"Is this really necessary?" She asked as she lay on her back, staring up at the stone ceiling. The silence was deafening as the man pulled and stretched at the skin on her face. Only the sensation of his breath on her skin and the pressure of his tools kept her still.
"It is essential, milady. I must take measurements" Came the accented reply as the healer eventually pulled away. "Please do not move; I am almost finished."
She rolled her eyes as she remained still. She closed her eyes as she waited for the examination to be over. She felt something cold and sharp press against her skin, but she wasn't scared. It was yet another one of Zabini's infernal contraptions. This wasn't the first, nor would it be the last examination she would have to endure before her life was over. She felt another point at her neck and waited for his muttering to stop before she spoke again.
"I fail to see how this is relevant. It never changes. It hasn't changed since I was born. I will be marked until I die. Why do I have to be poked and prodded? It's demeaning."
"Pansy, dearest flower. Shut up and let the healer work."
"It is alright, your majesty, I am quite finished." The healer said finally as the sharp points lifted from her skin.
"What do your findings show?" The King asked from a chair to the side of the room. Zabini offered her his hand. She took it gently as he pulled her to a sitting position. She patted her dress down and replaced the veil that covered her except for her eyes.
She loved and loathed the veil in equal measure. The curtain allowed her to hide from the world and to have the privacy, but it hampered her view of the world and the material trapped in the air causing her space to become stiflingly hot. She crossed her hands onto her lap and waited to be excused from the room.
"Your findings, please?" The King asked again, more gently than Pansy expected. He wasn't typically so gentle with underlings. Worry must hold his tongue; she thought as her eyes passed over to him. Surely it wasn't for her wellbeing as much as it was for her value in the eyes of others. The sacred families in particular. Families whose wealth and power could make or break a monarchy. She realised she had missed part of the conversation. She looked to Zabini the mysterious healer.
"I will have to consult my charts, but I believe it has shifted, possibly even grown larger, without comparing it with older measurements I cannot be sure."
"Shifted? How?" The King demanded as he rushed to his feet.
"I believe it has migrated further down her neck, but as I said until I can consult my notes, I cannot say with any certainty."
"And did you hear my daughters claim? She is soon to be nineteen, and the mark hasn't moved any time previous, why now?"
Pansy looked at the healer; his dark skin glimmered in the light as he moved between his apparatus. He was younger than any of the advisors they'd had previously. But behind his dark eyes lay a wealth of intelligence and cunning. He was also more thorough than the other healers they had employed. She reasoned that, as none of the previous healers had taken these measurements then the mark may have indeed moved, but she didn't think that to be the case.
He seemed to consider the question deeply before speaking again. The air filled with a pregnant pause before he finally relented and answered.
"It could be many things. In my experience, I have come across similar marks which can roam the body with no real reason. Some people believe that the person's soul haunts the body of another, causing the discolouration. Sometimes the soul of a loved one not wanting to let go of their links to this world, others due to a violent act and this victims soul clings to the one who wronged them."
He paused for a moment as he glanced at the Princess again. "Obviously this doesn't fit the symptoms shown here. However, other stories state that once fate has marked you, a change in the mark can change to indicate a specific course of action. As though fate is steering."
The healer paused again as if deciding that what he had to say was important. "In my own country, there are tales of the first people back before Kingdoms and nations. The first people were complete, joined together as one being. These whole beings were a threat to the great gods who created them.
So in a vicious rage, the god tore them asunder, separating one half from the other. Once separate beings, they were no longer a threat, but the vengeful god remained unsatisfied. In a final act of spite, he whipped up the great storms and scattered them across the lands, cursing them to wander alone, looking for their counterpart for all eternity. The mark is believed to be evidence of the wound inflicted by the vengeful deity." The healer finished as he looked at Pansy.
"And you don't know which this could be?" The King asked sternly. "Or whether it is curable?"
Zabini's gaze lingered on her before turning back to the King. He shook his head.
"I cannot say with any certainty. I have some theories I would like to look into, which may help, but at the moment, I am unable to advise further." He said finally. There was another pregnant silence in the room that was only punctuated by the gentle patter of rain on the roof.
The King motioned for Pansy to stand, which she did without hesitation. She nodded her head to the healer as she followed her father out of the room.
"I wish to hear of any findings as soon as you discover them." The King said without turning.
"Yes, of course. My liege." Zabini nodded as he bowed slightly.
Pansy stepped through into the stairway and waited for their guards before she started to descend the stairs. She wanted to ask questions, but she knew better than to mention anything before the soldiers. Gossip could bring down a Kingdom. You didn't discuss private matters out in the open.
They were led toward her chamber and once alone inside, she turned to her father.
"What say you?" She asked as she removed her veil. She watched as her father cringed and averted his eyes from her. It brought her a perverse sense of joy to see him squirm. She spent so much time hiding her face and being told what to do; it made her happy knowing that she could disobey him in such a small way.
"Put the veil back on, child." He hissed as he raised his hand to ward her off. "What if someone was to see you?"
His reaction hurt more than she would let him see. She had remained the unseen Princess since her birth. Rumours of curses and abnormalities had spread throughout the Kingdom, meaning suitors were few and far between.
It was an awkward feeling to decipher. Pansy didn't care that suitors didn't come as she had no desire to be married, but she cared because it meant that no one cared enough about her to enquire.
She was a Princess, but she refused to be sold off like cattle. The suitors that came, only came to gawk and confirm the rumours but were immediately disappointed when they saw her veil. She felt so alone in the world, hiding from even her father, knowing that even her own kin believed her tainted in some way.
She was 'Touched'. It's what they called it. A witch had begged an audience days before her birth and had foretold of such a mark, a soulmark — a fate brand.
One who faces the reign
Marked by fate to be reclaimed
To be owned by marks of destiny granted
Linked to the heart of the earth.
The way the prophecy read made it sound like she was being sold into slavery; reclaimed by some ground goblin. A life of subservience was not something that Pansy was suited to - Mentions of ownership and reclaiming.
The witch had been fed and sent swiftly on her way; however, the woman's warning had fallen heavily on the King. Links to the heart of the earth – it only fed into his insecurities that the problems were due to her and her blemish; and unless someone claimed her, then the misfortune would continue.
He, as most of the Kingdom, believed that she was cursed to bring destruction. She could see the look of disgust and mistrust in his face when he looked at her. She left her veil off in rebellion. If she had to bear this mark, then he would have to see it.
She jutted out her chin in defiance as she stared him down "I ask again, what say you, father? Am I cursed to roam alone, or does fate steer me?" She stepped closer to him before she spoke again "Or perhaps I am the harbinger of misfortune and misery."
"Currently you are less harbinger than deliverer. I said to replace your veil daughter, do not defy me." She stood her ground for a moment longer before she did as she was bid. "I will leave you to your thoughts. I can see that this news has distressed you somewhat. Excitement may cause it to spread, so please calm yourself."
She rolled her eyes as he left the room. However, now that she was alone, the words of the healer returned. She walked to the window and sat at her favourite perch as she looked out to sea.
Was her counterpart wandering around in the world looking for her? Is that why she longed to sail away? Or was that as a result of being so protected and stifled? She couldn't be sure. And if it were her counterpart, would ownership be so terrible?
She leant against the wall as she looked down into the walls of the city. There was something different in the air tonight. Like something was coming, calling to her. She could feel it like a song in her head. She watched as the ships sailed in and out of the harbour and dreamt of being stowed away, bound for far off lands.
The thought that there could be someone out there waiting for her; Her spiritual equal and her opposite. She wasn't sure whether that was a more liberating or more stifling idea. The way that Zabini had phrased it certainly made it sound better than the cattle brand and spiritual ownership she felt the prophecy promised. Because of course if he owned her, then she would also own him, being his equal too.
Her thoughts turned to the enigmatic healer. Before his arrival less than a year ago, no one seemed to know anything about him. Some said they he had wandered the Orez desert looking for rare plants for his tinctured, whilst others said that he was a vagabond from
She turned from the window when the clouds threatened to gather. She hated the rain.