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Rifana didn't register falling asleep again, but when she woke up the warmth was gone and she could feel someone looking at her intently. Opening her eyes was difficult, her eyelids almost stuck together with grit, but she finally managed it. Turning her head Rifana got a look at her new cellmate.
The woman was a human, tall and beautiful, even with her red hair in a messy tangle and dressed only in frayed looking linen chest bindings and underpants. Her green eyes widened slightly as she noticed Rifana's gaze.
"Ah, so you're awake. About time. I wasted more than an hour last night getting some food down your useless gullet."
At these words Rifana's heart plummeted. Clearly, her initial hope was premature. Whoever this woman was, she didn't appear to be very friendly. Although, if she spent her time and effort feeding Rifana, could she be that bad? She decided to try being courteous.
"Um, thank you, Miss, for your help. You probably saved my life."
To be fair, Rifana still felt half-dead. Her head was all foggy, her mouth tasted like dirt and she desperately wanted to drink. The wounds on her back hurt pretty badly and the rest of her skin felt sticky and gross. Also, she needed to pee. But all the same, she was still alive, and that was something.
The woman appeared surprised for some reason, as if she never expected gratitude. She recovered quickly though and her face took on a haughty expression again.
"Yes, I did. Save your life that is. You owe me, so don't make any trouble, get it? Also, my name is Princess Malty S Melromarc and you shouldn't just call me Miss! Didn't they teach you anything in that village of yours?"
Rifana blinked several times. Maybe she was dreaming. Or, more likely, this woman was mad. She'd sooner expect the Shield Hero to appear in her cell than the First Princess. It was simply absurd. But even if her new companion was crazy, it was better to go along with it.
"Of course, Your Highness! I'm sorry."
The woman nodded and bent down, picking up a cup. She took a drink from it and looked back at Rifana.
"What? You want a drink, come get it yourself. Now that you are awake, I'm not playing your maid again."
Rifana squirmed a little, wincing at the growing pain and a tearing sensation from her back. Apparently, the blood from the last lashing stuck to her shirt while she had been unconscious. But that wasn't the main problem. Despite being awake, she was as weak as a newborn. No way was she getting up. And if she could last a few more minutes without water, probably, the need to go was overwhelming. She groaned in frustration after a minute of trying to get up with no success. Her eyes filled with tears against her will. If only Raphtalia was there, it wouldn't have been so humiliating.
"What the hell are you doing?" The woman at last appeared to take notice that something was wrong.
"I c-can't. I can't get up. I'm sorry, I just can't." Rifana tried with all her strength not to cry, but a couple of tears still escaped.
"So what? It's not my problem. You'll have to get up eventually. When you really want to drink or eat, I suppose." The woman shrugged.
"But I have to go, now! Please."
"Go where? We are stuck in a cell, or did you forget? Is your brain addled somehow?" The probably crazy redhead wasn't getting it.
"Pee! I need to pee! Please, I can't hold it much longer!"
Now the woman appeared alarmed.
"Wait, you can't do that! That's the only place to sleep! You smell like piss already, you dirty little beast! Don't make it worse!"
At this Rifana finally broke down and started sobbing. In the back of her mind, she wondered at the amount of water her body could still produce.
"Shit!" The redhead put down her cup and looked around as if searching for someone else who could deal with the problem. But obviously no one but them was there. "Alright, fine. I'll help you, but you better hold it until then!"
Rifana nodded, her sobs subsiding. The woman stepped closer and got on her knees, wincing and rolling her eyes. Close up, she did look like a noble, with her pale, undamaged skin and high cheekbones. Unceremoniously, the redhead threw away Rifana's blanket, raised her ragged dress and pulled down her underpants, slapping away her hands which automatically tried to protect her modesty.
"Stop it, you fool! Do you want to soil yourself more than you already did? Don't move or I'll shove your head into the privy!"
Groaning with effort, the woman picked now unresistant Rifana up and awkwardly maneuvered her to hover over the hole in the corner which served as the cell's chamber pot. It was small enough that Rifana's head probably wouldn't even fit there, but deep enough to not overfill even after a long use. Thankfully, her new cellmate wasn't cruel enough to drop Rifana to sit on the dirty floor, so she tried to be as quick as possible.
Still, the redhead's expression appeared to be somewhere between anger and disgust as she put Rifana back onto the straw and pulled her underpants back up. The weasel girl couldn't think of anything better but continue to be polite.
"Thank you, Miss, I mean, Your Highness."
"Ugh! You better get stronger and fast! I haven't done anything as disgusting in my life! If I didn't have to spend the next few days in such a close quarters with you..."
"Next few days? What do you mean?" It sounded as if the self-proclaimed princess didn't expect to be there much longer.
"None of your business, girl!"
Rifana decided to let it go for now. Her eyes were closing anyway. It seemed as if her body woke her up for one specific need and even her thirst and hunger weren't enough to continue staying alert. She was just too weak.
"Hey! You, Rifana!"
The rough hands shook her awake. But the sound of her name from the stranger's lips had probably more effect.
"How... how do you know my name?"
"Your stupid friend in the other cell, Keen or something. Now get up..."
"Keel! Keel, are you there?!" The worry for her friend helped to clear her head a little.
"Rifana! You're awake!"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine!" As if to contradict her words, she started coughing. The movement pulled on her wounds again and for the next few moments she just laid there, panting, most of her newfound strength lost.
"Shut up, both of you!"
Suddenly, she felt the woman's hands under her again. Rifana's upper half was raised and made to lean onto the redhead's shoulder. A cup was pressed against her lips and she found the energy to swallow sip after sip of water. It felt heavenly on her dry tongue and soothed her throat a little. She still kept coughing from time to time, but most of the water found its way into her stomach. Exhausted even from this little effort, Rifana dropped her head to lie on the redhead's shoulder, but was soon showed back onto the straw none too gently.
Not having the strength to be bothered, she soon fell asleep.
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Surprisingly, she woke up next time in a few hours, at the feeling of slimy porridge being shoved into her mouth by dirty fingers. The stranger was holding her again and Rifana simply proceeded to chew and swallow without any protest. After finishing the bowl, she was dropped down again.
Over the next few days things went on in much the same way. Eventually, Rifana got enough of her strength back that she could move around on her own. They still shared the straw and the blanket in the night, as that was the only way to keep warm. Rifana's coughing was still frequent enough and strong enough to be worried, but it didn't appear to be getting any worse.
She and the woman calling herself Malty barely talked. The redhead spent more time talking to the guards, trying to threaten, convince or bribe them to help her escape or at least send a message to the king, whom she believed to be her father. It was futile, as none of the men showed any fear at her threats or any interest in her bribes, not even the promises of indecent kind which made Rifana blush.
In fact, the guards refused to even bring a second blanket, more straw or a bucket of water for bathing, all of which 'Malty' practically begged for by the second day. The woman's anger at this kind of treatment usually manifested in nasty insults thrown Rifana's way. Thankfully, there were no physical assaults, although any time she needed to help Rifana with something, her hands were rough and uncaring.
Rifana's only outlet was Keel, though they didn't talk much both for the need to save their strength and not attract attention of the guards who could very well report to lord Rabier about the prisoners being too rowdy.
That's how Rifana and 'Malty' met their fourth or fifth morning together, waking up pressed against each other and hardly even bothered by the way they both smelled (yes, by now the redhead was hardly cleaner than Rifana herself). Thankfully, Rifana's wounds kept healing little by little. Maybe it was true that demi-humans were physically more resilient than humans and could survive worse things.
They just finished their meager breakfast and Rifana laid back down to nap (what else was there to do?) when suddenly, a hand was pressed over her lips and a voice hissed into her ear.
"Stay quiet and pretend to be asleep, you got me?"
Rifana nodded silently. In the next moment the woman was gone from her side and she heard heavy footsteps getting closer.
"Ah, princess Malty! How do you find your accommodations?" It was HIM, no doubt about that. Their tormentor, lord Rabier. Wait, princess Malty? Was the woman actually the princess?
"Rabier, you...!" The princess appeared to catch herself and continued in a calmer voice, "What do you expect me to say? You put me into a dirty cell with a dying diseased demi and no proper food or even a bed."
"Oh, are the living conditions not to your liking? Well, you shouldn't have gone around being dressed as a peasant and slapping people unprovoked, now should you? Not to mention, threatening them afterwards!"
Princess Malty shifted. For a moment she appeared to be at a loss for words. Was that the reason lord Rabier captured her? It sounded so silly, but at least it was an actual reason. Not like Rifana and her friends, who were captured simply for being demi-human and for their village being destroyed. In a way, what happened to the princess was more fair, even if excessive on the lord's part.
"I... I may have made a mistake. Listen, Rabier, how about we forget this whole thing? You just let me go, give me some escort to the capital and I will not mention anything to my father."
"If only I could believe you. See, I may not have been at court that much for the last few years, not being your mother's favorite, but I still have my sources. I know your measure, girl, and you are a born liar. A liar, a cheat and all around useless, lazy excuse for a princess. I don't agree with Mirellia on much, but I definitely agree about you. You have no place being an heir to anything, much less our glorious country."
"How dare you?! You have no idea! Do you know how many plans you ruined by abducting me? The Church..."
"Oh, right, the Church of Three Heroes. That's part of the reason I'm here. See, they already approached me about you. I'm the staunchest believer in the one true Faith, and unlike you, I actually have some influence. New plans are being made as we speak and I must depart again soon."
"Wait, wait, you can't leave me here! Whatever plans you have, you need me! Who else is it going to be? My sister?"
"There's no need to tell you anything else. Truthfully, I didn't need to be here at all, but I wanted to see if you'd have anything important to say. Apparently not."
Rifana could hear the lord moving away. Then he stopped and seemed to be talking quietly to someone. The weasel girl's ears were good enough to decipher his words.
"Make sure she bleeds, but don't kill her. The particulars are up to you."
She could hear two people approaching. Princess Malty suddenly cried out and a familiar sound of jingling chains filled the cell. Rifana tried to squeeze herself into a smaller space and become as invisible as possible.
"Stop! Don't touch me! Don't you dare!" There were sounds of struggle behind her, and Rifana tried her best not to react. Princess Malty wasn't her friend, she hadn't been even remotely friendly and even if she was, what could Rifana do? She was still weak and just a level 1. Next words out of the woman's lips proved her right.
"The girl! Take the girl! She's just pretending to be asleep, I swear!" The guards seemed to ignore that too, and nobody went to check on Rifana. Soon the princess was put in chains and apparently gagged. Then a sound of cloth being teared could be heard and a rustle of leather. The weasel girl remembered that her cellmate had a leather vest which she didn't bother putting on for the last few days.
"Put this on her. Leather will work better," were the only words uttered by one of the guards. Rifana remembered this voice, it was the dark, scary one. He didn't usually go down to the cells, so whatever was happening must have been pretty important.
"You, come here!"
A softer steps approached the cell. Rifana sniffed quietly. Even through the usual stink of this place, she could smell the newcomer, and he wasn't human. Who could it be?
"Take this. You know what to do. I'll tell you when to stop."
"Yes, Master." The voice was positively filled with hate. Then she could hear sizzling and a deep groan of pain.
"Drop the attitude. If you haven't noticed, this is princess Malty of Melromarc. Do you know who her father is? Good. Now get your revenge and be quick about it. We have a lot to do."
The chains clanged again as the princess tried to move away and then the unmistakable whistling sounded followed by a crack and a muffled scream. Her cellmate was being whipped by someone who was likely a demi-human slave. Why, she had no idea. Rifana's eyes filled with tears against her will. Even if she didn't like princess Malty, it was still horrible to hear. It brought back too many memories of her and Raphtalia suffering at the hands of lord Rabier. But there was nothing she could do.
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