Iris Ch. 02

As she began her journey to the capital of Illyria, Epirus, she had time to contemplate what may be expected of her, if the King accepted her father's offer, Amir had mentioned slavery during some of the discussion she overheard, but there was so much uncertainty in what was actually expected of her and what her future would be like. Iris was innocent to the point that anything she knew of what was expected between a man and his wife was from the books and the snippets she heard from the maids who were married. But those stories were always between a man and his wife. Iris is just a woman, who at the ripe age of 19 has always been petite compared to other ladies her age. This line of thinking exhausted her to the point that she refused to think about it further.

She didn't know much of the King. King William the Great was his official name. She had caught a glimpse of him years before at her first ball in the capital. He stood tall with his ruffled dirty blonde hair, steele-blue eyes and his facial features unmistakably handsome. He had danced with one of the ladies at court and the other ladies were left disappointed when he left soon afterwards with her.

Everyone knew of King William's reputation and many threw their daughters at him hoping they will become the next queen of Illyria, but by his actions the King did not appear to have any plans of settling down. His focus seemed to be extending his empire by conquering as much land as possible. For now he was succeeding, though his enemies were continuously growing. Thus, it came as no surprise that when the Melrose family finally arrived at the castle after a 10 hour journey, everything in their possession were thoroughly checked and any weapons or make-shift weapons were confiscated.

They were then escorted to the great hall to await the King's presence.

After an hour one of the guards came to announce that the King will be late and although all three bowed at the news as a show of compliance, Iris saw Amir ball his hands into a fist and after the guard left, whispered to their father that this is to 'humiliate our family further'.

Iris took this time to take in her surroundings; she had only visited the palace a few times before but was always led to the ballroom and never saw the great hall before. It had domed shaped ceilings with painting of how the Illyrian line of Kings began. The windows were large and rectangular, traveling from the ceiling to the floor. She had also been very vigilant about her surroundings even on the car ride up-to the capital; The tip of the castle was what caught Iris's eye as they neared Epirus, she had made this journey to Epirus only three times in the past but was never before aware of her surroundings as she was now. Little by little the castle made out of marble appeared before her eyes. It was the tallest building in all of Illyria, built by King William's great-great grandfather, King Henry, the conqueror of the East, she recalled from one of her history books. Iris snapped out of her reverie, when she heard the door of the great hall open once more, this time with a guard announcing the entry of King William.

-

It had been a tumultuous day for King William; he had sat in countless number of meetings to discuss exportation of goods to Thessaly, his newly conquered land in the West, and the turbulent prison system to accommodate the continuously growing captured soldiers from the West. There was a topic of discussion towards the end that peaked his interest above all else; the resistance to the Crown that has been brewing in the out-skirts of the East. He of all people know that one must secure the land in their possession before venturing off to capture more, and during interrogation of some of the resistance members, one family's name above all escaped their lips before their inevitable torturous deaths. The Melrose family. He had knowledge of their debts to the Crown and was set to send soldiers to confiscate their properties and imprison the males for execution but not before getting any information in the most painful way he could think of. His vigilance and blood lust was why he presumes he is successful at expanding his Kingdom.

The King as an after thought contemplated what to do with the women of the family, and decided upon the standard and his favorite; selling the women to the slave trade but not before they had satisfied his soldiers that were sent to capture them. So he was very surprised to find a letter from Kenneth Melrose for a meeting personally with him and a notion of a 'surprise gift'. The King decided to entertain himself and agreed to a meeting. This will make things easier for him in any case.

He entered the great hall and all three subjects greeted him with a low bow to the floor, the two males stood up while the woman remained on her knees keeping her eyes downcast. He immediately recognized Kenneth from the annual Capital meetings. He was a stocky burly man with a round belly, probably eating way too much than he can afford or deserves, the King thought. Kenneth bowed his head when he stood up, "your majesty, it is a pleasure to meet you in person, thank you for your time!" He then pointed to the other male, "this is Amir my oldest son," and Amir bowed his head in response.

The King did not say anything but observed the subjects before him; Amir appeared to be a tall lanky guy with a thin faced. Although his mouth appeared to be plastered into a fake smile, the King at once sensed some animosity. The woman, whose long blonde hair seemed to cascade off her shoulders, seemed small and frail, wearing a dress that housed the Melrose family colors; red and blue. She didn't interest him at all, common, he thought. But for his entertainment he wanted to hear the train wreck of a speech Kenneth was about to present.

Kenneth waited for the King to speak, but when no such vocalizations occurred, he decided to clear his throat and move forward. "You majesty" he began once again. "I know you are well aware of our financial issues, and I would like to thank you again for meeting with us. The Melrose family had always served you well. In fact it was my great grandfather who fought alongside King Henry, the conqueror of the East, to capture Illyria." Pointing at one of the paintings on the ceiling. "With that your majesty has now developed Illyria into one of the greatest Kingdoms the world has ever seen!"

The King inclined his head in acknowledgment, but did not miss the undertone of Kenneth's speech. He decided to watch Kenneth squirm by speaking for the first time since coming into this fiasco, "Are you suggesting that Illyria would not be possible without the Melrose family?" For the first time since this meeting began Kenneth appeared anxious, Amir started to fidget with his hands and the King did not miss the woman taking in a deep breath.

"No your majesty!" Kenneth said at once. "I am only saying that because our families have so much history, you would not mind hearing our proposition about our financial issues?"

The King did not respond, so again Kenneth moved on, "I present you my daughter, Iris." The woman then dared to look up at the King. Two large apprehensive brown eyes stared at him, her soft rosy lips were slightly parted with a slight flush on the cheeks, which deepened when Kenneth added, "she is 19 years old and has never been touched. She is a prize to be had your majesty and I give her to you in exchange for few of my properties."

Iris quickly looked away and the King laughed at the absurdity of the situation. If he wanted Kenneth's daughter he would have simply taken her but the gesture was definitely unique. There weren't many fathers who would drag their own daughters down to the capital in exchange for some assets, given that the Melrose family was not the first noble family to declare bankruptcy. But there is a first time for everything, the thought making the King laugh some more.

Kenneth had grown silent and when the King finally composed himself, he decided to end this comical scene before him. "Kenneth, I was surprised you wanted to meet in person, give your affiliation with the resistance", the King had the decency to smirk.

"Your majesty, No! We had no associations with the resistance; I would never betray the Crown."

"I have several confessions from deceased resistance member."

"Those are lies! I would..." he stuttered, "We would never!"

"Since you are denying these allegations, I have no choice but to arrest you and your son and have you undergo a fair trial." The King emphasized fair with a smirk.

Iris immediately stood up, "please your majesty!" she cried and took several steps forward to stand between her father and the King.

The King intrigued by this turn of events, waved his hands signaling the guards who had come forth to stay put. He then took in the site before him. The woman, Iris, he recalled her name, appeared before him anxious with her small hands balled into a fist on either side and her breathing clearly labored as her chest with a generous cleavage heaved from fear.

"We are only guilty of making bad financial decisions, your majesty, and for that..." she wavered but went onto say with a low curtsey, "I give myself to you." Then added looking at King William directly in the eyes "in exchange for my family having a roof over their head."

"As for the resistance, I had heard of no such thing in my household," Iris lied.

The King was definitely surprised by this small form, from a noble family bargaining herself in exchange for her family's well being. It was an odd site. But he knew Iris was lying on her last statement; instead of looking at him directly in the eyes as before, her gaze moved upwards towards his forehead.

"Your statement denying your family's alleged treason will be accounted for in the trial but until then", he gestured toward the guards who restrained a flabbergasted Kenneth and Amir and dragged them away through the entry way. Iris took a couple of steps to stop the guards, which made the King smile, but she herself was restrained shortly afterwards.

"And for you Iris, I will take you up on that offer," said the King taking a several steps to tower over her.

"That offer was only an exchange for my family's safety" she snapped, the hate and fear clear in her eyes.

"Then this will be entertaining, wont it?...For me," King William added with a smirk before Iris was dragged through the entryway.