Kate ignored the centaur woman\'s rambling. She was not interested in the bath. She\'s more interested in escaping!

Her eyes darted on the direction of the door, no one is guarding it!

Time to escape!

She jumped out of the bed and run towards the door.

Unfortunately, Ezi moves quicker than her, the centaur woman was able to block the door before Kate can reach it.

"My Queen, I\'m sorry to block your way. You can\'t escape this place. The king\'s men were guarding this place heavily. There are guards in all corners outside the kings\' bed-chamber. They can run faster than you. You will only get hurt if you try to escape," Ezi told her in a gentle tone.

"I don\'t want to marry your king, I don\'t love him!" Kate shouted at the woman.

"My Queen, I\'m sorry to say that when it comes to that matter, you cannot decide for yourself. Once the king wants to marry you, you will become his queen whether you like it or not. You will become his property. And your job is to please and satisfy him and give him an heir," Ezi continue her explanation.

Kate was feeling trapped and frustrated.

She doesn\'t want to marry anyone!

She wants to go back to Esmeralda\'s house!

"Granny Esmeralda, please help me!" she prayed earnestly, hoping for a miracle to come when she needed it most.

Ezi looked at her and come forward. "My Queen, please get inside the tub now. The king will kill me if he returns and finds out that you have not taken a bath yet. Please, have mercy on me, my Queen!" she begged.

Kate played deaf ears to the woman\'s pleading.

She went back to the wooden bed and sat on the corner, contemplating what to do.

Esmeralda might still be sleeping right now. She was hoping that as soon granny will wake up and find her gone she will come to her rescue. Naturally, granny will think that she falls into the forest below and would go down and find her in this part of the forest.

With those thoughts in mind, she began to relax.

Instead of killing herself by worrying too much, she might as well enjoy the bath in the tub that looks refreshing and inviting.

She looked at the worried face of the centaur woman.

"Alright, I will take a bath now," she finally said.

Ezi\'s face brightened up, huge relief washed over her face. "Thank you, my Queen. Let me take off your clothes," she offered.

"No need, I can do it myself," Kate refused the woman\'s offer. She walked towards the wooden tub and discarded her clothes one by one into the floor.

She went into the tub and eased her body slowly into the water, loving its fragrance that smells like fresh flowers.

Ezi picked up Kate\'s clothes from the floor and set it aside for washing. She took the wooden comb and began combing the queen\'s hair.

"Your hair is beautiful, my Queen!" Ezi commented.

"Thank you..." she looked at the centaur woman. "What is your name?" Kate asked.

"My name is Ezi, your highness," she smiled.

Kate smiled back at the woman. She is the only person whom she can talk to right now. She might as well get friendly with the slave wanting to gather much information as possible.

As much as she wanted to believe that Esmeralda will come to her rescue, she was not sure that she would come in time to save her from getting married to the king of the centaur.

"Ezi, can I ask you a question?" she asked permission first.

The slave smiled brightly. "Yes, your highness. You can ask me anything, I will try to answer them the best way I can."

"Hmm...tomorrow I\'m going to marry the king, am I right?" Kate asked.

"Yes," Ezi nodded.

"What time the wedding will take place? Night or day time?"

"During the evening, my Queen."

"I see..." Kate breathed deeply. She has tonight and the whole day tomorrow to plan her escape.

"Will the king visit me tonight?"

"Yes, definitely my Queen."

"What he\'s going to do to me?" Kate asked nervously.

Ezi smiled shyly.

Kate looked at the woman, raising her brows. "Why are you not answering me?"

"My Queen, the king might be tempted to sleep with you in the bed tonight," Ezi answered finally, blushing red. "That\'s why you have to take a bath so that you are clean and smells wonderful when sleeping with our king," she added.

Kate\'s face blanched, paper white, her expression broke into anguish and fear. Oh My God!

This is not good!

She should get out of here before the king visits her! Or else she will be done for good. Then she suddenly remembers Ramza, her beloved boyfriend. If she has to marry someday, Ramza is the one she wanted to marry! Not the king of the centaur race!

She feels sad after remembering Ramza. What they have is a few days\' love affair, a very short relationship that was not meant to last.

Now she was going to marry the king of the centaur beings against her will, she can feel her world starts crumbling down.

Tears start falling from her eyes and she began sobbing hysterically.

Ezi was visibly shaken and alarmed upon seeing the future queen crying nonstop. "My Queen, why are you crying? Did I say something bad...that you don\'t like?" she asked, panicking.

Kate ignored the slave and continue crying, as desperation starts to sink in her system, she realized that this is one tough situation that she can no longer escape.

"My Queen, please stop crying, I begged you. If the king knows that you are crying he might think that I didn\'t treat you well. He will punish me severely, please have mercy on this lowly servant, your highness!"

Still, Kate turned deaf ears to the slave\'s pleading.

She\'s crying because she can not accept that this is going to be her destiny, getting married to the king of the centaur race and worse being locked up inside the castle for eternity until her human life run its course.

She looked at the slave with her tear stricken face. "Ezi, please help me get out of this place! I want to go back to my granny\'s house! I can\'t marry your king! I\'m going to die if I do," she said between sobs.

Ezi was shaking her head vigorously. "My Queen, if the king knows that I help his future wife escape this place he will kill me and the rest of my family and relatives. That is the punishment that I\'m going to get in helping you. Even if I do, there\'s no guarantee that you can get out alive from here. So...please just accept your fate. Once you will become the Queen, your life will become better. The king will cherish you," she said.

Kate looked at Ezi with frustration in her eyes. Why did she even bother to ask help from the king\'s servant when she knows very well that Ezi\'s sympathy will always lie with the king?

She was such a stupid fool!

"Ezi, can you please give me back my clothes? I\'m done bathing. I want to get out of this tub," Kate said.

Ezi smiled thinking that the queen finally resigned to her fate. She needs to get the queen done with her dressing or else the king will get angry if his woman is not ready yet when he returned.

"Your old clothes will be washed first, my Queen. You can wear this instead," Ezi handed the flowing white clothes to her lady.

Kate gets out of the tub and rubs her body dry with the garment that Ezi provided her and then slipped into the flowing white dress.

"My Queen, please sit down on this chair so that I can comb your hair," Ezi requested.

Kate sat on the chair and Ezi began combing her wet hair.

A few minutes later, the door suddenly opens and a loud voice vibrated in the air.

"Where is my Queen!?"

Kate froze.