Punishment
Me and Mill were left alone for almost 3 full days after that, no one came to feed us or torture us at all. We had a bit of water we shared between us, but it went quickly, and our throats dried out to the point of being unable to speak. I was terrified the whole time that the prince would burst through the door with a weapon to kill both me and Mill, but he never came.
On the third day, the guard came in with a bucket of water and let me and Mill drink some each. It was rain water and a bit brackish, but we drank like it was sweet wine. She left without speaking, but gave us both almost pitying looks as she left.
The day after, the door opened again, and the prince himself stepped in. Not with a weapon, not angry, but cold and quiet. He held a small package in one hand, and his eye was covered with a red and gold eyepatch that wrapped over his forehead. The guard stepped in behind him, but did not close the door. The prince walked over to the cell and crouched down, his emotionless blue eye beaming into me like a hot coal.
"Well, I suppose you got farther than most. And you certainly did more damage than anyone else. I'm quite annoyed at that, as you can imagine. I had wanted to venture into true immortality with my body intact, but it seems that was not to be. Unless your worms can heal pre-existing wounds, that is. I will still be extracting them and using them, you still have value to me. If you didn't, I would grind you to a paste and use you to fuel my youth machine, but I shall have to content myself with torturing you until I can get the worms into my body. As for your friend here, Sister Millicent, her punishment will be much more intimate, and she most likely will not survive the ordeal. But you were warned, and actions have consequences."
He held up the package and unwrapped it with one hand. It was a cylindrical object made of shiny, reflective metal, about the length of a man's hand. It was covered with downward pointing hooks, small spikes, and what looked to be knife blades at random places. I gasped and shuddered, unable to even think of what such a horrific item could be used for. Mill seemed to know what it was at once, and in a show of terror I'd never expected to see from her, began screaming and thrashing, jerking on her chains so hard they cut into her hands, blood dripping onto the floor under her.
The prince smiled cruelly, his first show of emotion since he walked in, and nodded at the guard, who entered and began to restrain Mill.
"She understands, she knows the consequences of her actions. This will be quite enjoyable for me, and if you're lucky, the whole experience will tire me out, and I won't have energy for you tonight. Then again, maybe not, I'm still quite the strapping lad for my age if I do say so myself."
He seemed in almost high spirits now, twirling the sharp object in his hands, that cold cruel smile on his face. He kissed the tip of the object and waved it in Mill's face. She screamed again, muffled by the guard's hand, and thrashed against the thick arms holding her still. As she was unchained and drug over to the stairs, the prince skipped over to the door and swung it open for the guard.
"This way, this way! I'm ready to go, don't keep me waiting!" He chirped
I was crying again, thinking of how that tool could be used to hurt Mill, and not liking anything my mind thought up. I called out her name, but I all I got back were terrified screams as the door slammed, and the lights went out, leaving me in half-darkness. I waited for hours, crying and pulling at my chains. My stomach churned at the thoughts of what they could be doing to her, and the overwhelming feeling that it was all my fault she was in pain wracked my body with shakes of horror. My arms dripped with blood as the chains dug into them, I half thought that if I could manage to pull hard enough I could pull my whole hands off, and get free again, but either my body was stronger than I thought or I was weaker than I thought, because no matter how hard I pulled, I couldn't get the metal to cut deep enough to let me pull my arm off.
After an eternity of waiting, the lights flared back on, and my head snapped up to the door, my breath caught in my throat. It swung open, and the guard stepped through, holding Mill under her arms. She wasn't moving, she had blood all over her face, her habit was completely gone, leaving her in very torn and bloodied underthings, and her legs were slick and bloody with wet, fresh black looking blood. I shrieked and pulled on my chains, calling her name, but she didn't budge. The guard stepped inside the cell and hung her from her arms, and for the first time, I noticed the guard looked uncomfortable, and had a look on her face of someone who is holding back vomit.
"The prince wanted me to tell you she's alive, and that she put up such a good fight, that he'll leave you be until the morning." She choked out
"What did he do to her? Where is all the blood coming from?!" I barked, surprising myself with the ferocity of my tone. The guard looked at me, surprised, then looked me up and down, and slumped.
"Just... don't think about it. I'm sure you'll... find out first hand soon enough anyway." She shook her head and looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time, and sighed. She closed the cell door, and went back upstairs, not looking back at us once. She did not dim the lights.
I looked at Mill, the blood was dripping onto the floor under her, and the blood running all down her legs seemed fresh. Her bloomers were far too bloody to see where she was wounded, but it didn't seem to be slowing down. I called her name, but she still didn't budge an inch. It was most likely for the best, she would most likely be in horrible pain when she awoke next. I hung back against the wall, her presence doing nothing to help the horrible feeling in my stomach, and I waited for her to awaken.
~
The door opened again before she stirred, and the prince strode in looking very pleased with himself. He opened the cell, and patted Mill on the head. She moaned, but didn't move. He looked over at me and smiled.
"Well, she survived! I was quite surprised, I didn't expect that! Of course, she won't last, but she's alive for now. I imagine she'll go septic and die in a few days though, no matter! Anyway, did you enjoy your nice rest? Because today we're doing some thing special! No notebooks, no studying, none of that, just me, you, and anything I want to do to you! No science involved, how does that sound?"
He looked at me expectantly, and I realized he was waiting on me to speak. I swallowed roughly, and met his eyes.
"I-I don't mind, just please help Mill, I don't want her to die, please, I don't mind whatever you do, I won't try to escape again, please get her medicine..."
His smile grew bigger and he leaned in so his nose was almost touching mine and in a calm, even tone, said
"No."
He grabbed my throat, and unhooked my chains with his other hand, and drug me over to the table again. That day, I experienced a new, worse type of pain than I have ever felt in my life over and over again. My eyes were burned out with hot pokers, all of my teeth shattered with metal grips, my hair and skin set alight, my organs punctured again and again with a knife coated in acid, it was a blur of horror, but none of it came close to touching the horrid feeling still in the pit of my stomach.
Mill didn't budge as far as I could tell, and even after I lost my eyesight, I listened as hard as I could, but couldn't hear any movement from the cell.
After hours of torture, the prince seemed to get bored, and locked me back up. I couldn't see, and my whole body was throbbing from the burns, but I stayed still and waited for the door to close. After a few minutes, I heard her voice. Whispery, ragged, but still her voice.
"Well, y' look abou' as effed up as I feel, y' ok?"
I nod quickly, then wince as the pain shoots through my teeth, the new, sharp ones still growing in.
"I-I can't see you Mill... He took my eyes... What happened?"
She snorted
"I kin tell, yer eyes 'r pink as the rest 'o ye. I got hurt, tha's all ye need t' know."
I start to cry
"I'm sorry Mill, I am so sorry, I just couldn't stand, and I couldn't see, and-"
"HEY. Hush up ye', It's not yer faul', it's th' best chance we got, an' we got as far as we could. Ye gots ta relax, yer ok. Well, ye will be, once ye heal up."
"But YOU aren't ok! He did something to your legs, and he said you're dying!"
"My legs?... Hm. Well, ifn' 'e said ahm dyin' then ah guess ahm dyin'. At least I'm a sister, now I'll be able ta watch ye when I go, meybe do something a bit ta help out, right?"
My vision was starting to come back, but everything was mostly a pink haze. I blink a few times, and my tears seem to help clear my eyes enough to see a vague shape of Mill across from me.
"But I don't want you to die, I need you! You're the best part of my life, and I need you in it to make it worth living!"
She was quiet for a minute, then she coughed and sighed.
"Well, ifn' that's the case, I'll try 'n hold on, k?"
I nod, slowly this time, but still firmly. She thought for a minute, then continued
"I don' really think ah got long fer the world though, ahm tryin' ta be brave, but ah lost... so much blood, ahm so dizzy ah don' think ah could stand ifn ye propped me up..."
"No, don't say that, you'll get your strength back, you'll see!"
She looked up at me and I could barely see her give a pained smile to me through the pink haze.
"Listen, ifn I don' wake back up, ah want ye ta know ah got ye, now an' forever, in th' next life, and beyond. Ye got that?"
I started crying harder at that and shouted at her
"What happened to trying to hold on!?"
She shook her head
"Ah kin try, all ah kin do is try, but, ah kin barely see ye, and my eyes are fine, so... jes' want ye ta let me know, ye got that?"
"I-... I got that, I know you're there for me, I've always known, I know, I do know, I am there for you too, I just- I want you to be with me, not just there for me..."
"Aye, ah'll stick ta ye as much as ah kin, but fer now, kin ye sing for me? A church song, ah know ye know at least one, ah took ye to enough services..."
I nod and swallow hard, clearing my mouth of the blood and grit of broken teeth and open my mouth to sing, but nothing comes to mind. I sit there, frozen, trying to thing of something to sing, when Mill's ragged, tired voice starts up instead
The gods protect ye
The gods will guide ye
As ye find yer way to heav'n
They bring ye closer
To th' safety
Of their protection
I recognized the song, and joined in, my voice carrying out through the cell as we sang. After a few verses, I noticed that my voice was the only one still singing, but I kept going, singing Mill to sleep for hours after she had stopped responding. I told myself if she could get a good enough sleep, and if the gods heard the songs I was singing with all my soul, she would be able to heal, that the gods would fix her wounds and we could be together again. By the morning though, I had stopped singing and let myself hang limply, numb to the world. There was no point to trying anymore, she had tried her best, but she still left me alone in the end.