It was just a day later when Kamaria was summoned by the Empress but when Lili and Raisa heard that it was to the imperial ancestral family hall, they felt that something was wrong. Kamaria stood and followed the Empress’s servant as if she had been waiting to be summoned.
After some time, the four young women found themselves kneeling in front of the Empress after having been kneeling by themselves for almost an hour.
Kamaria noticed that the other girls were busy shifting around as if in pain even though they had small cushions under them. She silently inhaled and stayed as still as possible since her knees were on the hard wood. Moving around would only make it worse.
“What education has not been given to you girls? You’re all about to marry and yet you insist on letting things like this happen. External guests saw such a disgraceful commotion,” coldly said the Empress from her seat.
The four of them made small whimpers but Kamaria made sure to look down and not make a sound.
“Your Majesty, I’m responsible for letting that girl in,” softly cried Velia.
“Don’t say senseless things. It was the Mercier girl who didn’t know what type of person her maid was.”
“As an imperial princess, I should be a better judge of character. I’ll accept whatever punishment Empress Mother gives if I’m the only one punished,” insisted Velia.
The empress looked at all the young women in turn but lingered for a few seconds on Kamaria who didn’t dare to look up since she was only thinking about who exactly Velia was putting up a performance for.
The emperor was not in the room so there was no need for all the tears. The empress nodded to one of the servants who stepped forward with a familiar flat wooden object.
“Everyone takes a share of punishment, stop insisting on taking on everyone’s responsibility,” said the empress.
Afterwards they each received five strikes on their non-dominant hand. Kamaria had to be hit on her right hand since she already had a bandage on her left. Lili and Raisa flinched with each hit which seemed particularly brutal on her as the sound resonated in the room.
“You are all old enough. Are you going to become wives that are continuously punished by your in-laws and disgrace our Emperor in your households? Get them out of my sight except the youngest,” said the empress.
Each attendant sullenly came to help up their respective princess while Kamaria remained kneeling. From the corner of her eye, she saw Velia who had been crying and snivelling the entire time momentarily glance at her. They closed the doors and the empress resumed staring at the youngest princess.
When they were closer to their residence and started seeing more familiar maids, Thyra made a face as she walked with Yrsa who was silently fuming beside her.
“We’re this old and that woman still thinks she can discipline us this way,” she angrily mumbled.
Before she could say anymore, they were greeted by the sight of their mother waiting for them with glossy eyes as if they were soldiers returning from war.
“My babies,” she said as soon as they were close enough and hugged them simultaneously.
They were ushered into her room to ensure the utmost privacy of their conversation.
“Let me see, are you two hurt?” urgently asked Lady Alva as she checked her daughters’ hands and arms.
She knew they wouldn’t have been disciplined that heavily, but to her, her babies were still precious little princesses no matter their age.
“Why do you have to suffer on the behalf of an impulsive little girl?” she finally said as her steward poured her some tea.
“All for one maid,” stated Yrsa still clearly aggrieved.
“Just because of getting a little attention at the banquet the other day, she now thinks she can go around making trouble,” stated their mother and her daughters didn’t disagree.
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She continued with a tone of disgust.
“What would happen if your intended fiancé came and saw you this state? That runt has some nerve.”
“Mother, it’s over now, let’s focus on more important things like my dowry. Have you spoken to father yet?” asked Yrsa in an almost childish tone while grabbing her mother’s arm.
“As usual, he’s been at Court[1] and then reviewing documents almost the entire day but I’ll get Steward Kavi to set aside some time so we can speak this evening.”
Yrsa smiled and nodded while hugging her mother, deeply satisfied to be talking about the topic and not giving a thought to the sister that had been left behind.
They had received punishment even though they were innocent in the first place so as far as they were concerned, what happened after they left had nothing to do with them.
“Do you know what you did wrong?” blankly asked the Empress.
“This Princess subject lost her composure and caused a disgraceful scene your Majesty,” answered Kamaria.
“If you had to let someone hit you every time people badmouth the imperial family, do you think you would have any face[2] left? You dare disrespect your title and get into a physical altercation with a lowly maid?”
Kamaria kept silent since they were supposed to be rhetorical questions. Somehow, she had become the biggest troublemaker in the situation, but it was expected.
Each time something happened, the responsibility was placed on her as if she was the oldest and had to watch everyone else’s conduct and in turn be punished if they did wrong. Her sisters never disagreed or spoke up for her. This was one of the reasons why she tried to distance herself from them as much as possible.
The empress gave a gesture and two of the maids stepped forward and took off Kamaria’s kaftan and started undoing the back of her top. She obediently held onto her chest to keep the top from falling off.
Raisa and Lili had realised what was about to happen but couldn’t do anything but stand and watch. That was also their punishment as her attendants. If they tried to protest, the physical punishment would only get worse for all of them so they could only grit their teeth and watch.
The same burly maid who had been holding the first punishment implement was now holding a much bigger wooden object. The paddle was the length of about three hands without the handle. It had about the same thickness as the big wooden spoons used to stir the huge outdoor kitchen pots.
“Reflect on your behaviour with each of the ten lashes.”
Kamaria braced herself as the first hit landed on her back. Each thing they were punished with was designed to not leave lasting injuries since they were princesses after all.
The worst evidence she would have after the beating were bruises that lasted for a week or two no matter how painful it was. The usually tough Raisa had tears silently falling with every hit even though Kamaria barely made a sound.
Lili could only glance at the empress who sat and watched as the punishment was dealt out. She was clenching her fist so hard that she had cut her hand with her nails by the time they counted to ten. The empress held her cold expression until the maid was done and then stood up.
“You’re dismissed,” she said before walking off and leaving the room.
The door to the room was not open for long but the maids walking past had seen the purple bruises that already riddled the princess’s back. Compared to the punishments given out in the palace, this could be considered tame.
Some of the servants felt a certain way since she had been protecting her attendant. Even though they were not the ones who had been personally protected, just knowing that someone in such a superior position cared about a servant, that much touched a soft spot.
Silently, her two attendants helped her put on her clothes. The other servants watched as the trio slowly made their way to the empress consort’s residence. All the while Kamaria was not shedding a single tear and even she held onto Lili’s arm for a support, her demeanour still displayed all the grace and elegance of a princess.
The girls were trying not cry as one of them gently patted Kamaria’s back with a warm towel soaked in medicated water, but she could hear them occasionally sniffing. Besides it was unusual for them to be so quiet at the same time.
“If anyone wants to see me, just tell them that I want to rest especially Khayri and my mother.”
“Yes, your Highness,” replied Lili as she was the only one who could keep her voice from cracking.
Kamaria who was laying on her stomach with her bruised back exposed, rubbed Lili’s arm and smiled at her for a moment before turning her head and closing her eyes. Lili couldn’t understand how she still managed to smile and why the princess was comforting her when she shared the blame in what had happened.
While she was massaging the bruises on the princess’s back, she suddenly realised why she had been told to make sure that they had enough vials of arnica oil and aloe gel.
Kamaria’s leg must have also hurt after kneeling on the hard wood for so long and without being told, Raisa silently started massaging it.
That night, the youngest princess’s wing of the residence was particularly sombre. All the inner and outer servants turned down the lights quite early and fell asleep to the unusual silence.
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[1] Court - Referring to the where the nation’s political and social problems are discussed, sort of like parliament with the ministers and advisors, not a court of law.
[2] Face - Referring to her physical face and the social concept of face