Stolen Truth

19

"I need to clean you up before we go anywhere," Louis said, soaking a cloth in water and dabbing it on my face.

"It's not that bad," I insisted as he continued to clean the blood off of me.

"It's very bad," Louis countered, showing me the blood-soaked cloth.

"I feel fine," I lied, trying not to wince when he pressed down on a bruise.

"Sure," Louis mumbled sarcastically, finishing off my face. "For the rest of your body you're going to have to bathe yourself, I'll start running a bath now, you sit somewhere and wait, please try not to get anything dirty."

I followed Louis through to the bedroom and the bathroom, shocked by the size of the place compared to what the soldiers had to live in. I sat on the floor and watched as Louis began to fill the bath with water. My gaze became fixed on the tap and the water coming out of it, it got faster and faster as more of it filled the bath, I was transfixed by it.

"Rat!" Louis said, snapping me out of it, "It's done now, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said, "Just a bit tired maybe."

"Okay, I'm going to leave now, call for me if you need anything."

**********

"You still look terrible," Louis commented as he threw clothes onto the bed for me to wear.

"I still feel terrible," I said, collapsing onto a nearby chair.

"That's only expected after what they did to you, I really am sorry about that by the way, I did tell them not to hurt you."

"It's okay," I sighed, "I've been through worse stuff."

"What stuff, pray tell? When you were a soldier here?"

"Yeah," I said, "Wait... Did I tell you I was a soldier here? I thought no one knew?"

"Oh, I um," Louis started, sounding flustered, "When I was looking for the prince I found your file, obviously the picture was from when you were younger, but it was you."

"Did... Did it say anything else?" I asked hopefully, "My parents, are they...?"

"Yes, sorry. Anyone who didn't run died and most of the people who survived were either kidnapped or they joined that camp of yours."

"Oh, I had hoped..."

"I know, I'm sorry. But, on a brighter note, you can finally put on some clothes. Sorry they're not too fancy, it's only really slightly better than what the soldiers get."

"That's okay," I shrugged, taking the clothe he gave me, it was just a plain white shirt with billowy long sleeves and the same brown pants that the soldiers wore. "What time do we leave?"

"Soon," Louis promised, "After you put those on we'll be going to get the girls and then preparing for the trip."

"What about the weapons we had before?" I asked, pulling my shirt over my head.

"I managed to get a hold of them, they're in the supply boxes that my staff are bringing to us later, now hurry up."

"Okay, I'm done," I said, "Can we go now?"

"Not yet, I'm very sorry, but you're going to have to wear the chains and the mask again whilst we're walking around the rest of camp. Are you going to be okay?"

"I suppose. It won't be for too long though, right?"

"Of course not, we'll try to be as fast as possible," Louis said, delicately lifting the cuffs off of his desk and walking towards me. I let him pull my hands behind my back, feeling him linger for a second as he locked them in place, "They're not too tight, are they?"