The afternoon was sunny and windy. The cold snap had continued into another day. Angelina stood at her bedroom window, regarding the top of the palace over the woods and fuming over Edward's tendency to think he could do whatever he wanted with whatever he pleased.
The worst part was that he could. She would be quite powerless. Edward had the support of his parents, of her parents. She was under the control of everyone around her. And this was not the way it should be. According to her own, indisputable, assessment, she was a thoroughly competent young lady.
Angelina spontaneously turned on her heel and marched downstairs, retrieving her hat and coat before departing the house through the back door. She huddled herself against the wind and walked through the orchard, across a couple of fields and into the woods. She followed the dirt trail that cut through them, pine needles and the new leaves of oaks and birches swishing above her. The odd ray of sunlight soared through and beamed on the path. She could hear the scamper of small creatures running from her striding figure.
Soon the woods ceased and Angelina stopped at the edge. The sun was sinking lower into the sky and the palace was basked in cheerful golden light. She was determined to go inside. Perhaps it really was just an useless structure of invaluable stone and brick. But she wanted to see for herself.
Across a stretch of unkempt grass she went, passing a side door in favour of the main door. Two staircases swept up to a terrace. She ascended the nearest one and pushed on the old door, paint flaking into her hand as it creaked open on rusty hinges.
Stepping through, she found herself in an entrance hall. A grand staircase of marble led to the floor above. It was worn, she could see. Moss grew on the first couple of steps. To each side of her, there was a room. The doors had long since collapsed, revealing to her decayed furniture and a floor riddled with weeds and dirt.
A gust of chilly wind curled through the front door and lifted the hat violently off Angelina's head. She picked it up and hung it on a tarnished hatstand next to her before walking forwards, past the staircase to the other end of the hall.
It led to a room in much better condition. The windows at the end retained their glass and were clean enough that Angelina could make out a courtyard beyond them. The room gave her the impression of having once been a grand parlour of some sort, owing to the rather fragile, but fine, set of chairs that resided in a corner. Dusty surfaces still held a couple of vases, one of which was shattered beside a collapsed table. The floor was dirty, but the stone was otherwise unblemished by wind or rain.
Angelina continued along the ground floor. Some of the rooms she looked into were in terrible condition, with crumbling walls and cracked floors, but others were almost habitable. She was breathtaken by the undisturbed antiquity of what she saw. It must once have been a beautiful place. It was unfortunate that it was ever abandoned, and not ever touched again after her great great grandparents reinhabited the estate and built a new manor.
After wandering through all of the rooms, she found herself once again in the entrance hall and decided to go up the staircase. Despite a significant piece of the bannister being missing, it seemed structurally sound as she made her way up, feet echoing against the walls of the chamber-like space.
The second floor was darker, and Angelina soon noticed that this was because many of the rooms still had curtains on their windows. On this floor, candlesticks retained some of their gleam, the floor was mainly free of dirt and artworks on the ceilings, despite the paint visibly flaking, still held recognisable shapes. Angelina wandered down a dim passage. This place was still in reasonable condition. She was in disbelief that Edward and her father thought it so useless. They probably thought it old-fashioned; anything of value in it now nothing compared to their current riches. An annoyance, too much of a hassle to clean up and be made useful again.
She was walking along a dim corridor when a quiet rustle disturbed the air and dragged her from her thoughts. Her feet halted, and her eyes scanned the area around her. But there was nothing she could find, so she continued, a little more alert and cautious than before. But barely three more steps along, another rustle came.
It was most likely nothing. But perhaps someone had seen her, watched her wander through the silent, majestic place. The thought made her uneasy and she turned back towards the staircase, reluctant to go further.
Angelina had almost made it back to the top of the staircase when she heard more noises, very faint, but unmistakably the clicking footsteps. Rustles accompanied them like the swishing of a skirt. A chill went down her spine, and Angelina wasted no further time, moving quickly down the stairs , straight through the doors and back towards her house. She stole one last look as the sun set on the palace, at its walls basked in orange light, the glitter of the second-floor windows. Then she spun back around and hurried through the woods and across the orchard, through the back door and up into her room, not even stopping to hang her coat in the hall.
Something was odd about that palace. It sat silently, day after day, having its treasures unnoticed by those that lived around. Or so she had thought.
Angelina was sure she had had company. Someone had seen her. Watched her wander through the hallowed place. Then purposefully, audibly walked away, to let her know that she was not, in fact, alone the whole time as she had thought.
She shivered; a chill spread down her spine, her fingertips, her scalp, her toes, her neck. She glanced out her window at the palace.
There was someone haunting it.
YOU ARE READING
The Dead Princess Society
قصص عامة"Perhaps someone had seen her. Watched her wander through the hallowed place. Then purposefully, audibly walked away, to let her know that she was not, in fact, alone the whole time as she had thought." Angelina Valliant is burdened with a controlli...
