The Destined Princess and the Hidden Knight

Chapter Six

*Cough Cough*

I jumped up a little as I felt someone behind me, skin grazing against mine, just near the rope. 

I was alive? They hadn't succeeded? Or was this that they wanted? 

So many questions and I didn't care for any of the answers. My breathing was so loud that it was screaming that I was alive. Alive when my whole body was sore and cold. I didn't know which part was painting the most right now, the cold numbing the effect in some way, and yet I knew I would be bruised all over. Drool dripped from the end of my lips and dropped to the ground as my upper half was bent down. They would have loosened the grip of the rope as I had fallen on my knees somewhere in the night. 

Was it still night? 

I turned and looked behind me, my eyes half opened trying to figure out who it was. 

"Don't move, I am trying to untie you" It was the court lady, I think her name was Maria. I had seen her once or twice when I had visited the palace with my father. She looked kind, but not the way other court ladies looked. The kindness was genuine like it had come from her own bad experience and that she wanted to give as much in return. 

I wanted to say to her that I was grateful when she just nodded her head. 

As soon as she untied my hands, my upper body fell on the ground, but before it could hit the cold surface, she caught it in the middle and replaced it with her comforting lap.

"Monsters!!!! Only Monsters could do something so hideous like this to such a small girl"

I wanted to chuckle but I had no strength. Only if she has an idea. 

Humans were worse than any monster that would exist. If the Myths were true, A Monster would be the one saving this kingdom when it falls. Humans, on the other hand, would make it bleed, bleed from inside.

"Come on, Lady, you need some warmth and food. I don't know how long you have been here" 

The first tear rolled off my eyes as she called me Lady. I have never heard that word since my father went on the dark path. Even when she was just a maid in the palace, who wouldn't know much about the etiquettes of a royal, she was more behaved than any of the girls I was surrounded by. 

With her support, I was able to get up on my wobbly feet. The cold was hitting my chest like a hammer and the burn in my stomach was more than the pain anywhere on my body due to the whipping. 

She wrapped a royal blue cardigan around my shoulder with a star on it. It was beautiful and warm. Not only that, it was made from a rare material that was only found in our kingdom and which was so expensive that none of the kings from the neighboring countries could get their hands on it. 

It belonged to Cassandra. 

"I...no this..." I started to decline her gratitude and return the cardigan when with one glare she said no.

"You need it, Lady, and if Cassy...I mean Lady Cassandra was here, she would have done the same. Our Princess is one fine woman" 

There was pride in those words and a smile, a smile like that of a Mother. I knew at that instant that this court lady was no common courtesans. She had indeed raised Cassandra and made her the woman she was now. Cassandra was really lucky to have someone like Maria in her life. 

"I- I need to go home" I muffled not knowing if she had heard those words as she was still dragging me behind her. I couldn't see much as the fog had settled everywhere around us and in the air. I could only follow her right now. Putting one leg behind the other, my hand wrapped around her shoulder. The old lady carried most of my weight on her. I was trying to tell her no and no again but she kept refusing and it didn't look like I had any choice. 

Soon the dawn will break and I would need to go back to my learning place and then the dance class to teach, the only source of my income which was helping me feed myself and my father and keep us alive. Sometimes the princess would give me her old clothes and some food, but most of the time I had declined those offers. I was anything but not a beggar. Even if I had to work all day, I would only use my own money and no one's pity. 

Maria settled me down on a mattress and I took the support of the tree behind me. I squealed as the sore back rested but stopped immediately. I didn't want her to worry. 

"It must be painful, '' she whispered. The authoritative voice was replaced by the kind motherly sound. 

She placed some cooked corn and bread on a big leaf and placed it on my lap. I wouldn't have accepted eating out of her hands anyway and she knew it. I just nodded, not knowing how I would lift my hand. 

My palms were still stinging from last night. 

"I could feed you, Lady. The pain will only get worse if you touch it now" 

I wanted to cry, cry at being so helpless in front of her. The whips were on the lines which were made by pulling the rope. Which means I would no longer be able to pull it or it would be hard as hell. 

"I- please...I don't want you... don't want you to see me like this... please" I bowed my head which hung down more instead of just bowing. I kept whimpering and sobbing, the tears falling, along with my nose getting snuffed. I wiped my nose with the back of my sleeve. 

"Please I-.." *hiccup* "Please leave me...here..I..." I felt a soft pat on my dirty hair and the rustling of leaves from beneath her as she stood up. Even when her heart would have wrecked leaving now, there was something about the words, my words which made her understand my emotions. She placed the rest of the food and patted my head one more time, before starting to leave.

"I would repay this," I said as she was leaving. 

"Love doesn't need repaying, My child and if someone tries that, they haven't understood the meaning of love" There was a sparkling smile on her face and at that moment, it dawned on me, this mind be the last kind gesture I would witness for days to come now.