88 The Woman with the Hydrangea

The little boy was staring at his bruised thighs with tears in his eyes. The bruises had turned purple and were hurting him. He did not even know why he was hit by his father. All he did was play in the garden with a servant's son. Was it wrong of him?

He could not stop crying but he knew that if he was caught by anyone in the palace, they would report back to his father. The Emperor would beat him up even more and lock him up in the dungeons again. The little boy was scared of the dark and did not want to return to that cold and dingy cell. So he hid from the courtiers and snuck outside the palace gates to cry. He was leaning against the stonewall of the palace, sobbing hard.