The Fourth Daughter

Chapter 6

Lady Dimitrescu stared down inquisitively at the girl's unclothed form on the bed.

The small girl was laying bare on the bed staring up at the ornate canopy with only one gigantic fluffy towel to cover the girl who was stiffly laying on an extra two towels to keep the bed from getting soaked in the bathing process.

Elvira was being unusually... compliant... So far the girl hasn't let out a single fuss or even bat an eye when she was carefully stripped of her clothing including the mittens much to Elvira's relief, well that was until the girl noticed whatever underneath the nightdress was the extra padding wrapped around her waist being the white cotton coverings she has failed to notice until now.

Elvira's blue eyes looked up and narrowed at Lady Dimitrescu, the girls face was immediately flushing red at the sight yet the with her lips tight moved without a word to lay down in her designated spot amongst the towels.

The reason for the compliance was because of Elvira's fear of being water-boarded or possibly drowned in the soapy water for being to "aggravating", even though the lady hasn't done anything to harm the girl in the time spent together; in fact quite the opposite to Elvira's shock and dismay, however she could never be too careful and thats definitely with the likes of the lady who was towering over her, Elvira still has no idea what Lady Dimitrescu actually wants from the girl not being able to truly able to believe the lady would want her as a daughter which leaves Elvira to remain vigilant.

Alcina with a sigh began the sponge bath by taking off her gloves and rolling up her sleeves, she reached for a soft cloth that was dunked in the sudsy warm water in the basin set aside on the nightstand and another metal side cart with another similar basin filled with clean warm water within reach along with the rest of the bath supplies.

The lady leaned over to take the damp cloth and gingerly wipe down the girl's irked face being mindful of the dark bruise and the suds getting in the girls orfices as the lady meticulously washed away to then replace the soap filled washcloth with a different washcloth from the clean water basin.

Humming as she finished with the task of cleaning the girls face moved on to the next step of washing the long ebony hair by guiding the girl to sit up as the lady lifted the washbasin to lay where the girls head was laying before hand and laying a washcloth to cushion the indent.

Turning her attention back to the now evidently disqiueted girl, small hands wringing anxiously while looking away at anything else.

Alcina was at the moment able to freely observe the girl awake and in action up close, it was truly disconcerting at how small in size the girl was, even compared to an average person in height she was considered very short and that doesn't even mention how underweight the girl was with the lady being able to easily see her ribs.

And Elvira just looked so young to Alcina, she honestly couldn't believe the girl was nineteen years old, what was most concerning of all were the scars and hyperigmentation that bestrew across the girls face and body that was exposed to the sun.

Now Alcina could remember and empathize with the experience of the blood disease that used to afflict her before the cadou, she still has the similar scars to prove it on her face, chest, and hands. Even though Elvira had those similar placements it was the girls back that told a different story to Alcina, the scars were faded but some appeared moreso faded compared to others on the girls back and they were just so abundant that it obviously had to be on purpose, why would the girl ever do that to herself and whatever adult figure would ever be so irresponsible to never notice this was happening to a child under their care? Alcina would do anything for her daughters if it meant protecting them, she has learned her lesson from... Before, and doesn't plan on failing her daughters ever again.