Queensmen

Chapter 84

~To Weaken A Nation~

"Mistress, your eyes are red," was the first thing Seline said after they had gotten her back to the room. Her voice barely carried into the vastness of the room but Oris heard her.

As the guards shut the doors behind them, Mayree and Keziah took Seline to the bed and Oris followed along. She took off her veil and pressed her thumbs to the corners of her eyes.

Her hand buzzed with a far away sort of pain that made her pause and reconsider just how much pain the girl had to be in right now after suffering from that many hits of that massive stick.

Yet she's still thinking of me.

She blinked a few times then hugged herself. "If I didn't look wronged, how would the Empress Dowager let me go so easily. Maybe she thought that I would cry my grievances to the Emperor the moment she took her eyes off me."

"The Emperor?" Confusion clouded Seline's eyes.

"Why would the emperor—" she was about to ask but was cut off by the door opening.

Oris turned her back to the entrance and tied the veil back loosely around her face.

"Mistress!" Andrea rushed into the room, slightly frazzled and out of breath as she dropped into a curtsey and took a peek at the bed. "I brought the physician. H-How is Seline doing?"

"She could be better," Mayree answered. "It has been hard on you."

Andrea shook both her head and hands, her breathing heavy. "No. No. It's no problem. We still got here a bit late."

"Andrea, you got here just in time. I know how large the palace is," Oris reassured the girl.

When the physician stepped forward to greet her, she cut him off and got straight to the point. "My maid is badly hurt. Apart from regular treatment, I want something that will numb the pain."

"She is unwed, and I do not wish to tarnish her reputation, so I will apply the medicine to her wounds myself," she continued. "Also, she had to walk all the way here despite being injured, I need a prescription that also replenishes energy. Sorry to trouble you."

"It is only what I should do," the physician rose to his feet, "but if mistress is worried, this lowly one can bring his daughter to treat the maid's wounds."

"No need."

"Mistress," Seline cried out, "you cannot do that. It is improper. You should not waste time on this servant when there are more important things."

More important things? The only thing Seline considers important at this point is the Selection.

Oris took in a deep breath. "Fine, bring your daughter along when you return. But if anything happens to my maid, she will be the one to answer for it."

"Thank you, Mistress." The man bowed.

Andrea escorted him out of the room.

"You don't trust him," she said when she returned.

"I don't trust anyone apart from you four. Who knows what goes around in the mind of others?" Oris took her veil off again and walked to Seline's side. "Why didn't you let me take care of you?"

Before Oris could hide it away, Seline grabbed her hand and saw the strip of reddened skin on her palm. "I'm afraid that the Empress Dowager won't let you go a second time." She rested her head on the back of Oris' hand, her eyes sincere and honest. "You need to get a high rank in this test."

"Hm," Oris used her other hand to pat the girl's head, "I know."

When she saw that all the gazes in the room were still focused on her injured hand, Oris took out the things she had kept in her sleeve. One was Bren's letter, the other was the strip of blue silk that Seline had hidden.