Having spent five minutes doing this she realised that she could not afford any more time on this problem and went back to the cleaning. She had just finished the wall and ornaments when she heard footsteps approaching. Dashing back to her room she just managed to get there in time. Her relief was short live, however, when the door opened and her new friend was standing there.

"I've come to inspect your work." He greeted her. "Come with me."

"Certainly, Master." She replied hoping that the work she had done so far was acceptable.

The elf did not say another word as he put on a pair of white gloves and meticulously checked the state of the hall. Everywhere he checked for dust or dirt came back clean and Zahra was just starting to feel optimistic when he bent down and wiped a finger across the floor. As Zahra hadn't had any time to even start on that it came back filthy. He then went to the carpet in the middle of the hall and pressed his other hand to that. Unsurprisingly that glove came back dirty as well.

"Take of your top and stand against that pillar. Facing it and with your hands on top of your useless head." He sneered. "You were told to keep this place clean and it's filthy."

Zahra didn't bother to argue that she hadn't been here anywhere enough time to thoroughly clean this place, as it was obvious that he had set her up to fail as an excuse to punish her. Removing her clothes, as ordered, she stood facing the column indicated.

Just as she got into position she heard the sound of more people coming down the corridor towards the hall. Turning to look at her master she saw him open another hidden panel in the wall and take out a long cane.

"Master.." She started.

"Don't move. It's your fault you're here, so if they're nobles and see you, you will be punished for that as well."

From the tone of his voice, Zahra could tell that he had planned for this to happen. Obviously the new party were regular in their visits to the hall and the old elf knew they would be here when he visited.

Turning back to the column she found that she had to turn her face to one side or the other, so chose to not look at these newcomers. Just then, the first stroke hit her back.

"Argh!" She let out, managing to hold in the scream, but still unable to hold in all the pain.

"Silence!" He ordered.

When the cane came down a second time she managed to keep the noise internalised. same for the third.

Just as she sensed the cane coming down again she heard a female elf call to her abuser.

"What's going on here? Why are you using the Hall Of Klartius to beat a slave? "

"Your highness." Came the reply, in a supercilious voice. "This slave is tasked with keep the hall clean and tidy and has failed in its duty."

"Did you allow it enough time to do it, or is this just an excuse to bully it?"

"It needs to know what is expected of it, and the consequences for failure, highness."

"True, but if you teach it that it will get beaten no matter what, you're teaching it to not even try."

"If you don't beat respect into them then they don't try. I know. I've had years of experience with them."

Just then, Zahra's stomach decided to join the conversation, by announcing its hunger.

"Humour me, Principae. Let this one down, feed it properly and give it enough time to do the work."

"Yes, highness." Was the sulky reply.

"Oh, and slave." The elf woman now talking to Zahra. "Don't let me down. I will be checking up on you."

"No, Mistress. I won't let you down." Agreed the young human.

With that, Zahra could hear the group of elves walking of, talking amongst themselves.

"You heard her. Get working. Your day’s food will be here on time, even though you haven't earned it.

"Though I do look forward to punishing you when your lazy arse lets the bitch down."

"I heard that." Came from the corridor. "For that you can make sure it knows where all the secret doors are in there."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

With that Zahra lowered her arms, dressed herself ready to back on with the cleaning.

The Principae, as ordered by the princess showed Zahra five more secret doors in the hall. Three leading to rooms like hers, though unfurnished, and two to hidden corridors.

Wanting to please the unseen princess, and spite the Principae, she put extra effort into the job. Even if it did not do her any good, with the Principae gunning for her, it might help some other poor unfortunate down the line.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the Principae returned with a bowl of the unappetising food and put it by the door to her room.

"Eat it when you like." Was the only comment she got.

Waiting for the unpleasant man to go she took the food into her room ready to eat. Some instinct however caused her to pause and check the food over carefully. To her disgust, the food had some kind of mould on the underside. Smelling it immediately made her feel sick. Cursing the old man, she put it to one side and went back to work.

Just as she was halfway through cleaning the floor she heard the heard the unmistakable sound of multiple footsteps coming into the hall. Dodging into the nearest hidden room she waited for them to pass before creeping out again. When she saw the state of the floor she nearly cried. Whoever had just come in must have just been wading through a swamp. The floor was a mess, with mud and water everywhere.

After some, very quiet, choice words she went back to her work. scraping off the worst of the mud before scrubbing the carpets, rugs and floor. By the time she was finished she was exhausted, and her knees were killing her, from kneeling down for hours.

Retreating to her room, she tried to get some sleep, but the ache in her belly, combined with the pain in her knees and back made that impossible. That and being able to hear movement in the hall. Movement that meant her cleaning was being undone.

Rather than just lying there feeling sorry for herself she forced herself up and looked round the room for items she could use to make knee pads, though the best she could do was to bundle up some old cleaning cloths.

With that problem solved, she tried to sate her unhappy stomach by filling it with water and decided to get an early start on her job. Of course 'early' was a bit of a relative term as she had no idea what time it was, or how long she had been in her room.

Deciding on trying a different routine this time, she started by cleaning the rugs and carpets. Having got a decent base down the day before it was relatively easy to get them to a good standard quite quickly. She then moved onto the ceilings, walls and decorations before returning to the floors to give the carpets etc. another going over before starting on the floors.

By going backwards she found that the pads on her knees worked as a sort of first stage cleaning, getting rid of the loose dirt, allowing her to concentrate on polishing the floor.

By the time she was finished, however, she was starting to feel faint with hunger and fatigue. Struggling back to her room she put the cleaning materials away before collapsing on her bed.

Her dreams were dark and terrible. Cleaning cloths and brushes chasing her, with elves blocking her way at every turn. When she woke up she was barely rested, but forced herself to return to the hall. Struggling through her routine she started shivering, sweating uncontrollably and hallucinating, seeing an incredibly beautiful elf watching her. She knew it was only an hallucination as the elf would keep fading from sight, even as she was watching her back.

By the time she had finished this round of cleaning she was so ill she could no longer stand. Even hearing footsteps approaching couldn't motivate her. Laying where she was she waited to for the inevitable. For the first time since her capture she hoped that the elves would kill her.

Inevitably the Principae returned, and exploded with rage.

"HOW DARE YOU LAY DOWN OUT HERE?" He roared, rushing up to her, and grabbing the front of her clothes. Lifting her to feet, he shook her, slapped her across the face and released her.

Although the slap brought her to consciousness, it was not enough to get enough adrenaline flowing to overcome her sickness. Once released she immediately collapsed again.

Realising she was genuinely ill he stopped shouting and bent down to her.

"Is the Princess' little pet poorly? Oh dear, what a shame. Was it something you ate? Never mind, the agony will end eventually."

Laughing he stood back up again, only to stop when Valna'a deactivated her stealth suit directly in front of him.

"Explain, Kal'Va!" She ordered him.

"This worthless slave has done a terrible job and is now sleeping in public. I was merely trying to motivate it."

"I have two issues with that statement, Principae.

"First it's not sleeping, it's collapsed from exhaustion and starvation. I strongly suggest you take care of it, so it survives.

"Second: Slaves are not worthless. They are, in fact, quite expensive. Raids cost the lives of our people. And those lives are very valuable. They also provide us with sustenance we desperately need.

"As such I will make a deal with you. If this one dies you will take its place in the feeding cycle, after all race two is tastier than race six. And, next time we go on a raid to get more you can come along and risk your life getting them."

The man visibly paled at this threat. As a bully he was an inveterate coward with no ability to stand up to anyone stronger than him. And a warrior, especially one as famous as Valna'a, was much too powerful for him.

"It will live, Squad Leader." He all but grovelled.

"Good. You wouldn't like life as a slave. "

With that the woman reactivated her suit.

"I may pop in now and again to keep an eye on you. Don't let me down." Came a disembodied voice from the corridor.

With a total change in attitude the male elf helped Zahra up, carried her to her room and lay her on the bed. There was no compassion in the actions. This was a man who was terrified of the consequences if his charge died.

Taking the mouldy food with him he returned, soon after, with plenty more. Some in the solid form, some in the liquid. Picking up a bottle of the liquid, he helped her drink some of it. After a while she started feeling better and managed to drink the rest of it herself. Seeing her do that her tormentor left, without a word. His hatred for the young slave only enhanced by the princess' actions.

With the liquid food drunk, Zahra managed to eat some of the solid, before collapsing on her bed, fast asleep .