Musical Love

Chapter Ten

Aaron is standing by the cell window, thinking hard on how he can escape. He hasn't gotten much sleep last night. Honestly, who could blame him? His daughter was taken from him, and all because Rumpelstiltskin just had to sell her to the Pied Piper! What was so important to that tyrant that he had to sell Nevaeh to the Piper for it? He may hate the Piper for taking her, and he'll definitely teach him a lesson for doing such a thing when he figures out a way to escape, but his hatred for Rumpelstiltskin? It was bad enough when he learned that his friends, King Harold and Queen Lillian, were killed when Rumpelstiltskin tricked them into signing that contract, but selling his daughter to the Piper has only made his hatred for him grow to dangerous heights!

     The sound of the cell door being unlocked brings him out of his thoughts. He turns his head to see a witch entering the cell with half a loaf of bread and a cup of water, though she's holding the cup as far as she can away from her.

     "Dinner," she mutters as she roughly shoves them in his hands, seeming especially glad to be rid of the water.

"You have a way of saying 'dinner' that sounds more like 'drop dead,'" Aaron responds sarcastically as he goes to set the bread and cup of water down on the bottom bunk bed.

"It's a gift," she replies with a smirk.

     Aaron feels his blood boil at that snarky reply. Feeling like his rage could burst any second now, Aaron grabs the cup and glares at the witch. Seeing the cup of water in Aaron's hand, she gasps and steps back.

     "If you're not out of here in five seconds, the last thing you'll be saying is 'What a world, what a world!'" Aaron threatens her, mocking the last bit.

     "You wouldn't," the witch replies, trying to sound brave, but looking terrified as she keeps glancing at the water.

     "My daughter and I were taken from our home and tossed into this cell. I had to watch her be forced to sing for that maniac you call a king, and he had the nerve to strike her just because she refused at first. And to top it all off, she was sold to the Pied Piper as payment, and I had to watch him take her away by controlling her with his music. Do you really think I won't do it?" he responds bitterly—and threateningly.

     His grip on the cup tightens with each word, almost to the point where if he tightens his grip any further, the cup will break altogether. The witch immediately leaves the cell, making sure to close and lock the cell door before running off like a cheetah.

Frustrated, Aaron sits on the bottom bunk bed to eat his meal. He wasn't actually going to kill her. It's just that after everything that's happened, it's quite hard to control his anger and frustration. Not much to his surprise, the bread is kind of stale.

Better than nothing, he thinks.

He wonders what the Piper could be doing to his child. Is he forcing her to sing for him right now? Or is he harming her in many ways? One thing is definitely for sure: He has to find a way to escape this place and rescue his daughter.

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     After enjoying a nice dinner together, Nevaeh and the Piper head to the sewing room, with Moo-Moo following them. There are five seamstresses at work. They look like they're in their forties. On one side of the large room there are five desks lined up. Each desk has a sewing machine, and two of the seamstresses are sitting at the desks, drawing some designs, while the other three are arguing over something Nevaeh can't quite understand. On the other side is a huge rack of fabrics.

     Nevaeh's eyes widen and her jaw drops slightly when she sees all the colorful fabrics. She doubts ever having seen so many colors at once. Some of them are simple and plain while the others have very lovely patterns embroidered on them, such as flowers, birds, etc. The Piper, seeing her reaction, chuckles quietly, and he takes her hand and leads her farther into the room. He clears his throat to get his servants' attention, and they look to see their master in the room. Their master and the pretty woman they've heard him talk so much about.