Saving Neba

𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈: Comfort from a Royal

Just like Crypta said, it did do.

"I'm done, Crypta." He opened the door of the bathroom and stood there, just as I folded the stained dress and placed it on a stool, then kept the heeled sandals beside the stool.

"Come here."

"Hmm?"

"Come here." I reluctantly faltered to the bathroom door, following Crypta as he went in and stood in front of the large mirror affixed to the wall. "You couldn't wipe your face from wherever you are coming from?"

"I um. . ." I trailed off when I observed that he was completely focused on his current action.

He turned on the faucet and let his right hand get wet. He grabbed a small brown towel lying at the side of the basin and began to get the sugar off my face, little by little. It took almost five minutes using a dry towel to get the job done. Then, he turned the tap on again and held my hair in a ponytail with his left hand while he rinsed my face with his right.

All the while I stood there like a child being washed as she was scolded for being dirty.

"Emerald. . ."

"Yes?" I looked at him through the mirror. From there, I could see him staring at me, at my-his shirt. Then his eyes were on my face and he spun me so that I was facing him.

He took another step forward, almost closing the little distance between us. His right hand went up my face, caressing my left cheek. His thumb gently rubbed on my cheek. And his touch was magically soothing. I lost the fight to keep my eyes open, his thumb was temptingly rough and firm.

"What happened to your face?"

My eyes bounced open. "Hmm?" I asked. His eyes were fixated on my left cheek. I touched my cheek. "What happened to it?"

"Were you slapped?"

"I. . .It's nothing." I turned to face the mirror. My cheeks didn't look noticeably red. How did he know I was slapped?

He turned me back around. "Don't tell me it's nothing. Is it those same people who're hitting you, bullying you?" He felt my ribs through the shirt.

"What? No!" I shrieked, Josh and George now flooding my mind, thanks to him. "No, n-no. It was Luan, this girl. . .I ruined their cake and - and. . .That was it. I. . .I ruined a party. I tripped somehow and fell, and I created this scene, and. . .Everyone was watching. Saying things."

I shut my eyes. I could see Josh chasing me. He gripped my waist and asked, "Emery, where are you running to?" My mum was somehow also there, she was crying. I tried to touch her but she screamed at me, "Enough of all this nonsense, Emery!"

Sandra was there too, in the blurred background, facing me with disgust. She shrugged. "Emery, you need to focus your mind on real things." Luan stood at a distance with her father. She inspected her newly polished nails before moving them away from her face, and then moving her hand back. "You have no worth anywhere in the world at all."

"They said. . .That I. . .I'm worthless, a liability. No one cares, Crypta. I-" My limbs gave up on trying to hold my petite body. I slumped on the floor and, too embarrassed to even cry, I covered my face with my hands, whimpering like a hurt dog.

I felt arms around my shoulder, and a head on my neck. "Emerald, don't take their word for it."

"But it's true."

"Emerald-"

"My dad has another family." I forced it out, "He. . .I didn't know until." Words stuck in my throat and they hurt keeping them inside. "I. . . Mum, she. . ." My cheeks got wetter even more. My head hurt, my eyes hurt. My hands fell back and I wrapped them around Crypta, burying my face in his chest, staining his shirt. "It's just not okay. They. . .They go. . .My dad. . .He. . ."