"Royale Taster."
The words didn't really register in Tish's head. She was barely aware of anything. She was staring at a sword mounted with care on a rack of black iron. It was angled in such a way that the firelight caught the blade and ran along its edges.
It was the same sword that had killed Saya. Tish still vividly recalled how Rudra had carefully wiped the blood off the shining blade with his handkerchief, she still recalled how the hilt, wrapped in dark leather had looked in his fist. She spotted a small bottle of oil, placed just beneath it on a smaller shelf with the same handkerchief Rudra had used to wipe off the blood.
The sword wasn't there to scare her or even warn her. It was there as a prized possession- like how someone hangs the potrait of his beloved.
Tish could recognise this sword anywhere. She had replayed the scene of Saya's death in her head for several days-
"Hey!"
the curve of the crossguard..
"Hey, look here!"
The single groove running the length of the blade...
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Tish blinked and looked in the front. The room had gone distant for several seconds now, the voices were reaching her late- like sound travelling through a tunnel full of water.
Rudra was holding his fingers near Tish's ear, the sharp cracking sound pulled Tish back to reality.
She didn't remember how they reached Rudra's room. She was sure she had been carried here but at some point she had blanked out. Rudra's face was close, his eyes assessing her face with mild clinical fascination.
"I said," he spoke slowly, "You will be my Royale Taster."
Tish stared again without answering. Rudra's adam's apple bobbed as he talked. Tish stared at it instead of his eyes. That place in the throat looked so vulnerable....
"I don't die from poison but I don't particularly enjoy this sort of assassination attempt," Rudra was explaining but Tish couldn't really focus.
The walls of the room were lined with all sorts of weapons. She could pick any of them and...
"You will take the food before me and if you are not vomitting blood, I get to be sure the food is untouched. And you're a Saintess so you can't die. Not to mention hiring poison testers cost hundreds of golds, why should I do that when I can have you do it for me for free?" Rudra asked.
Oh, his throat looked so tempting like it was asking for a blade.
Tish's eyes dropped to the table before her. There was a set of dishes- rice, something's curry, pickles, fries, sweets...
Tish's stomach rolled. Not with hunger. But with nausea.
Rudra pushed a small plate at Tish, "Do you need a formal letter of invitation to start testing the food?" He mocked, his lips twisting into a cruel, beautiful smile, eyes crinkling at the corner with delight, "Go ahead. Taste the food."
Tish took the plate. With a small spoon she picked up whatever was infront of her and put it in her mouth.
She tasted nothing. Not poison. Not flavour. She continued taking a little of every dish and putting it in her mouth, swallowing and repeating the process.
It only took a minute.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Rudra asked flatly, "Do you think I don't know some poisons only work when they are taken in large doses?" He leaned in again, "Are you trying to trick me right now?"
Tish felt drained, completely, thoroughly drained.
"What do you want then?" She asked. Her tone was rather rude but she was beyond caring.
"Eat half of the food," Rudra grinned, ''Half of everything. If I bleed from poison, you bleed with me."
It had been days since Tish had taken even a drop of water. Had she not been a Saintess she would have probably perished.
And now the Prince was coering her to eat meal which was almost same portion as his. It was diabolical in its own way.
"Eat!" Rudra slapped the table, the sound cracking like thunder. Tish jumped, her heart starting to beat fast again. The fear had become so involuntary, so ingrained she hated herself. She started eating.
The Prince followed a few minutes later. Rudra ate with his hands - probably a local custom- but when he did it, he looked even less human, more the animal Tish knew he was.
Tish didn't chew. She just swallowed fast.It wasn't food to her, it wasn't even fuel. It was just means to an end.
"Do they not feed you lot in Benevia?" Rudra asked, annoyed, "You are eating like you have never seen food. I thought you were a Saintess. Your parents must be rich."
Tish froze. She chewed and swallowed, "My father was a stable boy and my mother was a maid. I was raised in the temple."
Rudra's eyes widened with a mixture of horror and disgust, "How the fuck are you a Saintess then?" He hushed in a soft voice, ''You have the lineage of a gutter rat!"
".....Goddess Rāva chose me."
"Your goddess is stupid."
Tish's eyes found the sword again on the rack. This time he noticed, "Go ahead," he taunted, "Take it, try stabbing me. And I'll stab you. We can check if your self-healing power is better than mine."
Tish looked back at his face. He looked almost excited.
Monster.
_____________________________________
Tish became a maid at the Prince's Quarter. Rudra didn't let her return back to her room. She had to eat his food, wear his clothes and use his things when he wasn't around. And even sleep in his room on a mattress every night- stripping away all her selfness.
She wasn't Teresa Williams, the Saintess of Benevia. She was just his person. His servant. His Royale Taster.
During daytime he would leave locking Tish inside his quarter, like a person leaves his pet behind. Tish would roam around his room- looking at maps, weapons and gemstones - like a dragon hoarding it's wealth. There were scratch marks on the wall- they could be repaired easily but had been left alone- like they were a reminder exactly who the Prince of Partha was even though he walked around wearing human skin. There were no windows in his quarter. An odd detail of the quarter despite it belonging to a creature with wings.
During night time, he came back. He always ordered Tish to eat first and then touched his food- always paranoid of poisons despite being a Dragon. Then they slept- Rudra in his bed and Tish on a mattress on the floor. He did give her a blanket. But it smelled too much like him- Smoke, ash and blood. Tish never used it.
Some morning Tish would vomit in the toilet on purpose - a crude desparate rebellion against Rudra forcing her to eat, some evening she would to try taking her own life by using his sword, some night she would get up and find a weapon to hold it on the Prince's chest while he snored.
But she could never stab him. Her hand would shake the last minute and she would go back to the mattress and next morning hurt herself for being such a coward.
That was the routine. For weeks? Months? Tish lost count of time.
And then oneday the protocol broke. Tish had just taken her plate when Rudra slapped it out of her hand.
"You're throwing up in the toilet every morning?" His tone was flat. Tish's heart started hammering- the soul crushing fear engulfing all her thoughts again.
"You ungrateful bitch," Rudra spat and backhanded her.
He had never laid his hands on her before this. She looked at him- cheeks stinging- shocked.
"You cut yourself up and vomit in the toilet when I'm not around?" Rudra growled, "If you wanted to hurt yourself, you could have told me !" He grabbed the entire table between them and threw it against the wall like it weighted nothing.
The violence was so sudden and unexpected, Tish didn't know how to react.
"I CAN CUT YOU UP IN PIESCES IF YOU SO MUCH LIKE PAIN!"
The room vibrated as if a mini earthquake had hit them. Rudra marches to the rack where the sword was being displayed, "COME HERE YOU LITTLE CUNT!"
Tish couldn't stand there. The fear was too much, too primal.
She had to run. So she ran.