A SU ANTOJO (at her whim)

Chapter 8

When Lady Sálenos remained unconscious, Prince Sancho was faced with a horrid truth: to keep her safe, he must ask of her even when she had just been through something so vile that Sancho struggled to keep himself from marching back to have Lord Álvaro beheaded, but amidst his pondering, Lady Sálenos muttered his name. "Prince Sancho."
"Yes," he swiftly replied, his hand finding hers. "I know I should be grateful you rescued me, but frankly, I'm not. He would have ended my suffering."
"What?" Sancho asked, hoping he misunderstood Sálenos. "I would have been freed from all of this endless torment, but you took that from me." She retorted, smacking away Sancho's hand, as he thought her reaction uncalled for. "Why do you treat me with such an attitude?"
"You cannot understand," she replied.
"Is that all you're going to say to me that I cannot or could never understand, as if I'm not human?" Sancho remarked, but Lady Sálenos remained silent. It was infuriating to watch someone you care for deeply be so desolate. Sancho thought it best to leave her be; they were to be married in the next few hours.

As much as Sancho wanted to solve this on his own, he thought it best to find someone who could grasp whatever he was missing. "Catalina!" He called out, treading through a group of women washing clothes. Their expressions when he passed were more of a sigh of relief then concern when he stood before Catalina, saying a few words they could not make out, but a moment later Sancho and Catalina made their way back to the door, heading to the castle's clinical area. "Can you help her?" Sancho pleaded. "I will try," Catalina replied, a slight relief washed over her. For a woman of her circumstances having to be called on felt life ending and in many cases it was.

Catalina was not much of a pep talker, but when someone of high royalty places you with a task, it is treasonous to ignore it. Catalina's footsteps seemed to echo in the empty room as she approached closer. Lady Sálenos had yet to acknowledge Catalina. "Lady Sálenos," Catalina announced, but was met with silence. "I do not know what has caused you to feel this way, but I can assure you it will pass."
"I appreciate you coming here, but I simply cannot be bothered." Lady Sálenos retorted, sitting up with a look of hopelessness.
"How awful can it be?" Catalina thought. "To have servants like her be at your beck and call, washing your clothes, making you dinner, and picking up your mess. "You cannot be serious," Catalina blurted. "Look at you." One could not deny that Catalina's clothes were ripped with pieces of fabric that looked to have been sown back up.
"How dare you?" Lady Sálenos chastised. "I may have expensive garments, but I believe it came at an unbearable truth."

Catalina's unbecoming retaliation felt uncalled, for Lady Sálenos was a stranger to her, and for Catalina to so quickly make an assumption left her in silence. "I am deeply sorry. I only say that because of what I lack. Please know I had no malicious intentions." For a moment, Lady Sálenos thought to have her leave, but to see another woman like her give into rage withheld Sálenos own frustrations. "There is no need for apologies; women like us will forever be confined to withholding our emotions," Lady Sálenos assured, but that left Catalina wondering how a person like Sálenos would be allowed to become queen. "If it's alright, can I ask how this happened?" Catalina was hesitant, unsure of how she would react, but Lady Sálenos took a deep breath, and in spite of wanting to say everything, she knew some things must be kept private. In the midst of Lady Sálenos speaking, Catalina was taken aback but found similarities.

They had both been kidnapped from their homes, beaten, stripped of their culture, and forced to assimilate; however, Catalina revealed she was defiled by her owner, who would have most likely taken her life but was set aside after she had lost the baby. "I still have marks from when they whipped me," Catalina said, lifting up her garments and revealing welts on her back. "I have some on my arms and back as well," Lady Sálenos replied in agreement, in which she described the ones on her arms being given to her by nuns.

"Before you came, I thought of ending my life," Sálenos confessed, pointing to a balcony a few steps away. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, but if you can stop this cycle of torment, not only for your people but mine as well, then we can both leave this world knowing we at least did something." Lady Sálenos wished to not be given the task of savior, but the look of hope in Catalina's eyes gave her a reason to continue.