On Trial

Dangerous

Hello!! I'm finally back with another update! I was not planning to stay away that long but life really got in the way and I found that I needed the break, not only for my health, but also because it helped me step back and look at this story and figure out how to tie up lose ends and ensure that once I reach the final chapters, the story goes out with a bang.

Thank you all for your patience over the last few months, I really appreciate you all! 😊

Also THANK YOU SO MUCH for over 20.1k reads that's insane! 😆😆

Pauline and Winnifred had been dismissed from the palace, following their obvious abuse of Cassandra. In the days that followed, everyone who loved her, were shocked that such a thing had been allowed to happen, under their noses and that this was the apparent "norm" for treating people with mental illness.

Cassandra's mental health was deteriorating faster than ever before (not that she was doing very well physically either) and she wanted people around her at all times, getting extremely anxious if she was left alone.

Whenever her father visited, she clung to him the whole time, her nails practically digging into his arm. She would talk to him, but her voice was quiet and her words were faltering.

For Harold, it was heartbreaking to witness.

"I really need to go now, Cassie-"

"P-please stay, just for a bit longer:"

The former captain sighed, looking over at Doris with a creased brow.

"Cassandra, dear, your father needs to have dinner, you need to have a bath and I need to make your bed."

"I'll be back, same time tomorrow, sweetheart. I promise."

Those wide, hazel eyes were like arrows piercing his heart.

He'd been told not to give in to her, though, as painful as that was. The medical staff didn't want her becoming too dependent on him, that wouldn't be good for either of them.

"I love you," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you too," she replied, hoarsely.

She let him go, her hands shaking as he closed the door behind him.

"Daddy..." she mumbled, resisting the urge to leap up and run after him. She would've done it if she didn't feel so unwell.

As promised, while Cassandra took a bath, Doris set about making her bed.

It was when she was changing the sheets that she felt something caught up inside the used ones. She pulled out a small, wooden owl, with Cassandra's initials carved in the back of it.

Shrugging, she placed it on the bedside table, assuming it was some kind of childhood trinket, however, when Cassandra returned she was shocked to see it there.

"What's this?" She asked, picking it up.

"You don't know?" Doris replied, looking up from her knitting, "I thought it was yours?"

Cassandra was about to say that she'd never seen it before, when the letters on the back caught her eye. That was her initials... in Wolf's writing.

She couldn't stop herself from letting out an excited gasp.

Doris grinned at the sound, glad to hear her sound so happy, even for a short while.

"I-it's from Wolf!" Cassandra squeaked, "Wolf! He must've sent it to me..."

Her voice trailed off, as her gaze landed on the pile of shredded paper the must have accompanied the owl. Rapunzel had promised she'd use her arts and craft expertises to stick the pieces back together, as soon as she could.

She turned away from the letter, not wanting to be reminded of the woman who had pulled it to pieces.

Her nightmares had become so much worse (if that was even possible) since that horrible day, that she'd resorted to straight up refusing to fall asleep, trying to stay up as long as she could, but still, sleep would eventually overtake her. There seemed to be no escape. Waking up crying, kicking and screaming, before getting forcefully put back to sleep, had become a nightly routine for her, no matter what lengths she took to avoid it.

"Who's Wolf?" Doris asked, abruptly pulling Cassandra from her thoughts.

"Oh, he's just a friend..."

Doris raised an eyebrow, noticing how much Cassandra's cheeks were flushing pink, but she decided not to pry any further.

That night, Doris returned home much later than she'd intended and practically fell in the door.

"Oh, thank goodness you're home!" Daphne cried, wrapping her arms around her aunt, holding her close, "Are you alright? I was afraid that you'd been mugged or something!"

"I can take care of myself, you know that," Doris chuckled, "I'm sorry I'm so late, we had some issues with Cassandra."

"Is she ok?"

"She's getting worse and I'm so afraid that they're going to put her into a home or a designated hospital. She's becoming far too much for them to handle."

"How so?" Daphne asked, leading Doris into the kitchen.

Doris explained how Cassandra had stayed awake until very late, despite gentle reminders that she needed to get some sleep but, not long after she finally drifted off, she woke up screaming bloody murder.

This repeated several times, throughout the night, until, ultimately, Dr Kelly had put a stop to it.

"They sedated her?" Daphne asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes. They do it every time something like this happens. I can't stand it, it's like sweeping the situation under the rug, instead of actually doing something about it. I get that they don't have the knowledge or facilities but-" she paused, "Daphne? Are you alright?"

Daphne stood up, her expression stormy.

"No. This is dangerous. That amount of sedation could kill her."

Doris' eyes widened.

"Kill her? Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. I've heard horror stories of what too much of it can do to the body and in some cases, the brain." Daphne explained.

A deathly silence fell upon the kitchen, as Doris sat back in shock.

"We need to speak to the Queen. Immediately."