The Rats Refrain - ONC 2023

Chapter 14 - Gwen

After four days of Lyron being gone, I was officially bored.

The library was gorgeous, and I could easily have spent every day in there, but now my body felt stiff from lack of movement and I knew it wouldn't appreciate another day curled up in those armchairs.

After breakfast, I waved goodbye to Ama and began heading up the stairs. The other staff had become used to my comings and goings and moved easily around with small smiles as we passed each other.

I was relieved they were more comfortable with me now. If it weren't for them, I might have gone mad trapped here alone for so long. I couldn't imagine how anyone could stand to spend all their life in one place.

Although I never left my home village, I explored the surrounding fields and mountains any chance I got. Pausing for a moment at the landing where the stairs forked to the East and West wing, I looked around me.

With Lyron gone, I might never get another chance to look at the mysterious wing he had been so strange about. He had claimed it was damaged, but looking from the outside, I could see no signs of that. Still, I'd move carefully as I investigated.

With the area clear, I hurried up the forbidden staircase. It opened out into a corridor that was nearly identical to the one which led to my own room. The first few doors were disappointingly locked and I ended up climbing two additional flights of stairs.

There were no signs of the damage he had mentioned, and a feeling of unease settled in my chest. In the distance, I could hear a sound that was both familiar and unsettling.

Footsteps hurrying towards me.

Panicked, I tugged at the next few door handles, surprised when one opened and I dived inside.

The sound grew closer until it was right outside the door. Ear pressed against the wood, I listened as the person moved past and headed back the way I had come.

My breath burst out of me in a rush as relief flooded through me and I finally took in the room I was in.

Ornate gold furniture, including a four-poster bed, added a touch of opulence to a dusty and abandoned space. It was clear this room hadn't been used in quite some time, and I couldn't help but wonder why. How many more rooms were there like this?

Why didn't Lyron let the maids or guards use them? I had seen their quarters downstairs, and though clean and perfectly suitable, they were dark and small compared to these. They were just going to waste otherwise. Perhaps that was part of the oddness of the rich. All the space, but no one to fill it seemed rather sad to me.

With the footsteps now long since faded, I dared to peek my head out into the corridor and confirm the way was clear. Whoever it was had clearly been coming from something and my curiosity demanded I find out what.

Closing the door gently behind me, I headed the way they had come from, rounding the corner to find myself at another staircase. Whoever had built this place had clearly done so with torture in mind, for my legs burned with the effort as I climbed them.

A scrabbling noise made me freeze, and I looked at the door just ahead, which seemed to open right off the stairs. You couldn't live in Nilemah and not know what that sound meant.

Rats.

Indecision made me hesitate and look back the way I had come. I didn't need to see what was inside that room truly. It would make no real difference to me either way. I still knew Lyron was hiding things.

And yet...

I pushed open the door and stepped inside before I could change my mind again.

The first thing that hit me was the noise. A cacophony of squeaks and scratching filled the air as I took in the huge cages full of rats.

They covered every surface and stretched the length of the room. At my entrance, the rats moved to the bars to look at me. Calling out almost.

Their eyes... filled with a knowledge they shouldn't have.

Was Lyron somehow involved in whatever caused the rats to overrun the kingdom? I pressed a hand to my mouth as I took it all in. My brain went into overdrive as it tried to understand.

All of a sudden they went wild, the squeaks raising in volume and pitch, throwing themselves at the bars. At me.

"It's quite a sight, isn't it?" A melodic voice asked, breaking me out of my inner ramblings.

With a little scream, I span to face a faded, smoky looking woman who hovered beside me. Only her upper body was visible, before fading out below the waist, and she smirked as she watched me look her over.

The parts of her I could see were weirdly faded, and I could make out the stone wall through her. She floated like some sort of spectre, but those weren't real. Were they?

"What are you?" I whispered, taking a small step back.

"I'm nothing, merely a projection of my consciousness. Not really here, but not really there." She said mysteriously.

"That doesn't really answer the question. Who are you?" I pressed, my back still against the wall as I stared at the ethereal figure.

"I am no one to you, but you may call me Ari." She offered.

I swallowed hard, still trying to put distance between us. "What do you want, Ari?"

The back of my leg pressed up against the bars of one of the cages and I flinched as rats brushed against me, jolting away.

They stopped their scrabbling and looked at me. None had tried to hurt me, but there was fear in their eyes as they looked at Ari. They were as distrustful of her as I was.

"I want nothing more than to see you and make sure you understand."

"Understand what?"

"The man whose home you live in. You might think you know him, but you do not, you cannot. He's selfish, cruel and see for yourself the secrets he keeps hidden from view. Where do you think all the rats came from across the kingdom?" She laughed.

"Are you saying Lyron is to blame for it all?" I asked, mind still reeling.

I didn't know this woman. How could I trust a word she said?

"I'm saying you can see for yourself." She replied, gesturing with a misty hand to the many cages. "How do you think all his staff ended up the way they are?"

"Atticus said it wasn't his fault." I whispered.

She snorted, "Atticus is so loyal to the spoiled little prince, he refuses to let him accept any responsibility for his failings."

"Are you saying Lyron did that to them?" I asked, a little horrified.

"I am saying that it is clear if you look for the answers." She shook her head. "You're not the first you know."

I took a deep breath to steady myself. "What do you mean?"

"You're not the first girl he has brought here." She laughed, "Probably not the last either. First I've warned though, I suppose that makes you special."

"How do you know?"

"It's my job to know. Whether you believe me or not, those are the girls that came before you." She gestured to the cage on her right. "If you stay, this is what you'll become."

Looking into the rat's eyes, I could feel the truth of her words. There was sadness and understanding. Yet something pleading too. I wished they could speak so I could ask them what they meant."

"What does he want from me?" I asked, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Oh, that would be telling. For now, I've warned you, and I think you know what you need to do." She laughed.

"What?"

The rats fell silent, as though they too were waiting for her answer.

"Run." She hissed, snaking her incorporeal body towards me. "Run and don't look back. Go before he returns and does to you what he has to them. It's your only chance."

Terror flared through me and I didn't stop to think as the panic filled my mind. The door was still open, and I dashed for it, taking the stairs two at a time as I ran for my life.