Rosalie
EIGHT
Night had fallen when the Queen sent for the physician. She had ordered her daughter's guards to not allow anyone to disrupt her while she was concealed in her daughter's chamber, and they knew what would happen if word got around that a physician had been brought into her chamber late at night. All precautions had been taken to ensure the fewest amount of people knew where she was. If an emergency occurred, it would have to wait.
To her surprise, the physician did not bring with him a bag full of equipment, but instead kept only a phial of liquid and a strange object that she had never seen before. She had expected more to be necessary with hypnosis but she had been cautioned that he would not respond to her questions or queries. That had made her suspicious but for once, she held her tongue. When the physician nodded at her, she opened the doors to the bedchamber and watched as the princess sat up in her bed. She made sure to shut the doors behind them as he took a seat on the chair that had been placed at the end of the bed.
As much as the Queen tried to believe that the princess was the epitome of health, she could now see just how pale her complexion was. The girl's hand and arm were still bandaged tightly and she feared what damage might lay beneath it. The royal physician reassured her that it was not as bad as it could have been but she did not know what she would do if the scarring was worse than assumed.
Keeping her distance from the bed, the Queen watched as the physician commanded the princess's attention and raised the object that he had brought with him. The object was a small stone that sat at the end of the chain and it began to move backwards and forwards as the physician spoke. "You must keep your eyes on the stone, Your Highness. Focus on my voice but do not take this moving stone out of your vision."
The girl, clueless to the reasoning behind this visit, remained silent and focused on the swinging stone. As much as the Queen wanted to discover for herself how it worked, she had been warned before they entered the chamber that she was not to watch his actions least she wished to be put into the same false slumber.
"As you listen to my voice, your eyes will grow heavy. Keep your focus on the movement, backwards and forwards," the physician said, watching as the princess was fixated on the stone. "I will count backwards from five to zero and when I reach zero, you shall fall into a deep slumber."
As much as it aggravated her to be clueless to what was happening, she knew that she must be patient if she wanted to discover what was wrong with her daughter. From listening to the physician, it might also officially confirm her identity, allowing her to stomp out all rumours once and for all.
"Five, four, three, two, one, zero." To the Queen's utter shock, her daughter's eyes slipped shut upon the last number. She did not know how that was possible. All she had been watching was a stone swinging backwards and forwards, and yet was put into a false slumber by the counting of numbers? Never before had she experienced such an ability. It was intriguing.
The physician placed the stone in his lap and kept his focus on the girl. "Can you hear me, Rosalie?" he questioned.
"Yes," she replied, surprising the Queen again.
"I would like you to recall your deepest memory. The one that troubles your consciousness. Can you do that for me?"
There was a moment's silence as the girl's forehead creased. "Yes."
"Describe it to me."
"There are people, so many people. I don't recognise them but they know my name. I think they are here for me, for a celebration," she began, her expression changing as she spoke. "I have to leave but I do not want to."
"What happens next?"
"Mother! My mother is here, and father! I do not see them often but I want to. She smiles and tells me not to cry. Then she appears, my nurse, my...governess. And I have to say goodbye, but I don't want to. She takes me away and we have to leave. I hate leaving."
The Queen could remember telling her daughter on more than one occasion that she need not cry because princesses don't cry. It had been something her own mother had told her as a child, and it had worked most of the time. Then she became queen and discovered that the only time queens cried was when they were alone in their chamber, late at night. There was never any other time that was acceptable to cry and she had accepted that.
"I don't like being in the carriage. My governess keeps telling me to sit down but I do not want to. It is so long and tiresome, but this time it isn't," the girl said before stopping, her face contorting into what looked to be fear.
"Why is it not as long as normal?" the physician questioned.
The girl shook her head. "No, please. Don't make me."
"Listen to me, Rosalie. You are safe. Tell me what happens, what makes this journey different."
A tear slid down her face and the Queen noticed that her hands were gripping her covers tightly. "We stop," she said quietly, "and there is shouting outside. My governess, she ushers me under the seat but I don't know why. I don't want to be there and I don't understand, and suddenly the door is opened and she's pleading, begging them to spare her. And I'm so scared, they're going to get me. Please don't let them get me!"
The Queen went to step forward only for the physician to raise his hand to halt her movement. "Rosalie--"
"No, no, no! Let go! I don't want to go!" By now she was crying fully despite still being in the false slumber. The Queen could now see why this practice was not one that many physicians agreed with. It felt wrong to allow her daughter to continue under this hypnosis, but she wanted to know more of what happened. She already knew more in this small session than she did from the time her daughter had been returned. Surely it would not cause too much harm to allow it to continue a little longer?
The physician reached forward and grasped the girl's wrists. "You are safe. Nothing will harm you, that I promise," he reassured, trying to calm down the girl. "But I need you to tell me what happened next."
"I-I...I'm crying and scared, and they're taking me away. I don't want to leave her but she is not moving and they won't let me stay. I don't want to be with them but there are so many of them, watching me. Why won't they let me go?" Her tears had slowed but the Queen could still hear the fear in her voice. She could not understand how a memory could inflict such a reaction from a person.
A hushed silence fell in the chamber as both the physician and the Queen kept watch on the girl. Her eyes remained closed as they had been throughout and her tears began to stop appearing. The girl released the covers from her grips. "And then he appears and allows me to run away from all these people. It's dark and I don't know where I'm going. I'm lost, I don't know where I am. I'm scared. Please, can someone help me? I try and hide but he finds me again and helps me. I ask for my governess and he tells me that she is sick and sent him to care for me."
"Who is this man?" the physician questioned.
She shook her head. "No, I cannot say. We must stay hidden to be safe."
"Does he have a name?"
"No!"
This time, instead of looking as if she was about the cry, the girl looked angry. The Queen expected the physician to press for more answers but instead he rose from his seat and pulled out the phial he had brought with him. "When I click my fingers, you shall awaken," he commanded, before completing the action. As the girl's eyes began to open, he opened the phial and held it to her lips, forcing it down her throat.
Alarmed, the Queen stepped forward. "What are you doing?" she exclaimed.
The man laid the princess on her pillow and faced her. "I put her to sleep, Your Majesty. It is imperative that one who has been put into a false slumber must not regain full consciousness afterwards. They cannot recall the memories of the false slumber for the consequences would be dire if they do," he explained, moving away from the bed. "When the princess awakens, she will not remember what has occurred, nor will she know that her hidden memory resurfaced for a short while. When one has a hidden memory, it is best they do not discover it, especially after all these years."
Moving out of the bedchamber, the Queen mauled over what she had discovered. "This memory must surely be of when she was taken. Do you believe it to be behind her behaviour?"
"I will not know for sure until she is awake, but I do believe we have uncovered an event that troubles your daughter immensely," the physician said. "It is vital that you do not speak about what you have discovered within her presence."
And for the first time since her daughter had returned, the Queen realised that she may have been wrong. Her daughter had not been rescued from her captors, but rather had been taken from her saviour.
To her surprise, the physician did not bring with him a bag full of equipment, but instead kept only a phial of liquid and a strange object that she had never seen before. She had expected more to be necessary with hypnosis but she had been cautioned that he would not respond to her questions or queries. That had made her suspicious but for once, she held her tongue. When the physician nodded at her, she opened the doors to the bedchamber and watched as the princess sat up in her bed. She made sure to shut the doors behind them as he took a seat on the chair that had been placed at the end of the bed.
As much as the Queen tried to believe that the princess was the epitome of health, she could now see just how pale her complexion was. The girl's hand and arm were still bandaged tightly and she feared what damage might lay beneath it. The royal physician reassured her that it was not as bad as it could have been but she did not know what she would do if the scarring was worse than assumed.
Keeping her distance from the bed, the Queen watched as the physician commanded the princess's attention and raised the object that he had brought with him. The object was a small stone that sat at the end of the chain and it began to move backwards and forwards as the physician spoke. "You must keep your eyes on the stone, Your Highness. Focus on my voice but do not take this moving stone out of your vision."
The girl, clueless to the reasoning behind this visit, remained silent and focused on the swinging stone. As much as the Queen wanted to discover for herself how it worked, she had been warned before they entered the chamber that she was not to watch his actions least she wished to be put into the same false slumber.
"As you listen to my voice, your eyes will grow heavy. Keep your focus on the movement, backwards and forwards," the physician said, watching as the princess was fixated on the stone. "I will count backwards from five to zero and when I reach zero, you shall fall into a deep slumber."
As much as it aggravated her to be clueless to what was happening, she knew that she must be patient if she wanted to discover what was wrong with her daughter. From listening to the physician, it might also officially confirm her identity, allowing her to stomp out all rumours once and for all.
"Five, four, three, two, one, zero." To the Queen's utter shock, her daughter's eyes slipped shut upon the last number. She did not know how that was possible. All she had been watching was a stone swinging backwards and forwards, and yet was put into a false slumber by the counting of numbers? Never before had she experienced such an ability. It was intriguing.
The physician placed the stone in his lap and kept his focus on the girl. "Can you hear me, Rosalie?" he questioned.
"Yes," she replied, surprising the Queen again.
"I would like you to recall your deepest memory. The one that troubles your consciousness. Can you do that for me?"
There was a moment's silence as the girl's forehead creased. "Yes."
"Describe it to me."
"There are people, so many people. I don't recognise them but they know my name. I think they are here for me, for a celebration," she began, her expression changing as she spoke. "I have to leave but I do not want to."
"What happens next?"
"Mother! My mother is here, and father! I do not see them often but I want to. She smiles and tells me not to cry. Then she appears, my nurse, my...governess. And I have to say goodbye, but I don't want to. She takes me away and we have to leave. I hate leaving."
The Queen could remember telling her daughter on more than one occasion that she need not cry because princesses don't cry. It had been something her own mother had told her as a child, and it had worked most of the time. Then she became queen and discovered that the only time queens cried was when they were alone in their chamber, late at night. There was never any other time that was acceptable to cry and she had accepted that.
"I don't like being in the carriage. My governess keeps telling me to sit down but I do not want to. It is so long and tiresome, but this time it isn't," the girl said before stopping, her face contorting into what looked to be fear.
"Why is it not as long as normal?" the physician questioned.
The girl shook her head. "No, please. Don't make me."
"Listen to me, Rosalie. You are safe. Tell me what happens, what makes this journey different."
A tear slid down her face and the Queen noticed that her hands were gripping her covers tightly. "We stop," she said quietly, "and there is shouting outside. My governess, she ushers me under the seat but I don't know why. I don't want to be there and I don't understand, and suddenly the door is opened and she's pleading, begging them to spare her. And I'm so scared, they're going to get me. Please don't let them get me!"
The Queen went to step forward only for the physician to raise his hand to halt her movement. "Rosalie--"
"No, no, no! Let go! I don't want to go!" By now she was crying fully despite still being in the false slumber. The Queen could now see why this practice was not one that many physicians agreed with. It felt wrong to allow her daughter to continue under this hypnosis, but she wanted to know more of what happened. She already knew more in this small session than she did from the time her daughter had been returned. Surely it would not cause too much harm to allow it to continue a little longer?
The physician reached forward and grasped the girl's wrists. "You are safe. Nothing will harm you, that I promise," he reassured, trying to calm down the girl. "But I need you to tell me what happened next."
"I-I...I'm crying and scared, and they're taking me away. I don't want to leave her but she is not moving and they won't let me stay. I don't want to be with them but there are so many of them, watching me. Why won't they let me go?" Her tears had slowed but the Queen could still hear the fear in her voice. She could not understand how a memory could inflict such a reaction from a person.
A hushed silence fell in the chamber as both the physician and the Queen kept watch on the girl. Her eyes remained closed as they had been throughout and her tears began to stop appearing. The girl released the covers from her grips. "And then he appears and allows me to run away from all these people. It's dark and I don't know where I'm going. I'm lost, I don't know where I am. I'm scared. Please, can someone help me? I try and hide but he finds me again and helps me. I ask for my governess and he tells me that she is sick and sent him to care for me."
"Who is this man?" the physician questioned.
She shook her head. "No, I cannot say. We must stay hidden to be safe."
"Does he have a name?"
"No!"
This time, instead of looking as if she was about the cry, the girl looked angry. The Queen expected the physician to press for more answers but instead he rose from his seat and pulled out the phial he had brought with him. "When I click my fingers, you shall awaken," he commanded, before completing the action. As the girl's eyes began to open, he opened the phial and held it to her lips, forcing it down her throat.
Alarmed, the Queen stepped forward. "What are you doing?" she exclaimed.
The man laid the princess on her pillow and faced her. "I put her to sleep, Your Majesty. It is imperative that one who has been put into a false slumber must not regain full consciousness afterwards. They cannot recall the memories of the false slumber for the consequences would be dire if they do," he explained, moving away from the bed. "When the princess awakens, she will not remember what has occurred, nor will she know that her hidden memory resurfaced for a short while. When one has a hidden memory, it is best they do not discover it, especially after all these years."
Moving out of the bedchamber, the Queen mauled over what she had discovered. "This memory must surely be of when she was taken. Do you believe it to be behind her behaviour?"
"I will not know for sure until she is awake, but I do believe we have uncovered an event that troubles your daughter immensely," the physician said. "It is vital that you do not speak about what you have discovered within her presence."
And for the first time since her daughter had returned, the Queen realised that she may have been wrong. Her daughter had not been rescued from her captors, but rather had been taken from her saviour.