The Dark Prince

School

The next morning was dreadful.

I woke up in immense pain. My back was on fire from my fresh lashes.

I don't remember much of last's night's banquet after I had joined the dancing. It was a blur of dancing bodies, never seeming to end.

I don't register stopping or coming back to my chambers. I must've been fairly dazed if I can't recall anything.

I woke up groggily from sleep, the bright sunlight trickling in from the seams of the curtains.

I was laying on my side, thankfully not my back. I was changed into my night garments, how I could not tell you.

The scratchy material of my night gown rubbed against my open wounds. I gritted my teeth tightly at the sting of any movement.

The door burst open just as I was able to sit up in bed. Ingrid hurried in, carrying a glass of alcohol and fresh bandages.

"Good, you've awoken" Ingrid said as she placed her things down on my vanity.

"Sit" she instructed me, gesturing to the chair in front of the table.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, cautiously placing them down on the cold wood floor.

I counted to three in my head, and pushed myself to a standing position, grimacing at the wave of nausea and faint that took over me.

I walked carefully and slowly to the vanity, trying to keep my pain at a mild discomfort. I sat myself down in the chair, staring at my tangled hair in the mirror.

Ingrid grabbed the alcohol and a cloth. She coated the cloth generously and set the bottle down.

I lifted my night gown over my head with Ingrids help. I flinched everytime the fabric brushed my back.

Ingrid took the cloth and pressed it against my cuts. I gripped the edge of the chair through the pain, digging my nails into the wood.

She wiped my wounds clean and bandaged them up. She didn't speak a word about my lashings, she never did when I had them.

Ingrid was always the one to heal my injuries when Ally was not allowed to do it. Ingrid never questioned nor asked me about any of them. She silently did her job.

After she was done, she dispersed to my closet and came out with a flowing white dress with intricate flower designs running down the side.

A perfect dress for school, not too overwhelming but not underdressed either.

I hated school. All the people in the Kingdom my age in the same room, all ready and waiting to make fun of the outcast girl as she walks in the door.

School is my worst nightmare. The lessons being taught are more boring than last, all about the history of our Kingdom, a Kingdom of which I don't belong.

If being bored to death isn't enough, then maybe embarrassment will do the trick. Being taunted and cursed every second for simply being there. Getting picked on by Dominic and his friends, the whole class laughing as he breaks my hand while I write.

I hate school. I hate it with a passion one could say.

Ingrid gently pulled the dress over my head and down my body. She purposely picked a flowing dress so she wouldn't have to tighten anything too harshly on my back.

She did my hair in a loose braid and a dash of light makeup. Nothing too extravagant for something like school.

"Thank you" I told Ingrid when she finished.