A Fairy Tale for Big Girls – 14. chapter

As Mark and Lili approached the table, all the women became nervous.

“It’s all right,” Mark said to them as he moved Lili’s chair into place. “Nothing’s wrong. Lili just wants to talk.”

He sat down too, deliberately across from Lili. The women fell silent and waited. Lili hesitated for a moment, then got the words out in broken pieces.

“Have any of you… ever… gotten a beating?”

Silence followed. Mark closed his eyes for a moment, then said aloud,

“Answer her.”

One by one, the women nodded. Lili looked around in surprise.

“…then another way… Is there anyone here who has not gotten one?”

Sara raised her hand. Two other girls followed. Lili tried to cover her surprise with a cough, but it didn’t help at all.

“By whom?”

Mark stared fixedly down at the table and clenched his teeth so hard that the muscles in his jaw moved. The girls hesitated.

“Most often,” Sara said, finally taking it upon herself to answer, “if the punishment is a beating, the guards carry it out. Sometimes, though, His Majesty does it himself.”

Mark knew Lili had looked at him, but he didn’t want to lift his head.

“Which of you… got it from His Majesty?” Lili asked, then immediately corrected herself as hands started to rise.

“Which of you got a beating, but not from His Majesty?”

Not a single one. Lili rubbed her forehead, then turned to one of the women.

“What did you get punished for?”

“His Majesty wanted me to come in a red dress,” the girl said. “I wore pink… I received five strokes with the strap.”

“With the strap?” Lili turned to Sara, confused.

Sara answered immediately. “A strap, a cane, and a whip. The punishment is determined not only by the number of strokes, but by the instrument used.”

“…What is the difference?”

For the first time, Mark lifted his head, looking at Lili quite surprised. Sara smiled too, but answered.

“The type and intensity of pain. The strap hurts the least, and it is a dull pain. The cane stings sharply and leaves marks. And the whip, you’ve seen.”

Lili frowned thoughtfully for a moment and continued.

“Which of you got the whip?”

Several voices answered at once.

“No one.”

“Not me.”

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve never heard of anyone getting the whip.”

Lili ran her gaze over the girls, then at Mark. He met her gaze directly and would have given half his kingdom to be able to read her mind.

“As far as I know,” Sara spoke up, “the guards don’t even have whips.”

“Why?”

Silence fell again. They didn’t know how to answer, so Mark spoke.

“A whip has to be handled properly. If someone doesn’t know how, it is very easy to cut the skin. I feared the guards would not know how to use a whip without leaving longer-lasting marks on the girls.”

“But you know how to use it.”

“Yes.”

Never had he felt such shame in any skill he possessed. Hatred flooded her face.

“…So if you cut the skin, it was because you wanted to.”

He looked away. After a long inhale, he forced the word out with difficulty.

“Yes.”

“Had Elena ever been beaten before?” Lili asked the women.

“Ten strokes with the strap. For lying.”

“She also got it once for insolence,” another added.

Lili turned to the sweetest-looking girl.

“Sara, you never got a beating.”

The girl nodded.

“May I please ask how many times you were with the king?”

“Not once,” she answered with a smile. “I was on the schedule the day you arrived.”

Lili returned the smile, then asked,

“Which of you has been with the king the most?”

“I believe I have,” said a tall, beautiful blonde.

“How many times did he beat you?”

“…Four.”

Mark covered his eyes with his hand.

Fine. She’s just worked out that I beat only my favorites. And supposedly it couldn’t get any worse.

“I think that’s all. Thank you for being honest,” Lili said, standing.

Mark reluctantly stood up too when one of the girls spoke.

“May I ask something?”

Lili turned to her, then glanced at Mark. He lifted his shoulders, signaling that the choice was hers.

“Of course.”

“What does one have to do for the king to fall in love with me the way he has with you?”

Lili gasped.

In love? What kind of nonsense is that?!

Aloud, she failed to manage a coherent sentence.

“That…” she cleared her throat. “That is not true. Nothing of the sort has happened.”

“Oh, come on!” another girl scoffed.

“…In any case,” Lili said quickly, “that is not a question for me.”

She cast Mark a brief glance and turned to leave.

He caught her around the waist and pulled her back to him. He did not press her all the way against his body, only held her close. Looking at her, he said aloud,

“I don’t know what exactly causes falling in love. But I am certain that even if I did, it could not be repeated.”

Lili forgot to close her mouth. When she realized she had been staring too long, she slipped from his grasp and started to leave. He followed her and caught Martin’s telling, not exactly pleased look. On the way back to the room, neither of them spoke. He fastened her chain and left.