Alexandria: The Lost Princess

Chapter 15 - Part 1

Torches drift through the darkness below, yet again. With enough luck, I will have time to drop a rope and cross the yard before the patrol loops through. My only issue now is, I glance down, my clothes. A groan fills the silence outside the room, and I whip around looking into the dark. Oh, and Wilfrid.

Where does he sleep? I can't do this without certainty, I need to know where he is when I am supposed to be sleeping. If he comes in here and tucks me in again during the night, he will surely find an empty room far before I want him to. Tiptoeing across the wood, I clasp the door handle. Inching it open and cringing while the hinges cry, I push forward. I need to know.

Wilfrid slouches on the floor, sleeping against the wall facing my room. Has he been sleeping here? Guilt stings in my conscious, his chest rises and falls with sleep. Darkness at the ends of the halls, calls to me, telling me to run. I can't leave yet. His pained expression from the first time I had betrayed him flashes in my mind and my eyes water slightly. I won't even get to say goodbye.

"Wilfrid," I hiss into the silence.

He groans in response, stretching out and looking around until his eyes fall on me. "What are you doing up, Chloe?"

"Do you always sleep out here?"

"Yes," he scratches the back of his neck, "but what are you doing up?"

Shuffling my footing nervously, I take a deep breath. I need to know. My muscles tense from distress. "I just thought you slept in here."

His lopsided smile, drowsy with sleep catches my breath, and he shakes his head in absurdity. "Your married, and it's not to me," he chuckles.

Kalen. What if he already found Tristan? My heart clenches in fear. "Where is Kalen?" My thoughts slip from my lips, and I gasp, covering my mouth in surprise.

Wilfrid's eyes instantly narrowed into slits. "Why?"

"Um, I-I uh."

"Spit it out, princess," Wilfrid glares at me. He sure is cranky when he is sleepy.

Why Kalen? Why? Because he isn't easy to deceive, and if he is here then so is Tristan. I can't bear to think about it. My face pales and the hallway twists. Wilfrid climbs to his feet.

No, he is sending me back to bed. "I can't sleep," I gasp in alarm.

Wilfrid stalls for a moment. "What does that have to do with Kale?"

Sleep and Kalen? The drug. "That drink, he can help me sleep." I shift my eyes to the floor nervously.

Please, believe me.

Wilfrid marches up to me, his hand out for me. "Here," he mumbles. I blink down at his fist, uncertain. Cupping my hands, he drops a tiny bottle into my palm. "It's not opium, I won't give that to you. This is valerian root, it will at least relax you."

"Oh."

"Need tea?" Wilfrid smiles sleepily.

Glancing back into the room, I hesitate, shaking my head. "I have some. Good night." My eyes trained on him while I step back and squeeze the door closed.

~

My knee buckles and I stumble forward. Wilfrid's hands instantly tightening and I fall into him. "Easy Chloe. You're overdoing it," Wilfrid warns his breath tickling my shoulder.

I had been dancing all morning. Never daring to stop, it frees me from my reality. The walls disappear, and I return to the forest, back before my world turned upside down. I welcome the distraction, but my ankle hissing with disagreement.

Estella saunters in, and she smiles with a devilish undertone. "Don't stop on my account," she chuckles sweetly. Wilfrid steps away, and I blush. Her eyes fall to my aching feet, and she waves me over. "Come sit."

Sitting in the chair, the basin still on the floor from last time, I wait for her. Grabbing the pitcher, she pours the water into the bowl. Gently pulling off my slippers, she eases my feet into the water. The pain soothes instantly under the touch of cold water. The burn fades into a slight pulse, and I sigh, closing my eyes.

The door to the attic flashes in my mind with a hazy calling. With Wilfrid's aid, Estella and I had snuck into the forbidden room. Stacks of old portraits, dozens of chests. Inside one chest was an elegant wedding dress, embedded with jewels that glistened in the early morning sun. The top fell wide open with my startled gasp. A connection fell instantly between this dress and I for they once belonged to my mother. Estella scurried over, with a confirming nod, she lifted the shoes up towards the direct light.

She had lived a path of uncertainty, and now I take it in her stead, practicing in the same shoes she left behind. Had she been afraid? Taken from her family, from Uncle Octavius. What was it like for her to walk through the halls of Willbridge for the first time? These thoughts will only bring more variety to my nightmares.

Shaking my head, I try to stand. My wet feet touch the stone floor, and Wilfrid rushes to my side, grabbing me. "Woah there, where are you going?"

"Distract me," I groan. My ankle whines with distress, but my mind begs me to continue dancing. How can I sit still knowing Tristan could suffer the same way Octavius did all those years ago? Reaching for the slippers, Estella snatches them first.

Wilfrid grabs my shoulder and pushes me back down into the chair. Squatting down onto the coffee table in front of me. He peeks out from under his shaggy hair. "That can wait till evening, you need to rest."

~Wilfrid's sleeping on the floor in the hallway! How sad! Vote if you feel bad for Wilfrid! ~