❝all is not fair in love and war❞
To ensure the survival of the Mughal Empire, Princess Afsana must form a political marriage in Europe. Amongst her potential suitors stands Louis, Count of Champagne, a man driven by dangerous ambitions that destroy...
The bandages around his stomach had already been soaked by the blood that was oozing out of his wound.
Afsana tried her best not to gag at the sight of her injured friend, or cry. He was one of her closest companions, and she needed as many as she could get this far from home.
But most of all, Zia was a noble man. Perhaps not by title but certainly by heart, and he didn't deserve to die.
"He's still breathing, but I cannot guarantee he'll survive." The doctor said grimly. "We must quarterise him, your majesty."
Nadim let out a hiss, almost as if he could already feel the hot iron being pressed against his skin. As the son of a soldier and a royal guard, he'd seen many comrades experience a vicious quarterisations.
"Is there no other way?" Afsana said, looking down at Zia's unconscious body in the dim lights of the chamber.
"It's the only way we can seal his wound." Doctor Rouge said.
It was almost as if the hundreds of bloody and bruised bodies layed across the various beds had caused him to close all his human emotions, making him speak like some sort of angel of death.
When one of the other soldiers started to scream, refusing to let the nurse dap his wounds with wine, Doctor Rouge paced quickly to his side. He gathered a few more women to hold the soldier down with him as he continued to squirm in agony, giving the nurse the chance to continue her work. It was a heartbreaking scenery to watch, and yet Afsana could not seem to look away from the soldier's twisted features.
If a dap of wine could do that, then she wondered what quarterisation would feel like.
She wondered if the pain would wake Zia from his slumber.
Doctor Rouge returned, leaving the soldier to the care of his nurses, having ordered for the equipment for a quarterisation to be prepared.
"Your majesty, I believe you should retire to your chambers." The man said. "This is no place for a woman."
"I'm perfectly f-" Afsana was about to reassure him, but then felt someone's touch against her arm.
Nadim dropped his cold fingers when she turned, his face open to a new sort of vulnerability the boy had never shown before.
"Rajkumari, you should go." Nadim said.
She opened her lips to protest, but he lifted his hand up to stop her. "Trust me, you don't want to see this."
"Please, rajkumari, he's right." Lubna said, holding out her palm.
As much as she hated being treated like a vulnerable doll, as if she wasn't strong enough to take it, she knew her friends were exhausted, nobody had the energy to argue.
Looking over her shoulder to Zia, she prayed that he'd be alive and well in the morning.
"I'll look after him, rajkumari." Nadim said.
For the first time since they'd met, the princess trusted her mischievous guard, and gave him a look that showed him so. She then slipped her hands into Lubna's shaking ones, before leaving the room full of cadavers.
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The morning brought with it a cloudy sky and a fresh perspective to the nightmares of the night before.
Afsana retreated from the locked doors of the medical chambers, the premises having been closed to shut out the agonising screams of Doctor Rouge's patients.
She had knocked several times, but no one responded. Despite her worry for Zia, she decided to come back later.
The castle's security had been upped, with now at least a handful of guards in every corridor and another load due to arrive from the King and Queen of France. Rumours had it that they wanted to take Francis back home, putting Afsana in a rather difficult situation.
With a head full of twirling ideas of how she could delay him, she didn't notice the person walking towards her until she bumped right into his chest.
"I'm sorry!" The both exclaimed.
The princess could feel her neck warm as her eyes met with the ones of the count.
Emotions had been running high last night, and she had said far too much. She's let herself be vulnerable in front of someone that was very unlikely to sympathize with her and more likely to use her words against her.
"Have you had a good rest, your majesty?" Louis asked.
"As good as it could get under these circumstances," She said. "And you, Count Blois?"
"Can't say I got much sleep given that I had Antoine barge in my chambers at dawn to talk about strategies, in case another attack took place." Louis said.
The pleasantries were over, leaving them to stand and listen to the wind whistling around them.
Louis rocked back and forth on his heels, glancing back and forth between the princess and his feet. She wondered if he was nervous, but the mere idea was ridiculous. This man practically oozed the sort of confidence that caused the befall of emperors back home.
"Princess Afsana, about last night" Louis began, then waited for her to glance up again. "I'm sorry, it was wrong of speak to you so harshly before."
He waited for her to respond, not realising that an apology from him had shocked her into silence, leaving her unable to speak. Afsana wondered if he was simply playing a rude joke, but his blue eyes held sincerety in them.
"Y-you don't have to apologise, Count Blois." She said finally.
"But I do. I was inconsiderate towards you and once again, I am sorry." He insisted.
The Count truly wanted to be forgiven and he was ready to apologise until his voice faded to nothing for her forgiveness.
"It's not completely your fault, I should've considered the fact that you weren't given a choice in this courting either." She said.
"Well, the men are always meant to be quite glad to be getting a wife." Louis shrugged, his easy going smile finally returning. "Particularly a pretty one."
"Don't get to ahead of yourself, Count Blois." She said, despite the smile that cracked through on her face at the subtle compliment.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Louis said.
It was the most normal conversation they had since her arrival to France, and she was glad to clear the air despite having not intentions of bethroding him.
"Where were you headed anyway?" She asked.
"To the barns, I wanted to make sure Belle was all right." Louis said.
Afsana felt a bit disgusted at the mention of that woman, but also confused as to why she was in a horse barn.
"That's my horse, the one I rode the other day." Louis quickly explained when he noticed her expression.
The princess took a moment to process his words, and burst into a fit of giggles. "You named your horse after your mistress?"
"God no, that's just a coincidence. But thanks for pointing that out, now I don't think I could look at Belle right anymore." He huffed.
"The horse or the whore?" She wheezed.
His deadpan look did nothing to stop her laughter, and the humor eventually caught onto him as well so he let out a few chuckles of his own.
Soon her almond eyes had tears of joy in them soon, and his green ones a refreshing coating of relief.
♡
Don't think I like the Princess' humor and double standards too be honest. Isn't it weird to hate your own main character?
