Bride of Adron | ✓

Chapter 18 - Escape

Noelle sat at the dining table, Adron at her side. She stared sullenly at the extravagant foods placed on the table: a golden turkey, rich purple grapes, ideally cooked eggs, hot tea, gravy and baked potatoes. It looked delicious, but she was not hungry.

Adron took a plate for her, piling it with food. Noelle took it wordlessly, picking at it with her fork.

"Do you not like it?" Adron demanded.

"I'm not hungry," Noelle answered, and his face twisted in anger.

"My cooks made that for you, ungrateful girl! Eat!" He boomed, and his roar shook the entire dining room. Noelle did not even flinch. She continued picking at the food, which only drove Adron more insane. "If you refuse to eat, you won't eat at all!"

He snatched the place away, smashing it on the floor. Then, he stood out of his chair and stormed out of the room, leaving the servants around to hurriedly begin cleaning the mess.

Noelle herself also stood up, leaving the room as she walked down the empty hallway to clear her head. Any servants she walked past immediately dodged out of her way, and the guards nodded respectfully at her. As she walked, Noelle heard a set of footsteps begin behind her, yet she paid them no attention.

She decided that she wanted to visit the Garden of Eden, where she maybe could find solace. Noelle continued down the castle hallways, bashing through the doorways and past the windows. She looked out of all of them, taking in the surroundings of the castle.

She entered the garden, closing her eyes as she listened to the gentle zephyr and the different sounds she could pick out, for example the buzzing of a bee or the rustle of the leaves.

To her annoyment, she could still hear the footsteps following her, so Noelle spun around only to come face to face with Lolita.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, calmer. Her initial anger had mostly passed.

"I want to talk to you," Lolita began, but Noelle interrupted her.

"You can save it. I'm trying to relax right now."

Lolita still pestered her. "No, really! It's important. Let's go somewhere private."

She took Noelle's hand, and she allowed herself to be dragged behind a tree where there was a large hole in the bush fence that Noelle did not know about. She supposed it made sense, considering Emanda was her mother, who was one of Adron's most trusted servants. Lolita must have spent a lot of time in the castle as a child.

"I don't have all day," Noelle said, somewhat rudely, though she couldn't find it in herself to care.

"I want to help you get out of here," Lolita said, and Noelle laughed in her face.

"Help me get out when you are the reason I'm here? Funny story, Lolita," Noelle scoffed. She admired Lolita for her patience with her behaviour, though she supposed she was at least owed that.

"Adron isn't going to keep his promise of not hurting your friends. He's going to kill anyone involved in the rebellion, regardless of what you say," Lolita said, and her words stopped Noelle in her tracks.

"H-How do you know?"

"They think I'm on their side, remember?" Lolita said like it was obvious. Noelle felt cold, and dread coursed through her veins. She should have expected that Adron would break his promise, and do something horrible to her friends. "What are you going to do?"

The question finally caused Noelle to explode.

"What am I going to do?! I can't do anything! I'm trapped in this castle, married to Adron with no way to get out! My last hope is gone! Everyone calls me a saviour, but I am just a girl! I can't do anything!" Noelle sobbed, covering her face. She did not want Lolita to see.