Kassandrah stood in the throne room, facing her older brother King Cenred.
"You did WHAT?" his voice echoed in the barely furnished room. She grinned, trying not to laugh,
"He kissed me first. I met him in the tavern; I didn't know that he was a knight of Camelot". Cenred rolled his eyes, "Honestly Kass, Camelot is our sworn enemy," he paused, "and besides, you can do much better than that". He narrowed his eyes at his younger sister whose head, it seemed, was always in the clouds. He motioned to two guards and turned to her, "You must, however, learn that to fraternize with our sworn enemy is to commit and act of treason". The guards moved in and grabbed her arms. "Sorry, Kass," Cenred smiled grimly. He turned to the guards, "Twenty lashes should teach her the severity of treason and one night in the cells".
Kass paled, "Please, Cendred! I'm sorry"! Cenred frowned, "Sorry sis. You've got to learn that treason is not tolerated". He waved his hand and the two guards dragged a struggling Kass out of the room. He clapped his hands and a trembling lackey stepped forward out of the shadows. "Bring me the court physician" he growled. "Yes sir," the lackey stammered. He stumbled out of the room and soon came back with a younger man with unruly red hair and stubble on his face, a small back bag slung over his shoulder, "You called, sire"? Cenred nodded, "Go to the dungeons and wait for Kassandrah! The guards will bring her in soon enough".
Michael, the court physician, was lead down a steep staircase into the dungeons of Essetir. "Wait in here," snarled the guard as he pushed the physician into a small cell to the right of the staircase. "We'll be back in a few minutes," he said with a nasty grin as he slammed the barred door behind him and walked back up the stairs. Michael looked at the area he had been given and sighed, why couldn't his friend behave herself? He cleared a small space on the floor and began to lay out bandages and ointments. Ten minutes later, Michael watched as two guards escorted a lagging figure down the stairs. She groaned as one of the guards held her up with one hand and unlocked the cell with the other. He tossed her in and she sprawled motionless on the floor, breathing heavily. "Night Your Highness," he said in a gruff voice as he made his way to the staircase and into the night. Michael rushed to his friend's side. "Why," he asked as he carefully picked her up and carried her to the space he had prepared, "Why do you always have to get yourself into trouble"? He grunted as he gently placed her down beside him. "Cuz it's fun," she murmured. Michael rolled his eyes as he grabbed a small glass bottle and a rag, "Oh, so getting flogged is fun too then"? "Don't really think of the consequences when I do stuff," she slurred. Worry lines creased Michael's forehead as he surveyed her bared back. "Sorry Kass," he began, "But this is going to sting". She hissed through her clenched teeth and struggled instinctively to get away from the pain. Michael rested a strong hand on her neck, "I'm sorry Kass," he whispered, "You need to stay still". He dribbled more of the solution from the bottle onto her wounds and wiped them clean. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth, "Ow, Michael, do you have to clean them so roughly"? "I'm being as gentle as I can," he replied, "If you did what you were told, then we wouldn't have to go through this again". She sighed as he finished off his work, "Okay, all done cleaning your wounds". She grunted and tried to push herself up. "Ah, not quite yet," he said gently pushing her back down, "I need to put some ointment on those wounds and bandage them up first". She sighed, annoyed, "I thought you said you were done". "I'm done cleaning them. But if you wish to avoid infection and you want them to heal quickly, this ointment must be applied". He twisted the lid off a jar and scooped a creamy grey paste onto his fingers, "This should actually make you feel a lot better". She began to relax as Michael ran the paste along the lashes across her back and began to wrap them up in linen strips. He gathered up his supplies and put them in his bag. "Get some rest," he whispered to Kass, who was falling asleep. He called to a guard who unlocked the door and let him out. With one last look at his sleeping friend he walked out of the dungeon to his home.