The Silver Crown

14.

After siting in the water for less than minute it was opaque with red blood. Maurice kneeled down by me and began to scrub the blood off of my thigh. I growled at the woman and snatched the cloth out of her hand. I didn't want anyone else to touch my wounds.

Maurice took the cloth back and said, "I'll be gentle. Just relax."

"Lean back," Niva said, gently guiding my head until it was resting on the side of the tub. "Now, close your eyes and let us take care of you." I complied only because it was Niva, but I didn't dare close my eyes.

It actually felt good to relax in the warm water and have someone else scrub me clean, even if it was a very foreign feeling. Maurice scrubbed hard to get the layers of dirt off of me but she was gentle around the wounds.

My mind began to wander. I had always thought that my ma had died when I was young. I always thought it was when I was five but I don't know for sure. And I guess that I don't really know if she was my mother. It's not like I remember much. Just a face and occasionally some slaps. I suppose that if Maisa said so, I could be the princess. I didn't have any family to prove otherwise. I didn't really want to be the princess, but it might be nice to have a family for once.

I felt myself getting sleepy until Maurice touched my injured shoulder. I sat up fast as lightning. The guards jumped, thinking that I was attacking but in reality I was consumed with pain.

"Goddess shield, Maurice!" I demanded. It was a saying I had adopted despite my atheist ideals.

"That is really dreadful. Your shoulder looks horrible, milady. What happened?"

"I was stabbed in the shoulder and then forced to fight for my life and then abandoned in the dungeons where who knows what got in it, not to mention all the stupid guards roughin' me up and not being at all careful with my shoulder," I spat out. "And if someone besides a healer touches my shoulder again I will maim them." I said, deadly serious.

"Well, we will leave that to the healer. Let me do your head," Maurice said wisely.

After Maurice washed the blood and dirt off of my head she began to wash the tangled mass of black hair. On the street there was not a lot of opportunity to wash ones self so it had been a good month since my last bath, which had really just been accidentally being caught out in the rain. I tried to brush my hair sometimes but it got really tangled up, especially when I was fighting. I always just kept it in a braid out of my way.

My long hair was a matted tangle of blood, dirt, mud and anything else that was in the dungeon so it took Maurice a long time to get it untangled. But when she did, I discovered that it was longer than I had thought.

Niva helped me out of the tub again. I was beginning to feel exhausted. I had to stay alert in the presence of my maids and the guards watching me and it was really sapping what little energy I had left.

As Eliza brought over a robe for me to wear, I saw Daria gathering my old clothes. She walked over to the door and was about to leave with the rags when I stopped her. "Where the hell do you think you are goin' with my clothes?" I demanded, in no mood to be nice.

Daria looked at Maurice and then back at me. "Milady, I am taking them to be thrown out."

"No," I said simply.

"Milady, I won't allow you to walk around in those rags," Maurice said.

"Fine," I consented; I had to pick my battles. "Just...get me a healer, please," I said, disgusted at the exhaustion apparent in my voice.

Eliza helped me don a fluffy robe and sat me in a chair in front of a mirror. Maurice got a brush and began to brush out my long black hair. Daria began to clean the years worth of dirt out from underneath my fingernails.

I snatched my hand away and turned around to look at Maurice angrily. "Beauty later, I need a healer now! Can ye not smell my shoulder rottin' away?"

At that moment there was a knock on the tall wooden door. Niva hurried over to open it, revealing Maisa in her long blue dress. "I guessed that the princess would need a healer. And, as I could hear from down the hall, I guessed rightly."

"Priestess, you honor the princess," Maurice said politely.

"Thank the goddess someone's here to actually help," I said, not as politely.

Maisa approached me, sitting in the chair. "You should really be in bed for this healing, Alyssandra," Maisa instructed. She said the princess's name as though she still couldn't believe it was me. That didn't instill much confidence.

Niva took my hand again and led me to the large bed in the middle of the chamber. She pulled back the pink blankets and I sat down, leaning up against the fluffy white pillows. It was an odd feeling, much like how I would imagine laying on a cloud to feel like.

Maisa walked over and reached into a pouch at her side. She pulled out a cloth bundle. The priestess opened it to reveal rows of dried herbs. Maurice leaned over and whispered something to the High Priestess.

Maisa nodded and quickly mixed together something for me to drink. I took a huge gulp of it and watched as Maisa ripped up some yellow arnica petals and placed it on the wound near my shoulder. I craned my neck to see more but she told me to relax. Despite not knowing the dark haired woman very well, I did trust her to do her job as a healer. My shoulder stung but I can handle pain. I chugged more of the drink and laid my head back on the pillows, my wet hair weighing an absurd amount.

When I'd drunk the last of the tea, I called, "Eliza!" When Eliza looked up, I tossed her the delicate teacup. It was a perfect toss but Eliza stepped back, afraid and confused. Niva hurried forward and caught the cup at the last second.

"Good catch, Niva," I slurred. I rested my head back on the pillow and then looked around for Maurice. My eyes narrowed with suspicion as an idea dawned on me. "You...you drugged...it!" I accused Maurice and Maisa.

"You wouldn't have slept otherwise," Maurice said coolly. "And you need to sleep for this kind of healing." I remembered the pain of the last magic Maisa had done and reluctantly agreed.

I would have replied but I couldn't keep my weary eyes open anymore. Somewhere in the back of my mind I registered Maisa gently placing her hands around the wound on my shoulder and a quiet mumbling. I remember wondering if the air would be blue again. Something in my shoulder seemed to give a little tug and then I was out like a flame under water.