12
She rose from bed and stood before the mirror, staring at her gaunt reflection for a long time.
‘I look just like that sewer rat from the stew.’
The thought drew a dry laugh from her lips. Just then, the maid assigned to assist with her morning toilet entered the room.
“You are up early. Come here. I will wash you.”
“I don’t need you.”
At the flat refusal, the maid’s sharp eyes narrowed in irritation.
Looking down at Talia with an arrogant sneer, she began to lecture her.
“Your Highness has a duty to maintain a flawless appearance at all times, in accordance with imperial protocol. Childish tantrums like this are—”
“Nanny!”
The maid flinched at the sharp cry and fell silent. Talia pushed past her and began violently tugging the bell beside her bed.
“Nanny! Nanny!”
The nanny, who had been sleeping in late next door, burst through the entrance in a flustered hurry.
Talia pointed at her, her chin lifted high.
“From now on, my nanny will tend to my morning toilet. My mother gave her permission yesterday. You may leave.”
“But…”
“Are you defying the Empress’s command?”
When Talia snapped at her, the maid eyed her with lingering suspicion before finally turning away. It seemed she had no interest in forcing the issue if it meant getting into a physical scuffle.
Talia turned on her nanny, who was still rubbing her puffy, half-shut eyes, and shouted fiercely.
“Did you hear that? From now on, washing and dressing me is entirely your responsibility. Keep your wits about you and do your job.”
“Understood, Miss…”
The nanny answered with a cavernous yawn.
Talia raised her hand and struck the woman across her fleshy cheek. Stunned by the sudden slap, the nanny stared back with wide, frightened eyes.
Talia mimicked the cold fury her mother wore whenever her rage peaked.
“How many times must I tell you to address me as ‘Your Highness’ before it sticks in your thick head?”
The nanny’s brown eyes bulged.
Talia looked straight into them, spitting out every syllable.
“From now on, every time ‘Miss’ leaves your mouth, you will take a slap across the face.”
She then drove the dazed nanny to begin her dressing.
The woman was clumsy, and several hours passed before she finished. Having barely eaten for weeks, Talia felt on the verge of collapsing at any moment, but she walked out into the corridor with her spine held rigidly straight.
A somber-faced man dressed entirely in black stood waiting in the hallway. Talia stiffened for an instant, taken aback by the stranger guarding her door, but she soon recalled her mother’s words. It seemed this ghost of a man was the ‘useful guard.’
She gave him a brief nod to follow and made her way toward the dining hall. Several servants cast resentful glances in her direction, as if aggrieved at having waited so long for her to appear.
Ignoring their stares, Talia took her seat at the head of the long dining table. She jerked her chin toward them with deliberate haughtiness.
“Bring the food.”
Despite the order, the servants lingered with blank, indolent faces before finally bringing out platters laden with food.
A maid in her mid-thirties directed the service. Under her eye, the servants laid down the silver plates in turn, and at last, a bowl of soup was set before Talia.
Talia stared down into the bowl. Pale broth, thick with beans and chunks of meat. It looked fine on the surface, but she knew the depths would hold something else entirely.
Taking up her spoon, she stirred the rich liquid beneath its layer of cream. She dragged the spoon along the bottom and lifted it. A sparrow with a broken neck emerged.
It had clearly been dead long before it touched the broth; thread-thin maggots writhed in the bird’s rotting eye sockets.
Her stomach heaved, threatening to purge right there. Forcing down the revulsion, Talia masked every tremor and snapped at the maid who had served the bowl.
“You. Come here and sit down.”
Startled by the abrupt command, the woman cast a guarded look at Talia.
After a tense pause, she replied stiffly.
“Forgive me, Your Highness, but I have work to attend to.”
With that, she turned to leave the dining hall.
Normally, this woman would linger nearby after serving, watching in secret amusement to savor Talia’s despair. Her sudden haste to leave only proved she knew full well what lay inside the bowl.
Talia vaulted from her seat and seized the brass pitcher from the table. With all the strength in her body, she brought it down on the head of the maid who had dared defy an Imperial Princess and turn her back.
Though struck by a scrawny child, the heavy metal landed with brutal force.
With a sharp scream, the maid crumpled onto the carpet.
Not only the fallen maid, but all ten servants in the dining hall froze as if turned to stone. Several maids gasped and clutched their mouths.
Talia gave their horrified stares no heed. She gestured toward the man standing like a shadow in the corner.
“Put this woman in the chair beside me. Right now.”
The man, who had been silently watching her, strode forward and hauled the dazed woman to her feet.
She began to flail frantically as her senses returned, but she stood no chance against the grip of a trained guard. Dragged across the floor, the maid was forced down into the chair beside the table.
Talia resumed her seat and stared at the woman. The pitcher’s spout had gouged her scalp; dark red blood trailed down her temple, leaving two thick streaks across her blanched cheek.
Unmoved by the gore, Talia shoved the bowl containing the dead bird directly in front of her. The woman’s wild eyes dropped to the soup, then darted back to Talia in sheer panic.
Talia forced a spoon into the maid’s clammy, trembling fingers.
“In thanks for all your hard work preparing my meals each day, I’ve decided to share today’s portion with you. In return for my generosity, you will finish every drop.”
“Y-Your Highness, I…”
“Eat.”
Talia dragged the maid’s frozen hand over the bowl.
“You brought this for me to eat. Is there any reason you cannot eat it yourself?”
“I… I only…”
The woman’s lips shook violently as she searched the room for help. But the other servants remained rooted in shock, paralyzed by the sight.
Talia’s voice rang out like a whip.
“Eat it now!”
The maid flinched violently and shoved Talia’s hand away. She tried to bolt from the chair, but the guard behind her pinned her down with unrelenting force.
Glancing in terror between the man’s bleak expression and Talia’s cold gaze, the woman burst into frantic tears.
“I… I was wrong… It won’t happen again, I swear it. Please, just this once, forgive me…”
“If you don’t empty that bowl, you won’t walk out of this room on your own two feet.”
The maid drained of all color. Her eyes flickered down to the hip of the man holding her down. She could see the hilt of the sword sheathed at his side.
Gasping for breath, she sobbed desperately.
“Please, have mercy…!”
“I am showing you mercy right now,” Talia said, her voice eerily calm.
“I could kill you where you sit. Instead, I am offering you a chance to live, am I not?”
The maid began to shake uncontrollably.
Talia shoved the bowl with the rotting carcass right beneath the woman’s nose.
“If you understand, shove every bite down your throat.”
END