46. Brainwashed
925 Words
Tre sits with me in his office for a while. We sit on the couch.
Then Tye comes in. "She alright?"
"Hasn't said anything."
"Her dad has Frode and Dracul up there. They are figuring out what to do with the underage ones. Dipak went to change. Servants got the room cleaned up."
"We can't keep them. They're not even old enough to take the vow to be a servant. But they're so brainwashed we can't throw them out. They'll walk around trying to sell themselves."
"Need to try and find their parents."
I stare at the wall. "So many gold bars."
"Yes it was baby."
"They were told they would be loved. They were probably thrown out after they were done being used."
"Yea, they are no good as servants. They don't do any work."
Tre rubs his eyes. "Most of them were probably killed after."
"All their value was placed on one thing. Without it, they believe they're nothing."
"Even with it, they only think they're worth 1 gold bar." Tre wraps his arm around me and pulls me in closer. "I would give everything we have in every vault, just to sit with you for 1 day. You are worth so much to me."
I smile and snuggle into him.
Tye smirks. "That's how you talk to girls, Tre."
I roll my eyes and the boys laugh.
"Well, let's go back up boys. We have to deal with this."
We get up there, and I sit on Dipaks desk. Tre and Tye lean on it, one on each side of me.
Daddy, Frode, Dracul, and Dipak are arguing.
Frode slams his paper down. "I don't care. We can't keep them here. They are children."
Marcus walks in the door.
Dracul shakes his hand. "Thank you for coming."
I jump up. "NO!" Everyone turns to me. "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO PAWN THEM OFF ON SOMEONE ELSE, SO THEY AREN'T OUR PROBLEM ANYMORE. THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS."
"THEY ARE CHILDREN PRINCESS." Dracul crosses his arms. "THEY NEED DOCTORS AND CARE. CARE WE CAN'T GIVE."
"CARE THEY WILL NOT GET IN 6 MONTHS. THEN WHAT? THROW THEM OUT WITH SOME DELUSION THEY ARE STUCK WITH IN THEIR HEADS? THEY ARE NOT CHILDREN."
Frode looks at me. "Yes they are, and we can't keep them here."
"I GUESS I'M A CHILD TOO THEN."
"YOU ARE." Frode, Dracul, and Daddy all yell it at me.
I go for the desk drawer.
Tre yells, "HEADS UP."
I yank it out and whip it at all 3 of them. "THEY ARE BRAINWASHED ADULTS. PEOPLE DON'T GROW INTO AN ADULT IN 6 MONTHS, YOU IDIOTS. YOU DON'T WAKE UP ONE DAY AN ADULT."
Dracul blocks the drawer and it breaks apart. Part of it hits my dad in the head and he starts bleeding.
"MY PRINCESS. WE CAN NOT KEEP THEM."
I go for another drawer.
Dipak yells. "WAIT."
We all look at him.
"Let's hear what Marcus has to say before he gets knocked out. He's probably the expert in the room."
I glare at Marcus from behind the desk.
Tye picks me up. "Let's sit on the couch babydoll."
Marcus nods. "What is going on?"
Dipak explains everything.
"Yes, I can take them. And it would be best for them. I have doctors and therapy there. And usually for 'brainwashed' as you put it, patients. It takes around a year to come out of that. I don't mind keeping them an extra year or 2. Then I can get them placed somewhere." He looks at me. "You're right. People don't change into adults overnight. People are still children in many ways until they are 6 or 700 years old. In other ways, they're adults at 300. And everyone is different."
"Thank you."
"I also have access to missing children lists. My doctors and I can try to narrow down when and where they were born. We can try to find their parents. We have a better chance of that than you all do."
Tre winks at me. "Finding their parents would be the best thing anyone can do for them, baby. And 2nd is doctors and therapy. They need to go with Marcus. It's the best chance they have."
I cross my arms and my legs. "I still feel like we're just pawning them off on Marcus, cause you all don't want them here. They're too much of a hassle for you."
Tye pulls me into him. "They are not a hassle babydoll. We didn't even know about them until today. But now we have to do something. They need help. Not us."
"Fine. Did you find the other one?"
"We'll summon them, sweetheart."
"Dipak, she said there were 2. She didn't say they were both in this castle."
"UUGH" Dipak throws his head back and stares at the ceiling.
Tre motions at the guard. "Summon the underage servants. Let's just see what happens."
Dipak looks at me and Tye. "You 2 can get out of here and go away for a few days." He looks at Tre. "If we have to, I'll check Nox. You check Yanin. We'll find them and send them with Marcus by tonight."
Tre nods. "Try not to go to jail you 2. I don't want to get up in the middle of the night to get puked on again."
"WHAT?"
We all turn to my daddy.
Dipak smiles. "It's not like he made it sound."
I pull Tye up and drag him out the door before daddy can make more words.
- Writer
