Princess of Faerl
26. Nin Gwanuning

*Aranelda*

Suddenly I was no longer under ground. I was in a strange place that reminded me of my life above ground, before Hades. The sun was kissing my skin, but blinding my eyes. Panic filled my heart as I had no idea where I was. I had no idea who I could trust or if I should trust anyone. Persephone told me to think of something happy, so I thought of the little girl singing her song. Would I replace her?

There were houses in rows greeting my eyes. Outside one of the houses was a girl about my age. She had the same color hair as me, and I assumed I would have the same skin tone if I hadn’t spent years in the dark. As I walked closer I could see her eyes were sapphire blue, just like mine. My heart started beating wildly, I thought my ears were playing tricks on me. She was singing that song. Absentmindedly I started singing along with her. Her eyes looked up as the song ended.

“Hi!” She cheerfully greeted me. “Wanna play?” Her hand was extended to me. I was hesitant. “I promise it’ll be okay. You know my song!” Finally I took her outstretched hand and the moment our fingers touched my heart felt like I had found a missing piece of my soul. “Nin gwanuning….’ I didn’t understand but one of my voices did.

“Nin gwanuning! Nin gwanuning!” the voice that told me he was Blaze started to speak through me. I clasped my hands over my mouth. “What does that even mean?” I was stunned.

“You’re my twin! I have a twin! You’re a starlight, too!” She seemed so happy. She pulled me into a hug. Her eyes went wide and dragged me into the house with her. “Daddy!! Daddy!! Come quick Daddy!” I almost tripped trying to keep up with her.

“Yes, my little Starlight?” He turned the corner, looking us up and down he went pale, “Oh my, who is this?” I could hear him muttering to himself ‘she only had one’ over and over again.

“Is today your birthday?” She questioned. I nodded to her, still unable to speak. “Daddy, he’s my twin! I have a twin!” She bounced as much as her words did. It was infectious. Family. I had a family. A real family. She was like me. At that moment, she turned to me, worry within her eyes, then looked back at her dad. “He’s been hurt. Bad people with funny names.”

“What names, Elentari?” brows furrowed, it was evident he didn’t understand. I was stunned as well. How did she know?

“Hades… Aphrodite.. They are all mean. The nice lady helped him leave. Persephone…” She paused as if she had seen the most horrifying scene ever, “Oh no.. not her…” words trailing off. “How could she? She gave you to them. How could she??” Now she was angry, pointing to a picture on the wall. “She is evil!”

I followed the finger, and saw one of my worst nightmares. Lyssandra. I started backing away, terror in my eyes. “What did my wife do?” He asked us. “Tell me what happened.”

“That… that woman is our mother?” I asked Elentari, near tears.

“No, she’s just Daddy’s wife. Our mom… we don’t know what happened to her. She… disappeared.” Then she spoke directly to her dad. “She kidnapped him, Daddy. The day he was born. She put him in an orphanage, then took him from it to give him to Hades. He’s supposed to be special, Daddy. He’s supposed to help a good guy reincarnate.”

A sickening voice then hit my ears as a door closed. “I’m home!” I almost threw up hearing it. I couldn’t believe my chance for freedom brought me to this witches’ lair. “How is my lovely family…” She stopped suddenly replaceing the three of us in the hallway, her face twisting in anger. “What are YOU doing here? Child, step away from that beast. He doesn’t deserve to set foot in our house, nonetheless be close to you. He’ll make you unclean!” She wagged a finger at me, “You were the worst child at the orphanage and set fire to anything you could. You hurt and maimed others. You are an evil, vile, lying little brat.” I looked to Elentari, hoping she wouldn’t believe these words, and she didn’t, but her dad did. He tried to hide her from me, but she refused to let go of my hand. I cherished the love she was showing me. True love.

I turned to her, tears in my eyes, “Please don’t forget me, nin gwanuning. Please come save me, once and for all.” I let go of her hand as Hades appeared, looking more than annoyed. I had felt his presence before I could see him.

“You’re an evil man! Don’t hurt him!” She screamed with all her might. Her dad passed out, Lyssandra was at her knees holding her head. I heard two thumps upstairs and glass shattering in all directions.

“You are one hell of a girl.” Hades smiled, ’I almost wish you were my Doulos. You’ll be very easy on the eyes once you’re grown..” A sick smile made my stomach turn. “Lyssandra, you have been careless. She was able to recognize him. Aphrodite, you can stop hiding, you treacherous slut.” I saw my sister grimace at the word choice. I was used to the vulgarity at this point. The beautiful goddess with the poisonous smile appeared. “Your future host seems worthless. Are you sure you only want me to keep this one?” He pointed at me. “I could take the girl with me too…” Lustful greed filled his eyes.

“And you have the gall to call me a slut? You’re the one lusting over a child, you pathetic excuse of a god.”

“What? I’m ancient. Her age was adulthood at one point in my life. Old habits die hard.” He sneered. Her eyes rolled and she looked between the two of us.

“Now, say your goodbyes. You won’t remember any of this happened.” She snapped her fingers and the world went black.

When I woke, I was in a dark cave, not the palace room I was used to. I was chained and collared. Hades was sitting on a stone chair, petting Persephone’s hair. She looked absolutely terrified, like a mouse that was being toyed with before being eaten. A whip was in his hand.

“My little Doulos is awake.” His fake affection made my stomach turn. “I wonder how you got the pearl. My precious wife is the only one who has those.” He ran his fingers through her hair, suddenly gripping a fistful tightly, making her cry out in pain.

“I stole it! When she came to say happy birthday I stole it from her!” I hoped my lie sounded convincing. I had never lied before. He pulled her hair harder. I had to look like I didn’t care. I knew his game well. I had watched it being played many times. Her eyes were begging me not to put myself in danger. But I had to protect her. She was the only one in this loathsome hell that had been kind to me.

Hades stood, walking towards me, still dragging his wife by her hair. I began to hate this man. “If you stole it, how did you know how to use it?” his eyebrow raised.

“When you’re small and no one seems to care about you, I can sneak into many places. I would creep around the castle and hear people talking. One dayI heard about the pearls people stepped on and disappeared.” I shrugged defiantly.

“Well, it seems like you’re a resourceful little rat. I didn’t pay close enough attention to you. But I’m not going to take away that heartwarming memory. I’m going to make you long for it, cry out for it, wish you could be there again as I torture you for years to come. You are nothing more than a slave and whipping post.” He dropped her hair and raised the whip, crashing it down on my back.

From that day on, I worked as a slave. I was forced to do heavy manual labor, eat whatever grotesque leftovers they provided me. Whipped for the enjoyment of Hades no matter what I did. He would make Persephone sit and watch, from time to time. When I was older in my teens, things got even more twisted. Those are memories I can’t even stand to acknowledge happened. Telling anyone about them would never happen.

Thus how Aranelda became Doulos. Doulos became doulos. A slave used for the entertainment of others. A broken soul that had forgotten anyone ever loved him. Who didn’t know his name, and forgot that someone would come save him.