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The Erotic Destruction of the Royal Lionesses

Summary:

A tyrannical king lion subjects his three daughters to various cruel fates. One becomes his guards' rape toy, one is married off to a hung, horny zebra prince, and one becomes his own personal breeding slave.

Notes:

This is definitely a story that taps into my darker fantasies. It's a fair bit more cruel and brutal than my usual stuff, with heavy emphasis on incest and rape, so it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Nonetheless, I do hope you enjoy it should you choose to read it.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The three young lionesses whimpered with fear as the guards roughly pushed them into the throne room and dragged them toward the great sandstone dais at the room’s far end, where their father, King Amir, sat upon his wrought iron throne. They looked up at him, their eyes wide and pleading, as he glared down at them with his cold, dark, unfeeling gaze.

The lion sat upon his throne fully unclothed, but for a heavy golden necklace dangling over his chest. Modesty was for commoners and peasantry, not for the likes of him. As the king, he was the embodiment of divinity in the mortal realm, every inch of his body, mind and soul crafted by the gods themselves; to cover up his body would be to cover up the handiwork of the divine. The light of the torches flickering on the walls of the throne room shimmered off the long, curling brown mane that tumbled down his back and over his shoulders, and off the golden fur coating his chiselled pecs, rippling abs, and bulging biceps; and he sat with his firm, pillar-like thighs spread wide, his massive, golden-furred balls resting on the surface of his throne, his hefty cock dangling off its edge.

He continued to glare down at his daughters in silence; they trembled under his gaze, their fear redoubled, their hearts fluttering in their chests. Though he was their father, they rarely saw him in person. Their mother, the queen, had died as she brought them into the world, her body too feeble to handle the birth of triplets. Since then, he had refused to see them for more than an hour every year on their birthday, declaring them to be cursed; their rearing and education had been left to a staff of nurses, servants and tutors.

Nonetheless, their brief interactions with him, and the whisperings they overheard between servants, left them with no illusions about their father: he was a cruel, vindictive man, feared by the people of his kingdom, known throughout the lands for his warmongering nature. Their last audience with him had been on their eighteenth birthday, only a few weeks earlier, during which he had said little, and had simply sat fixing them with the same hateful glare he wore now. Today was the first time he had demanded their presence on a day other than their birthday; and they knew full well that, whatever his reasons were, they could not be good ones.

Finally, their father shifted his icy gaze away from them, glancing over to the retinue of guards that stood behind them, standing at diligent attention in their leather-and-steel armour.

“Disrobe them” King Amir said; though he spoke calmly, his voice was deep and sonorous enough to echo throughout the throne room.

At once, the guards stepped forward, and with strong, forceful hands, began to tear the lionesses’ gowns off their bodies. The lionesses whimpered in protest, but did not dare resist as their bodies were fully bared.

King Amir's cold gaze wandered unashamedly up and down his daughters’ trembling naked bodies. The three of them were identical to the last strand of golden fur; and all had inherited their mother’s wide thighs, her curving childbearing hips, and her hefty, curvaceous bosom, their wide, dark nipples contrasting sharply against their fur.

His daughters stood before him in agonising anticipation; finally, he spoke again.

“My daughters,” he said, “I have had to endure your vile presence in this, the palace of our divine bloodline, for eighteen miserable years. It had brought me nothing but shame to know that I have fathered such cursed creatures as yourselves; for only a curse could have ended the life of a being as beautiful as your mother.”

The lionesses trembled harder, and began to choke out bitter sobs, their hearts sinking with shame and despair.

“Nonetheless,” their father continued, “you carry the divine blood of our family within you, and thus, use may still be made of you. Now that you have come of age, I have decided upon your fates.”

Slowly, he turned his gaze toward his first daughter, Nadina; and as he did so, his already sneering glare flared with genuine hatred. Nadina shook with terror as she felt his eyes upon her, and her sobbing grew more desperate and ragged with despair; she knew full well that, whatever their fates would be, hers would be the worst.

Only a few days after their eighteenth birthday, Nadina had been caught making love to a scrawny young cheetah boy who worked in the palace kitchens. She felt little affection for the boy, and in truth, barely knew his name; she had given him her virginity for little reason other than a temporary distraction from the dreary loneliness of her life spent isolated in the palace, with nobody but her sisters and servants for company…and, perhaps, as a way of quietly defying the father she knew despised her. The sheer scandal of a princess, a woman with divine blood, giving her virginity to a common servant boy, had sent ripples of shock throughout the palace, and though she had not seen her father’s reaction in person, she knew full well that he would be furious. The cheetah boy had been summarily dragged off to the palace dungeons, and Nadina had spent the next few weeks locked in her room, weeping as she helplessly anticipated her fate.

“Nadina,” her father said, “you have chosen to defile your body with the seed of a commoner; you are now irreparably tainted, and of no use to me at all. Thus, I have chosen to grant you the life of whoredom you clearly desire. You will be taken to the barracks of the palace guards, and will spend the rest of your days as their personal slut.”

A fresh wave of ragged sobs escaped Nadina. “No!” she cried, anguish in her voice. “No, father, please!”

King Amir stared coldly as two of the guards stepped forward and seized her, wide grins on their faces. The other two princesses sobbed helplessly as they watched their sister being dragged out of the room and out of sight, her wails of despair slowly fading.

When silence had descended upon the room once again, King Amir turned his gaze to his second daughter, Samira. The young lioness turned her eyes to the floor, her chest heaving with sobs, tears trickling off her whiskers.

“Samira,” her father said, “recently, I have entered into talks of an alliance with King Mohlane. He has agreed to pledge us his full support in our ongoing conquests of the eastern kingdoms, in exchange for your hand in marriage to his eldest son. He will be arriving to take you in a few days.”

Samira trembled, fresh sobs shaking out of her; but she said nothing, keeping her eyes on the floor, as one of the guards stepped forward, took her by the arm, and gently lead her away to her quarters.

Finally, King Amir's eyes fell upon his last daughter, Farida. Though she too trembled in fear, and though sobs burned in her throat, she clenched her jaw tight and defiantly met her father’s gaze.

“Farida,” her father said, “you have been chosen as my new queen.”

Farida’s eyes widened, her round ears twitching with bewilderment at these words.

“Though I despise you, your divine blood is necessary to maintain the purity of our line.” he continued. “You will, from today forth, share my bed, and bear my children. You and your wretched sisters took your mother from me before she could bear me a male heir; thus, that duty falls to you.”

Farida stared up in stunned, open-mouth silence at her father, barely noticing as one of the guards stepped forward and began guiding her to her father's bedchamber.

 

Nadina’s throat burned, her eyes blinded by tears. She was unsure when she stopped wailing out pleas for mercy to her father, or crying out for her sisters to save her. In fact, she was aware of very little until, finally, her head reeling, blinking tears from her eyes, she found herself being dragged through a doorway into a room thick with the musty smell of masculinity and sweat.

Groggily, she gazed about the room she was being dragged through. It was a wide, plainly decorated barracks, crisscrossed with rows upon rows of simple wooden beds. The room was bustling with muscular, heavily built men of varying species – lions and hyenas, leopards and cheetahs, zebras and gazelle – clad in the familiar leather-and-steel uniforms of the palace guard.

The barracks. It was the guard barracks.

Fresh sobs clawed their way out of her aching throat as she found herself being dragged to the far end of the room and thrown down upon a musty-smelling bed. Vaguely, she felt her limbs being wrenched outward, and the harsh scraping of rope against her wrists and ankles. Grunting, she attempted to wriggle free.

“Stay still, cunt!” a harsh, cruel voice roared at her; a strong hand struck her painfully across the muzzle, leaving her dazed, stars flashing in her vision. When her head finally stopped reeling again, she found herself lying on her back, her hands and feet bound to the bedposts.

Gathered around her were the guards, leering and snickering, their broad, muscular forms creating an impenetrable barrier. She let out a sobbing gasp as they began to shed their armour, baring the sweaty, dirt-flecked fur of their bodies.

The young cheetah whom she had given her virginity to, while not poorly hung, had been fairly average for a boy of his age. But these men…there was no way she’d be able to take them! Their cocks jutting out toward her, pulsing, thick, veiny…the mere sight of them send instinctive jolts of pain up from her inexperienced pussy. She barely fought back a shriek of terror as her eyes fell upon one particular guard, a massively built, seven-foot, stout-gutted elephant, as he shed his trousers; his cock was not even erect yet, yet it was as thick as her forearm, and dangled almost down to his knees. It would kill her!

One of the guards, a lion with a thick red mane, began to attempt to clamber onto the bed, only to be roughly shoved back by another guard, a broad-shouldered hyena with scruffy brown fur, a thick, veiny cock jutting out above a heavy pair of black-furred balls.

“Fuck off!” the hyena snarled. “I won the draw, I get her first!”

The lion bared his glistening teeth, but nonetheless stepped back; the hyena clambered onto the bed and knelt himself between the lioness’s broad thighs, his cock jutting forth over her trembling form. He looked down at her with a wide, toothy grin, his eyes burning with a primordial hunger as they wandered over her bare form.

The lioness stared up at him, her eyes wide and wet and pleading. “Please…” she whimpered. “Please, don’t do this…”

The hyena grabbed her thighs and yanked them further apart, drawing a pained squeal from the lioness. He angled himself forward, his fuzzy, muscular body looming directly over her trembling, curvy form. Their muzzles hung a mere few inches apart; he leered down at her, his pungent breath blasting directly over her nose.

“You ready, whore?” he sneered down at her. He glanced behind him at the crowd of gathered men. “Watch, you louts. This is the first and last time you’ll watch a princess having her virginity taken.”

“She’s already been fucked!” a voiced grunted out from the crowd of guards.

The hyena snorted derisively. “It barely counts! I visited that little cheetah whelp in the dungeon! His dick was barely bigger than a finger! It’s my cock that’ll break her in!”

He turned his eyes back down toward her, the lust in them burning more intensely than ever. Nadina opened her mouth to plead once again; but before she could even begin doing so, he thrust his hips forward, his pulsing cock forcing its way past her trembling pussy lips. At once, a surge of combined agony and ecstasy shot its way up from her groin and through her body, burning through her nerves; and throwing her head back, she let out a piercing, pained squeal.

“There! See, you fuckers?!” the hyena grunted triumphantly. “That’s the squeal of a virgin bitch taking her first cock!”

Slowly he began to shift his hips back and forth, each slight movement of his cock inside her sending a fresh surge of pleasured pain through Nadina’s body, her helpless squeals answered by raucous, sadistic laughter from the gathered crowd of men.

His thrusting grew faster, and her nerves burned hotter, her screams redoubling the fiery pain in her throat. The hyena leered down at her, his face melting into a watery blur as tears filled her eyes.

“You like that, bitch?” he murmured at her, his hot breath blasting over her face. “You like taking your first real cock?”

Nadina writhed and whimpered wordlessly. The hyena’s thrusts intensified.

“This is going to be your life now, you royal whore.” the hyena sneered. “No marrying a handsome prince and birthing a royal heir and spending your life lounging in luxury. You’re our toy now. You’ll spend your days taking dick and squeezing out the bastard babies of common scum like me.”

Another sob burned in Nadina’s throat, and she only barely swallowed it back.

“Get ready, bitch.” the hyena snarled as his thrusting grew faster. “I’m about to cum, and you’re about to carry my pups.”

And with one final, ferocious thrust of his hips, the hyena, groaning, body shaking with ecstasy, sunk his spasming cock balls deep into her, flooding her pussy with a thick, searing hot load of cum. A fresh wave of sobs erupted from Nadina’s throat; his cum was so hot that it seemed to sizzle against her sensitive pussy lips, its head spreading up through her entire body.

Even as the cum pulsing out of his cock slowed down, the hyena remained buried in her pussy for several long minutes, continuing to grin down at her, his pungent breath coming in slower, more intense blasts.

“You’re not a princess anymore, bitch.” he sneered down at her. “You’re nothing more than a cumdumpster. Feel those filthy commoner sperm wriggling their way into you? They’re making a hyena bastard.”

And with a grunt, the hyena lifted himself off her. For a few seconds, Nadina lay on the bed, trembling, whimpering, hefty bosom heaving with sobs, as she felt the hyena’s searing cum leaking out of her and soaking the mattress beneath her butt.

Then she felt the bed shift; and the red-maned lion was clambering atop her, cock jutting over her, eyes wide, teeth bared.

As the hours passed, the men fucked her one by one. Most forced themselves into her trembling pussy, leaving load after searing load of cum in it; but some crouched over her head, forcing their pulsing cocks into her throat, spraying surges of thick, bitter cum over her tongue. Some, before they began, or after they were finished, would squat directly over her face, forcing her to lap their sweaty, musky taints and assholes. They called her a whore, a slut, a cumdump, a baby factory, a worthless piece of meat. Some would violently slap her across the muzzle or punch her hefty bosom as they reached their climax; others would spit in her face, or nip at her neck and tits with their sharp teeth. By the time the elephant forced his massive cock into her, she barely registered it; her mind, along with every nerve in her body, had devolved into numbness.

Eventually, evening set in; by the time the last guard dumped his load into her, the room had grown dark but for the flickering orange glow of the oil lamps. Guffawing satisfactorily to themselves, the guards finally left her alone, trembling and quietly sobbing, her fur, and the mattress beneath her, soaked and stiff with slowly drying patches of cum.

 

It was not until late evening that King Amir entered his bedchamber, where Farida had been made to wait for him. The young lioness had been instructed to kneel on the soft silken covers of the vast four-poster bed; there she waited, naked, trembling, tears running down her face as she thought of her sisters.

Finally, after hours of silence, after the room had grown dim, the door swung open; and her heart leapt into her mouth as, through the gossamer curtains, she could make out the outline of her father’s towering, muscular form slowly approaching. Reaching the bed, he pulled the curtains apart, and she once again found herself trembling beneath his gaze. He towered over her, his fur shimmering even in the low lamplight, his cock fully erect and jutting out toward her.

He stared at her in silence a moment; then, his voice as thunderous as ever, he spoke.

“On all fours. Present your ass to me.”

Farida trembled harder, and she felt a sob claw its way out of her throat. “No…father, I beg you, please…I don’t want this.”

Her father’s upper lip curled, baring his shimmering, razor-sharp teeth, and let out a deep snarl that send a shiver of fear down to Farida’s bones.

“I will forgive you this one single time.” he said, his voice somehow simultaneously calm and undertoned with fury. “Any further disobedience will be punished severely.”

Farida’s heart began to beat faster still; and almost unconsciously, she turned herself about, positioning herself on all fours on the bed, her ropey tail held aloft, her round, trembling, golden-furred buttocks jutting out toward her father.

Feeling the bed shift beneath her as her father clambered onto it, she trembled with fear. A large, strong hand came to rest upon one of her buttocks, and she suddenly realised that this was the first time in her life that she had ever felt her father’s touch.

She felt two firm and strong fingers brushing against her pussy lips, and she whimpered pathetically, her body shuddering.

“Not nearly wet enough.” her father grunted. “I shall expect you to be more prepared in future.”

And as soon as he said these words, the lioness let out a piercing squeal as she felt his fingers sliding into her. They began to shift slowly back and forth within her, each slight motion sending an electric burst through her nerves, her pussy lips burning at the unfamiliar invasion. Yet at the same time, she could feel them tingling with a primal excitement she could not suppress, and growing clearly damper.

Finally, she let out a last whimper as her father withdrew his fingers; and as the mattress further shifted beneath her, she felt something soft, fleshy and pulsing pressing against the entrance to her pussy.

Tears burned in her eyes, and she found herself opening her mouth to plead once again, only just barely biting her lip to suppress it as she felt her father’s large, strong hands sinking a firm grasp into her hips.

“You have failed me as a daughter.” her father sneered coldly from behind her. “Perhaps, as a lover and a mother of my children, you will do better.”

And with that, he thrust his muscular hips forward, and a fiery sensation burst through Farida’s nerves as he felt her cock enter her. In spite of herself, she felt a helpless, wailing moan escape her; then another, and another, as her father began to shift his hips back and forth, grunting as his massive, pulsing cock slid its way in and out of her.

“Father!” Farida wailed, tears streaming down her muzzle. “Father, please! It…it hurts!”

Her father let out another snarl from behind her. “Women across this kingdom would endure ten times such pain for the honour of sharing my bed.” he growled. “You will shut your mouth, and you will do your duty.”

Farida bit her lip harder, her father’s thrusts growing faster and fiercer with every passing moment, each one seeming to intensify the fiery, ecstatic bursts of pain they sent through her body. Behind her, she heard her father letting out intermittent grunts of pleasure.

“You…you will bear me many children.” her father said, his breath coming in short, sharp bursts. “Sons to inherit my throne and lead my army in its conquests, and daughters to marry off to neighbouring kingdoms, and…and to bear me more children, should you prove inadequate at the task.”

Farida let out another wail as she felt her father sink deeper and deeper into her, his balls slapping against the inside of her thighs.

“You…you would do well to…to get pregnant within the next few days.” her father gasped out. And then, with one final thrust of his hips, he sunk his throbbing cock all the way into her, throwing his head back and roaring as it spasmed within her, flooding her with great waves of his thick, hot seed. And as the searing sensation of it flooded her body, Farida buried her face in the bed beneath her, letting out one final wail that devolved into helpless sobs.

Her father remained hilted in her for several long seconds, his cock pulsing inside her, hands gripping her hips. Then, slowly, he withdrew himself from her, globules of his seed spilling down her thighs as he did so. And without another word, he pulled back the bedsheets, rested his head on the pillow, and almost at once, fell asleep, his snores steady and rumbling.

When at last she managed to work up the energy to pull back the covers on the other end of the bed, Farida curled up under them, her body trembling, every one of her joints aching. And burying her face in the pillow, her body shuddered with helpless sobs until, finally, she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

 

Some days thereafter, Samira, who had been confined to her room, where she had lain curled up on her bed, weeping for her sisters, was called to dress in her finest gown and make her way to the throne room.

Arriving there, she found her father seated in his throne, naked as ever and glaring coldly at her. Standing by his throne was a young zebra, who instantly turned his eyes to her as she entered the room, fixing her with a wide, toothy grin. His black-and-white mane flowed down his shoulders and back; and though the robe of purple silk he wore hung loosely off his body, it was nonetheless obvious that he boasted a broad, muscular build strikingly similar to her father’s.

“This is Prince Abongwe, first son of King Mohlane of the southern lands.” her father said. The young zebra, still grinning widely, stepped forward, delicately took Samira’s hand, and kissed it with his velvety lips. The lioness, trembling and uncertain, managed a weak curtsy.

“You will be his bride.” her father continued. “He is here to escort you to his home.”

And before Samira could utter a word, she found herself grabbed by two guards and jostled roughly out of the throne room, down the winding hallways, and out the front door of the palace, where a great retinue of guards, clad in uniforms unfamiliar to her, waited. All of them were massively built, even compared to her own father’s guard retinue – indeed, from what she could see, most of them were elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, wildebeest, and other particularly hefty species.

In the very centre of the retinue, supported on the shoulders of four especially well-built guards, was a large litter, decorated in polished gold, with lush red curtains hanging at its windows.

Samira had only a moment to take all this in before she was jostled forward; and as the wall of massive men parted to make way for her, the door of the litter was pulled open, and she was shoved inside and onto a bench done in soft, lush upholstery.

The young zebra climbed in after her, pulling the door shut behind him as he took a seat across from her. The curtains were drawn, and fashioned of thick red velvet; as a result, though the sun shone brightly outside, the litter’s interior was at once rendered dim and shadowy.

Samira felt a sharp lurch, followed by the sound of dozens of heavy footsteps marching in unison; and at once, she realised that the guards, and the litter, was moving, taking her away from her palace, from her home, from her sisters.

She felt tears pricking her eyes; but she sunk a firm bite into her lower lip, refusing to let them fall. If she was to be this bastard’s wife, the last thing she could afford to do was come off as feeble and weak right away.

Swallowing heavily, she turned her gaze toward the zebra. He said nothing; but even in the dimness, it was obvious that he was still fixing her with that same smug, toothy grin.

That was how it continued for hours upon hours as the litter was carried for mile after mile. The zebra said nothing, only grinning at her, a lustful glint in his eyes. And every so often, he would delicately lift up the bottom of his robe, offering her a brief glimpse of his massive genitals. Each time, in spite of herself, drew a sharp gasp from her; for his equine cock dangled over the edge of his seat, jet-black and thick as a tree branch, its head flared, and a massive medial ring halfway up its length. Beneath it sat a pair of equally black balls, fleshy and smooth and as big as oranges.

When at last the thunderous footsteps abruptly silenced and the litter came to a sudden halt, Samira felt the fearful thudding of her heart redoubling; and instinctively, she gripped the edges of the seat beneath her as the door of the litter swung open. A hugely built rhinoceros guard looked in at them; and turning his eyes toward the zebra prince, he spoke in a deep, sonorous voice.

“Will she have an audience with the king, Your Majesty?”

Turning his grinning face toward the rhinoceros, the zebra slowly shook his head; and for the first time, Samira heard him speak, his voice youthful and smug.

“No.” he said. “She is here for one reason only. Take her directly to my bedchamber.”

Almost before she could process these words, the rhino wrapped a massive hand around her arm, and she found herself lifted out of the litter and onto the ground. She was able to gather a brief impression of a huge crowd of onlookers, and of a palatial building towering over them, fashioned of shimmering white marble, and jutting with spires and gables. Then she was marched through a set of huge oaken doors, down a winding corridor of shimmering tiles and flickering torches, and pushed into a lushly appointed bedchamber. The walls were shimmering onyx, the floor soft crimson carpet, and in the centre of the room, a huge bed laid with silken sheets and countless pillows.

Samira barely had time to look around her in dismayed confusion and swallow back more helpless sobs when the door of the room burst open, and the zebra, grinning as widely as ever, stepped into the room. Without a word, he stepped toward her, grasped her robe, and ripped it open, tossing it aside and leaving her fully naked. Then, as she shrieked, he effortlessly scooped her up, draped her over his shoulder, strode toward the bed, and flung her onto it. Giddy, her vision spinning, she propped herself up on the bed, meeting the gaze of the zebra, who stood over her grinning a moment longer before pulling open his purple robe and shedding it completely, baring his chiselled, muscular black-and-white body, and the massive black cock hanging between his thighs. She trembled in disoriented fear as he slowly clambered onto the bed, and crawling forward, loomed himself over her, his long, leering face inches from hers, his torso hovering above her like a ceiling of sheer muscle.

Slowly, Samira’s eyes wandered downwards, and her heart pounded in her ears as she watched his already massive cock swelling, stiffening, as it jutted toward her trembling pussy lips.

She turned her eyes back up to meet the zebra’s hungry glare. “No!” she whimpered! “No! You can’t! It’ll kill me!”

The zebra’s grin grew wider. “Don’t worry.” he said smoothly. “If it does, I’m quite sure your father will let me have one of your sisters.”

He thrust his hips slightly. For a brief moment, she felt the strange sensation of his fleshy, pulsing, flared cock head pressing against her pussy. Then he thrust again, the head of his cock sunk past her vaginal lips, and a burst of fiery agony burned through every nerve in her body. She was only able to manage a single shriek of pain before the sensation overloaded her brain, and she fainted completely.

When she awoke, evening had set in fully, and the room was cast in darkness, but for the moonlight streaming in through the high windows, and a single flickering oil lamp on a small table by the bed.

Trembling, choking on tears, sore from head to toe, Samira slowly looked down at herself. Her naked body was sprawled awkwardly atop the bed, her broad thighs spread wide. And leaking from her pussy was a thick, viscous stream of cum, soaking the bedsheets and fusing the furs of her inner thighs together. Even in the dimness, she could see that the cum was pearly white, but for a few crimson streaks of blood flowing through it.

Several long minutes passed of her simply lying in silence, staring up at the great crystal chandelier that dangled from the ceiling, choking out dry, tearless sobs. When she at last attempted to move, it awoke a fresh burst of agony which shot through her body and tingled in her joints. It was several more minutes before, wincing and sobbing, she was able to roll herself off the bed and begin shuffling about in a bow-legged walk; attempting to bring her legs together caused the cum-fused furs of her inner thighs to tug against each other, and awoke a sharp stinging in her intimates.

Sobbing quietly, almost unconsciously, the young lioness cast her eyes about the room. All was still and silent; she saw no sign of the young zebra, nor any other sign of life at all. Indeed, in the dimness, all she could make out were the vague shapes of furniture.

Finally, for lack of anything else to look at, her eyes fell upon the small bedside table with the flickering oil lamp; and for the first time, she noticed the small scrap of parchment resting beside the lamp. Awkwardly shuffling her way over to it, she picked it up, and squinted at the words neatly scrawled on it in ink.

“Left to finish wedding preparations. Get some rest, ask the guard outside for anything you need. Hope you can stay awake longer on our wedding night!”

Samira stared at the parchment a moment longer before tossing it back onto the table; and rolling back onto the soft sheets of the bed, she buried her face in the pillow, barely aware of her continued sobs as she slowly passed out.