Author's Note: Sorry, I hadn't really intended for this to be quite so dark, I guess I was feeling a bit morbid at two in the morning. Two chapters only for the sake of organisation.

Louis was fast asleep in the bedroom which adjoined his mother's. He could not see her movements, her hands clutching tightly at the sheets, her head occasionally jerking from side to side, her body constantly changing position. He could not see the crease on her forehead between her brows. He could not hear the small, frightened noise she made, nor her gasp a moment later, nor her muted scream which followed after a time.

No, Louis was fast asleep. And so was Anna; However, her dreams were not so peaceful.

She dreamed she was once again dancing with the king. The Kralahome entered, breaking the spell, and informed them of the capture of Tuptim. Again, she watched as the girl was dragged in, screaming. Again, she flung herself at Anna's feet, grasping at the skirts of her dress, begging the schoolteacher not to let them hurt her. Again, she fought with the king, accusing him of being heartless and incapable of love. Again, she protested that she would not run away down the hall, but would stand and watch him do it. But this time, he did not again find himself unable to whip the girl. Anna watched, horrified, as he brought the whip down with a crack, the girl's back arching as she screamed in pain. Anna tried to run to him, stop him, to pull Tuptim from the hands of the guards holding her down, but she could not move. As hard as she ran towards them, she never moved any closer. Repeatedly, the whip cracked down on the girl's back, blood seeping through the shirt she wore. Anna dropped to the ground with a scream, in the center of a pool of lavender fabric, sobbing as she knew she could do nothing to save the poor child.