sucks the life energy of a woman, killing a minimum of one blood slave every night. This is the only way to pacify it so that he could return to normal. "

"And then the Vampire King will laugh with the other royals and his cronies as if nothing brutal have happened. I take it?"

Lady Clarence clutched Luna's wrist hard to draw her closer, casting an uneasy glance around them.

She acted like there might be someone lurking behind some colorful tapestry or priceless urn.

"The ancient palace is honeycombed with trapdoors and passageways." She muttered as she gathered her skirts and continued down the corridor. "In this place, the walls have ears."

Forced to keep up with her brisk steps, Lady Clarence chattered on and on about everything there is to know in the harem until her slipper came down firmly on the hem of her skirt.

"Oops. Sorry." Luna was so intent on not tripping over her skirts that she was paying no mind to other's skirts.

She wasn't used to wearing this colorful swirl of voluminous veils billowing around her.

A pale of towering eunuchs flanked the tall, ornately carved doors that shielded the harem from the outside world, their massive arms folded over their hairless chests.

They swung the door open for them as they passed beneath the gracefully arched doorway at the end of the long corridor and into the main hall of the harem.

Luna's nostrils were overwhelmed by the cloying scents of a dozen women oiled and perfumed within an inch of their lives.

The kingdom's wealth was on display in every carefully chosen detail of the spacious chamber.

The domed ceiling had been adorned with genuine gold leaf, while detailed frescoes had been painted on the ceiling.

Graceful columns carved from marble.

The floor had been tiled with mosaics in rich shades representing every color of the rainbow.

It looks amazing, aside from the fact that it is still an oversized birdcage.

The chamber's opulence would have put the goddess temples in the Sacred Mountains to shame.

Still, for the Vampire King, this was nothing more than setting for his most prized jewels—the beautiful women reclining on pillows and couches throughout the room in various states of undress.

"The Escorts are the warrior's groupies. They accompany the soldiers during battles. Warriors could release their pent up stress and testosterone before the fight. This advantageous war strategy had served the Vampire Kingdom for a long time. That is why the army stronger than ever."

Lady Clarice explained. "The royalties are accustomed to being seduced and pleasured by breathtakingly beautiful exotic women from the High Consorts who had been taught erotic tricks unknown to the authors of Kama Sutra. Be careful with them, though. They are dangerous and so devious that they would likely murder you in your sleep or poison your drink if they perceive you as a threat to becoming Concubine or worse, the throne of the Empress."

Lady Clarence sounded as if she was speaking from experience.

"The Vampire King will pick the Empress from the Concubines. The three concubines called will be honored tonight on the Blood Moon Banquet."

"Truly?" Luna asked plaintively, falling into step behind her.

She pursed her lips, fighting back a grin.

Oh, she was excited to witness jealous bitches from the Consortium fight for the vampire king's attention.

She hopes the King plays favoritism and Luna could watch catfights in the side-line.

As they entered the harem, a high-pitched titter assaulted her ears.

She could make out their silhouettes behind a translucent veil of purple silk shot through with gold threads.