Chad carried Danika into the room. Sally ran ahead, getting the bed ready. He laid her face down on the mattress.
There was no clothing covering her back, only blood and bruises. Her eyes were closed, the streaks of dried tears on her cheeks.
“Open the window for fresh air,” Baski ordered as she entered the room a few moments later with some herb leaves in her hands. She made a stop in her room before coming over.
Sally ran to do what Baski said, opening the window for fresh air and a bit of sunlight.
“Sally, use water to wipe the blood away. Let’s see how much damage we’re facing. These herbs will disinfect them and heal them a bit. You’ll follow me to the woods once we’re done to get a lot of healing herbs we’ll need.”
“Alright, Madam Baski,” she answered eagerly and went right ahead to get water.
While Baski mixed her herbs, Sally ran out and came back with a bowl of water and a clean rag. She cleaned the wounds even as she silently cried.
How could this mistress do this to the princess? The princess never did anything wrong! Nothing! Sally thought, her heart aching.
His face revealed nothing, but when Sally peeked at him, she could have sworn that his face showed his barely controlled anger. It made her scared.
Was he angry at the princess or the mistress?
With the king, you’d never know. Or maybe she just imagined it.
Long minutes dragged by. Baski finished mixing her herbs and was already applying them to the princess’s wounds.
Sally helped her to squeeze out the water from each scoop of wet ground leaves, and she used them on the wounds. Sally was happy that the princess was unconscious. Sally knew this treatment hurt like hell, and her princess had already suffered enough for one day.
The king was still leaning against the door, even though he’d long sent Chad away. He hadn’t said anything else. His eyes just took everything in.
Finally, Baski said, “All done.”
Sally breathed a sigh of relief as she took in all the wounds they covered. Tears filled her eyes again because her princess’s back looked like a map of green leaves.
Baski faced the king. “I’ll give her some concoctions to sleep deeply because she needs all the rest she can get. She will disturb these herbs if she’s awake. We can’t let that happen. Sally and I will go into the woods in search of the rare herbs.”
He nodded once, his eyes on the woman lying on the bed.
Baski hesitated.
“What is it?” he spoke, at last, looking at her.
“Um, she needs to stay in a quiet place, my king. Nothing noisy or any place she can be disturbed. I w-was hoping if you might have another palace maid come to stay here with her.” But she looked doubtful as she made the request, and they all knew why.
They all hated her, and no one could be sure who was friend or foe when it came to Danika.
Sally stared helplessly at her princess, but she swallowed tightly and began. “M-maybe I can stay with h-her. Madam Baski can get a-another–”
The king cut her off. “Baski, you aren’t done here, am I right?”
Her head lowered. “Yes, you are, my king.”
“When you’re done here and go in search of herbs, have Chad bring her to my room.”
He turned and walked away, leaving Baski and Sally’s eyes wide and their mouths hanging open.
Vetta was so restless with worry by the time the king entered his chambers after so much time had passed.
“My king. I know wh-what it looks like, but I wasn’t going to kill her or anything of that sort at all. It’s just torture!” she said as he strode past him.
Lucien turned and stared at her with fire in his eyes. “Why?”
She blinked, confused. “Wh-what?”
“Apart from the torture sessions that come from the king to a slave, there should be reasons for any other torture session, unless allowed by the king. Why did you torture her?”
“I-I-I,” she swallowed, at a loss for words. “But you gave me permission f-for it, my king. That night…five noondays after she became a slave, you permitted me.”
Silence. His cold, angry, unreadable eyes held hers.
And then, “What did you promise to me during your request, Vetta?”
Shit, shit, shit! She knew he wasn’t going to forget that; but she had hoped!
“I asked you for permission to hold a torture session for her, and I p-promised no heavy stuff.”
“What did I say to you, Vetta?”
“You nodded and said to keep th-things at a mi-minimum,” she whispered shamefully.
“Whipping a slave within an inch of her life while shocking her. Is that what you call a ‘no heavy stuff’?”
“My king—”
“Is that what is called minimal, Vetta?”
“But I didn’t really do anything so wrong! It’s just some minor whippings! No heavy strokes or hard strokes and—”
“Shut up.”
The single phrase that clamped her mouth shut.
He didn’t say anything again. The silence was so heavy it made Vetta restless.
He walked closer to her and tilted her cheek to see his hard, scarred face clearly. “What is going on with you lately?”
She swallowed tightly, trying to hide the anger she was feeling. She hadn’t expected the question at all!
“These days, I look upon you with fresh eyes,” he grated angrily. “You have no right to do that to the king’s slave—not unless I authorized it; and I didn’t.”
Vetta could no longer control her anger. “But she’s a slave, Lucien! I have rights over all of them! She’s a slave, and I’m your mistress! What about what her father did to us? To you! To me! To Chad! To the others!? What about that!?”
He let seconds of silence descend after that outburst. Then he fixed her with an intense stare. “She’s the king’s slave. I own her. I decide what happens to her. I torture her. I hurt her. She’s my slave. She’s my property. My possession. Mine.” His voice was as hard as granite.
Fury-laced and hate-filled words, but Vetta couldn’t help thinking that there was a deeper undertone.
“Chad,” the king called.
The door opened and Chad entered. “Yes, my king.”
“Escort the mistress to her quarters. She’s worked up and needs rest for at least seventy-two hours,” he commanded.
“What!? You’re putting me under house arrest for th-three days!?” She was angry and astonished.
“Yes, Your Highness!” Chad replied. Then he turned and took hold of Vetta’s arm.
“Don’t touch me! I’ll walk on my own!” Vetta knew better than to struggle against him. It would be a thing of disgrace for servants to see her being manhandled out of the king’s chambers.
She bit her lip hard. She wanted to scream at the king. She wanted to say so many things, but she was wise enough to clamp her mouth shut.
“Your wish is my command, Your Highness,” she mumbled at last and started marching her way out.
“Vetta?” He called her when she reached the door.
“Yes, my king?”
He didn’t turn around when he spoke. “I freed my people because I want them to experience being free again. Cone made me a monster, but it is my duty to protect my people. Let me carry that burden alone. It is my responsibility. My duty as a king. As my father’s son. There shouldn’t be two monsters together, or everyone around us will be in danger. Two monsters cannot stay in the same place.”
Finally, he turned and stared at her. There was sadness in his eyes, but there was conviction, too. “We have been through so much together, Vetta, but the day I look upon you and see a monster is the day I let you go. Completely.”