Long Suffer the King

XI

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter, it's getting a little hard to write and keep up.

Ophelia isn't allowed to do much the next morning. Klaus avoids her and goes off on the weekly hunting party for food. She's stuck helping the rest of the ladies wash clothes.

Joan shows her how they put the dirty dresses and tunics in the lake and let them soak, then hard cloth to scrub out the dirt and grime. She's put on the line and her back starts hurting after an hour of scrubbing the clothes.

"Want some help?" a timid voice says beside her. Ophelia looks up, brushing the fallen strands of black hair out of her eyes. "Uh, yes, could you?"

A smaller girl who probably is only seventeen nods her head. She has short bobbed brown hair that's unevenly cut and a thin frame, her bones stick out sickeningly. "It's a lot, believe me I hated it at first but," she takes an extra cloth and grabs from the large pile Ophelia is meant to clean, "it lets you think and gives you alone time."

Ophelia smiles, watching the girl bend down to the lake and scrub at the dirt. "I'm Ophelia."

"Clarice, it's nice to meet you, m'lady. You're the future queen of Anivard, yes?" Clarice looks over. Ophelia notices the red rub marks and bruises that start at the back of her neck. She pries her eyes away. "Uhm, yes, I am but here I'm just Ophelia."

"Which is why you're cleaning clothes, yes?" Clarice laughs. Ophelia nods and gets back to working.

They're quiet for the rest of the time cleaning until someone calls everyone in for lunch. Clarice helps Ophelia up. "Back hurting?"

"Yes, bending down for most of the morning can really hurt." Ophelia and her walk back up to the pavilion. They grab bowls and pieces of bread. Clarice smiles when she hears Ophelia sigh when they're handed bread and have their bowls filled with a red soup. "Not enjoying the meal change are you?"

"Not at all. Soup for every meal, wine to wash it down and bread for a little more substance. At least there's different kinds of soups or else I wouldn't survive these meals." she walks to her usual table and Clarice follows. "How long have you been here?"

Clarice takes a bite of her bread before answering. Ophelia notices the way she eats, with her shoulders hunched forward and almost protecting her food. "I've been here for about a month now ma'am. I used to work in a lord's court not far from the kingdom. He was a good man." she hastily adds the last part. Ophelia raises an eyebrow and looks ahead, scanning the women around her. "Are you saying that because you think you have to or are you being genuine?"

"I hated him. I wanted him dead." Clarice spits out after a couple minutes of silence. Ophelia just nods her head. "That's what I thought. And those bruises, those red marks on the back of your neck.. is that from him?" she turns to stare at Clarice, who has stopped eating. "Yes."

"What did he do to you?" Ophelia asks. Clarice sighs and she notices her hands starting to shake. "He would chain me up in the cells below ground and torture me. Physically, sexually, verbally. He was quick to anger. I never questioned him aloud but I always swore to the gods I would kill him if I got the chance. I ran away and that is how I ended up here. The lady of the keep let a few of us go in the night, the ones he tortured the least. My wounds haven't really healed but they will in the next year or so I suppose."

"How old are you, Clarice?" Ophelia leans over and puts a hand over Clarice's shaking ones. The girl looks up and she suddenly looks years younger. "I am fifteen, m'lady."

Ophelia tries not to look scared, suddenly realizing she wasn't the only one who had to deal with these things. If Clarice was one out of many women there, I can only imagine the amount of women across the country that have to deal with this.

"Do you still want to kill him?" she asks, pulling her hands away and sipping some of her soup. "I do, but I do not know how to. He's a large man." Clarice answers. Ophelia nods slowly and looks down at the red soup. She suddenly pictures the idea of those people back at Ragnabrok who risked and offered their lives for her.

"That's no matter. We can take him down together and you can kill him. A man is only as powerful as his kingdom. You tear down his kingdom and what does he have left?"

"Nothing really." Clarice mumbles. Joan walks over and sits with them. "And what do women have?" she asks Ophelia, curious.

"They have strength, power and memories filled with hate. What they've had to endure is greater than any man or his kingdom has. And that is something you can never take away from them." Ophelia tells her. Joan smiles and Clarice nods vehemently.

"We'll train you Clarice, just as we'll train Ophelia. You'll both be ready to stand up for yourselves, not that you can't already." Joan tells them, a bell ringing. She gets up and looks at Ophelia. "Come now, it's time to get back to work."