The King's New Toy - (Part 1 of the Ignaius-Saga)

Accusations

Meanwhile in the throne room, as the king was taking audiences to hear various matters of concern, a young woman approached him under the arm of the matron servant. He would, of course, recognize the girl as one of his: young and pretty with long, full mahogany hair and brown eyes. She did not really stand out from all the rest of the girls he had, but she had pleased him well enough on her visits with him so far. At the moment, the girl was sniffling and trembling, urged forward by the much older woman who was working on trying to keep her calm.

"It's all right, Elina, dear," the matron assured her.

The girl looked up at the king, and then all around at the other people in the chamber. A heart-wrenching sob shook her, and everyone watching wanted to know what could cause such a pretty girl to weep so openly.

Tanier first noticed a commotion in the crowed, even before he could see what caused it. Then he recognized the women. He wondered, what had caused this spectacle. It must be something more than unusual to break protocol that way and people recognized it by giving way to the two women, so that they did not have to wait like the other petitioners. As the girl stood before him, sobbing and trembling, he clearly recognized drama, even if he had no clue yet. And had little choice but to show his sympathy, even if his mind was going through possible causes and actions. He stood up, walked over to the girl, took her and pulled her close enough to put his arm around her protectively. He talked to her like they were alone and not in front of a rather large audience and in a low voice, that was barely audible for large parts of the audience, he asked: "What happened, Elina?"

The girl leaned heavily into his embrace, sobbing on his shoulder. "I... I am... so sorry for interrupting, Your Majesty, but I... I'm so afraid it will... h-happen again..."

The matron rubbed the girl's back. "Just tell him dear. These other people cannot hear you." There was an underlying look of anger in the older woman's eyes, but she stayed calm.

The girl swallowed hard in an attempt to clear her voice and find some courage. "Sire, I... I-it is... a-about Lord Variel..." she managed to choke out. "He... H-he...." A particularly harsh sob shook her and she hid her face again, clinging to her king. "Sire, he... he came into my room last night... wh-while we were sleeping. He... he woke me and... a-and said that... i-if I didn't stay quiet, he would... h-hurt me..." Her crying was nearly hysterical by now. "Sire, he... oh god... he... f-forced himself o-on me and..." At this point, she stopped, completely overcome by her crying as she clung to the man holding her for protection and security.

Tanier held her closer, as she started to cry - and as he learned about the delicate matter. His arms were around the girl, but his eyes were fixed on the older woman as he said: "This should not be discussed here." He felt strangely numb inside. This should matter to him, touch him. It just did not. Not yet. Right now he had to concentrate on controlling the damage. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the audience and guided the women to the drawing room, where they would have more privacy. Not that they were alone, but the selected servants didn't really count and Tanier was too much used to share even many of his most private moments with his servants and aides to really care. First he offered a seat to the girl, then got her a drink and finally went back to comforting her by holding her and allowing her to cry, if she wanted. He actually encouraged her to pour out her heart: "This must have been horrible for you. Has he ever done anything inappropriate before?"

Elina sobbed for a long while, clinging to Tanier for comfort as she let out her sorrow. At long last, she drew back enough to wipe away the tears from her red, puffy eyes. "I'm... sorry, sire... I know you are fond of Variel, but... he has been making passes at many of us... staring... putting his hands on us when we do not wish him to... I... I think... s-some of the other girls have... have had the s- same thing h-happen to them. They're just... t-too scared to say anything. I just... I c-couldn't keep silent becuase... because I'm afraid h-he will... h-hurt me again." Her crying was starting all over again and she buried her face in Tanier's chest, seeking his protection. "P-please, sire... I... I don't want to cause any trouble. I'm just... s-so afraid..."

Tanier placed a kiss on her hair for reassurance. "He will not hurt you again, I will make sure of it." Actually there wasn't much else he was sure of yet. Somehow this didn't add up, didn't match anything that he thought he knew about Variel. Someone was trying to play games with him, either the boy, the girl - or whoever made them put up an act for him. Right now he had to get the girl out of the way to investigate. There was no point in advertising his doubts in front of her. "Have you been hurt? Physically? Are you in any pain and have you seen a doctor on this?", he asked. Aside of having a possible reason to send her away, he very much wanted a thorough physical exam done on her, as he needed anything to substantiate her claim or his doubt.

The matron, Dora, stayed close at hand, sitting on the other side of the girl and rubbing circles on her back. "I had a physician look at her, sire," she explained. "He found several bruises that evidenced a struggle and marks on her wrists where they were tied. I have noticed some of the other girls behaving quite strangely, but none of them have come forward with any claims." The woman looked quite upset, as she had never had to deal with such things before. She had not liked the idea of a boy rooming amongst the girls in the first place, but she was not one to argue with orders given her.

Elina sniffled and looked up slightly, still fearful. "I... I have heard some of the girls... weeping in the middle of the night... Sire, he... h-he said that... y-you wouldn't believve me if I told you... b- because... h-he says... h-he's... y-your favorite... a-and w-we'd be... p-punished for... speaking ill of him." And there was the true explanation for her apprehension, and she looked up at him with big, pleading brown eyes that begged for it not to be true.

Tanier looked at Dora, while she reported to him what she knew. He was glad to hear that she had made the right decisions, indicating he had selected the right person for the task of looking after the girls. It had the downside that his little plan to get Elina out of this room for a while just failed.

He was thinking about an alternative approach as he listened to her. He could easily name half a dozen of reasons, why some of the girls would be weeping or behave strange, fully aware of the emotional stress most of them went through. He tried - and usually managed - to stay clear of most of the drama that was almost inevitable with a group of teenagers cooped with very little to do and much to worry about. They all tried to outdo each other at being a perfect lady most of the time, while deep down some of them were scared children and all of them were aware that they were competing with each other and that their future was decided for them during this year. Not to mention the scare and excitement of first sexual experiences, as it was considered good form to present the king with virgin girls. The king himself was actually glad that not all families were able to match those high standards, but the fact did little to make the mix less volatile. And this year they all had to deal with another highly volatile and nonstandard ingredient: the boy.

While he considered all options, he gently brushed the girls hair to offer comfort, still trying to figure her out. When she looked at him with puppy eyes, he instinctively wanted to pull back, feeling emotionally assaulted, but he held his ground and her gaze. "Don't worry, you did well by telling me." The moment he said so, he knew what to do next. "Bring Variel here," he gave orders to his aide, not taking his eyes off Elina, as he spoke. He not only wanted her to feel like she had his full attention, but he also didn't want to miss her reaction.