Seize the Day

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

I moved silently down the empty halls of the castle. The lack of guards and servants was eerie. I had not come across a single castle staff member. I knew it wasn't a sign that I was going the wrong way, because I was heading the opposite direction in which we had come—that had to count for something. Then again, I still had no idea where I was going. I cursed myself for not paying more attention to my surroundings when Philippa had led me to the garden.

I turned corner after corner, but everything in this blasted castle looked the same. The red carpets, random windows, and paintings were trademarks of nearly every hallway. Obviously there were differences in some halls, but they generally followed the same trend.

For all I knew, I was heading towards Odelia’s living quarters.

I shivered. From the way that the duchess had shrieked my name, it was clear that Odelia wanted something from me. I dreaded the moment when she would find me. I was aiming to escape the castle before discovery, but at the rate I was going, that was an impossible dream.

I came to the end of a hall, where a guard was stationed near a flight of stairs going down. I immediately turned around to go the other direction, but the guard stopped me with a jittery voice, “Wait!”

I froze in place. Turning my head over my shoulder, I inspected the guard. He was probably high-strung like everyone else. Probably thought I was a shapeshifter or an assassin. “Yes?”

“State your name.”

“Lannie Brackenbury.” I couldn’t explain it, but I had an odd feeling whenever I looked at the guard. His shoulders slumped, his eyes were unfocused, and his mouth was set into a fragile line as he spoke.

“There is someone who wants to meet you…ma’am.” What was wrong with him? It was almost as if he were intoxicated, but I had been around my father enough to know that this man was not drunk.

“Who? I have somewhere to be, so I can’t—”

“Please, this way.” The guard motioned with his hand at the stairwell.

A chill crept up my arms. I could have sworn that a breeze brushed past my arm and down into the stairwell entrance. Or was the entryway itself drawing the air into its fathomless depths? Foolish thoughts, I scolded myself. I stepped forward. “I’m sorry, but I’d rather not venture into some dank stairway only because someone wants to meet me. Goodbye.” I turned to leave, but the guard lapsed into a fit of coughing.

I looked at him in frustration, but my annoyance quickly disappeared when I saw the man crumpled on the ground, convulsing violently from his coughs. I hurried to his side and stared at the man in panic. Was he having a heart attack? What was I supposed to do?

Suddenly, a low, guttural sound erupted from his mouth. He stopped coughing and lay prostrate on the floor. No… He can’t be… I couldn’t handle any more dead people! I was about to check his pulse when an unfamiliar voice sounded from his lips:

“This is why I hate men. Women are far more easy to control.”

I stiffened. The voice had come from the guard’s lips. Although he lay motionless, his eyes were open and unfocused. His pupils abruptly fixed on me, making me jump. “Oh, hallo dere.” The voice coming from his mouth sounded oddly feminine, with a lilt to the words. “Sorreh, it’s wather…hawd to talk in…an unconscious bodeh.” The man—or the body; I didn’t know what to call it anymore—coughed again. His pupils were still fixated on me. The voice became lower, more fragile as it continued, “Go down the…stairs and see me.”