𝐀 𝐒𝐖𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐋𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐘 - Cinderella AU

XXVIII - judgements and clouds

A/N:
This chapter is 7.9k words so strap in, you guys! I got sick the latter half of March and couldn't update so I made sure this was a longer one for you all to enjoy<3 Also, this attached video of the beautiful Ilene Woods singing "a dream is a wish" lives in my mind rent free<3

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xxvii.

"AND THEN WE SHALL HAVE THE PATIENT BATHE in a tub of this medicated mixture for fifteen minutes," The physician, Doctor A.V Harlot spoke, the stout man peaking up to meet the Duchess' eyes through his half moon spectacles, the glasses of which, were barely the size of Isadora's fingernail.

The white powdered gentlemen's wig rested askew on top of his head, and the lack of symmetry bothered Isa slightly less than the horrifying stench of the medicated mixture he was presenting in a glass vial.

There was a sick luster to the thick brown liquid, and bubbles arose and popped on the uncorked surface due to the exposure with air.

"Bathe in it?" Isadora managed, swallowing thickly as she exchanged a glance with the patient in question.

Lucy, her weak form seated on a chair in the living room, blinked in dismay. Perspiration glistened on her face, and her blonde hair was damp, with strands of it stuck to the sides of her face. Her maid's cap lay abandoned on the nearby table, the usually swollen muslin material now flat against the surface.

"Doctor, surely ingesting the medication is enough?"

The physician had expressed both routes, except, according to his treatment, there was to be no single choice made.

"Yes, your grace," The elderly man hastened, his voice slightly shaking as he fought to explain. He was much shorter than her, and even than Lucy herself for that matter.

"But the fumes, your grace! The fumes will help the girl."

Isa sighed then, casting another glance at Lucy and finding desperation as well as dismay etched into her maid's features for another such treatment.

If Isadora said yes to this treatment, this would be the third time Lucy will have to ingest and bathe in another strange coloured stinking liquid. Doctor A.V Harlot was the second physician The Duchess had switched to, and this was the third time he had brought forward yet another concoction, after being told that the previous ones he had prescribed had not worked.

Isa had deduced that the root problem had not been deciphered by either this physician or the previous one she had employed the services of, and both these men had indulged in a game of luck that was dangerously ebbing away at Isadora's patience and Lucy's strength.

After the horrifying event of last night, Isa had promised herself that she would give Doctor Harlot the benefit of the doubt for a solid fifteen minutes, but if he brought forward another vial of liquid substance with the repeated suggestion of ingesting and bathing in it, he would have to go.

"So, your grace," The physician turned to his giant leather bag on the sofa and zipped it open. "I have brought along thirteen vials for the bathing ritual and—"

"That won't be necessary, doctor," Isadora let out. "You will be taking your leave, thank you for giving us the time that you have."

"I beg your pardon?" The man blinked, adjusting his half moon spectacles with shaking thick fingers, "Your grace, but the treatment hasn't yet been completed—"

"It has for me, monsieur," Isa managed, her chest tightening as despair struck at her core. She had run through notable town doctors in Basingstoke like water, who was she going to turn to next? Where was she going to look?