The Rebel (#Wattys2016)

32. Father

Lady Adeen was getting the bit of sleep she could. Delirious between nightmares and awakenings, Adeen had lied on her bed, sometimes staring at her ceilings, sometimes at her bandaged hands. She was sinking into another sleep when someone knocked on her door quietly.

Wide-awake, Adeen sat up. After rubbing her hands against her eyes and pulling her nightgown closing to her, Adeen stood up and walked to the door. A guard with chopped brown hair and honey-colored eyes met her.

"Apologies for waking you up, Lady." He said as he bowed down. When he straightened up, he looked at Adeen's eyes, and something about him seemed off. "The Prince has requested you went to his room. It's urgent."

Lady Adeen stared at the guard for a couple of seconds and then nodded. The guard nodded back and led her outside, through some corridors and up an elevator to the second floor, where he led her deeper into the Castle. Adeen had never been to the second floor before, the floor that housed the King's, Queen's and royal Children's rooms. When they passed a dark oak door that must have been the King's —based on the guards posted outside the doors- Adeen shivered, remembering the man's confession, that the King had ordered her kidnapped and killed.

But the guard didn't notice, and soon enough they passed in front of a new pair of doors, this time white. With their elegant frame and their lack of security, Adeen knew for sure it was the Queen's chambers. She shuddered. A few weeks ago, the Queen would have been sleeping behind the set of doors. A few weeks ago, Adeen would have still been a Six. The guard kept walking and stopped in front of a set of oak doors with a sole guard standing outside. He didn't hesitate before opening the door for Adeen, who entered Skander's room.

It was huge, the Prince's room. Floor to ceiling windows let Skander see the gardens, and on the walls, Adeen saw many posters. Some advertised bands Skander had told her about, Good Charlotte, Green Day, Bring Me The Horizon, but others advertised new bands, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Panic At The Disco. All of them must have been pre-Illea bands, Adeen decided before turning to the unmade bed.

The room was empty, giving Adeen enough time to inspect the rest of the room. On a desk to her right, neatly stacked piles of papers waited for Skander to read them. And everywhere, from shelves to the floor, books were open and closed and just lying, waited for Skander to pick them up and read their secrets. A groan snapped Adeen out of her awestruck state and she remembered the reason she was there.

"Skander?" Adeen dared to ask.

"In the b-bathroom." A frail voice answered.

Adeen turned to an open door and dared to walk in. After a brief tour of Skander's closet —his clothes were neatly ordered by color, and God, he had a lot of clothes-, Adeen found a shirtless Skander lying in his bathtub. He griped the edge of the bathtub and his head hung. His hands left bloodstains on the white tub, and the bottom of the tub was red. Adeen gasped at the dozen wounds filling his back, blood dripping from each. They covered every inch of his back, from the top of his pants to his neck. The Prince looked up.

Skander's face was pale, and his black hair made his white skin look paler than the moon. His blue eyes stared back, but for once they weren't alert, they were almost dreamy.

Adeen knelt down.

"What happened?" She breathed.

"Father." Skander said as he looked up at the ceiling.

Adeen understood and stared as Skander's head hung again.

"Okay, okay." Adeen said, reassuring both Skander and herself. "It's alright, I'll help. First we need to clean the wounds." Skander nodded and Adeen reached for a cloth, which she dumped in water in the sink. "This might hurt a little, but the last thing you need is an infection."

Skander nodded. "Just do it, I know the drill."

Adeen looked at him and took a deep breath. She forced herself to press the cloth to Skander's back, lightly, but he still flinched.

"Sorry." She kept pressing the cloth to his skin, and the water mixed with the blood, trailing to the bottom of the tub. Skander flinched as she worked, and Adeen silently whispered words of encouragement. "Almost done. It's almost over."

When she was done, Skander's back was still bleeding, but not as badly as before. Adeen sighed and put down the cloth on the sink.

"Do you have any kind of ointment?"

Skander nodded. "Yes. The drawer on the left, it's a white container."

Adeen obeyed and opened the drawer. After a few seconds of looking for it, she found it and knelt down beside Skander. Again, she warned him before spreading the oily ointment on his back. Skander didn't flinch as much, and Adeen worked quietly. Finally, the Prince broke the silence.

"I'm sorry I woke you up..."

"Skander—"

"It's just my mom used to help me and I didn't know who to call and—"

"Skander." Adeen said more sternly and he looked up slightly. "It's alright. I'm glad you called me, otherwise it would have killed me to know I could have helped you." She smiled. "Plus, now we're even. Jasper told me you had almost conducted a search for me."

Skander looked down again and Adeen resumed her work. Finally she was done and, following Skander's instructions covered the wounds using some bandages he had.

"Let's get you out of that tub, then we change your pants, and soon you'll be sleeping like the big baby you are." Adeen said as she finished bandaging Skander up.

Skander nodded and tried to stand up, but his knees buckled and Adeen was grateful for her training as she kept him from falling. She remembered the many sessions in which she'd trained rescue missions, and soon enough she was helping Skander to his bed. Exhausted, they both collapsed on it, Skander lying on his stomach, Adeen on her back.

Skander closed his eyes and a few seconds later he was asleep. Adeen turned to him, decided against going back to her room, and turned off the lights. The illumination change must have awakened Skander up, because as Adeen was lying down and about to fall asleep, he spoke.

"Adeen?"

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in life after death?"

Adeen looked sideways at him, but only Skander's silhouette could be seen against the moon's light coming through the windows.

"I think so, yes."

"Do you think good people go somewhere different from hell?"

"Yes."

"Good. I don't want to be with my father. Ever again."

Adeen looked at Skander, but he was asleep. Her mind drifted to the cell she was kept in, to the smell of urine and blood and just death. The King had taken her there. The King. The same man who had whipped Skander, who had punished Jasper and who had killed Dax. The King.

"I don't, either."

Adeen said, and the unsaid words tickled on her lips.

The King has to go.