Work Text:
Imogen was scrubbing the delicate floors of the castle, her knees aching from her position and her arms stiff from the effort of cleaning.
It was while she was cleaning that one of the princes walked by, tipping a wine glass onto the floor with a wicked grin. Imogen's green eyes widened and she hurried to clean it.
“Look what you've done, girl!” The prince shouted.
Imogen stopped right in her tracks, her eyes flicking from the prince to the mess. “...what did I do?” She asked hesitantly.
“You've knocked over the glass and made a mess, you idiot! Father will be hearing about this.”
Imogen was too startled to respond, her body frozen in place as she watched the prince saunter away with that same smile he walked in with.
•••
During lunch, long after Imogen had cleaned up “her” mess, an old man came stomping into the servant's quarters. Imogen's head snapped up and she stared at them with fear - it's the royal advisor.
“You, girl!” He snatched her meal and fisted his hand in her black hair, forcing her to spit up what she already ate. “You will get no food for the rest of the week for what you've done! Having the nerve to break His Majesty’s precious wine glass.”
“But- but I didn't break it! The prince did!”
“Now blaming the prince? That's three weeks for you!”
“But-” Imogen cut herself off, realizing arguing would do no good.
•••
Over the next few weeks Imogen was only given water and a single apple seed for breakfast and lunch. Her work slowed, she was often lightheaded and shaky.
She was currently scrubbing the floors again, barely able to hold her own body up as her shaky hands struggled to scrub with any force.
So hungry...
Imogen's body started to give up, her eyes going blurry, her sense of hearing becoming more and more muffled, before she fell to the floor and her last sense to go was touch as she felt the cold, wet floor against her skin before everything went dark.