OOM: Treating Sinric

[cook_the_rude]

When Sinric follows Dr. Lecter to his office upstairs, he will find it's near the library, in an area of the non-linear rooms section that feels more business-like because of that location and the presence of the indoor chapel that had been used before Javert's church was finished.

It is small but functional, with clean-lined modernist furniture made of pale wood contrasting with the 18th and 19th century prints of Istanbul cityscapes and 'Turkish' harem scenes that were quite the fashion at the rococo period in ornate frames that adorn the walls. There are two comfortable chairs with end-tables, a small book-case, and a pale leather couch. There is a small drawing table with two straight-backed chairs that, at this moment, holds nothing but a flower arrangement. There are two doors, one slightly ajar to reveal a tiny pantry kitchen, the other firmly closed, with a covered lock that clearly labels it a bathroom door, lockable from the inside.

There are two floor-length windows obscured by pale, gauzy blinds, at the bottom of which a balcony is visible, and beyond its grate, the lake area, with a view to the stables, the garden, and the forge.

Dr. Lecter puts down his bag of medical supplies and gestures towards the couch.

Comments

[cook_the_rude]

"No, it would be hard to explain my presence," the doctor says. "And it would bring the palace guards under suspicion for having let me slip past."

[thewidewideworld]

"Just so. And the palace guards are, for the most part, hard working and honest men. It would be unfortunate to being them trouble."

"Perhaps an introduction as a travelling scholar? Forgive me, I haven't asked what land you claim as home?"

[cook_the_rude]

"I'm originally from Lithuania, a country on the south coast of the Baltic sea," the doctor says. "I lived in America for a few years, a country in the west beyond the ocean that's not yet known in Europe in your time, and then returned to Europe; at the moment I'm living in Florence."

[thewidewideworld]

"I fear of those, I know only Florence as a centre of trade and arts. It must be a very stimulating place for a man such as yourself?"

[cook_the_rude]

The doctor finishes treating the gash on Sinric's back.

"It still is," he says, "even though the days of its greatest glory are long gone. Can you please turn around again so I can treat the remainder of your injuries?"

[thewidewideworld]

He nods and turns with care, protective of the deep bruising that marks his inner thigh in three sharp lines, bleeding under the skin.

"There is much of the Roman world I long to see. The great marvels of the Empire that was."

[cook_the_rude]

The doctor looks at those, and nods as if to himself. "Heparin gel," he murmurs. He swipes over the bruise a few times, discards the gauze.

"Now, if there are any lacerations, this will sting like nobody's business, but you can rely on it to reduce bruises and swelling very effectively."

He starts spreading a thick, very clear gel that actually smells fresh and pleasant. "Please keep your knees apart until the gel has dried. What caused those bruises?"

[thewidewideworld]

There are small circular red marks where the Viking women used leeches to reduce the swelling but they have healed well enough not to sting.

"Leo carries a mace, his staff of honour."

[cook_the_rude]

"And with that staff of honour, he meant to dishonour you by using it between your legs, before letting his men do the dirty work?" the doctor says. "His reasoning is that of a common or garden psychopath."

[thewidewideworld]

"He would not sully himself by touching me." His voice shakes and he hides his face behind the veil of his hair.

[cook_the_rude]

"So, instead he sullied the symbol of his office and power," the doctor says. "Very interesting, and very telling."

[thewidewideworld]

"I doubt he saw it that way. It is the weapon he carries in battle and has killed with it."

[cook_the_rude]

"His weapon of choice, then," the doctor says. "As much part of him as the Goth's axe. It is still telling. What battle does he have with artists, scholars, dancers and the bringers of pleasure?"

He starts daubing the remaining injuries on Sinric's legs, and his front, with that stinging solution.

There is quite a pile of discarded balls of gauze already.

[thewidewideworld]

"I suspect he would say a battle against the weakness and decadence he sees in his father's less marshal side. Constantine is twice the strategist and general Leo will ever be but Leo sees only that he is slower to the fray and more inclined towards diplomacy than open warfare."

[cook_the_rude]

"So what he basically did, in his ignorance," the doctor says, "was making a very noticeable statement of rebellion against his father, and of warfare over statecraft, played out symbolically with his mace and his soldiers on your body, which embodies what he considers decadence but is actually culture. By your turning up with those injuries and that story to tell, he intends to give a message of defiance to his father and his entire court and administration. As what you are is manifest in the very shape of your body, you were the ideal victim: a precious sheet of pure white parchment for his message to be scrawled on in blood. By hiding the injuries and healing them here, you refuse the message to go through."

Pause.

"What did they do to your nipples? They seem mauled."

[thewidewideworld]

The perfect summation of the intent of the abuse done to him makes Sinric's breath catch and eyes sting with tears. He lowers his head, hiding his face from view.

[cook_the_rude]

"None of this was personal in the least," Dr. Lecter concludes. "But if the paper refuses to take the ink, he will feel the need to re-send the message. Psychopaths like him usually keep doing what they do, over and over, until they are caught and stopped."

[thewidewideworld]

"If my Emperor sees what has been done, he will be incensed. And Leo will draw him into argument over it. He will make my Lord seem weak for causing discord over something as trivial as a beaten slave when no law has been broken." Not so trivial to Sinric but to the peace of the throne, he knows he means nothing.

But next time it could be one of the other, one of the younger boys less able to take the pain. And what then. "What must I do to stop him?" The question is asked more of himself than of the doctor.

[cook_the_rude]

"His father will be able to read the message, even if no law was broken," the doctor says. "And he must punish him, harshly, for breaking the peace of the palace and willfully destroying property like the immature child that he is. That is not 'causing discord over something trivial', it must seem like the put-down of one that doesn't know better, due to immaturity, lack of culture, and general lack of all skills that are needed to successfully rule."

[thewidewideworld]

He contemplates that thought in silence, seeing wisdom in the doctor's words. "I... You speak sense. But I'm not sure I want my Emperor to see me, maimed and weak as I am now." He needs time, time to regain his equilibrium.

[cook_the_rude]

"He will see the next one," the doctor says. "And then you can help him decide what his reaction will be."

He starts swiping at Sinric's badly misused nipples with the stingy balls of gauze.

[thewidewideworld]

He hisses and throws his head back, his breasts have indeed been mauled and of all of him, they are the most sensitive.

"I'm not sure I will survive a second message." He mutters through clenched teeth.

[cook_the_rude]

"You probably wouldn't," the doctor agrees. "Psychopaths tend to escalate. It's a very difficult situation."

[thewidewideworld]

"Then I must go back, before my wounds are fully healed and speak with my Emperor of what has been done." The thought fills his stomach with ice.

[cook_the_rude]

"That might be the best way of avoiding that this befalls any of your fellow eunuchs," the doctor says.

Pause

"What did they do to your breasts, though?"