Dark Halls, Stone Walls

Chapter Four

The room I was rushed into was about a fifth of the size of the library—that's to say, it was a small-medium-sized room. If I were pacing from one wall to the other, I could count about five strides before I hit a wall. Certainly not a bad size, but considering that I was in a big castle, and from the grand library that I left behind, I imagined that it might be considered a humbly sized room for anyone who wasn't a servant like Laura.

But I am a prisoner, so this may be the size appropriate for those lower than servants. I thought with an annoyed tap of my foot. Surely, prisoners don't get treated better than servants do?

After I bathed, I wrapped a towel around me and sat on my simple wooden twin-sized bed, just beside the matching floor-length mirror and bedside table. Other than the modest wardrobe closet on the other end of the room, no other furniture was in the room.

I leaned over to look into the mirror.

I blinked, stood up to get a closer look, and just stared.

"What are you doing, my lady?" Laura huffed. "I've never seen you this obsessed with your looks before."

I realized that I had been pinching and prodding at each dot on my face and crevice on my now clean body. My big eyes were brown glittered with gold. My hair was longer than I'd realized, but it was much softer after removing all that stiff product from my hair. I had a long scar that went from my right knee up to my hip. It was faded, but still noticeable.

It felt familiar, but not comforting. I wasn't sure why—I was much prettier than I had initially figured. Even my thin shape didn't seem nearly as bad as I thought it was beforehand.

"Well, I haven't had a mirror until now." I slipped into a white slip, then a brown skirt, white buttoned shirt, and overcoat. "Can you blame me?"

She grumbled something under your breath. "I still can't believe you! You mouthed off to your angry husband and continued to have an attitude after he explained everything."

"He didn't—"

"I'm not done! You—"

"Don't interrupt me." I whipped my head in her direction. "It's bad enough that he did it with me, and I'll talk to him about it later, but I certainly won't take it from anyone else. Understand?"

Silence filled the room for a few uncomfortable moments. My stomach grew sour and my chest felt a bit heavy for snapping like that, and I was about to apologize, but I forced myself not to.

What have I done wrong, aside from snapping? I thought bitterly. After all this, shouldn't I be able to voice my thoughts?

Still, I couldn't deny how her presence felt familiar in a gentle, comforting away. The last thing I wanted was for her to leave me alone in this cold, strange place.

I waited.

Laura finally uttered, "I'm sorry, my lady. I was out of line."

"Thank you." I sighed. "Now as I was saying, he didn't explain very much. He said quite a bit, but I don't understand any of it. Still, no matter what I did, or why I did it, he is the groom and I was the bride. If what he says is true, then I trapped everyone here, which means I must know how to undo it, right?"

"I-I suppose."

"Then the most logical thing to do is to have me remember. I want him to explain to me a whole lot of things, but I want him to explain to me why he tried to silence you initially."

"If I may," her voice was quiet but still firm. "I could explain that part."

"Please explain it."

"To put it simply, it wasn't just him that ordered silence. You are a prisoner of your own accord, but because you imprisoned everyone else, you are also a criminal. On top of this, it's treason to do such things against the royal family. It's forbidden to answer prisoners' questions, especially to traitors. It's a law we have to prevent miscarriages of justice." She sighed. "Though, technically we aren't supposed to speak to a prisoner. Not until the trial begins at least."