The third prince had ordered the stewardess to send a maid to care for the witch who was currently housed in the unused manor.
She was loathed to give up any of her staff. But she couldn't ignore a royal request, so instead she had decided to send over that slave. She would prefer to give up the funds she would have regained by selling him, than to help that witch recover.
That boy was so useless, she doubted he could provide any actual help. Once the witch died she could blame it on the slave and have him imprisoned.
She would be able to rid herself completely of the matter.
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He had hoped the inside of the manor was more lively compared to the outside, but if anything it was more foreboding. Only a few curtains been left open in the entrance hall, and with the waning sunlight it gave the place a certain eeriness.
He stood at the entrance debating once again wether he should head back or continue.
Remembering his lack of options, he clutched the basket tighter and kept walking.
Further into the hall towards the left he could see a large set of double doors, one of them was slightly ajar. He decided to go there first and see if the mysterious guest was there.
He stopped at the doors, he wasn't sure what the proper protocol was for announcing oneself. He first tried knocking on door, "Hi-Hello. I'm here to…serve you?…" He wanted to bang his head on the door, why was he so bad at this!!?
He was grateful when he didn't a reply, even though he wanted to bury himself in a ditch, he decided to peek inside to make sure there really wasn't anyone in.
When he opened the door a little wider he was hit by an overwhelming smell that caused his throat to spasm. The smell seemed to permeate everywhere, it enveloped him and almost brought him to his knees.
The room had once been a place to entertain visiting guests. The walls were laid with a dark red wallpaper with golden filigree design work in each corner. It had once been a very elegant space.
Now the room stood dark, all the curtains had been tightly drawn closed, the only light in the cavernous room came from a low fire burning in the hearth of the central fireplace.
All the furniture had been moved around to accommodate for the bed that now stood in the middle of the room.
It was hard to make out any distinguishing details from where he stood, but he could make out the outline of a figure laying on the bed.
He knew that this had to be the guest that the woman had referred to.
He took one of the ends of his cloak and pulled it up across his face to block some of the smell.
He felt under the circumstances he should be more frightened than before, but instead he felt a sense of urgency.
The only thing he could liken that smell to, was the smell of death…
He slipped off his shoes and tried to keep to keep his steps light, afraid that he would disturb them.
As he grew closer he became more and more alarmed. This person had clearly been brutalized. He felt like like he was looking at the victim of a car accident.
He could now tell that this person was a young woman, it was hard to place her age due to the heavy extent of her injuries.
A thin sheet had been pulled up to her waist, he could see splotches of blood seeping through it. Her arms were at her sides, but instead of laying flat they were contorted into an unnatural shape.
He inched a little closer, her face was swollen with different shades of yellow, purple, and black made up her bruises. Additionally, he could see a trickle of blood was coming out from her lips.
If he hadn't noticed the way chest was undulating up and down, a sign that she was still breathing, he really would have thought her dead.
He didn't dare remove the sheet, but the smell of decay had definitely strengthened now that he was closer to her. If what he could see was this ghastly, then how badly were the rest of her injuries?
For the first time since he had arrived he felt at a complete loss, he had managed up to this point to rationalize everything that had happened from the beginning that he woke up but now he didn't feel he could make sense of anything…
What was he supposed to…and was there anything that could be done for this person or was he going to have to watch her die…