“Where are you going, Your Grace?” The Prince smirked.
“I shall not watch this.” Julian shook his head.
“What could be the matter?” Prince Albert replied, pushing Julian back toward the scene of Nanny Rittenhouse, the child and the Duchess of Fallbridge. “You lived through the day once. It is, simply, daily nursery business, is it not? The child is being given a bath.”
“Is that what it is?” Julian growled. “Is it?”
“Isn’t it?” The Prince grinned.
“Watch, then!” Julian spat. “I shall stand with you. We shall see daily nursery business! We shall see, then, if this is what happens in the nurseries in the palace. Is this how your children were treated? Your eldest son? Tell me, then, as you watch, if this is how your son was bathed!”
“I will.” Albert nodded.
Julian watched as the specters of attendants whose names he’d long forgotten carried the bathtub into the nursery. The water steamed and spat as it was poured into the tub.
“Characterize the water for me, Your Majesty,” Julian challenged the prince.
“It appears angry.”
“It’s boiling!” Julian shouted. “Boiling!”
Julian flinched as he watched the image of his young self scream with terrible pain as he was lowered into the bubbling water.
“Clean the pig!” Nanny Rittenhouse laughed as she scrubbed at the boy’s pink, tender skin with a rough flannel.
“Make sure he’s very clean,” The Duchess cooed. “Very clean.”
“Well?” Julian turned to the prince defiantly.
“That was probably quite awful.”
“Probably?” Julian spat. “It was torture!”
“So, put a stop to it.” The prince challenged.
“How shall I put a stop to something that has already happened?”
“You cannot. That is true. However, you can keep it from playing out in your thoughts again and again forever.”
“I had not thought of this for years until you forced me to!” Julian argued. “It is not a thought that was repeated.”
“Wasn’t it?” Prince Albert clucked his tongue. “And what, do you think, fuels Scaramouche’s anger? No, you may not have recalled this personally, but someone did. One of you did, and has, over and over.”
Julian frowned.
“So, Your Grace, put an end to it.”
“How?” Julian snarled.
“Stop them. Walk over there and stop them.” The Prince pointed.
“They’re not real. This is a vision!” Julian snapped.
“And, presently, so are you.”
“Yes, Julian,” The image of the Duchess said, looking up. “You are the same as we are. Stop us, if you dare.”
Did you miss Chapters 1-346? If so, you can read them here.
2 comments:
Joseph, this is really very good. I feel Julian's fear and anger. Did the Duchess boil him? She is really awful. Why is Prince Albert such a jerk? Was he kind of a jerk for real?
I appreciate that, Matt. To answer your question, Prince Albert was not a jerk, per se, but he was known to be somewhat moody and impatient at times and, it is reported, that he did not suffer fools. Of course, this entity is Julian's hallucination, and, given the fact that he would most likely perceive most people as mostly unpleasant, it stands to reason that this vision would be a bit testy with him. Thank you for reading and for your comments.
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