The Rebel and the Icequeen

The kind healer

Louises POV

I sit in front of my dressing table and enjoy the quiet for a few minutes. Eliv, my personal servant, is combing my hair and is telling me what happened in today's audience without full stops or commas. I sent her there to keep an eye on the minister. Apparently he actually sat on the king's throne and acted as if he were the ruler himself. The anger boils up in me at the thought, what is the man thinking. Apparently, however, he did not cause too much damage.

“Eliv, can you get me a healer's uniform?” I interrupt her detailed explanation of what happened .

“Yes, of course, Queen Louise, may I ask why?” She replies immediately and looks at me in the mirror.

"Sadly I cannot tell you that. Please hurry up."

"Of course," she adds before curtsying and hurrying off. In the meantime, I braid my long hair into a thick braid and undress. Shortly after, Eliv is back and hands me the simple robe. I put it on quickly and give Eliv the rest of the evening off.

I'm on my way to the dungeon, because while I was sitting there and Eliv was combing my hair, it occurred to me how I can still get into the dungeon without anyone noticing that I am the queen. I pass the guards who only briefly examine me and nod to me. Then I explain to one of the guards that I have the queen's assignment to treat Liam. he just nods and open his cell door for me. I'm almost a little scared when I take in the sight. In this stinky hole Liam kneels on the floor, his arms are chained to the wall and he is not only gagged but also blindfolded. I wonder who made this happen. Shaking my head, I step closer to him. He breathes slowly and evenly as if he could actually sleep in this position. I may enjoy b*****e games, but I would never command such cruelty. The two guards are still standing at the door and watching me.

“When was the last time the prisoner ate and drank something?” I ask in a soft voice, even though I wanted to yell at them.

“Two days ago,” says the smaller of the two.

"Bring him something to eat, the Queen will be very angry to hear that he is being treated so badly."

“Yes, I'll do that right away,” replies the man and hurries away. The other guard is still undecided and watches me. I can clearly feel the man looking at my body and almost eating me with his eyes.

"You can leave me alone with the prisoner, I can handle him."

"Okay, but if you have time off afterwards, you are welcome to come and see me later," he says in a voice that should probably sound sexy. My face doesn't reveal anything.

"I'll think about it," I reply, actually wondering if he ever hooked up a girl that way. "See you later, my beautiful," he says and then disappears. The second man comes back with bread and water and hands it to me.

“Would you wake him up, please?” I ask him. He nods and hits Liam lightly on the cheek.

“The healer is there, behave properly,” he says before he also leaves the cell.

“Hello Liam,” I say in a soft, disguised voice. He lifts his head and turns his face in the direction from which he heard my voice. He tries to say something, but it comes out as incomprehensible mumbling, because of his gag. Hes pulls on his cuffs to get his hands free, but they stay chained as always.

“Don't you remember me?” I ask him and step closer. He tilts his head as if thinking about where he had heard my voice before.

"I helped treat your back, don't you remember?"

Again he tries to tell me something, but only confused mumbling comes out. So I decide to take the gag off him. I step behind him and look at the disgusting, dirty piece of cloth they knotted behind his head. I try to touch as little of it as possible while untying the knot. I pull the fabric out of his mouth and he groans in relief.

“Thank you,” he says in a hoarse voice.

"No problem, I also have some bread and water for you."

"Really?" He asks, licking his lips. I kneel in front of him on the dirty floor and hand him first the water and then the bread, so that he can eat and drink something.

"Thank you, you are really an angel," he says, sounding a lot better. I have to smile because I never expected to hear this out of his mouth.

"I'll be happy to keep you company if you like," I suggest.

“I would like that."

It is silent for a few minutes. I don't really know what to say.

“Why are you so nice to me?” He asks after a while.

“You are innocent,” I answer simply.

"You can't know that."

"Do you mean I'm wrong?"

"You're so curious again."

"Is that a problem? I can leave, ”I reply and start to get up.

“No stay, please,” he asks and I sink back to the ground.

"I guess I owe you the truth, right?"

"I won't tell anyone."

"I hope so, because otherwise all the torture was for nothing." He laughs softly and humorlessly. “I actually belong to the rebels. I'm a simple farmer and I've lost my wife and child, that's why I joined the rebels, I have nothing more to lose."

Inwardly I triumph, finally I've gotten something useful out of him. I can't really believe his story though. He seems to me to be far too young to have a wife and a child.

“Tell me about them,” I ask. “Her name was Ella, she was a beautiful woman, clever and indescribably gentle. She was everything to me, but the king had her executed, allegedly she spread rumors about the king, which she would never do. "

"And what happened to the child?"

“Anna died at the age of three because we didn't have enough money for medicine. She was seriously ill and fought for a long time. We asked the king for help, but he only said that there were many sick people in his kingdom who also needed help. "

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that," I say and gently stroke his hair.

"It's not your fault," he replies, sniffing lightly. Apparently he cried silently at the thought of his family.

“Would you like to have another drink, you have to stay strong,” I say and hand him the water. He drinks hastily and thanks me. Then I say goodbye to him before he finds out that I am not the healer.

"Don't you want to gag me again?", he asks me when I have almost left the cell, "not that the queen has you executed for it."

"I don't think she knows about any of this," I reply, trying not to let my anger shine through. "Sleep well Liam Cameron."