Runaway Princess

CHAPTER 30

ANDY, MARY AND LUCY helped me get dressed into some comfortable pair of pajamas. They combed my wet hair and all I did is to stare into the empty space as they moved around. It was hard to pretend like I was absentminded because I had to stop myself every time I want to talk to them. During my stay in the village I really missed a lot of things here in the palace.

After that father came in again and he talked to me. He was so gentle and caring with me and he always hugged me and kissed my forehead or my cheek. After that he went back to his room and left me in my room to go to sleep.

I waited in my room for a few hours. It's now 3 am and I'm still awake. Is father already asleep?

I  took a first aid kit and the T-shirt that I wore when I got here. I stood up and went outside my room. I looked around to see if there is someone there and I didn't see anyone. I proceeded to the stairs leading to the lobby and then headed to the back part of the palace to go in to the dungeon. I hid the T-shirt and the first aid kit underneath my clothes and crossed my arms over my chest so it won't be too noticeable.

Two palace guards were standing by the entrance. I went to them and they were looking at me.

"C-can I come in?" I asked them. They nodded at me and I entered the dunge and walked along the long corridor, looking at that particular cell in the very end.

When I got there I pressed my ear on the door. Nobody else seems to be inside so I opened the door and looked around carefully in case father was there and he was just standing in the dark part of the cell.

When I thought it was okay I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. I heard a cough that came from my left. I walked to that direction and looked at the ground. I squinted my eyes to get it adjusted to the dark. It's so dim in here! Why don't we ever put light bulbs in this place?

Once my eyes were adjusted to the dark I was standing in front Demian. I noticed him staring at me and not moving, he must've thought that I was father.

I knelt down and he stayed still. I moved closer to him and held his arm. I felt him flinch under my touch but he soon calmed down.

"Isla?" He called me.

"Yes," I said and sat down beside him. I took out the first aid kit and the T-shirt from underneath my clothes and placed it on the floor.

"What are you doing here?" He whispered. I hugged him and he groaned a bit. I must've hit a wound in him. His T-shirt was damp with sweat and I think I could even smell blood from it.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," I said and groped blindly for the hem of his shirt.

"Where's the hem of your shirt?" I asked him and he groaned again as I kept moving my hand.

"That's not the hem of my shirt," he said. "That's my crotch."

I pulled my hand back and I felt heat rising up to my cheeks. "S-sorry," I mumbled.

He took my hand and placed it on the hem of his shirt. I grabbed it and pulled it over his head and removed it from him.

We moved somewhere where there is light so I could at least see his wounds. The front part of the cell has a bit of light coming from outside. We moved there and I let him lean on the wall.

I looked at him from head to toe. There was a bruise of the side of his lip and it was busted open and bleeding. There were more bruises and scars on his body but what shocked me even more is what I saw on his back.

"Oh my God..." I slightly touched his back. There were long, fresh scars on it that were overlapping with each other. Some were bleeding very badly while some were just bleeding a little. What happened here?