“I can’t even look around for two seconds?!” I ask him. His response is a few loud squeaks that sound like a ‘fuck you’.
Why am I even talking to this creature?
He stops in front of the next cell. I put my hand on the door and pull, half expecting it not to open, but it swings open without even a squeak of protest. The first thing that hits me is the smell. The room smells of sewage and body odor to the point my eyes water. Somehow, I manage to hold back a gag as Dormouse scurries in. There’s a ball of light that looks like Bella’s magic, a dim glow giving me a visual of the occupant.
A skeletal figure huddles in the corner. The room is as meager as the last, so the person has nothing to hide behind. As soon as I step in, I feel the sharp sting of iron and fury envelops me.
They kept someone on iron for this long?!
The figure makes no attempt to move as I step inside. They don’t look up or react, but when Dormouse closes in, a bony hand reaches out and snatches him up, holding him close to their body.
“I won’t hurt you. I’m a knight of the queen. Her mouse led me down here, he seems to know you," I soften my gravelly voice to what I hope is a calming volume. It isn’t my usual job, so it’s probably still intimidating. I really need Gerwyn here for things like this.
“You came back for me?” She spoke to the mouse in a cutesy voice. “Take me to my daughter,” she directs the next line to me, in her normal voice. It’s rough from disuse but holds a regal flare.
Daughter? This is Bella’s lost mom?
The king imprisoned the Princess of Spring? In isolation?
The thoughts are racing through my head and I have to work to erase my shock from my face.
“Your highness, Bella is unconscious still, but I can take you to her," I offer. She stands and walks toward me. Now that I get a real look at her, their resemblance is uncanny. Her eyes are an exact copy of Bella’s and she has the same smile, though hers is a haunted version. No doubt from years in this horrible place.
“Thank you," she replies as she steps forward. The woman has clearly only been fed enough to barely survive, she looks skeletal and her movements are stunted. Her hair is long and matted and she looks like a walking zombie covered in layers of filth.
“Once we get back to the group, I’ll make sure you get a chance to clean up. I have to check in with my other knights," I explain. Honestly, I need to find someone to help her clean herself. She doesn’t look capable in her state.
Halfway through our walk she can barely take a step, leaning heavily into the stone wall. Without bothering to ask for permission, I lift her up and carry her the rest of the way. She’s royalty, but more than that, she’s a person. She never deserved this and I wouldn't shy away from getting her help.
She doesn’t protest as I carry her in the ballroom, but I do feel her tense in my arms. The crowd has calmed down and almost everyone in the room has succumbed to their exhaustion. Bowen is now asleep, clutching Bella’s hand. Maddox is speaking softly to a silver-haired man, some of the last in the room awake.
The Princess makes a choking sound as she glances toward them. The man’s head turns and his mouth falls open in shock, horror, then relief. He runs forward and takes her from me. I’m too shocked to protest.
It takes all of two seconds to figure out that he’s the Prince of Winter. He has Bella’s light skin and silver locks. His eyes are a deep purple instead of her bright blues, but the resemblance is enough to place him immediately. That and the crown still on his head. His reaction to Bella’s mom only solidifies my conclusion.
“Allura. I’m so sorry,” the prince sobs, not caring who is around to see the breakdown. Emotions make me uncomfortable, so I move away from them and toward Bella. It’s been long enough that the need to be by her side is killing me.
The sight of her bruising still fills me with anger, but I noticed that they’re already healing some. Yellows and greens color the edges now that definitely weren't there before.
Now I remember why I went with Dormy in the first place, the sight of her hard to take in for long. I need a task… fast.
“We need to locate food and water. Clearly the king survived somehow. I think they could use a moment anyway," I hint to Maddox. He stands and I turn to Bella’s parents. “Please watch over our family, we will give you a moment alone and locate bathrooms, food and water," I say with a respectful bow.
“I won’t let her out of my sight again," her father vows, his voice determined and eyes misty once more. The love they had for her already was strong and I trusted him with her immediately. Well, as much as I was willing to trust anyone.
I give a sharp nod before walking out of the room. This castle is so ridiculously big that it takes us over an hour to find enough bathrooms for people to get cleaned up. We have yet to find food sources and I’m just getting more frustrated. It doesn’t help that I can’t get the sight of Bella’s body, bloody and bruised, to leave my head.
I should have been there to protect her.
I’ve failed her.
But I’m so fucking proud of her too.
The fact she’s so skinny and weak she couldn’t properly defend herself if she wanted to, boils my blood. No amount of training would have changed that. Seeing her mother made me immensely glad Bella was able to kill him. She proved to him he was unworthy of his role. He starved and tortured her and yet she still was able to end him.
He didn’t deserve to live and now the Spirits can judge him. I wish I could have ripped him apart for his crimes, limb by limb… slowly. I’d have danced in his entrails and bathed in his blood with fucking glee.
Maddox jumps ahead and starts checking the rooms in the new wing we’d walked into. I give him an apologetic grunt but it's all I trust myself to say out loud. My teeth are clenched so tightly my jaw aches.