"Ninety-six."
Thwack!
"Hm? What was that? I can't really hear you."
"Ni…" A shaky breath, "Ninety-six."
Thwack!
"Ninety-seven."
Thwack!
Sorine squeezed her eyes shut, hot tears streaming down her cheeks dropping onto the marble floor where they balled up, glistening the floor as they lay there unabsorbed by the cold marble. She refused to open her eyes or let anything more than a whimper out of her mouth. They didn't deserve it. They didn't deserve her pain. She wished that hell would open and swallow her whole.
"Ninety-eight."
Thwack!
The lashes kept on coming, one after another until now and she could barely feel more than a blurred sting on her calves. That entire curve of her calves was just a broad burning surface by now, too heated to feel anything except a numb sensation. Her legs shook uncontrollably to keep standing and she fought the strong urge to let the crumpled skirt down to her ankle, and cover her calves up. She wished it would stop. She wished that she were not human. She wished she had the nerves of steel. Literally.
And she wished that she didn't have to hear his rugged shaky breath before each sharp lash came down on her flaring skin. She hated it. She hated how her mind would take her back to those moments she had spent with him. He was the entirety of her reality. Always. And she thought it would be so even after eons. But she didn't think she would be standing in the middle of his room, punished by his hands that held her the first time and every time after.
Her skin flamed and burned. She felt as though she had been set on fire by her own life. Given how tender it ached, her skin was probably torn and it would take days to recover.
"Ninety-nine"
Thwack!
"Hun—"
"No." Kaya interrupted, looking over from where she lay on the bed. Eric's bed. The top button of the bodice of her gown was unbuttoned and her hair was pooled down to one side. She popped a green grape and gave Eric a toothy smile. Her knuckles ghosted over her mouth, covering herself up as she giggled.
"I think ninety-nine is a lucky number. Of course, it'd be a pity to waste it on this….well, thing here. How detestable. Look at her botched cheeks. Darling, clearly crying doesn't suit you."
"Does this please you?" Eric snapped, the first that he seemed to be against all this. His knuckles turned almost white as he squeezed the handle of the whip in his grip. He hadn't said anything, merely ordering Sorine to lift her long skirt up. Kaya, remarking that she felt quite generous today, preferred that Sorine be whipped a hundred times. Well, ninety-nine times now that she has changed her mind. Should she be blessed for being such a kind soul? Surely, nothing generous has ever happened in the history of noble blood.
Sorine gritted her teeth, and gripped her skirt tighter, squeezing it hard enough to dig her nails through the cloth. She could feel something hot trickling down her calves, even through the numbness and heat. It tickled and ached against her sore torn skin.
"Is…" Her voice scratched against her throat and she cleared her throat loudly, "Is Your Highness finished?"
"Hm, turn around. I can't quite get a glimpse of it properly."
Sorine lifted her one foot and then bit her lip to cry out. Her muscles spasmed and she could barely without the torn parts stinging like several million needles poking into her wounds. Even with that, she took small steps to fully turn around to where the Princess lay on the bed.
"Hurry up."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Sorine stood, exposing her lacerations to the gleeful princess who partook in food while staring at the torn flesh of a maid.
"Hm. Befitting, I would say. Now listen up, this is what happens when you step out of your audacity. I imposed a rule on you and you dare defy it. And furthermore, you talk back to me and insult my blood and heritage. You should have been whipped a thousand times until your legs can no longer stand or move out of your place. Exactly where you should be. Stay in line, whatever your name is. I am Princess Kaya, heir to the Ochrean Kingdom. No one. I say no one dares talk to me in such a manner. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Your Highness."
"Hm." Kaya looked over at Sorine disapprovingly, and waved her hand dismissively, "You may go. I'm getting a bit tired of staring at your hideous face."
With the whole of her body trembling, Sorine moved enough to cast a bow even though her calves cried out in protest against any movement of her body. She slowly dragged her feet around, feeling Eric's eyes boring into her. She felt violated, she shouldn't even be here. He shouldn't even be allowed to lay his eyes on her. But she guessed that every action bore a consequence and she should learn her mistake by now. She found out that there was no way that she was winning in this game of politics. Not when she is illiterate in politics. She didn't even deserve to be a part of this play.
She caught out of the corner of her eye, that Eric was extending his arms out to help her. She even raised her hand discreetly to brush him away and dragged her feet across the floor, she could barely lift her feet without wanting to cry her throat out.
It seemed like it would take eons to reach the large doorway but she did get there and when she turned into the hallway, she immediately dropped her skirt down and winced immediately as the fabric came in contact with her tender torn skin. Her hand immediately went up the wall, gripping it hard for support as she kept on dragging her feet.
"Ingrid, get someone to clean all this filthy blood." She heard the echo of Kaya's order and after a few minutes, Ingrid quickly went past her shoulder. She didn't dare to look back and went on until she disappeared at a turn. Sorine scoffed, what a fool she was. Truly a buffoon. Believing that such a person would not find her suspicious and letting her guard down.
Surely, her free years with Eric have fed her ego. Look at her, growing too full of herself merely because the maids tiptoed around her cautiously. She was so used to being accepted by them without anything except for petty whispers behind her back that she didn't think that she was not someone who belonged here. She forgot where she came from all because she believed in love. But oh what a petty thing it is. She has played around and gotten herself almost killed.
"Ah, there you are."
"Huh?" Sorine mumbled, leaning her body against the wall. Her entire body was heating up and she could barely walk steadily without the entire hallway spinning in her eyes. She tried to steady her vision.
The blurry view became almost clear as Sorine squinted, but she could barely focus. All she could feel was the blood-soaked hem of her skirt sticking to her calves.
"Heavens! I have been looking for you everywhere!"
Ila's voice. It's Ila's voice.
Sorine felt something thrust into her hands and she gripped it tightly. She can't drop it. She can't. The coolness of the metal in her hands was giving her a sense of liberation from the stinging in her legs and the heat of her body.
"Listen, take this to the adjoining tower, up the left of the bridge. It's only a few flights of stairs. Now hurry, go."
Somehow and someway, she fumbled her way through the hallways until she was back at the connecting bridge. By this time, she was running on purely her instincts. She didn't know if she was walking straight. She only knew that it hurt to move. If anyone was passing by her, she didn't notice and they didn't bother to help her. Unless it was someone new, she doubted that anyone would think that she was hurt or anything of that sort. They would simply brush it off as a strange event and go on about their day.
The walk down the left of the bridge was considerably long. She didn't expect to enter a darker part of the castle and now she could barely see anything, and she was dragging her feet down the carpet-less hallways. It was dark as no sunlight could enter its premises and it was thankfully cold. It calmed her heat at least and she could make sense of something.
But then her feet hit a wall.
And she stopped, looking up slowly. She could barely see but it took a while to figure it was not a wall.
It was the beginning steps of a stairway and boy did it extend into oblivion.
Sorine gritted her teeth, she can do this.
She tried to lift her leg and immediately yelled out in pain. Unfortunately, it seems she can't.
Suddenly a bout of dizziness hit her and she dropped the metal tray, and immediately fell on the stair, bracing herself on her hands. She took hurried deep breaths and gave in, slowly laying down on the rough bricks of the stairsteps. With that, she dropped unconscious.