The Bathouse

"Eat," my aunt commands as she dumps a tray of food on the floor.

I stare at it.

Mouth-watering chicken, a full loaf of bread, and some buttered potatoes. Still warm and steaming.

Real food!! 

Not some moldy bread or spoiled meat,

Not something with maggots growing in it.

My mouth watered so hard I was basically drooling. I couldn't believe this... everything looked so good and smelled even better. But I just stared at it like it was poison.

Because it had to be. Why else would she suddenly bring me this? The food had to be poison. That was the only reasonable conclusion.

I lift my head to slowly look up at her.

"Don't look at me, you filthy thing," she snaps in disgust. "I said eat."

I shake my head slowly.

She storms forward and grabs my face roughly her sharp nails digging into my cheeks. "I see you want to be stubborn today. Don't test my patience, Diana. Eat, or I'll force the food down your throat myself."

I look down at the tray.

As much as I wanted to eat the food, like really devour every last bite of the mouth-watering chicken. I didn't trust my aunt. Why was she suddenly forcing me to eat?

It was as if she read my mind. Smirking she picks up a piece of bread and takes a bite from it. "Trust me, if I wanted to kill you, poison would be the last thing I'd use," she sneers. Before dropping the rest of the bread back on the tray like trash.

"Now eat." 

I look down at the food, finally convinced that it wasn't poisoned. I reached out to grab a piece of chicken I shove it so fast into my mouth I nearly choked. But I didn't care, it tasted so good I almost cried.

I devour everything. Every last crumb. I don’t even stop to breathe properly. This was the best meal I had eaten in over a decade. I lick the tray clean like a starved animal. Because I am.

And the whole time, my aunt just stands there. Watching me silently.

I finished the food in a couple of minutes. 

"T... thank you," I muttered softly, even though the words sounded strange saying them to her.

She rolls her eyes, as if she was being forced to do all this. "Stand up and come with me," she says, already making her way to the door.

I stand and follow behind her, my mind already racing. 

What if that was my last meal?

Where was she taking me?

My stomach twisted. And the delicious food I had just devoured was threatening to resurface.

I had every reason to be afraid, having suffered all kinds of torture from my aunt and Uncle. They've chained me up, Burned me, Beaten me, Starved me. Anything and everything you could name. They'd done it.

 I feared the one coming would be just as terrifying. 

We walk silently through the cold halls before finally stopping in front of my aunt's bedroom. 

"Wait here. I don't want you stinking up the place." She says before going inside and moments later comes back out holding in her arms a dress and a bottle of.... perfume?

I just stare at the items.

"Go over to the servants bath house, Clean yourself. Then wear this dress and use the perfume." She says handing me the items. "When you're done. Return here."

Before I could even begin to process her words she shuts the door in my face.

To say I was shocked beyond my mind wasn't enough to clarify how shocked I was.

I looked down at the items.

Not only was I given permission to bathe, but I was also given a new dress, a clean one not some old rags..and a bottle of perfume.

Now I knew for certain something was off. Very off.

But since I didn't know what, I had no other choice but to obey. I clutched the items to my chest and made my way to the servants bathhouse.

----

The servant's bathhouse was just behind the kitchen quarters. It wasn’t fancy, but it was big enough to fit more than ten women at a time. Steam floated in the air, rising from the large square tub built into the ground. The room smelled like soap and wet stone.

I stepped in slowly, holding the folded dress and perfume bottle close to my chest. The moment I walk in, I immediately felt the shift in the air.

There were six women already inside. All naked. All busy washing, laughing, scrubbing each other’s backs.

Until they saw me.

Their laughter stopped. One by one, their eyes turned to me. Then came the coldness. The glares. The whispers.

“Well well well....Look what the wolf dragged in.” One of them muttered making the others chuckle lightly.

“I thought she would finally die down in that basement.” another one muttered.

“She looks like a rat. All skin and bones. What’s that perfume for? Her funeral?”

They all laughed loudly this time.

I kept my head low and walked toward the corner. My cheeks burning. I could feel their eyes on me.

I remembered when they used to smile at me. When I was just a little girl, when I used to bring them food from the dining table in secret, and they’d call me kind, sweet, little princess Diana.

Now they all looked at me like I was dirt. Just because I was mixed. Just because I wasn’t wanted anymore.

“Why is she even here?” One of them sneers, pointing right at me. “A half-breed filth like her shouldn't be bathing in the same place as us."

“Maybe she’s here to steal our soap, seeing how filthy she is." another laughed bitterly.

I ignored them. My hands trembled as I slowly set the dress and bottle down on a dry bench. I pulled off the ragged clothes I had on and walked toward the water.

They stared at me the entire time. I felt naked even before I stepped into the water.

The warmth of the bath hugged my skin, but I couldn’t relax. Not with their eyes still watching me. Whispering awful things and laughing as loud as they could, clearly mocking me.

“She still got some curves though,” one of them said behind me, her voice filled with something that sounded like jealousy. “Bet that’s why Lord Darius kept her alive.”

“Disgusting,” someone spat. “She probably spreads her legs for him every night.”

I turned my back to them, pretending I couldn’t hear. But I could hear every single vile word. In fact I was certain they wanted me to hear them.

Every memory of how kind I was to them now made me feel sick. These were the same women who practically watched me grow up. Tears stung my eyes, I tried to blink them away, then I heard the water ripple behind me.

I turned my head slightly.

The women were moving....Closer to me?

My heart jumped as I turned around fully to face them.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice small.

But they didn’t answer.

One of them smiled. The kind of smile that made me shiver internally.

“We just want to wash you, princess,” she said mockingly. “You look so filthy.”

Another reached for my shoulder. “Let’s help scrub that tainted blood off you.”

“No!! don’t touch me!!” I panicked, backing away. But it was too late.

Suddenly they all lunged at me.

Their hands grabbing my arms. My neck. My hair.

“Stop!” I screamed, struggling.

“Hold her down!”

“Time for a real bath, half-blood.”

“No..please..stop...”

They pushed me under the water.

My eyes opened wide. Bubbles rushed out of my nose. I swallowed lots of water.

I tried fighting, kicking, clawing. But they were stronger.

They were six.

And I was one.