Hymn, The Princess in the Stained Glass Dress

Chapter 7

Morning came late, and the sun had been high for some time. The timekeeper told me I had not half an hour until they arrived at nine. I sighed and glanced at the open doorway. The events of last night seemed too distant and imposable, which lead me to believe it was all a dream. What a strange, and yet, wonderful dream.

For a while, I fought with myself about if the dream was reality or not. Finally I heard the familiar sound of footsteps on the stairs. Odd, considering I hadn't heard the usual bickering of Gettidie and Ellio. The steps drew nearer and nearer and I sighed when I heard them just under the trap door.

I waited for Gettidie to emerge, but she did not. Instead, the bane of my existence and the terror that controls all my whims appeared like a ghost out for blood.

King Livliean climbed the remaining stairs with a smile that turned my blood to stone. He rarely visits me in the tower, but when he does nothing good comes from it.

His face was long and his bones were sharp, yet his skin was not. It hung off him like a wet cloth on stone. He was pale in a way that seemed almost grey and his eyes sunk into his skull. He towered over me, nearly half a meter taller than I am. He wore a red robe with a grand and high fur neckline. Birds were embroidered into the fabric with golden thread. On the top of his head was his crown, tall and polished. The golden part of the crown was ten centimeters off the bottom rim and was decorated in rubies arranged in diamond shaped patterns. His dark black and grey hair fell from under the crown and framed his face just past the shoulders. His facial hair was just as long and straight, without a single kink.

Gettidie and Ellio followed behind him dragging their feet. Even Gettidie had an air of pity to her expression. They know as well as I what happens when he enters the round room. There were two men caring the tub like usual, yet their faces where white. Finally a Weeping Woman came in last with her head hung.

Her features were sharp and strong. I do not put to memory the faces of the woman, yet I know I had never seen this one before. So why was she so familiar?

I did not have time to contemplate her, for the King extended a hand and gripped my throat. I could not breathe, I tried but there was nothing. My eyes watered in pain, and yet he continued to squeeze.

"Tell me, little princess, why you were speaking with the enemy last evening." Finally he released me and I crumbled to the floor. So that is why he is here. I took in a heavy breath but it felt as though no air had entered my lungs. The lack of air stung like a bee sting, but all I could do to stop the pain is continue to breathe deeply.

"Innocent little princess, making deals with Agatha the Agitator?" I had no time to rest for he came at me and gripped my shoulders in his claws. "The innocent little princess isn't acting so innocent, is she!" He spat into my face. He then took my arm and flung me onto the shallow creaking bed. "Do you want to lose all this, little Island brat? All we've given you?!"

His hand came to my throat again, slamming my head against the wall. I saw stars and midnight. "We've given you sanctuary from slavery, meals every day, a bed, a home, and fame! Still you fight us, still you try and escape? Is the chain around your ankle not enough for you to understand? You are mine, and you always will be." He dug into my arms, but then his grip softened.

Finally, his abuse was over, or so I had thought. He leaned onto the bed above me and his wicked smile returned. "It's been almost thirteen years since you arrived here. I keep disciplining you like a child, when perhaps I should be disciplining you like a woman." His putrid breath raped my nose as he leaned into my body. I felt his claws slid from their place on my arms and trace the tie around my neck.

Tears welled in my eyes. It has been ages since I gave them the satisfaction of my tears, but I felt the old man press himself against me as he pulled the string.

Just as I felt the fabric loosen, Gettidie spoke very softly, "Your highness," she whispered in a shaky voice.

He stood again and huffed. Slowly he pulled away from me and released my arms. Just when I thought it was over, in one swift motion he pulled me by the slip onto the stone floor. It fell to my waist and I felt a tear drop.

"Careful how you proceed princess, careful." His words pierced my skin and the tears fell. Humiliation was one thing, abuse another but I had not seen this. In hindsight, I should have. A creature like the king would perform nothing short.

I cannot help Agatha. I have no power to do so. The numbness I had come accustomed to finally returned, and I no longer felt afraid. The tears however would not stop. I could feel I had no expression, and yet my eyes continued to flow like water.

Ellio came beside me but would not touch my body, for it was exposed. Gettidie came over to me and silently lifted me into the metal tub.

"Aye! You! Clean her." She snapped her fingers at the Weeping Woman who came beside me with a dark expression on her face. Confused, I decided to study her features.

Her face was on the longer side, but had a raw beauty about it. Her eyebrows were thick and dark brown. They framed her eyes in a way that brought out the blue in her pale grey eyes. Her lashed were black and thick. Her eyes were the shape of diamonds; sharp. Her cheekbones, chin, and jaw were sharp as well. Her brows morphed into a slender and long nose and with a defined tip. Her lips were thinner than mine, but thicker than most of the women I see. The closer I looked, the more I noticed the tiny scars that decorated her skin. What Weeping Woman has battle scars?

Just as I finished examining her lips she made eye contact with me. Her expression was shadowy, but it softened when our eyes met. I furrowed my brow.

Then, she mouthed 'I'm sorry,' and pulled away.

Befuddled and still in shock I was moved from the tub to Ellio. He looked scared and I watched his hands shake.

"Can you sing?" He asked in a whisper

"She has to!" Gettidie yelled from the other side of the room. I lightly shook my head.

"Test your range then." He conducted me to sing from the lowest note I can sing to the highest. The lower notes were fine but the sound, just, stopped when I got to mid to high range notes. He nervously shook his head and told me he has a low song that would keep my voice healthy.

Hu, healthy. I find it funny, his idea of healthy. Simply, do not be dead.

I went through the song once, then again because there were notes that sounded tight and forced, to no one's surprise. The song was about what happens to those who are good when they die. The song made death sound so peaceful, so good and pure. I wrapped my hand around the raw marks on my neck and peered into the water. There were hands marks burnt into my throat. Death sounds so peaceful.

Noon came and I was propped into the dress. As much as it was like me, it will never feel the pain I must endure.

When the song ended and I came back into the room, Gettidie and the man that carried the tub was gone. Ellio went to pat my shoulder, but upon seeing the purple rising from my copper skin, he decided against it.

"Excuse me, Weeping Woman?" Ellio spoke to the woman still preparing my mid-day meal.

"Yes?" responded in an eerily familiar voice. Koxma save us.

"Please tend to the princess will you? Don't stay long though, and know you are not permitted to speak to her. If you do the punishment", he paused and his eyes darted to the bed. He said nothing more and left without a sound.

After the footsteps stopped echoing through the tower, the 'Weeping Woman' turned to me with a blinding grin that I would be a fool not to recognize.

"Agatha?"