Maid In Royalty

♛ 31 ♛

I was going to see my father, and his people, who were starving and chained up for months on end. I could hear whispers and bits of light coming from the corner of the wall. Holding my breath, I made my way around.

The lantern fell from my hand, waking everyone caged up behind the prison bars. My hand was shaking as it covered my mouth. Tears were falling from my eyes, my fist balling up causing my nails to dig into the skin of my palm.

In front of my eyes was a single cell that held an old, weak-looking man. On each side were ten cell blocks that held five people each. They pressed their faces against the bars, their hands clutching tightly onto the cold metal. Women, men, and even teenagers were stuck in this forbidden place.

"Who are you?"

I turned my head slowly to meet eyes with a girl who looked around my age. Her eyes were sunken like her posture. She was wearing a ripped black shirt and dirty jeans. She pushed her short hair back to meet eyes with me.

I couldn't say anything which made her scoff as if she's seen this cowardly act before. She walked up to the rails, her face covered with bruises. I flickered my eyes somewhere else.

"Are you here to save us?" She said with a British accent.

"Y-yes."

"Why the stutter?" She tilted her head to the side, trying to read me.

"I'm here to save you all!" I exclaimed, which made everyone look at me intensely. "I'm here-," I took in a deep breath,"- I'm here to see my father."

"You're not gonna find him here love," the girl said with a bitter tone turning around to sit down.

"I will if I say that his daughter Iris is here."

She stopped midway in her turn and peered at me with confused eyes as if she's heard stories about me and all the rumours came true. I swallowed hard as her eyes darted to the cell in front of me.

"Iris?"

I heard a voice.

The old man I saw earlier scrambled to his feet and slammed himself against the barriers. His hand was sticking out for me to grab. My eyes watered at the sight of my father. His hair was white and gray reaching down to his shoulders. The bones of his body were sticking out as if he wasn't fed for months. The wrinkles on his face stretching oddly.

I forgot about everything and ran as fast as I could. Pictures of my perfect life in Alexandria vanished, memories of Aiden all gone just like that. I ran and ran, tears slipping from the side of my eyes.

My body slammed against the bars of his cell as I took his hand in mine. I looked into the eyes of my father and smiled at how much they resembled mine.

"Look- look at you. All grown up," he coughed out. He caressed my cheek, pushing my hair back. I cried in his hand as he wiped my incoming tears. "How did you get here?" he let out a surprised laugh.

"I got your letter."

Before he could say anything, I heard footsteps making their way towards the cells. My father pointed to the side wall that had an opening to hide. I squeezed in and waited for the person to leave.

"False alarm! It's the fruit boy!"

I furrowed my eyebrows and pushed myself out, only to be greeted by Lee holding a big basket of fruits. His jaw dropped as he saw me standing next to my father's cell.

"Iris," he laughed nervously. "What are you doing here?"

"So you're the one who steals the fruit baskets from the pantry?" I asked inching towards him as he quickly slides an apple to a girl. He blushes as she gives him a small smile.