Chapter 6 How dangerous can a cup of tea be?

CHAPTER SIX

FREYA

I didn’t know how long I lay there, on the small bed, with my hands bound behind my back. I knew it was long enough for it to go numb. Yet, the anger in me burned even hotter. I’d never killed anyone before, but I was going to kill him. 

A knock sounded on the door, and I turned my head towards it, only to groan in pain. 

From the awkward position I lay in, I could see three women walk in, accompanied by an armed guard. 

“We’re going to help you up now, princess and untie your hands. For your safety, do not try to be violent.” I heard and nodded, cheeks burning. 

That fucker told them I was violent? I was a princess. A good girl. 

Moments later, I felt their hands on me as they helped me up, then heard the snap of the binds. I moved my fingers, waiting for the pins-and-needles sensation to fade, and only then did I lift my head to look at them. Two young women, about the same age as I, an older woman, and a guard. They looked … different. Their skin was lighter than anything I’d ever seen, and their eyes were the colour of the sky before a rainfall. 

“H … hi, I’m … I’m Freya.” I muttered as heat returned to my cheeks. 

They glanced at each other and ignored me. 

The two younger ones went into what I assumed was the bath chamber, while I was left with the older woman and the guard.

She had an unpleasant expression on her face, as if I was dirt beneath her feet. 

“You stink. For some reason, we have been instructed by the King to keep you alive and fed, so do as you’re told. Once the girls are done setting up the bath, you will be washed clean and changed into a different outfit. I shall return with your meal. Do not try anything funny, princess. My patience has run thin already.” She warned me sternly.

The way they said ‘princess’ might as well have been a slur. I kept every sarcastic response to myself, and nodded slowly.

One of the young girls came out of the bath chamber and ordered. “Up.” 

I got up and walked to her. She led me into the bath chamber, and my entire body tensed when I saw how small it was. I didn’t get a moment of respite before she began to rip my dress wickedly. A painful groan slipped from my mouth as the wooden corset dug deeper into my ribs. 

“You can try to be gentle, Ethel. She isn’t the cause of the plague.” The other said, as my dress finally pooled at my feet.

Ethel scoffed at her friend. “She might as well be,” then sent me a murderous expression. “Out of your undergarment, or shall I help you with that too?” 

My skin crawled as if a thousand insects were on it. I bit my lip hard until iron spilt on my tongue. I swallowed it down and pulled my undergarment off. Soon, I was naked in front of them. No one had ever seen me naked before, except Emily, and now, she was probably dead. 

My eyes burned, but I refused to cry. 

Ethel and the other stared at my skin for a moment before getting started. The water was ice cold. I didn’t complain. I was compliant while looking for an opening. I was going to get out of here, one way or the other. Then, it clicked. Ethel’s friend mentioned a plague. What? 

Perhaps she was trying to scare me?

They dried me with the linen, and helped me into a short, faded dress. It was snug around my hips, which meant my undergarment would show every time I bent. 

Afterwards, they led me back to the room, sat me in the wooden chair and began on my hair. They were taking away every part of me that reminded them of how royal I was – my dress was gone, and now my long hair was being braided to be tied in a ponytail. 

“You mentioned a plague?” I asked once I found my voice. The cut on my lip stung, but it wasn’t more than I could bear.

Ethel and her friend glanced at each other. 

“You shouldn’t speak unless you’re spoken to,” Ethel warned me sharply, tongue wagging like a viper’s.

“She’s a princess. She wasn’t raised like us.” Her friend shrugged and glanced at me. “Yes. Didn’t you know? So, you better stay put. We have built an immunity towards the plague because we’re locals, but you’re a foreigner. What’s to say you won’t catch it faster?” 

“An immunity towards a plague?” My brows knitted as I wondered if that was possible. Plagues had no immunity, unless it was recurrent. 

“Yes, not all of us have been affected, only some of us.” She explained, tying my hair firmly.

“You cannot build an immunity towards a plague unless it is recurrent. You can build immunity towards a disease, though, but not a plague.” I murmured, remembering all the books I’d read on plagues. I shifted in my seat and glanced at her. “Can you tell me a bit more? What does it affect? How long has it been causing problems?”

“We believe it is natural; perhaps the Gods are at war with us, and we’re being slain. The children are dying first; it creeps in like fever, and bruising under the skin, especially the veins, it turns as dark as a cursed river. I saw a child once when I visited the healers, only four years of age, blackened blood and delirious –” 

“Shut up, Prudence.” Ethel cut her off sharply. 

Goosebumps broke over my skin, and I exhaled slowly. Dark veins, blackened blood, delirium? None of that sounded right. 

“Are you sure you do not have it mixed up? These do not sound like a plague, but a –” 

“Would you keep quiet, you tramp!” Ethel snarled at me suddenly, and my pulse thundered in my ears. “Do you think you know more than we do? Do you have any idea how many people we have lost? My sisters are gone to this plague. My mother is sick. I should be with her, yet I am on babysitting duty while my only brother fights the war your family caused, so quiet now.” 

“And you, Prudence, out of here this instant or I shall report you to the Madame for tattling to the foreigner!” She barked, eyes filled with rage. 

I wanted to apologise, but I didn’t. I couldn’t, not when she was right. I knew nothing. She stepped away from me, and I tried to stop my wandering mind, but I couldn’t. 

Ethel returned shortly after with a hard morsel of bread and a cup of tea. I stared at the tea, nose scrunched. Shit. Was this my life now? I almost rejected it, but I needed my strength to escape, so I nodded at her thankfully. 

I dropped the bread on the bed and tried to hold the cup with both hands, so I could get warm.

Only for the cup to slip from my trembling hands, sending the tea pouring onto the bed. 

I gasped and got up, ready to apologise, but froze when I saw the bed. The tea was foaming as the liquid ate into the thin mattress like a poison. 

Someone just tried to kill me with the tea.