Chapter 44 Amarien’s punishment
Amarien's POV
I scrubbed the walls and floors till my hands bled. The lower courts are places where maids, guards, and real-time palace workers stay. It's usually not as impressive as the outer courts. But it's quite big.
As I knelt to the floor, scrubbing and scrubbing, palace maidens walked past looking at me with acrimony and contempt. They all believed I was the bad omen that had weakened the Emperor to a coma. They all believe I am the cursed concubine.
No one even offered a helping hand. No one could even if they wanted.
Not when Catherine is involved, and people don’t want to get on the Empress-to-be’s bad side.
The sun burned my scalp. My pores poured sweat, and with the new wound in my hand, blood.
I stopped to catch my breath, hoping to take a few minutes of rest. The evening sun was approaching, yet I had worked all day and eaten nothing.
I felt my limbs weaken, my hands shaky. My stomach rumbled with a scary roar. My head ached.
“What are you doing?! Get back to work!” the guards watching me growled at me. He held a lash. A lash Catherine had instructed him to use if I tried to run off or escape my chore.
“I just want to take a break…” My lips quivered, but the guard showed no mercy; he swiped the lash right into my back, making me stumble to the floor.
“Get to it now!”
I quivered and squirmed up to my feet, holding the damp rag with shaky fingers. My hands trembled as I tried to scrub and scrub, but I had no energy in me to go on.
“Please…” my patched lips pleaded. “Please give me some water…”
The guard threw his head back and laughed hard. “When did curses begin to request water?!” He scoffed. “You want me to water you so you'll spread your fangs over the palace?!”
The guard stepped forward and pushed the dirty water I used to scrub the floor, pouring it over the ground I just cleaned. “If you want water, you can have that!”
I looked around the floors I had just painfully scrubbed all day with my bare, now wounded hands, seeing the dirty water spilled over them.
I have to start again.
My shoulders trembled, my eyes welled with tears, and I began crying. I placed my hands over my face, unable to help myself.
“W…w…what are you doing?!” The guard’s voice blazed in anger. “You're not crying your way out of this! Get back to work!” He swung the lash at me again.
I stumbled to the floor, unable to move.
“Get up!” He hit me over and over and over till I coughed blood out. I squirmed and squirmed on the floor, trying to get away from his grip.
But this only got him angrier. He kicked me with his leather boots, sending me flying over. At this point, every maiden and guard had gathered around.
“If no one in the palace has the balls to kill you wretch curse…I will do it!” The guard spat and kicked me over again.
Blood spilled out of my mouth again. This time, I heard people sniggering. I lifted my eyes and saw people laughing, nodding, and pointing at me as if I were a curse to be eliminated.
They say there is hardly any mercy in the lowest quarters. People are punished brutally for little crimes here.
Maybe that's why I was sent here. To pay for my sins. The sin of my existence. I shut my eyes and let him kick me over and over, hoping death will finally come and take me to Grandma Chichi.
But…death wasn't as near as I thought it was; someone else was.
“Your Highness!”
Every person and living thing in the lower court fell to their knees. My eyes were still fixed shut that I didn't see Daevir towering over me.
“Amarien…” he muttered. I opened my eyes and saw him. His eyes were red with rage, and his sword was drawn. There was blood on it.
I looked around and saw the head of the guard kicking me, rolling in the dirt. Daevir had chopped off his head.
I squirmed away in fright.
But Daevir wasn't done. His eyes left me and blazed through the crowd, who bowed, shaking at the scene.
“You all watched him beat an innocent concubine and said NOTHING!” His voice blazed like thunderclaps, shaking the crowd.
“Your highness…we plead.”
“Your highness…please forgive.”
They muttered. But none of this moved Daevir.
“You are all going to suffer thesame fate you just watched!” Daevir's gaze whipped around to his men. “Cease, every one of them, and give them all 50 lashes each!”
The crowd erupted into terror. No one dared run. Before they could protest, Daevir's guards stormed the scene, ceasing maidens, guards, and workers. Those who protested were carried by Daevir’s guards and whisked out of the scene.
Their tears and cries trailed them as they were carried out.
“Your highness, please!”
“Please forgive us!”
“Have mercy, your highness.”
Daevir's eyes return to me. The area was empty now, safe for both of us.
He scooped me up in his hands, but I protested. “Please let me go, your highness. I don't want any trouble.”
“You won't get any…” Daevir carried me up in his hands and matched out of the lower courts.
“We need to get you treated…” I heard him whisper, and then everything went black.