Amelia’s POV:
As we were walking up the stone stairs I could see not only mine, but Natalia’s breath coming out like ink being poured into water and individual tendrils spreading out in every direction. It was very cold and I had to try and contain the shivers which were invading every part of my body. There were cobwebs everywhere you looked, some were mostly covered in flies and spiders but a few were new and had nothing whatsoever on them. There were stumps of wood on the sides of the cold stone walls and they were slowly rotting away. With the amount of moisture in the air it wouldn’t have been surprising to find mould everywhere, thankfully I had been down here often, like when I want to escape from my duties and just go into the forest to relax I just sneak out through this passageway.
Thankfully mother hadn’t found out about it yet so I didn’t need to hide it from her, she would never even find it anyway. If she did then she would assume it was a cupboard of something ridiculous like that.
Eventually we came to the end of the tunnel and the door was made out of wood with iron bolts. It was a pretty gruesome sight, but it’s not like anyone was going to see it. There was a small keyhole, the key long gone, so I could easily see through it. Every time I went through this tunnel I cleaned it in case there was an emergency, like now. I knelt down and looked through it to see if anyone was on the other side and thankfully no one was there so I gently twisted the door knob and started to push the door. Thankfully it actually was a push door and it started to open. Unfortunately it creaked very loudly, so if I wanted to get out without a sound then I would have to open it very quickly. But the door wasn’t the lightest and it was quite heavy, so if I wanted to open it quickly then I would need someone else’s help. In this case, Natalia was the lucky lady who got to help me open the door. I motioned to her for help and she straight away understood what I meant. This was quite surprising as normally women do not know what hand signals mean as men would be the only ones who would need to know what it meant as they’d need it for the war. The only reason I knew this is because when I was younger I was very interested in different wars and my father taught me quite a few of the hand motions. I hadn’t got to show off my skills of war signals since a child playing games with my father. Now was the time when it was actually needed for something important. She moved swiftly and silently to the door and on the count of three we moved the door as fast as we possibly could. There was no noise but the light was so bright and we had been in the dark for so long our eyes had adjusted and I was left momentarily blinded. Natalia seemed to not be affected by this at all. We were downstairs in the kitchen and it was spotless, the maids had finished their work now and they had left to most likely go to the maids’ quarters to get some shut eye. I motioned for Natalia to follow me silently and we left to go to my room. It seemed like everyone had gone to sleep. My mother probably gave up on waiting for me and was probably thinking that I had won over the Prince’s affections, hardly. If I’d even be able to make him able to withstand my presence then even that would be a feat. We sneaked through the corridors and went straight up the stairs and basically ran for my room. Once we got inside I shut the Door as fast as humanely possible. We both let out a huge breath ad sunk to the floor. We both smiled at each other, proud that we had accomplished the mission of getting home, my home. She looked like she was extremely worn out, I wouldn’t blame her, I felt like a literal, in looks and smell, bag of dung. I wonder what mother done whilst I was gone, to be honest if she just sat around shouting at all the maids to clean this, clean that. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she got them to fan her. My mother, don’t get me wrong, is a lovely woman but when she gets stressed I suggest you stay at a safe distance from her, and in that I mean at least a couple of blocks away. She would run after you if she was determined enough. I looked over at Natalia and it seemed like she had recomposed herself and now was wiping down her dress and looked over at me with questioning eyes.
“Do you have a bath anyway near? And would I be able to use it quickly?”
I had a bathroom down the hallway and I guess it would be fine for her to take a quick bath. It had running water so I wouldn’t even have to wake up a maid to heat up some water. As long as she was quick I’d be able to offer her some clothes and I’d then be able to take a bath too.
“Sure, there’s one down the hallway. I’ll show you the way, and I’ll also leave you some spare clothes outside.”
She nodded and then I led her down the hall into the bathroom, it was quite big if I may say so myself. There was a big bath in the centre and there were toilets on the sides and there were many sinks. There were mirrors along the sides as well. If you were self-conscious then you would probably have a huge breakdown if you went inside there. Apart from that I loved it as there was so much space so I could basically do whatever I’d want to do in there myself. I opened up the door and before she stepped in I grabbed her arm and she turned around to look at me.
“There should be a couple of spare towels in there. You’ll be sleeping in my room as that would probably be the safest thing to do.”
“Thank you for doing this. It’s been a while since I’ve been treated this way and I’m sure this friendship will be the best one ever!”
She smiled broadly and shut the door behind her. I walked slowly to my room thinking about what had happened to me today. It was a mixed day... Once I reached my room I walked into the wardrobe and then I saw my reflection.
I could see that it looked very beautiful the look was ruined by the grime and the dirt. My hair all messy and it looked like a literal haystack. If I didn’t know what happened today and I woke up to this I think that my mother would have a complete spazz out and I would probably laugh at the reflection and pee myself in the process. I searched through the wardrobe for any clothes which would be suitable for going to sleep in and I found something which would do perfectly. It was only a top and shorts and my mother would, again, have a complete spazz out if she knew. It wasn’t considered the most fashionable clothing as women usually wear huge dresses. I took one last look into the mirror and pulled a face and left the room to leave the clothes outside the bathroom. I waited in my room for not very long and Natalia came back into my room. She was carrying her dress, wearing the clothes which I gave her and her hair was in a long plait. She fell onto my bed with a thump and I got off ready to take my bath as the grime was really getting on my nerves and I felt so disgusting.
“When I come back you’re explaining everything.”
“I’ll do my best but I can’t promise anything...”
Her eyes were filled with terror and such sadness that I was about to tell her to not worry about it but in a blink of an eye she was back to her old bubbly self.
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