The Stains of the Crown

Chapter Twenty Five

Trigger warnings: aftermath of trauma.

The next morning, Ammae wakes us up. Originally, she'd come to check on Delilah's wounds, but after one look at me, they'd both silently agreed that Ammae was going to look me over first. Ammae leads me into another room with a sullen look.

"Let me see," she says softly. I take a deep breath before pulling my shirt off. I can't bring myself to look at her, not even as she steps closer. "You rode here with all these wounds?" she asks after the initial shock wears off. I sigh.

"I couldn't stay there. A little bit of pain doesn't matter if it saves me from that hell." She takes a deep breath, carefully pushing me towards the bed. She pulls on gloves before spending her sweet time examining me.

"You're not healing very quickly." I shrug, drawing a slow pattern on my wrist.

"He was drugging me. They've mostly worn off, but here," I say, pointing to the dark scar on my ribs, "the bone was exposed. I fed and it healed, but I think that's why nothing else has." She hums, writing on her stupid clipboard. I didn't know why I suddenly hated that thing. Maybe it was just the irritating scratching sound of the pen on paper.

"Do you have any more wounds?" I take a deep breath before pulling my pants down. I look down at my thighs, my heart racing when I see the still-healing burns he'd left the day before the fight. Everything hurt, but the sight of the burns seems to focus all the pain there. "I'm going to put a mint salve on those burns. It should help with some of the pain." I nod. She starts searching in a drawer, the sound reminding me just a bit too much of the slam of the cell door. "Are you okay?" she asks, walking back towards me.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're looking a little pale." I take a deep breath before nodding. She hums softly. "Are you okay if I put this on?" I just nod again. I watch as she rubs a pastel-green cream into my burns. I breathe a sigh of relief as the sting slowly fades into a pleasant tingle. "What happened to your eyes?" I look up at her before taking a heaving breath.

"My mom said that my eyes were blue until my father died. She said that she knew me being there was getting to me because my eyes were changing again." She writes on her clipboard again, the sound nearly making me cringe.

"Is there anything else you need help with?" I bite my lip softly.

"How do I heal from this?" She sighs, sitting next to me.

"I'm assuming you're not talking about physical healing." I nod, pulling up my pants. She sighs again. "Well, talking about it, for one. Reaching out when it feels like too much, and just taking care of yourself in general. How's your sleep been?" I shrug, looking away from her.

"Last night was fine. The night before, or rather the day before, I had a nightmare. I was lucky to sleep at all when I was... in that cell," I mutter, my voice breaking at the end.

"Well for now, I'd like to let things settle naturally. If in a couple weeks, you're still struggling to sleep, I can prescribe you something." I nod. She gives me a sorrowful smile. "You're going to make it through this." I just give her a little hint of a smile before walking out. I head towards the dining room, despite the way my body protests the walking. When the queen sees me, she gasps. I duck my head, doing everything I can not to look up at her, not to let her see the pain I was in.

"Oh, my dear sweet Echo," she says in a painfully sad voice. Her hand grabs mine. Despite feeling her taking some of my pain, both physical and emotional, I can't stop the tears from escaping. She leans forward in her chair before running her fingers through my hair a few times. "Sweetheart, why are you carrying so much shame?" I sob, wiping at tears that just won't stop.