When I came too , my body felt numb. The floor was stained with dried blood and I was still in the room. I slowly look down at my stomach , hoping it was all a scary dream. My belly was now flat, filled with stitches. My hands trembled as I touch my belly. My ...my babies, it wasn't a dream. I couldn't even scream. It was like I was torn into a million pieces. I felt pain far worse than death, similar to what I felt when my family and village were massacred .
The younger guard entered the room cautiously, carrying a fresh bucket of water and clean bandages. His face paled when he saw Bella's condition - the blood-soaked floor, the empty medical tools still scattered across the table.
"Oh gods," he breathed, setting down his supplies. "I knew something was wrong when I heard you screaming like that." He approached the bed slowly, his usual professional distance replaced by genuine concern. "The physicians left hours ago. Said you were stable enough to recover on your own."
He knelt beside the bed and began cleaning some of the dried blood from Bella's stomach with gentle movements. "I brought some herbs that help with healing and reduce fever. The Physician orders, but I think it's more than that."
The older man's voice called from the hallway. "Is she awake? , the mistress, made it clear that she is not longer needed, so why bother with her healing"
The younger guard ignored him completely, focusing entirely on Bella's pale face and trembling hands.
I threw the medicine across the floor. Just kill me. I have no reason to live.
The younger guard's eyes widened in alarm as Bella threw the medicine across the floor with surprising strength, medicine scattering across the stones. "No! Don't say that!" he exclaimed, dropping to his knees beside her. "You have to live for them - for your babies."
He scooped up the herbs quickly, his movements urgent. "Listen to me, please. The Mistress has them now. They're safe, they're being cared for by wet nurses and physicians. They need their mother."
Footsteps approached rapidly in the hallway - Old man's familiar heavy tread. "What's all that noise in there?" he called gruffly. "The prisoner is causing trouble again?"
The younger guard shot a desperate glance toward the door before turning back to Bella with pleading eyes. "Please don't give up. I'll find a way to get you out of here eventually. But right now, you have to survive."
Days passed, and I felt like an empty shell. I got terrible sick, from lack of will and infection from the unhygienic room and the crude stitching
One morning Bella's breath became shallow as she passed out. The younger guard, decided to use this as an opportunity. Knowing she was still alive, he lied to the older guard that she was dead. After a quick and nonchalant inspection, the older man gave an arrogant smirk. "Finally she hit the bucket" he laughs wickedly to himself as if always wishing for that. sack was put over her head. Her unconscious form was mounted on a crude wagon.
After a long ride from their base . Her body was dumped in the middle of a thick forest. The old man grunts , as he kicked her body out of spite. "Let's leave her to the wild animals to feed on. At least she will get to serve a purpose in the cycle of life."
Before they left, the younger, discreetly cuts the ropes binding her and my loosened the ties of the sack on her head, raising it high enough for her to breath, but low enough for the old man not to notice. He gave a quick silent prayer in his dialect for Bella, before he quickly followed his boss to mout the wagon and ride way.
Bella lay motionless in the damp forest dirt. Rain had begun to fall steadily, soaking through her thin cotton clothing and chilling her skin. Her body shivered involuntarily from the cold and feverish weakness.
Hours passed with no sound except the wind rustling through tree branches overhead. Bella's consciousness flickered in and out - brief moments of awareness followed by blackness as her body fought against infection and shock.
When she finally managed to open her eyes fully, morning had settled over the forest. The world spun dizzily around her as she tried to sit up, only managing to prop herself against a mossy log. Every muscle protested with agonizing pain.
"Hello?" she rasped weakly, her voice barely audible even to herself. "Is anyone there?"
The only response was the chiro of birds.
With a excruciating pain I struggled to get up and stumbled my way within the forest, using tress to support my self, not knowing where I was headed. I came across a cleared path. Where, I could see a hay farmer, who had shortly halted his wagon to take a piss, across the wagon. I cautiously entered behind the wagon and hid under the hay , trying not to make a sound.
The driver, now done climbs into the wagon and continued his journey into town whistling happily to himself, unaware he was carrying someone in it.
The hay wagon jolted along the muddy path, each bump sending fresh waves of pain through Bella's exhausted body. She pressed herself deeper into the haystack, trying to make herself as small and invisible as possible. The farmer's whistling echoed through the open air, completely unaware of his stowaway.
Hours passed under the gray afternoon sky. The wagon eventually slowed and came to a halt in what sounded like a bustling market square. Voices called out prices and haggled over produce while the farmer negotiated with potential buyers.
"Alright, that's two silver for the oats!" the farmer shouted cheerfully.
Footsteps approached the back of the wagon as someone began shoveling hay onto a scale. "Hey there, old man! You got any good straw this season? My cows are picky eaters!"
The farmer cheered proudly. No , these are reserved. Special delivery and a huge pay, just my luck. He laughed ascending his wagon. After some time, I heard the sound of a gate and quick greetings. He rode his muleto a place that smelled like a rich man's stable.
He dismounted his wagon to unload the stacked bale of hays. He screamed as he saw my almost bluish body, drawing the attention of stable workers and people who dressed like Chang Hao's palace guards?? Was I in the palace. ??? I hear them shouting orders to them selves. Their shouts, threatenening to worsen my already throbbing head ache. Tell the emperor. Miss Bella has been found. Immediately , two guards grabbed and arrests the confused, unsuspecting and innocent farmer while two others, carried my trembling me out the wagon, rushing me to the infirmary.
The familiar scent of polished wood filled Bella's nostrils as the guards carried her through the palace corridors. Her mind, still hazy from fever and shock, struggled to process the surroundings - the intricate tapestries lining the walls, the echoing footsteps on marble floors.
"She's barely breathing," one guard panted as they hurried toward the imperial infirmary. "Look at her - She must have been her for dead ."
Inside the infirmary, Physician Tanaka's face paled when he saw Bella's condition. "By the gods, what have they done to her?" He immediately began barking orders at his assistants. "Warm blankets, broth, and get me clean water! Now!"