Emma squeezed the water out of the towel and gently patted it on her highness's face.
Tatiana's face was pale, and she was running on high fever. A bandage was placed on her wound, on the right side of her forehead. It was cleaned and sanitized before to prevent it from scarring, because a princess, let alone a future queen should not have a single scar on her body.
The room was silent and only the dripping of water and Tatiana's soft snores were heard. It is still morning and yet a lot of things have already happened, mostly, unfortunate things.
"She shouldn't be here in the first place," Bjorn said. His voice was low and traces of anger are still evident in his voice. He was standing near the window, watching the capital from where they are now, observing them as they are going on with their day.
Bjorn believes that what happened to Tatiana today is a sign that she should not move forward with the plan. Not only did she get hurt, but the nobles will surely rise and complain to the king. They will not want a woman like her to rise to the throne even if it is just in name.
A woman like Tatiana is a threat to them. She is a threat to their power and status. And nobles will come together and do anything to get her dethroned.
Emma sighed and placed the back of her hand on Tatiana's forehead to check her temperature. The fever is still high so she needs more rest.
"If I may say so, kind sir," said Emma, "I sometimes think that the princess is a totally different person like somebody else possessed her body. But I know that it is crazy of me to think that way. What else could explain everything that she's doing, her actions, the way she speaks and thinks."
"That, or people never truly knew who she is behind the evil façade that she used to put up. Humans, just like animals, tend to bare their fangs to those who are a threat to them or when they feel like they are in danger. And knowing what the princess has gone through and how unstable her status is, she only did what she can as a young girl to protect herself." She added.
Emma lifted the basin in her arms and walked towards the door. She paused for a while and glanced over at Bjorn. The captain of the knights did not seem to budge or even listen to her, he was just out staring at the window without a sound. People never know what others are truly thinking, but deep inside her, she knows that even the captain has fallen for the princess's charms.
The room lingered with the smell of the scented candle. A calming scent that makes the body relax and rest. However, it was a scent that Tatiana was familiar with, and it brought back memories that came in the form of a dream.
In a large dark house made only out of oakwood. The lights flickered in the hallway, and most of the bulbs are not even working anymore. Basins and buckets were placed in different parts of the wet hallway, and the sound of water dripping was heard through the water-damaged ceiling.
The house was in its worst shape. No one ever tried to maintain it, the caretaker said that they don't have enough money to fix the house because there were no more funds, no more donations, but somehow, she would always see people going to the caretaker's office and hand a stash of green-colored cash.
But it was forbidden to ask questions. Children who lived there should never question what the caretaker is doing or else they are punished. The rules in the house were simple but the little girl would never understand why the rules were like that.
The first rule was to never ask questions, no matter how trivial they may be. The second rule was that no one will go outside their room after five in the afternoon.
If a child goes against these rules, they are beaten as punishment. But it was better than the other punishments. Sometimes, if the caretaker was mad, the punishment was that there would be no food and water for three days, and on some occasions, if the caretaker was in a really, really bad mood, it does not stop at that. A kid would be punished, trapped inside a cabinet in the dark basement where it was cold and wet.
"Airin," a gentle voice called.
'I never heard that name in a long time.' The little girl thought. The name made her feel a lot of things that she thought she had already forgotten.
"Airin, I told you that you shouldn't come out of the room!" the young boy who's only a year older than her held her wrist. "It's dangerous!"
"But the kid is hungry! I can't let her starve for days, she will get sick!"
"The caretaker will see us if we go out! You know what happens after that!" the boy insisted.
Among the other kids here, they were the oldest, there are at least three older than them but they never bothered with the younger ones. Instead, these two, only nine and ten were taking care of the kids younger than them.
"Should we just let her starve to death, then?" Airin asked. She never liked the caretaker. When she first arrived here, the situation was even worse. Nobody could eat unless no one from the kids would prepare the food.
The boy sighed and messed up his hair and said, "you would never give up, would you?"
"Simon," the girl called. She was smaller than others her age. She never got to eat and grow properly even before she was brought to the orphanage. She grew up doing everything so she could feed herself. She begged for scraps and searched garbage bins but that was until an officer found her and took her to this orphanage.
Her hair was black but thin and dull, her cheeks were hollow and her body was only skin and bones.
"Fine, but I will come with you," Simon said and grabbed the girl's arm.
When Airin arrived at the orphanage, Simon was the first one she met. Unlike the other kids, Simon befriended her and took care of her like a little sister. He was a boy inches taller than her, but he was also skinny just like her. He had scruffy brown hair and clear and determined eyes like he was not going to back down to any challenges.
The girl had a hard time getting along with the other kids but Simon would always bring them together, saying that they should support and stick with each other because it was the only way to survive. He was a brave boy that didn't like other people stepping on or belittling others. She learned from him and grew up to be like him.
They scurried and tiptoed through the hallway, the loud sound of people laughing and talking under them. By five in the afternoon, people would slowly gather in the orphanage, and the sound of coins and laughing and yelling would grow louder as the night goes deeper and that would last until sunrise.
By morning, Airin and the others are tasked to clean up after the mess and she knew what was happening every night because her father would do this all the time. People drink the smell of cigarette smoke, and the sound of coins falling on the table.
The house was an orphanage during the day and a gambling place during the night.
They reached the kitchen area. Simon stayed at the doorframe to look out if somebody was coming while Airin immediately looked for food. The kitchen was an empty space, the fridge did not even have spare leftovers.
"There is no food left!" Airin complained while opening the cabinets and used stools to climb the counter.
"I think there is something inside the last cabinet, I saw the caretaker put something in there this morning!" Simon half-whispered, half-yelled and looked outside cautiously.
People did not seem to notice them and he can't see the caretaker anywhere.
"Hurry Airin, I don't see her!" he said.
Luckily, she found bread in one of the cabinets. She immediately took three pieces of loaves, wrapped them in cloth, and turned around just to see something terrible.
"So you're the ones who are stealing all the food!"
"Simon!"
"Simon!"
Bjorn looked down at Tatiana. There were bullets of sweat on her creased forehead and tears running down the side of her temples.
"Simon, Simon," she kept mumbling the same word over and over in a form of a whimper. Her hand tightly grabbed Bjorn's arm like she was scared to let go of it.
"Who is Simon?" Bjorn asked in a low whisper.
A boy's name, uttered by the princess who never even met anyone outside the palace. Bjorn's breathing turned rigid.
How dare you utter another man's name in front of me?
--
END