The taste of hot water on my strained muscles is liberating to say the least. I can feel all the strain being washed away. It feels weirdly silent. This night. I glimpse outside. Janae has had a call from her home, so she has gone away from the palace for a moment and will be returning tomorrow.
However… there were still people here. Especially earlier on. Where were they?
“Hello?” I call out loud, letting my voice echo in the three segments of the bathing chamber, nobody answers. I hurriedly grab the robe next to me and wrap it around my body.
Not long after, the door opens, it is an unfamiliar servant, yet, her face so plain it might have been my memory. Two parties… long for your disappearance. His highness’s words ring in my mind and I can’t help but look at her a little more worry.
Out of nowhere, the servant trips, and I laugh accidentally rude. Oh, how overly cautious I must have been. I walk towards her, my hair still dripping with water, “Are alright?”
The servant smiles, before pulling out a blade from her undyed woolen pallium (cloak). I barely manage to react in time dodging to the right, she slashes a piece of my waist length hair away. The coldness of the air makes it feel more ominous. The water on the ground makes me feel as though I might slip. In this state of undress I cannot call on the guards. I must deal with this myself.
“Who sent you?” I ask out loud.
She did not answer, instead going for the next swing, I dash to the side, though I did not learn much combat skills, my father made sure to teach me the basics of self defense. She comes at me again, each time getting closer to killing me, two parts of my hair has been cut unevenly, one at chest length and the other a bit higher, nearly shoulder length. Two cuts have been made at my skin, although barely grazing. I can only hope it is not poisoned.
“Answer me!” I call out again, slipping on the puddle of water.
The fall is painful but the incoming figure does not give me a time to think. I roll over to the side, dodging the stab, when my hand conveniently finds a whip. A weapon! Who put this here? No longer defenseless, I pull out the wip, warding her away.
“Tell me!” I demand, but she does not answer, her lips mum.
Despite the guilt, I lash out the whip towards a human target for the first time, knocking the dagger out of her hand. When it fell into the bathing water, she attempts to flee. I chase after her, attempting to catch her with the whip but she is too quick.
In the end, she escapes through the window, leaving me with a messy hair and two cuts.
“What on earth…” I say, pressing the cut on my arm so it does not bleed. Thankfully, it is not deep and would not require stitches.
“What is that guard thinking? Finding us in the corridor?” You heard faint murmurs coming closer.
“Exactly! A good for nothing. Hmph. Like master like dog.” Another voice says.
“Hahaha. Aren’t you going too far?” The third voice chimes in.
“Isn’t it true though? Look at how much trouble she brings to our prince.” The second voice says again.
This time, I am certain, they have already come to the front of my bathing chamber. A master is only respected as a master if they possess authority. Knowing this matter must be addressed, I command loudly, “Come in.”
The three of them, startled looks at each other before entering. Once they see my state, they shriek. As expected, they are not part of the assassination attempt. I lash the whip on the ground and stare them down coldly, “Treat my wounds and dress me.”
They did as commanded. Disinfecting the wound with strong alcohol, before putting a thick healing paste and wrapping it with a bandage. I quickly get dressed in another red stola (fine linen dress), with a white palla (rectangular shawl) on top of it. Yet the inner tunic underneath does not stop the chill. Am I feverish?
I have no time to check.
The sight of the three obnoxious servants in front of me, makes it hard to consider my well-being.
“You left me unattended. Where were you?” I beseech an answer.
The three of them looks at each other, orchestrating a cover up plan telepathically, the voice I recognize belongs to the second one says, “We were busy tending to the chores.”
“Yes, we were busy.”
“With the epidemic ravaging nearby cities, many servants have been worried for their families. We had to fill in.”
What nonsense. I grind my teeth. This is the palace. Lacking workers? More like slacking around. I whip the floor another time, and another, the second time closer to the second voice. I raise it up another time, making it clear, I do not mind hitting.
“Chores? You are my servant, and I am your duty.” I remind them.
The third figure prostrates on the floor quickly, sweating, I could tell, she is begging for her life sincerely. The other two exchanged funny glances looking at her, clearly not understanding the severity of the situation.
“I am sorry, your highness. I cannot excuse my incompetence.” She says, her voice quivering.
I look at her, eyes a bit soft, she is the only one who tried defending me earlier on, it seems, she got coerced into lazing around, or at least is wise enough, to fear death and unemployment, “Enough, you leave.”
She does so gratefully, when the other two tries to leave, I lash at the floor again with the whip. They freeze instantly, “I never said you two could leave.”
Finally realizing how severe the situation is, the first insolent servant finally kneels down, but the second one stares unyielding, really unafraid of death. She taunts, “Go ahead! Hit me! My father has been working for his highness Adelphus for a long time. He won’t let this matter go easily.”
Those words make me want to laugh. I instantly sneer, “Father? Work? You- nearly killed his sister by sheer incompetence.”
The girl still stares at me, unafraid. And for a second, I feel a deep irk, towards this servant. My hands move quicker than my mind, a light whip on her leg, she screeches and falls down to the floor.
“Argh, my leg, my leg!”
“Marcus!” I yell out the door, “Bring these insolent maids away to confinement.”
He enters, eyeing my bandage with a questioning gaze, but obediently brings them away to confinement. I plop down to the floor, deeply annoyed by my behavior. I hit a person. I actually hit a person….
“There is no above or below in life, Lillai, remember that.” My father’s words entered my ears and I begin to walk around the garden to soother my irritation.
Near the gazebo, where the golden chain tree cascades down, I hear the sound of a lyre being played. The sound, crisp and clear. How to describe it? No passion, no hatred. Just the sound of emptiness. The sound of aloneness. A profound and melancholic sound simply by existing.
I walk nearby, only to recognize the figure playing, “Elder brother Adelphus.”
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