Trapped Beauty

Chapter 1

Morning dawns once again. I hear the drapery being pulled back from the window and feel the warmth on my skin. The light glows past my eyelids.

I'm not sure how many days exactly I've been like this, unable to respond while the world around me moves forward. It seems about a week since I first woke up, surrounded by a palatable tension. No one was really sure what to make of my situation I think. I could feel the physician taking my vitals, hearing him give instructions, all while people whispered that I would never wake. I wanted to tell them that I was awake, but I could not.

"Hello dearie. My it's another fine day. Come now and have some breakfast." Flora's forcibly bright voice cuts through the morning quiet, familiar but irritating.

Strong hands take me by the shoulders and prop me up against the pillows.

"Good morning Princess, we have a lovely cinnamon oatmeal for you" Merriweather pipes up. Unlike Flora her voice is strong and soothing, even though it too contains a tremble of worry.

They work together, feeding me the watered-down gruel as they have had to so many times now. It's become monotonous, yet I find myself grateful thinking that at least I won't starve as I involuntarily swallow the food.

I hear the door click, and Fawnia comes in a little while later with strong, assertive footsteps.

"It's time for your toilette Rose."

One more spoonful is guided into my mouth, and then my other two handmaidens leave the room. The spoon clanks against the bowl as they walk out, sharp yet dull. It's strange all the things I seem to notice that I never did before. Perhaps, because I cannot interact with the world any longer, I work hard to bring the world to me with any snippet I can.

Fawnia works quietly and efficiently, brushing my hair, washing my face and limbs with a cloth, changing the damp cloth at my unmentionable area (I sadly have no control of my bladder anymore either), and blessedly, changing my position. As she rolls me onto my left side, facing the bright sunshine, my back practically cries out from joy. I never knew, until recently, how sore you could get just from lying down!

One day, when I can finally move again, I really will need to thank that physician. He comes to check on me every evening and continues to give my servants detailed instructions for things to do. If not for him I'm sure I wouldn't be half as comfortable right now. As much as Flora, Fawnia, and Merriweather care for me, they probably would have little idea of what to do for me in my current condition.

I suppose perhaps that I should tell you a little bit about them, even though you are simply an audience conjured by my own musings, and therefore should theoretically already know everything that I know. Still, for the sake of supposing that you know nothing about them, I will tell you.

Flora's been with me the longest- she was my nursemaid after I was born. I guess in some ways she's like a mother to me- a constant maternal figure- but she's always been rather, um, well...

She reminds me of a bird, always chirping about this and that, but she's never been entirely sensible. How do I put this...?

She once made me a dress for my seventh birthday. However, because she isn't a very good seamstress it took her a very long time to complete- 5 months past my birthday. She was so excited about finishing it that she insisted that I wear it that day. Unfortunately, it was a summer frock because my birthday is in July. It was exceedingly cold that December, and Flora refused to let me wear a coat because it would ruin the look. I think I had a case of the sniffles for a week afterwards and I refused to ever be put in that particular dress again.

It was actually soon after that incident that Merriweather came to look after me. Officially she was supposed to be my governess, but she's done a little bit of everything for me over the years. I would probably be extremely close to Merriweather if she didn't always insist on keeping strict propriety. She always tells me that I must never forget that I am a Princess of the realm, and she a mere servant. It's the one thing I would change about her if I could- the way she holds herself apart from me.

Usually the calm voice of reason, and always sensible, she and Flora have almost never seen eye to eye. They argue, or rather debate, quite frequently, and have a tendency to change things they don't like behind each other's backs. However, because Merriweather is far less foolish, and has no wish to cause unnecessary trouble for others, Flora often ends up winning their battles.

Fawnia has been with me since after I turned twelve. Apparently, though no one ever saw me, my father decided that I needed to be dressed according to my station. Thus, Fawnia was appointed as my lady in waiting. In truth she isn't more than five years older than me, but she always acts as though she knows all. Miss High and Mighty I like to call her. If she ever dropped that attitude maybe we could be friends. As it has been the past four years though, she's simply the person always forcing me into uncomfortable corsets and shoes.

Of course, things have been a little different than they were. My caregivers have been forced out of their usual roles into new ones. Flora is back to feeding me like an infant. Merriweather can no longer fulfill her primary role as teacher and advisor, and so I haven't had her around me as much (though she does come in sometimes just to sit with me and talk about what's going on). And Fawnia surprised me the most with her quick transition to my new clothing and bodily needs. I thought she would have had more resistance to my nonrestrictive, unfashionable attire and rather embarrassing level of need for assistance. Maybe she does care for me more than she lets on.

Even now Fawnia is assisting me quietly, her hands gentle but firm as she rubs each of my limbs down, sending a rush of blood and prickling sensation through them. It would be so easy for her to lord this over me, my level of dependence, but she hasn't yet. I don't think that she ever will.

It's so quiet after she leaves. I assume that someone will be back for one reason or another within the next couple of hours, but for now my room is empty. Probably this whole wing of the castle scarcely has anyone about, if I'm being honest. That's the way that things have always been. I doubt that, now that I 'the cursed princess' have actually succumbed to my unsavory fate, people are any more willing to spend time near me.

Ah, no matter. At least I have the lovely birds singing outside to keep me company...