11. saved by the king.

Draco pov “What is going on here!?” the deep and manly voice of the king demanded, much to my relief. I never thought that he would come here at this crucial moment but he did! Perhaps God was on my side.  I felt the heavy body pressing against me, quickly lifting himself and scrambling up to his feet. I also dragged myself up, but it was hard as my whole body was now in pain. I am sure that there would be bruises where they held me by force.  “I asked you all a question. What is happening here?”  The king’s question was stern and loud as he focused his now angry gaze at the Knights one by one. But none of them answered. They just kept their gazes lowered. I also stayed put in my position. I was told that being a slave meant that I should talk only when I was asked to. And doing that has saved my ass several times.  My time in this place had taught me that the king was not a bad person as long as you do what he asks you to do. He doesn’t use unnecessary force. I just had to obey him. And he will be good to you too.  “Answer me!” he practically roared in anger, making all of us shudder. “Your highness!”  “Your majesty!”  All five of them bowed down to their king, submitting to him.  “It was his fault, your majesty. He was so clumsy.” One of them replied hastily. “Yes. Your highness. He...he even made the hose leak. See? He had soaked his whole body. Look at how he is soaked from head to toe. We had to help him. He was kind of asking for it.” The second one was added. “Yes. And he fell. He is clumsy. We.... We were trying to help......” they continued to stutter in their crazy attempt to explain their version of what had happened and with each new explanation, I felt my eyebrows knit and my head shake in denial. The urge, to tell the truth, kept on increasing, but I dared not utter a single sound before I was allowed.  However, I couldn’t stop myself from fidgeting and clenching my jaws together. My whole body was protesting against those lies. My fists clenched together into a ball and I gritted my teeth together. “Silence!” the king ordered, making all of them go completely silent at once. He narrowed his sharp eyes at the pathetic knights, who were lying the whole time and took intimidating steps around us, studying each of our demeanours.  He halted in front of me. I felt his gaze burn holes in me, but I dared not look up until he asked me to do so. He said nothing and walked a small distance before turning around.  “Do you know the consequences of lying to me?” he asked in a dangerous tone, but no one dared utter a word. “Slave!” he bellowed, making my heart jump in my chest. “Yes. Your highness.” I bowed down. “Tell me what happened.” He asked.  “I......” I was at a loss for words. But I had to do it if I wanted to save myself. After clearing my throat, I tried once more.  “Th....they tried to violate me.......” I gulped, finding it hard to explain in detail what they did to me.  “He is lying.....” “SILENCE!” They were silenced at once by the king’s powerful order, which kind of gave me a sense of euphoria.  “Do you know what it means to be king? It means I must be just, even to my slaves. That is what makes a great ruler. One of you is lying. And to me, it is apparent who it is. Now let's see what happened.” He murmured and waved his hand in front of us and the recent events started to play in front of our eyes like a video clip. I watched in amazement. It was just like how we used to watch things on projectors. The difference is that here, none of that is used. All he needed was a simple wave from his hand.  Everyone watched how I was busy doing my work and admiring it when they murmured a spell so that I fell from the ladder. The same thing had happened with the water hose. Oh, so it was them who did it! I knew it! When the king saw how they attacked me and pinned me down, threatening to violate me, he snapped. “How dare you.......” he growled.  When I stole a glance at the powerful king, I almost dissolved in fear. His eyes were twinkling like two silver stars shining in the sky and his long white hair was flowing all over the place, making him look like a magical character I could only see in the movies. It was so intimidating to witness it in real life. His white robe swayed in the air as he raised his staff high in the air.  “Do you know the consequences of lying to me?” His voice was not normal. It sounded like a mixture of three or four voices. I kept stealing glances as he started to levitate and float towards the five perpetrators who were now shaking in fear.  “He is my slave! How dare you violate my slave in my royal garden! I hereby strip all five of you from the powers our Lord has bestowed on you!” he stated in a powerful tone as a white light slowly engulfed all five of them. When the light was gone, they were all on their knees, gasping for breath and whimpering in pain. “You are dismissed from my castle. I don’t want such vile beings in my army.” He stated before turning around.  “Guards! Take them away and make sure they never return to the palace.” He ordered to which the royal guards obliged at once. I watched them being dragged away by the buff soldiers. They suddenly looked so helpless and pathetic but I didn’t feel a bit sorry for them. They deserved it. I was lucky that the king arrived just in time.  “Slave. Clean this place up. These imbeciles have made a huge mess here.” He muttered, to which I could only muster a meek “yes your majesty” as I eyed the uneven dirt on the ground and some leaves scattered here and there.  As I worked to level up the soil and clean up the scattered leaves, something shiny caught my eye. I thought I saw a silver shine under the hedges. Being the curious person I am, I cleared away the dirt that was covering it. To my amazement, I saw an old sword. I stared at the dirt-covered weapon in utter shock. With carving and decorations on its handle, I was certain that the sword was a beautiful piece of art, though its beauty was hidden under the brown mud.  If I clean and sharpen it, it would still be good enough to use against an opponent. It was shorter than the ones the Knights used but still, it was perfect for me. A small smile curved my lips. I don’t have to let anyone know I found this. I could use it for myself. This day couldn’t have gotten any better! This was just perfect. Carefully tucking it under my clothes, I made my way back into the palace to complete my chores, so that I could go to my room and take a better look at the sword. I kept my newfound treasure carefully hidden in the kitchen during the day. Since Volga was now gone, I knew no one else would bother to come and search the kitchen.  I felt the hours dragged longer than they usually did. I was in a hurry to finish all my work so that I could finally have some solitude, anxious to finally have a better look at the old sword I had found. When my chores were finally over, and I was allowed to retreat to my room, I once again hid it under my clothes and made my way back to my room.  After carefully closing the door, I took the weapon and started to inspect it. I suppose it was lying in the dirt for quite some time, dirt and mud was matted deep into the carvings of the handle. I took it into the bathroom to clean it up a bit with water, revealing the exquisite designs of the handle.  “Wow. I gasped. Nice.” I murmured. Despite lying under the hedges for God knows how long, it was still shiny and looked useful.  “Maybe..... I can use this for practice.” I whispered to myself.  Yes! I now have my sword! I sure hope they don’t find out about it. With Volga gone, hiding this from them would be a piece of cake. I went to sleep excited about waking up early and practising with the sword on my own. If I was to be stuck in this place, I might as well adapt to their lifestyle. Who knew what else waited for me? I have survived this far. I’m sure I will do pretty well.