Under the Water (Book 1)

Thirteen

I sit in the cell I'm assigned to this time. Baelinn sit by the door again carving the same creature, I see the shape better now. A horse standing tall and noble. Like an real animal should. He's been looking at me funny this whole time, just a glance out of the corner of his eye, like he still can't believe I'm here. Or back here...

Finally he says "Boy I can't tell if you're daft in the head, or just a complete idiot. Why would you be sneaking around here, in the middle of the day no less?!"

I shrug, and Baelinn continues, "Boy you were given grace once, by the princess herself, and yet you insist to show yourself here again." Baelinn sighs and shakes his head. Then continues carving his horse.

"Am I going to be on trial again" I ask nervously. I don't know why I would. I wasn't caught doing anything. But of course the Royals don't need much of an excuse to behead someone. Except Scarelette...

Baelinn shakes his head, "Most likely the King will say off with you head this time. He doesn't need to be wasting his time with you again."

Well that sounds wonderful. I think in my head. Of all the predicaments I could get myself into, I just had to act like an idiot and get myself in to this friking mess. Again. Now all I could do is wait.

***

After about three hours another guard finally comes and hands Baelinn some paper. It's holopaper so as soon as Baelinn presses the blue button on the to clear the screen. But then he actually has a real piece of paper. A real solid piece of paper. I try to make out what it says but Baelinn keeps it pointed away from me. His brow creases and he looks upset by the news. He mumbles something under his breath, something that sounds like he regrets everything about the paper. Finally he stands up and unlocks the cell.

"Quinn." He says, looking me strait in the eyes. "You right now, have probably had the most releases than even people in the court. But you still need to keep you idiotic actions under control." He roughly pulls me out of the cell. "and..." he stops slightly as if he's hesitant to say the rest. "stay away from the princess." He points to the stairs and nods, as if saying, you know the way out. I do, so I walk up the stairs, not quite believing he'd just let me go...

The head of the Grecian House stands at the top of the stares. I stop and move aside to let him pass, pretty sure he's there to visit someone else, so when he says.

"Quinnson Seventh." I of course stand there like an idiot.

He says my name again and looks at me weird, like he remembers something... "I am now your guardian in the Inner Dome. My name Dezzmond of the Grecian House. From now on you will be assigned to the kitchens and whatever other odd jobs given to you around the castle. You will also behave like a servant and stay away from any royals or guests."

He then walks away.

"Wait," I say, "What?"

He turns around and say's "Follow me and I'll show you to your chambers, neph - i mean, Quinn" He turns around and starts walking away, leaving me no choice but to follow.

***

After walking through the halls, taking right, turns instead of left. And me making a mental map in my head. Eventually we turn left and come to a more deserted area, near the top floor, I'm basically in a tower.

A large pallet lays on the floor and painting hang on the wall at odd angles, but not holo painting that offer movements and slide shows, real acrylic, gouache, and watercolor paintings. A wicker cabinet things was stuck in the 'corner' of the room, and other sheets most likely for cooler nights. The air. I rushed to the window, not caring how boyishly excited i seemed, I stuck my head out in awe.

I could see the top of the dome.

I leaned far out the window and laughed breathlessly at the view. I saw the real sky, now the just the pale silver blue reflectiveness of the shell, but the blue sky, with birds and clouds circling high above. I pulled myself back into the room and turned to look at my... guardian. "who's room was this?" I ask, starting to feel slightly guilty of taking this privilege from whoever owned it last.

Dezzmond blinks in surprise as if I already knew the answer, looking at me like I'm an idiot. Well why the hell did I ask if I knew? He clears his throat. "It was a young boys room once. He was rebellious and had to have things how he liked it. He's gone now, so you won't be disturbing anyone. I will be leaving now. For the rest of this day you will be confined to your room. Any problems with you escaping and the guards in the hall will take care of that." He leaves the room with the guards.

I look around quickly, I'll have to explore by artificial light later, for now, I need to figure out someway to get out.

***

After a ton of searching I finally find the thing I was looking for. A small trapdoor underneath my pallet. It feels familiar, the whole room, every detail... but I can't dwell on that now. I drop down onto the ladder and begin my descent, until finally I come to a very, very, long hallway. Some doorways lead of to doors hidden in wall panels and closets, all of which were in the dusty rooms i had found in my first visit to the Palace. I was going to turn around when I though I hit a dead end when I realized hat it wasn't a dead end, but a corner dark enough that it was barely noticeable. I rounded the corner and fumble my way through the darkness until finally I fell through the secret entrance. Into a closet of dresses. I winced as a heavily bejeweled one swung back and hit my on the head. How could anyone wear these!?

I stood up and opened the door, only after doing so freezing in the caution of someone being there.No one was. I looked around a bit. Finding sketch books filled with dress designs, I found one under the pillow of her 4 poster bed. There was a picture of me in it. Looking to the side, my hair swept to the side, letting my eyes get a clear spot in the beautiful artwork. My eyes widened as I finally got it. This was Scarlette's room.

I quickly found some paper and sticks, that stuck to any surface, and posted some note around the room. Pleased with my work I slipped back into the closet and headed back to my tower.

I had solved the puzzle of my surroundings, mostly. Now I had to solve the puzzle lurking beneath the surface. The memories, that weren't there.