Page 71 of Downfall of a Princess

“I made sure you were free,” I panted, barely keeping up with his punishing pace. “Why did you not keep your freedom? How can anyonechooseto remain a slave? Don’t you want to reclaim your life?”

“You don’t know anything about my life,” he barked out.

“Because you never told me anything. Granted, I tried not to ask much about it either. But I do want to help.”

He stopped in his tracks so suddenly, I ran past him a few steps then had to turn back to face him.

“I never asked for your help, Princess.” He raked both hands through his messy hair before dropping his arms down. “I have what I have. I made the best I could of my life, and I’m content with it. My allowing you the use of my body for a night or two didn’t automatically give you the right to meddle in the way I live. I didn’t ask you to fix anything.”

Indignity bloomed on my cheeks with heat. It’d been a while since someone had dared to scold me. No one had put me in my place like that. Speechless, I stayed rooted for a few minutes as he continued on his way. He walked a little slower this time, so I didn’t have to run once I’d caught up with him again.

We walked quietly for a while. The silence gave the argument a chance to cool off.

“You’re right,” I spoke first. “I shouldn’t have tried to manage your life like that. But normally, paying someone’s debt off and setting them free is considered a good thing. I honestly believed I was doing you a favor, Salas. I’m sorry if I was wrong about that.”

“No need to apologize,” he replied in a far calmer voice too. “I know you were coming from a good place. It’s just that...” He rubbed his chin, his fingers lost in his thick beard. “Freedom isn’t of much use to me.”

I almost tripped over my feet. How could anyone say such a thing?

“So, you’d rather be someone’s property? Owned, body and soul?”

He shook his head. “No, Princess. The slave owner doesn’t own my body. Or my soul. She owns my time and my labor, nothing more. In exchange, I get a place to live and food three times a day. That’s more than I can have as a free man. By paying off my debt, you literally kicked me out on the street, with no money and no place to go.”

“I could’ve given you money,” I said, and explained in reply to his glare, “As a loan if you wanted. Until you found a job and got back on track.”

He kept on walking, staring straight ahead. “You really don’t know much about life outside of the palace walls, do you?”

I sucked in a breath with a new flare of indignation. I knew far more about the Queendom of Rorrim than probably anyone in the world, including Salas. But I sensed that was not what he meant. My knowledge came largely from academic sources, and in that sense, he might be right. I lacked the perspective of an ordinary person living in this country.

“Do you know why slaves are predominantly male, Princess?” he continued. “And why so many of us remain slaves for life? It’s because there are so few other options for us out there. Men can’t buy a place to live, not even a shack. We can’t own a business. We have nothing to offer as a collateral, and the lenders use it to put the most draconian terms on money loans for us. Most of the men I work and live with are illiterate. They can’t even read the contracts they sign. After years of trying to work off their debt, many actually owe more now than they did at the beginning of their contracts.”

The institution of financial slavery was normally presented to me as something beneficial to both the country and theindividual. In theory, it filled the demand for physical labor and provided the means for men to manage their debt. In reality, it seemed there was more to it that no one in the palace knew or cared to share with me.

“I honestly didn’t know...”

He heaved a sigh. “I believe you. People are often blind to the injustices done against others if they don’t belong to that particular group themselves, no matter how large that group may be.”

There was a genuine understanding in his voice, not accusation. But I felt ashamed, nevertheless. And shocked. Shocked to find this level of suffering in the world that I’d considered a perfect place. A part of me didn’t want to hear what else he had to say—learning about these things hurt. But I couldn’t remain ignorant any longer.

“Thank you for telling me,” I said softly.

“Now that you know, will it make any difference?” He glanced at me. Catching my flustered expression, he nodded again. “It is how it is, they say. That’s the way it’s always been. Women run the world, and men have to find a way to fit in. Those who fail to fit in... Well, there is no second chance for us.” He fisted his hands. “I can’t change my past. But hopefully, I’ve made a difference in someone’s future. I don’t need to be personally acquainted with the boys from that orphanage to know they have nothing going for them. All they’re doing right now is reciting rules of conduct and memorizing scriptures. I donated the money in exchange for the written commitment from the head mistress to hire qualified teachers to teach the boys reading, writing, and mathematics for the next three years.”

“You did that?”

A hot wave of shame rolled through me. The system failed those children. As the crown princess, I was a part of the system.I failed them. Salas, a slave with nothing to give but his freedom, was single-handedly trying to make a difference. He stepped in where the crown had failed.

“Did you give away the money from your previous contracts like that too?”

He nodded. “To different organizations. In different cities. But under similar conditions.”

We walked in silence again until we reached the palace gates. I let Salas go in first while I waited out of sight behind a hedge. After the guards confirmed he was one of the slaves working on the grounds, they let him through.

Once he’d made it far ahead, I took my hood off and approached the gate as well.

“Good evening, Your Highness.” The guards let me in without a single question.

Salas waited for me out of sight by the garden path.

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