The Blossoming Willow

Chapter 5: The Past and Present

"Will you tell me what they did to you?" the doctor asked Mary gently.

"It's, umm, probably easier if I show you," she said. "It's my back."

She shifted gingerly on the bench so that her back was to him, then removed the shawl, revealing the open back of her dress. She glanced towards Princess Helena again – if there was another woman in the room, no one could argue anything improper was going on – then she dropped the top half of her dress.

The back of the dress had lain open under the shawl in the hope that it would irritate her lash marks less. Since coming downstairs, the cloth rubbing against her back had still made her want to cry from the pain. With the dress about her waist, her riddled back was fully exposed.

She could hear the doctor inhale at the sight. She wondered how experienced he was in this type of wound; she couldn't imagine anyone else in the royal family having endured something like this.

"Oh, Princess," he breathed.

She looked over her shoulder in time to see the pity and sympathy in his eyes before he reached down to retrieve his bag. She turned to face forward again as he gathered his things and his tone turned professional.

"Some of your wounds look like they had scabbed over but were reopened recently," he noted. "Others look newer: they're more inflamed than the others and some are even still bleeding a little. When did this occur?" His voice became sympathetic, "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but it'll help me treat you if you answer my questions."

"Last night," she replied quietly, her tone hard to read. "At least, the newer ones. The older ones were about a week ago. Ten lashes each time. Mhm!" she shifted uncomfortably at the sudden touch of a damp cloth.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "Unfortunately, it's going to smart: your back is very inflamed, so everything's going to be sensitive. And there's some fresh blood. After I clean it off, I'll put some salve on your back before I dress the wounds. That should help soothe the skin. You'll have to sleep on your stomach for a few nights while it heals.

We definitely won't be able to travel. There's no way you can ride like this; you'll reopen the wounds and start bleeding again."

"Last night was not my first time dealing with such a thing, you know," she said suddenly defensive.

Father had told her that a princess should be brave. If she was going to be one now, she had to act like it. She didn't want the doctor thinking her weak because of a few cuts on her back.

But it was more than that. She had come back for one night and had had her back torn into again. She didn't want to press her luck by staying around here any longer than she had to. She belonged to King Peter now, but she didn't know what that meant. Someone in the halls might still mistake her for a slave and strike her without question for some perceived offense or act of laziness.

"I can manage as I am," she told him. "Please, I don't want to stay here anymore."

The doctor set the cloth down and walked around to face her.

"What you'll manage to do, if I let you go riding," he said firmly, "is to faint of blood loss and the king will have my hide for approving you to travel. We're staying put until I say otherwise!" He softened his voice, "I can see that it's not the first time you've endured the lash. Your back confirms that.

But as far as I can tell, it is the first time you've been properly treated afterwards. Your wounds weren't dressed last night, as they should have been. They'll scab over, but if you overtax your back with too much movement, you'll continue to reopen them, and they won't heal. You'll also run the risk of infection.