Poisoned

Poisoned - Ch. 7 [Silence]

          Chapter 7: Silence

          I awoke suddenly by the sound of cloth being torn, and then my entire room was ablaze with the light of dawn. Groaning, I slowly opened my eyes and froze.

          I was lying in a beautiful, yet wholly unfamiliar bedchamber, and my body felt like it was suspended in midair because the bed was so soft and lightweight. It was several moments before the events of the previous day came rushing at me, and I sat up suddenly with a shuddering gasp.

          My antidote! What time was it? What if I had overslept? The man had said that if I came even slightly later, it would be too late to save me...

          Wide-eyed, I glanced instinctively towards the window, the source of light, to check the sun’s position in the sky. But instead, the window was blocked by a blurred gray figure, and I squinted, trying to make out the person’s features.

          The person stepped forward, out of the sun, and I saw her. It was a maid, merely a girl, and she was holding my gown that I’d worn yesterday. Her face was plain, but wore a haughty and arrogant expression as she looked down at me in my bed.

          “Get up. I don’t have all day to attend to you,” she snapped, and my body jerked in response. I scrambled out of bed, hair spilling over my shoulders.

          “Well come closer, I’m not about to walk over to you just to dress you,” she bit out, tucking a loose yellow curl back underneath her maid’s bonnet. Biting my lip, I did as she’d asked and came closer to her.

          “Remove your nightgown,” she ordered. I did as I was told, unlacing the ribbons and slipping it off. Up close, I could see that the girl was not much older than me; in fact, we must have been the same age.

          “Here,” she said shortly, thrusting my petticoat at me, and then my gown.

          Internally, I wondered why she’d been told to attend to me if she was just going to order me around and make me do it myself. I didn’t need to be told that a petticoat went underneath the gown; I knew that much for myself. Even now, she coolly watched me struggle to lace my corset, but it was an impossible task for only one to accomplish. Grudgingly, she took the strings and pulled so hard that I gasped. That only seemed to make her pull harder.

          I ignored the tears that came to my eyes as the stiff corset crushed my ribcage together, almost forcing it to cave in, digging into my tender bruises. The scratch on my back also irritated the wounds there, and overall I felt highly uncomfortable. Even in pain.

          My lilac-coloured gown was roughly thrust upon my head and yanked down to my feet, only it didn’t look half as good as it had yesterday, because there was no Cordelia to pin it nicely. Miserably, I wished for a friendly face; yesterday, I hadn’t realized just how much Cordelia’s and Emmeline’s kindness meant. Now, I missed it sorely.

          The girl turned to leave, leaving my bed unmade, but my timid voice stopped her.

          “Please...” I hesitated, as the girl regarded me haughtily. “I don’t know how to tie my hair in a suitable fashion. Could you do it for me?”

          Looking as though she had been made to swallow cough syrup, she reluctantly re-entered my chambers, and began attacking my head with a brush. I hissed in pain as she sent the needle-like bristles grazing the entire length of a cut on my scalp. But the girl did not relent, ferociously brushing my hair, in a hurry to be rid of me.