Queen Ainsley

Faith was unused to a conversation such as the one Ainsley was having with her.  Being asked about her needs, told not to apologize - she was certain that virtually all of what she’d said over the last two years was nothing but apologies, directed at the man who’d owned her body.  “As you say, your majesty, thank you,” she murmured.  The tight grip on her knees made her wince just slightly, but it wasn’t so bad.

Ainsley’s finger was soft, and her hand smelled of something flowery as she tilted Faith’s chin upward.  The idea of looking right at the person she was meant to be serving was subtly terrifying, but if it was Ainsley’s wish then what more could she do?  “My arm,” she admitted softly.  Tears stung the backs of her eyes, mostly prompted by the tenderness that the Queen was showing her.  “When it was bound, they…it doesn’t bend that way anymore, not without a lot of pain.  I don’t think the guard much cared about that.”

Keeping their gazes locked Ainsley nodded in understanding. “I will bring you to the Court Physician after dinner. Thank you for your honesty Faith.” she said softly, pulling away from the girl she scooted her chair back a little to give Faith the room she needed to hop down from the table.

Faith didn’t move or squirm away as she was inspected, not wanting to disturb Ainsley in any way.  She’d long ago given up any pretence that her body was her own, or that other people didn’t have the right to do with it whatever they wished.  The delicate touch against her knees quickened her breathing, just a little, but Faith quickly demanded her body get back to normal before she got herself in trouble.

“Minor things, your majesty, nothing that requires attention,” she cleared her throat.  “I don’t quite have full motion in my left arm - the doctor Prince Roan consulted said that it might come back some day, but not so far.  I can assure you that I’m able to carry out whatever you need of me, though, all the same.  And some scarring on my back where the Prince enjoyed whipping it.  I apologize for being so marked.”

Picking up on the quickened breath Ainsley smirked a little to herself though she made sure to listen intently, knowing that Faith was probably going to stay as soft spoken as she had been. Furrowing her brows as she listened she had to admit she was truly planning to give Prince Roan a visit of her own. 

Faith nodded her understanding, placing her arms behind her back and her head down as she waited for the Queen to finish whatever it was she might be doing.  Two years under Roan had taught her infinite patience, and she could have stood there all night long if she’d needed to.  She had, in fact, once spent a day kneeling in the kitchen because Roan had forgotten about her entirely.

Only when she heard Ainsley’s voice did she perk up, nodding.  “You’ve no need to apologize to me, your Majesty.”  She crossed the room in slow, quiet steps and took a seat where Ainsley had indicated, ankles demurely crossed and gaze just slightly averted from the Queen’s face.

Ainsley couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips once Faith was settled, the way she crossed her ankles, the way she so promptly listened. She now knew it was from years of being under someone else’s command, but there was something about her that was just so cute.

Reaching up she was slow with her movements, sliding her hands under the bottom of the girl’s dress and pushing the fabric up to expose her knees. Letting the dress settle on Faith’s thighs she took a moment to brush her thumbs against the girl’s knee caps, noticing that they were almost permanently bruised. 

Faith’s gaze never strayed from the floor, as she’d never been directed to look up.  But she did start, violently, at the criticism of Roan.  After two years of physical and mental conditioning to believe that his word was law and that any decision he made must be the correct one, to hear someone talk about him that way made her want to leap to his defense.  But the Queen was her concern now, not Roan, and if that was her opinion of him then Faith would have no choice but to share it.

Ainsley’s inspection was unnerving, but not unexpected.  She was property, after all, and the first thing one did with new property was look it over.  Faith knew she wasn’t much to look at, not any more, but she could only hope that the inspection wouldn’t reveal anything that upset the Queen.  When another set of footsteps joined them and Ainsley began giving orders, Faith’s brow furrowed.  None of this was going the way she’d expected it to, and it was making it even harder to find her footing in her new role.

Alice gently took her by the arm and Faith followed, led to a bath bigger than she’d ever seen.  The luxury of warm water, often denied her by Roan, felt indulgent and expensive as she sank into the vanilla-scented depths.  Still firmly of the understanding that she should only speak if spoken to, Faith followed each of Alice’s requests without question - leaning forward, back, tipping her head back to allow her hair to be cleaned and rinsed - and by the time she stepped out of the water she felt dangerously close to human.  It was a feeling that needed to be stamped out as quickly as possible, because she didn’t dare think of herself as anything but property.  It was all she was, and all she could aspire to be.

The gown was a marvel, all shimmering blue fabric with a corset bodice that was tightened until she felt like she might be turning blue - fortunately the weight she’d lost under Roan’s mercies (too fat had been a constant refrain) made it easy to achieve the tiny waist demanded by the garment.  Her hair was dried and expertly worked until it fell in waves upon her shoulders, and when Faith caught sight of her reflection her breath stuck in her throat.  It was the first time she’d looked like a princess since she’d been traded away.

Led into the dining room, Faith immediately felt uncomfortable.  When Roan had eaten she’d knelt on the floor at his table, served scraps if she was served at all.  But Queen Ainsley had already told her not to kneel, and in the gown she was wearing she didn’t risk it anyway for fear of causing damage.  So instead she used the rare sound of her voice to ask a timid question.  “Where would you like me, your majesty?”

Glancing up from inspecting a piece of parchment Ainsley let her gaze slowly travel over Faith. She looked a vision, much better than she had before, now it didn’t look as forced or fake. “One moment Faith,” she commented, turning her gaze back to the parchment, beckoning over one of her soldiers she shared a few words with him, instructing him that this plan would never work and he needed to revise it before it was brought to her again.

Faith kept her gaze directed downwards as the drama played out around her, but couldn’t help the way her eyes widened as her escort was talked down to.  More amazing than that, though, was the fact that he listened - no one had ever spoken to one of the guard that way before, and it made Faith wonder at the power and respect that Queen Ainsley commanded that she could do so.  And it was with no small amount of pleasure that she watched him kneel and clean his mess up off the floor, no matter how petty that pleasure might have been.  While she fully expected it to be dumped on her head afterward, Ainsley had seen that reaction coming as well it seemed and made sure that it wouldn’t happen.

Were she honest, Faith was already confused.  Roan had barely waited until her father was out of the room before hitting her the first time, and Queen Ainsley - whose reputation was widely known, even to the likes of her - had kept her from facing further abuse.  When she moved closer, though, drawing her dagger, Faith assumed that reality was about to sink in again in a serious way.

Instead she was surprised yet again.  The bonds fell from her hands and the cloth that had been cutting into her lips was taken away as well, and when she was ordered to stand she did so immediately, still averting her eyes from the Queen.  “Faith, your majesty,” her own voice sounded rusty from disuse to her ears.  “Is what I was named.  But of course I will answer to anything that may please you.  Prince Roan was partial to Stupid or Halfwit, usually with some other words that I won’t repeat in your majesty’s presence.”

There was no tone of complaint in her voice, or even bitterness.  Faith knew what her lot in life was meant to be after two years in Roan’s grasp, and she recited the litany of things she’d been called without comment or judgement.  After all, the dark Queen wasn’t interested in her problems.  Faith was there to serve, as she had served Roan, and was only concerned that she do the best job possible.  That was what kept her from being punished, and what kept her from being hurt.

And all she wanted, at least for as long as she could manage it, was not to be hurt.

As the girl spoke, it seemed like it was the first time she had in ages. Though as she continued, that fire inside of Ainsley just continued to grow. It was one thing to bargain a child as a trade off, it was an entirely different thing to have an already broken child be traded off from Kingdom to Kingdom, which had clearly been the case Ainsley connected as Faith continued to speak.

“I am not surprised Prince Roan would use those terms, considering he has the intelligence of a piece of hay.” she commented casually, absently crossing her arms over her chest as she slowly circled Faith, gazing her over and seeing that the girl was definitely worn out. Even with as done up as she was, the weight loss was obvious, the scars, the fact her body lacked any kind of muscle mass. Truly Ainsley had a lot of work to do with this one.

Gesturing to the handmaiden that was stood waiting off to the sidelines, Ainsley moved to take her position back in front of Faith as the older woman ushered over to the two of them. “Alice, take the girl to get cleaned up. I expect her to be properly bathed and changed into one of the gowns we had made for her. Once she is ready bring her to the dining hall for dinner.”

“Yes My Lady, any other requests?”

“Use the vanilla oils in the bath. I do not want even the slightest trace of that despicable kingdom on her.”

With a respectful bow Alice was quick but gentle to lead Faith away, escorting her to get cleaned up and keeping watch over the entire situation.

Faith had been a princess once.  She’d been beautiful, once.  Part of her would always feel like that part of her life should have meant something.  After all, Princesses were the ones people wrote stories about.  Fairy tales, where they had magic and lived happily ever after.  But the truth was, any chance of her life being a fairy tale had ended on her sixteenth birthday.  Her father, King Titus of Azgeda, had given her over to his brother Roan in payment of…some debt that she’d never really had explained to her.  After all, she was property to be traded and property didn’t need to understand why.

And Roan had broken her.  In every way that she’d imagined a human being could be broken, and in ways that she’d never dreamed existed before that moment.  For two long, unending years she’d been beaten and abused for every petty violation of Roan’s equally petty rules and guidelines - and also simply when he felt like it would be amusing to hurt her.  Which also happened often.  Over time Faith became a patchwork collection of scars, both inside and out, and she all but felt the beauty people had once seen in her wither up and die like a flower left too long without water.  When she was collected by two of her father’s guards shortly after she turned eighteen, the shell of a girl that they carried through the hall and into a waiting caravan bore little resemblance to the beautiful young woman she’d once been.  In her place was a servant, who’d abandoned her own dreams and her own life to serve the will and whims of another.

She was cleaned up as best she could be, dressed in pastel colored finery that felt foreign after two years of rags, and even her hair - dark brown, gone flat and lifeless during her captivity - was done up into something resembling a proper style.  She was roughly gagged with a piece of cloth, hands bound behind her, and marched into an unfamiliar palace with smartly dressed guards who looked at her with eager grins.  Bringing her before the throne they kicked her leg out from under her, leaving her no choice but to kneel.  “Stay on your knees, whelp,” the guard instructed.  This part, though, Faith could do.  Head down, gaze directed at the floor, offering nothing but subservience.  She’d had more than enough practice.

“Queen Ainsley,” one of the guards announced.  “Your delivery from King Titus has arrived.  I apologize for the state of her, but there’s very little that one can do to clean up such a sad specimen.  I fear that her father might have been less than honest when he promised you a Princess - this girl is no Princess.  Barely passable as a servant.”  He spat at her feet and Faith flinched for the first time, hoping that her transgression could be forgiven.

Queen Ainsley was a woman who was feared by many. Not simply because she ran her kingdom with an iron fist to ensure she’d keep the respect of her people. Or that she had won more battles than most of the current Kings combined. No, it wasn’t her will or strength, it was the rumours that swirled on people’s tongues at the mention of her name. Rumours that she was a witch. Rumours that she could bring entire Kingdom’s to their knees with the flick of her wrist, or that she could bat her eyes and dry up entire crops. Those were the reasons she was feared across all of the land.

Though Ainsley knew they all tensed at the very thought of her because of one simple fact. That she was a woman.

Being that she had held her thrown for years, even being only in her twenties herself. It was no surprise when word of King Titus threatening her lands had reached her ears once more. He clearly hadn’t learnt the first time she had bested him. Naturally she’d sent a raven as a warning call, and a day later some of her finest soldiers were ready to march on Azgeda. It was only a mere day later that she was receiving word of the King wanting to have a meeting with her, that they could come to some sort of agreement.

In other words, he knew she’d crush him and this was his time to beg for mercy.

If she didn’t already despise the man before, what made her hate him even more was the fact not only did he offer up gold, horses, weapons, all things she had the best of already, but he offered up his daughter as a bargaining chip. 

Truly a despicable man.

But she’d accepted, if nothing else than to watch him squirm. Besides this trade off only meant she wouldn’t attack this time, not that Azgeda would have her protection for the future.

Upon announcement of her newest guest Ainsley sat up a bit straighter on her throne, eyes narrowing as she took in the appearance of the girl. This girl looked more like she was plucked out of the nearest brothel than from a throne room. Was she surprised? No. It was King Titus after all.

Raising her hand to indicate the guard should stop talking, she glanced the girl over before her gaze narrowed on the guard. Standing from her throne she arched an expectant brow at him. “I trust you have a piece of cloth within that armour, do you not?”

“Your Majesty?” 

“And with that cloth you can get down on the ground and clean the mess you made on my floor. I do not care who you think you are. You are in my Kingdom, and you will not show that kind of disrespect here. Understood?”

Everything around them seemed to stop as the guard grew flustered, then angry and when he was about to pipe up once more, the quick notice of The Queen’s guard ready and willing to take him out was enough to shut him up and have him down on the ground, wiping the spit.

“If you even think about bringing that cloth anywhere near the Princess, I will have your head. You two are dismissed, get out. Now.” 

Waiting until they had left, mumbling the whole way Ainsley soon turned her gaze down to the girl, still kneeling on the floor.

Pulling her dagger out of her belt she knelt down to cut the rope tying the girl’s hand and removed the piece of fabric from her mouth before stepping back to stand in front of her once more.