Princess Amelia von Hooperstein screamed as the cruel whip bit into her flesh for a third time. Despite the muslin of her gown, it was of little protection to her back.
"Let that be a lesson to you for your defiance,." snarled her step-father, Prince Culverton Smith, as she cowered at his feet. "I will leave you now and see you at dinner time, once you've had a chance to reconsider your position."
The man walked out of the drawing room as he spoke, leaving the princess crouching on the floor in agony.
Princess Amelia, known as Molly to her friends, knew she should not have tried to talk back to him. This was not the first, nor would it be the last time he punished her for insubordination. It would continue to happen as long as she remained under his roof.
After some time Molly got to her feet and walked slowly and painfully to her bedchamber. As soon as she entered, she pulled the bell rope to summon her lady's maid, Kaitlyn, before crawling onto her bed and laying on her stomach.
Shortly thereafter, Kaitlyn arrived. Seeing the state of her ruined gown, and the blood that had soaked through it , the lady's maid exclaimed, "Your Highness! How could you allow him to do this to you again? This is the third gown your step-father has ruined this month!"
The princess raised a tear-stained face to her lady's-maid, who was also her best friend and closest confidante. "I didn't mean for it to happen. He just shocked me, and I reacted to it."
"Come, let me help you out of your gown before the scabs form, and you start bleeding again."
Molly knew her friend was right to make haste with removing her gown. On the first occasion her step-father had beaten her, she had been too ashamed to call for her lady's maid for several hours. Removing her gown that day had been excruciating, as the wounds had reopened and she had bled again.
Now, Kaitlyn, with the utmost gentleness, helped the princess to undress. Molly only whimpered once from the pain. There was a pot of ointment on the dressing table that Kaitlyn used for the purpose of soothing her wounds. It was the one thing Molly's mother had managed to smuggle into the castle for her, at great risk to her own safety.
"Kaitlyn, can you come back later?" she asked her lady's maid, after the woman had finished applying the ointment. "For now I just need to rest before dinner."
"Yes, Your Highness," responded the lady's maid, bobbing a curtsey before leaving the room. She had removed the princess's corset and petticoats as well as gown, and the princess now wore only her drawers. She would have to wear a gown again for dinner, but for now her skin needed no further chafing.
Princess Amelia sat with her head bowed and eyes closed, thinking about the events of the past several months.
Until her father King David's death a year ago, the princess's life had been one of luxury and happiness. The king and queen of Bartonia had doted on their only daughter. She had been spoiled and pampered. They had paid for her to have a thorough education, and she had found she had an affinity for the sciences, especially in the field of chemistry.
The king and queen had even renovated one of the many bedchambers in the castle into her very own laboratory. The princess had spent many an hour lost in conducting experiments on various chemicals, reading books and periodicalson the latest findings in medicine and also science. In her leisure time, the princess read novels and other types of literature.
As the princess had grown older, she had had several offers of marriage from noblemen, but had refused them all. The king and queen had never pressured her to marry, and thus it was she was still unwed at the advanced age of twenty six. She had begun to despair of ever finding someone with whom she would share the same love as that which her parents had found together.
It had been almost a year ago when King David had suffered a fatal fall in a hunting accident. A rabbit had run out in front of his horse and it had reared, causing the king to be thrown from the horse's saddle. Death had been instantaneous, a broken neck. Queen Ruth and her daughter had been devastated. Molly's parents had shared a deep love, and it was something their daughter desperately yearned for, for herself.
Things had changed six months ago, when the Duke of Appledore, named Culverton Smith had wooed the grieving queen. He had brought her gifts, plied her with compliments, and the grieving widow, thinking her daughter needed a father figure had agreed to marry him three months later.
As soon as the ring was on his finger, the new royal consort, now Prince Culverton by virtue of his marriage, showed his true colours. First he began to beat his new wife if she did not immediately follow his orders. Princess Amelia had been horrified to see her mother brought low by the blackguard. When the queen learned her lesson and became entirely submissive to the new prince's every whim, he had transferred his sadistic tendencies to his step-daughter.
The princess had a mind of her own, and her free spirit meant that her step-father delighted in torturing her. Sometimes he would use a riding crop on her, but his favourite method was a whip, because it drew blood. His eyes would glitter with malice at that, and he derived the most satisfaction when he cause the princess to cry out from the pain. Molly was certain his intention was to get rid of her, one way or another.
Today she had finally seen the proof of it. The prince had entered the drawing room to speak with her.
"Amelia, word has been going around that King Mycroft of Bakeristan is seeking a wife. I took the liberty of informing his royal advisors that you were available. Word cane to me today that he has accepted my proposal. You are to travel to Bakeristan and your betrothal shall be announced shortly afterwards. We will leave tomorrow for the two day journey. You should be glad of this advantageous match. It will unite our two countries and consolidate our alliance."
"I cannot marry King Mycroft," expostulated the princess. "He is ten years my senior, and is well known for his many liaisons. I want to marry a man I love."
"Love!" spat the prince. "What do you know of love?"
"Mama and Papa loved each other," retorted the princess.
"Do not EVER speak of your father in my presence, do you hear?" snarled Prince Culverton, taking out his whip, which he always kept on his person.
"No, please don't," begged the princess to no avail.
The man struck her with the whip and she cried out. Despite the pain, she tried to speak again. "You can't really expect me to marry a man I've never met, can you?"
"Of course I can, foolish girl. You should be thanking God on your knees that you will have such a powerful position. You have been a thorn in my side from the moment I married your mother. You probably whisper horrid things in her ear about me."
He struck her again. "No," Molly sobbed. "I have said nothing. I never even get to speak with her alone."
"Then how is it she was able to procure an ointment for your back? I have already punished her for her little act of defiance."
The princess gave him a horrified look. "You are a beast, and I will not go meekly to the altar!"
That was when her step-father had lashed her for the third time.
Now, as Molly sat in her bedchamber she began to think about things. If she could just get away from her step-father's clutches, maybe she would be able to somehow avoid marrying the king and run away, she knew not where, but any place would be an improvement over this miserable existence.
Thus it was that when Princess Amelia went downstairs for dinner, she sat at the table and looked at her step-father. The queen sat beside him, looking miserable. Her shoulders were hunched and she looked pitifully at her daughter.
"I will do as you ask, Step-Papa. I will marry King Mycroft."
"I am glad you have reconsidered your position, Amelia," said the man.
Molly noticed her mother's small smile, and she felt instinctively that her mother was glad she would be escaping the prince's clutches.
"We shall leave, as I said, on the morrow. You may take your lady's maid with you. I, of course, will be coming along with my valet to make sure things are properly settled for the wedding."
The princess's heart sank at this. She had not thought her step-father would leave the castle. At least she could take Kaitlyn with her, which was some consolation.
By the expression on Queen Ruth's face, she had not known her husband would travel with her daughter to Bakeristan.
"Culverton, dear, why must you travel with Amelia? Surely your duties here are more important, and you can find someone else to convey her to Bakeristan?"
The prince turned to his wife with a baleful glare. "Did I give you permission to speak?"
"No, my dear. I am sorry."
Molly could see the tears in her mother's eyes.
"It will be alright Mama," she said. "Kaitlyn will be with me. I am sure we will have an uneventful journey. I will write to you once we have arrived safely." She had to be brave, for her mother's sake.
"Yes darling," the distraught queen murmured.
At the conclusion of dinner, Prince Culverton said, "You had better make sure your lady's maid packs everything you need. You are indeed a fortunate girl. The king has also agreed to provide you with a trousseau, therefore you will only need a few gowns for the journey. Make sure your lady's maid knows we are leaving at seven on the morrow."
"Yes, Step-Papa," the princess said meekly. "May I at least say farewell to my mother?"
"Very well, but make haste," the prince responded.
Molly went over to her mother and hugged her. She heard her mother's whisper. "I am sorry, my dear. I wish I could protect you." Aloud she said, "God go with you, my child. I wish you happiness."
Princess Amelia blinked back tears. "Shall I see you at the wedding?" If it happens, she said to herself silently.
"I shall make every effort to attend, if my husband will allow it."
"We shall see," said the prince, and Molly felt he would certainly prefer that the mother and daughter not see each other again.
"I love you Mama." The tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"I love you too, darling," said the queen, and tears coursed down her own wan cheeks.
Back in her bedchamber, Princess Amelia informed her lady's maid of the day's events.
"At least you will be away from your step-father if you are married," said Kaitlyn pragmatically. "Perhaps the king will not be so bad. Perhaps you will fall in love. You have never met him, have you? Maybe he is handsome."
Molly sighed. "I have heard his hair is thinning already and that he is rather homely."
"Then we will find a way for you to escape both your step-father and the king before the wedding," declared her friend, and the princess was grateful that at least she would have one ally in the castle they were travelling towards the next day.
Kaitlyn packed her clothes, making sure to also pack the precious jar of ointment as well.
At seven o'clock the next morning, Princess Amelia was on her way to her uncertain future.
Author's note: So the dream has begun. What do you think about the princess's beast of a step-father? What do you think about Molly having her own laboratory?
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