Queen of Rosewood Forest (On Hold)

Chapter 5

The book my father left me describes this castle in a time where a great king resided within these walls with his family and his court members. It goes on to describe the courts as overly serious and prideful people. Specifically, the four councilmen that helped the royal family take care of the land with their elemental powers, were constantly arguing over their status and who had priority in certain issues. Despite this the king himself is always described as kind and lighthearted. The kingdom was prosperous under his rule, but one day he fell ill which allowed the council members to take power over the country. When the king finally died the queen believed the council members had killed him and she knew that her son would not be safe, so she ran away with the prince and was never heard from again.

Looking around, I can piece together that the wing I am in currently was once inhabited by the water court, the hallway where I slept was the edge of the earth court residences, the tower was the air courts domain, and the back part of the castle was designated for the fire court. The middle section was made up of the royal families' quarters, the throne room, and a few other rooms. Since they are in the center the ex-royal families' rooms should be relatively untouched so I decided to find my way there and see what information I can find and maybe find a place to take a bath.

I go to get my bag from the window seat and open it to grab a new dress. As I go through the bag, I notice my map, some of my plants, and one of my dresses are all gone. I frown in confusion at my bag convinced it was all here before I fell asleep. Without my map I won't have a frame of reference to get out of here and back to civilization. I decide to go to the study to search for a map or a clue as to where I can find somewhere to go. Most of the books I find in the barren bookshelves are missing pages or are marked all over preventing me from deciphering their hidden knowledge. Out of all the books I only find three that I can read. The first one is a diary of the water councilman, the second is a history book that explains the events leading up to a treaty between a group of animal people and the residents of the castle, and the third is a dramatic retelling of the birth of a prince. None of the information is helpful in finding my way to a village so I go to explore the rest of the castle in hopes of finding my way to the royal chambers given my newfound knowledge.

I walk further down the chamber where the study is and find two large birch wood double doors decorated in carvings of azaleas. I push them open and another breeze blows over me as I walk into the throne room and sends a chill up my spine. At one end there are two massive thrones decorated with silver and gold azaleas with dark purple cushions. On one there is a gold crest of a crown and scepter engraved on the top of the cushion and on the other the same crest is in silver. There is a black carpet that stretches from the steps up to the thrones all the way across the room to two giant dark wood doors with the same crest as before stamped into them in gold. Behind the thrones there are two dark purple tapestries and a large white marble statue of a woman in robes holding a caduceus in one hand and a human skull in the other and at her feet are the same azaleas that were growing outside. The beauty, despite having a soft layer of dust, takes my breath away for a second. I walk around the statue and find a small indention resembling a seat in the back. I walk up to it and sit down as I look at the azaleas. As I go to stand up my foot lands on a loose stone that gets pressed down by my weight, and as it does a small door opens behind one of the tapestries on the wall. I freeze for a second, wondering if I should really investigate and my curiosity gets the best of me. Through the door there is a narrow chamber that is so dark it seems to soak up any light that comes too close. I find a candelabra and grab one of the half-burned candles off of it and light the wick with a match. The chamber leads to another small door which opens into a child's bedroom. A wooden rocking horse sits in a corner surrounded by dusty toy carriages and wooden soldiers. The bed is huge despite obviously being for a child. The light purple sheets are embroidered with tiny gold crowns and there's a small green dragon stuffed animal laying on the pillows. At the foot of the bed there's an ornate chest depicting a forest much like the one outside the castle walls and next to the bed there's a wardrobe to match. The ceiling is dark blue and painted with silver stars that catch the light coming in from the skylight in the center. The walls are green with gold azalea accents and the floor is a dark red carpet. Off to the side there's a doorway that leads to a washroom with white marble floors and a bronze tub. The walls are light blue with white clouds painted to look like the sky and there's a dark wood vanity with a large mirror that has a small crown sitting on it. The mirror is so covered in dust that I can't tell if the spots are from the mirror or my freckles.

I find a handheld lantern in the wardrobe and light it with what's left of the candle before it gets dark. The tub has a faucet so I'm hoping it has running water. I decide to find out tomorrow and hopefully then I can take a bath. I change out of my old dress and put on the new one so I can go back to sleep. I choose to sleep in this room tonight so I can feel safer since I still don't know what happened to those animals and really don't want them finding me. Tomorrow I'll hopefully find a safe way out of these woods and find out what happened to my things as well.