It was my destiny to decide what would happen to me. The old lady didn’t joke when she talked about getting whipped; they were going for it for a half hour, and I couldn’t imagine what my back looked like right now of all the aching and pain that I was feeling right now.

My comment to the queen seems to have made it worse for me; maybe shutting up sometimes is a better option. Usually, you whip someone for two or three minutes, but this was overkill. It even made me shed tears.

While the cell door was open, I saw a shadow in the ground and lifted my head. There was some older man with glasses and a bag in his hand; he was short as a dwarf, which surprised me. Behind him, surprisingly, the princess was standing there looking at me while I tried to swing in the other direction because I thought maybe now it was her turn to whip me, but yeah! The swing was a complete failure. Both came up close and tried to lift me off the hook I was hanging on. When I got loose in the end, I tried with my last energy to land on my stomach, but I landed on my side because both of them were in the way. That triggered the pain even to get worse. I didn't move an inch because I felt that one move would make me suffer excruciating pain. I had no clue this would get this bad after 14 days in prison.

“Hello Berk! My name is Doctor Günther, and the lady beside me is Isabella, the princess. We are here to cover up your wounds from the torture on orders from the queen. I hope you will comply. Let us treat you, and do not try to do anything because the guards are monitoring the door.” The old guy said while looking down at me.

There was no chance I would try to move from my current position. The best is to keep quiet while the princess is here because maybe she will rat me out to her mother if I say something stupid.

“If you allow us to treat you, please nod, Berk!” the doctor said, and I nodded because I was thinking maybe I would at least get some painkillers for the pain.

Both moved behind me while lying on the side, so I lost sight of them. Fudge, are they going to stab me in my back while I can't do much? Isabella made some strange sound behind me; was she fudging crying?

“Remember! It would be best to keep yourself composed in all scenarios, despite how bad it looks, Isabella. You can make the patient more scared if you start crying. Depending on your reaction, it can trigger stress and worry in the patient, making the situation worse.” The doctor said, and it went quiet after that.

Patient…wait a minute. Did she cry after she saw my back? Is it that bad?

“Eh…How does it look?” I asked out in the air.

“Hm…well, you have three open wounds that need sewing; you are still bleeding from these areas. Come closer, check the wounds, Isabella, and explain the injuries to me.” The doctor said.

Suddenly, something touched my back, and I got tense because it made the pain worse.

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“Three deep wounds need sewing. Five other areas need a proper cleanup and a lot of patching up on his back. Normally, we would apply painkillers and recovery cream in all areas. This patient is not allowed any pills or recovery cream, and after we apply the sewing, he needs to rest.” Isabella said without anything more add, no hate, no jokes, no I want to kill you, just silent afterward.

“Good job! You can start the treatment now with the sewing first.” The doctor commented.

It was quiet for a moment when suddenly something went in my back.

“Did I just feel something in my back?” I asked.

“What you are feeling is me sewing up one of the injuries. I know it is painful, but you can die of blood loss if we do not close the wound.” She answered.

Well, duh!

“I am going to start closing up the wound, and I need you to be completely still, Berk.”

I just nodded and felt her soft hands seem to be careful on my back. She seemed concentrated, and I closed my eyes and didn’t want to think about everything going on right now.

I felt my head resting on someone's arm while I opened my eyes and a hand was on my back.

“How long was I out for?” I asked.

“Around one hour,” She answered while still working on my back.

“When are we done?” I asked.

“I am patching you up now, but I wish you were dead instead.” She commented.

Gez! this girl. Why does she even treat me if she wants me dead? It’s time for a comeback comment:

“So…why don’t you just let me bleed out and die here right now.”

“Well…we had a deal with Veronica to keep you alive. I am sure my mom would have killed you right there on the train platform if Veronica hadn’t made the deal. In my opinion, it is bad that you are alive. Still, from The Valiant Family's perspective, we no longer owe anything to the Van Polan organization. With your survival, the debt paid to The Van Polan organization.” She said, destroying our whole conversation, which I didn’t even have a chance to respond to.

Her hands were moving around on my back a little weirdly, and I wondered for a moment if I had upset her and if she was going to try something. A blanket was thrown over me when she suddenly stopped touching my back, and she said:

“You need to keep yourself warm for a couple of days, and we will check up on you twice a day to see how your wounds are healing. Try to sleep as much as you can.” She said as she left the cell with the dwarf doctor and left the prison.

From the shadows on the other cell, the ginger guy or boy or whatever showed up and looked at me sadly.

“What’s wrong, ginger ale?” I asked.

“Ferk…Hurt…Die!” He spoke.

I had no energy to say anything because Ferk was not even close to Berk.

“Yeah! You are right, Ginger!” I commented back.

He started to make gestures as he managed to say something:

“Me…Fiend…Ferk!”

I am really to tired to handle this kind of shit right now. Why am I in a cell with someone that can barely speak to me? I can see that he is not a retard, but what the fudge is happening here.

“Yes…Friend!” I commented back.

After the torture continued and kept going from month to month, they usually waited a couple of days if I hadn't healed 100 percent. Hours felt like days, and days felt like months passing by. When they got tired of my back because I was just silent during the torture, they turned to my front and started to whip me there instead. The ginger boy was yelling the friend or fiend scream every time the torture was going on, which made me gather other thoughts. The men usually got tired of his screams, so they didn’t prolong it as much as they did in the beginning, which was good for me, so I didn’t have to endure as much pain as the first couple of times. I never asked the ginger boy what his name was. Still, I can say that, except for Victoria and Kate, he was my only friend in all my loneliness in this prison cell. If I died here, at least a friend would be at my side when I passed away.