Mare stared up at the ceiling thoughtlessly.
Whatever balm Hegi used was effective indeed. She could barely feel a thing in her loins. When she drew her legs close to peer at the damage done her brows furrowed at the injuries that marred the top and bottom of her thighs. The inner part of her thighs had purple bruises and stitches. Sighing she drew her legs down and covered herself with the bed covers, laying there for a few moments more until the early dawn aged into a clear, sunny day.
As the rays of sun seeped through the curtains, she instinctively followed said rays with her gaze until she was looking at the doors of her chamber. It was open a crack.
"Someone stood there last night," she muttered to herself.
She hadn't expected anyone to be in the room with her but when a voice suddenly said, "Who?" she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Hegi came round the side of her bed as she lifted herself on her elbow to frown at him. She had thought he left her the night before. Was he the one who stood watching by her door?
Her eyes took in his close-cropped brown hair that was in need of a washing. No. What she had seen was blonde hair, and a strong but young build and Hegi did not cut those descriptions.
"Do not look so surprised to see me here. If I leave you to die the king will have my head," he said briskly. "And he does pay me to see that you live to serve him."
"Does he also pay you to call me my lady and sleep beneath my bed like a maidservant while waking up at intervals to make sure my fever does not consume me?"
She could have sworn he hid a smile as he turned to prepare a bath for her.
"Your mouth will be the death of you, my lady."
"If Vallezarii does not cleave me in two first. Tell me, Hegi, am I the first concubine he has had or does he have a grave where the others have been buried?"
"You must not refer to him by his name. To you and all of us, he is Your Highness, Your Grace. You refer to him as my lord. You are his slave after all."
She cocked her brow at him. When he saw the expression on her face he sighed.
"I refer to you as my lady not because I am your slave." His voice hardened. "You are Baryn after all!" then his gaze softened again as he moved to her trunk to select a new dress for her. "You do not deserve the hand dealt to you by fate. Yet your courage has kept you alive thus far. I respect your spirit."
Mare cracked a smile. "Vallezarii will have your head. No Arlankis should be heard to have respect for Baryn. We are supposed to be scum under your shoes."
"Your Highness, my lord, Mare!" he stressed.
Mare simply chuckled.
Hegi huffed like an old man and came around to help her slip her dress off so she could wash. Once she was clean he helped her lace the ropes of the gown he chose for her. The soft satin of the dress swished as she moved. It would have been fit for royalty had the bodice not been so low cut that her breasts were almost spilling out.
"I do not wish to eat anything today," Mare said as soon as she was dressed and her hair was done in a single braid down her back. She was staring at her neck in the mirror. It was still bruised but Hegi's balm worked wonders so that she could not feel the pain in her flesh again.
The platter of food Hegi had dropped by her bedside was now stale. He went to pick it up.
"You must eat to keep your strength up, my lady. Should the king ask for you you will need your strength to please him."
She snorted.
"The dining room has been set up. You will break your fast with the king at his request."
She could fight all she wanted but what good would it be? Slipping her feet into her slippers she made her way out of the chambers, arms held together over her midsection.
The castle was quiet as always. It held over a hundred rooms, all of which were huge and empty. She knew from the few months she had spent here that some of the rooms were given to high-ranking soldiers. There were secret passages, she heard of them but didn't know them. Back in the Baryn settlement, the quiet would be replaced by the grunts of men, women, and children, all working hard from the early hours of dawn till sunset to provide the food Arlankis and Sefers would eat. They wove the clothes the women put on their fair skin, made the leathers for shoes, and grunted in the heat while making the swords and daggers for Arlankis soldiers. They made the weapons of their own death should they slack in their duties.
Mare's heart ached. I wanted to save my people now have my actions brought them reprieve from their suffering or more pain?
She wished she could leave the palace and make her way under disguise to see her people but who was to say Vallezarii would not heap more punishment on them should she choose to do that?
They came to the dining room and the soldiers guarding the doors reluctantly pushed it open for her.
The high, arched ceilings, the wide windows, the ornately carved chairs, and the large dining table, all were testaments to the gifted hands of a great architect at work. Her feet were soundless against the floor as she moved with acquired grace.
When the dining doors closed she looked back to see that Hegi had not followed her in.
Ah, privacy for when Vallezarii decides to come in, throw me on the floor or on the table to take me like a wild animal again.
Her injuries were still fresh and she feared the damage he would do to her this time but she swallowed past her fear and squared her shoulders as she took a seat at the table and made a platter of bread, cheese, and wine for herself.
She had just begun to eat when the doors were thrown open – not violently – but when the person who walked in saw her seated at the table he slammed the doors as hard as he could.
Mare paused halfway raising her bread to her mouth. The blonde hair was tied back but there was no mistaking it, this was the boy who stood by her door.
She remembered him from the portrait in the hall although he must have been younger when that portrait was drawn.
The crown prince of Arlankis. Perci.
A servant walked behind him.
"Baryn," he said the word like a curse, making his way to the table with long, angry strides.
He would have been beautiful, Mare thought to herself, if he didn't have that scowl on his face. And if he wasn't Arlankis.
"A pleasant morning, my lord," Mare muttered under her breath with a sarcastic smile.
He reached the table and glared at her platter seeing what she had on it before reaching for the bowl of grapes.
"Would grapes serve your belly, my lord? Would you not wish to eat something stronger for the day's training?" his servant asked.
Perci whirred on the servant who took a step back.
"I will not touch the food soiled by the filthy hands of a Baryn."
He continued to reach for anything that was not already on her platter.
Spurred by sudden childishness, Mare rose on her feet and began to fill her plate with everything he chose. With a cynical smile she said, "Dear servant, the prince is not hungry if he can train with just grapes to hold his belly."
Perci watched her and with anger threw his platter across the table, banging his fist on it. "Know your place, slave. That you sit on this table and dress in finery does not make you equal to your betters."
Satisfied at the mountain of food on her platter now Mare sat down and raised her eyes to his angry face. "Make no mistake, 'my lord,'" she said scathingly. " I do not wish to be seated at this table any more than you want to be in my presence but you do not hear me whining about it like a brat. Now if you do not mind, I was enjoying my meal until you came here with your surly hide."