This chapter has TW for mentions of rape, read at own risk.
After the announcement one of two things happened. Firstly, the castle shut down, heightening their security. They had lost the princess once and they would not lose her again. Two Hugo's parents had charged through the castle, demanding to see their son. Roland however had not let them which ha incited their fury. That fury was quelled however when Roland took them aside and explained. He explained that the two of them had been rushed to the infirmary and were unconscious. The best doctors and nurses in the land were currently operating on them but it did not look good. Roland explained that he had only had a glimpse at them, but they were littered with scars and bruises and looked severely under fed. They began to relent in their fury after being told that.
Miranda had appeared in the waiting room at some point and had yet to speak, this was monumental. Yes, whilst James and Amber were her children, she had not carried them. Not that, that made much of difference but just as Amber and James held a different place in Roland's heart from Sofia. They also held a different place in the queen's heart. If Sofia died the queen would go with her.
Cedric had appeared and had marched straight into the surgical room to help; he was not a surgeon. His sorcery though could perhaps help. Bailywick was handing everyone refreshments and trying to lighten the mood. It was hard though, Bailywick loved Sofia like his own.
The twins were sat in a corner, not speaking. Whilst everyone would lose a daughter and or friend if Sofia died they would lose so much more. Sofia came tumbling into their lives when they needed her most. She taught them that kindness and strength could be the same thing. She taught them that helping their people is what royalty should do, regardless of what help is needed. She taught them about adventure and dreams, dreams beyond being a prince and princess. Most importantly she taught them about love and laughter. The pair of them loved their father but he was so busy being king that the castle could sometimes feel lonely. Sofia brought a spark to the castle that literally set fire to their lives.
They all waited in the waiting room for thirteen hours. On the fourteenth hour they grew impatient and on the sixteenth the surgeon entered. Roland got to him before anyone else could.
"Are they okay?" he asked. The surgeon sighed.
"Is there some place private we can talk your majesty. Some of what I'm about to tell you may be very sensitive and you may not want others to know." Roland looked around the room and then back to the surgeon.
"It's okay, I trust these people!" he said softly. The surgeon nodded.
"They are both still alive. Both the prince and princess are covered in many scars that will take time to heal. Some scars look fairly old however some scars look new, as in less than a week old. They are both severely malnourished, Hugo has a broken leg, his muscles have weakened to the point that his body has been in effect eating itself. His ear drum has burst meaning he has lost hearing in one of his ears and he seems to have suffered some form of drowning as his lungs were filling with water." He then paused before turning to the queen.
"Sofia has sustained the same injuries, minus the hearing loss. Her foot is severely infected and after performing a test on them both we found that there is severe trauma to Sofia's pelvic and vaginal area. This means that she has been sexually assaulted at some point. By the severity of the trauma we do not think it was a one-off occurrence. When we examined Hugo, we found he had not been sexually assaulted and that he had not assaulted Sofia." Everyone paled at the list of extensive injuries. They had hoped that maybe the pair had run off together, but they knew that was a fool's dream. This though was much worse than they could have imagined. How could they still be alive after suffering so much?. Bailywick stepped forward
"And how do we proceed from here? Will they ever get better?" he asked. The surgeon sighed
"They will recover physically; it will take time however and for a long time they will be extremely weak. Mentally is a different battle, this is a traumatic event and by the looks of it, it was recurring over the time they were gone. They may never recover mentally. All I can suggest is being there for them, making them comfortable and working with them. Over time you may find that certain things will hurt more than help them. It is a process" the king thanked the surgeon who then left the royal family in silence.
They all stared at the ground thinking one thing, just how were they supposed to help the prince and princess?.