Forbidden Essence

Forbidden Essence : Need

Forbidden Essence

Chapter 2

The moment I felt myself awake, I instinctively cried out, "Anne!"

I quickly sat up in the alien room, yanking off the comforter. “Anne?” I called out, echoing silence was my reply. I slowly walked about the room, the darkness making me feel small and terribly alone. I slowly made my way to the large curtains covering half of the walls in the room. I reached to pull them back, but the softness and thickness of the material made me pause for a moment.

I was amazed at its plushness, although it looked worn and rigid. I grabbed the curtain with both of my hands and heaved back. The curtain was surprisingly heavy and dusty. Dust flew everywhere, causing me to sneeze and cough. I waved my hand in front of my face while getting up. I analyzed the room in amazement. This room is triple the size of my old one!

I started laughing and running around, yanking the curtains back, flooding the room with light. I pulled the white fabrics off the furniture, sneezing. I rolled them up and threw them in a pile in front of my huge bed. I felt like a princess.

At that thought, the smile suddenly erased off my face. Where exactly am I? Anne told me many times I was wanted, but the fact that my mother killed a king never made sense. How could my birth mother kill a king? That is absurd! My eyes trailed the room and landed on the windows. My eyes widened, why didn’t I think of this earlier? I ran to it and looked down in anticipation, hope, wonder, all of the curiosity that’s been killing me throughout the years, but what I found was far too disappointing. I felt betrayed. 

An expanse of land sat in front of me, dull brown grass, looking more than trampled. dust flew in random directions. I felt tears sting my eyes.

No, I will not cry. I will absolutely NOT cry. I eyed the land and the distance between my window and the ground and then I glanced behind me at the pile of white fabric in a huge pile, a plan forming in my head. A shuffling of the doorknob being turned snapped me out of my thoughts. I gave a small shriek and started kicking the fabric under my bed frantically. Right at the moment that I finished stuffing them all under the bed, the door flew open and an angry Anne stomped in. I flopped onto the bed and looked as sad as possible. 

   

“Oh, you’re alive.” Anne said in relief as she finally saw me. She ran towards me and grabbed me into a hug. I tried pushing her away but her grip was too tight. Honestly, did she grow up lifting heavy objects? Well, seeing as how she issome sort of maid in this...castle, I doubt she’s had the fancy life. Which I happen to have, I have no clue how or why, but this woman’s tongue is damn cut off. Only if she told me what I wanted to know, then we would all be happy in this God forsaken place! 

   

“Anne,” I said frustratedly, pushing her away, “I need you to be honest with me. I’m not a little girl anymore." I looked her right in the eyes and made sure she held my gaze, "Tell me.” She held my shoulders in confusion, 

   

“Tell? Tell you what?” she asked, her eyebrows pulled together,

   

“Oh stop being so oblivious! I want the truth. Why am I here, why am I imprisoned?” She suddenly became frigid as I watched her with angry and narrowed eyes. “That knight had said the 'king'," I quoted as I said king, "specifically told him to evacuate the room." I pinned her with my gaze and she seemed to squirm as her mouth began opening and closing, searching for words, "The king.”

My brain was suddenly working. “Now, I thought you said that my,” I stressed as I said, “motherhad killed the king.” I was suddenly oddly calm as I watched her expressionless face, but I knew underneath there was sheer panic. How did I know this? Because she usually went rigid and stiff, and stared right into my eyes when someone shuffled outside our door or knocked or anything sound that wasn’t caused by us. She had this fear inside her all of the time, and I want to know why. 

   

“I have better things to do than answer your senseless questions. The knight probably gave you a harder blow than I thought.” she smirked and turned, walking towards the grand doors. My mouth was agape, that is definitely not how I imagined her to react.

“Why would the knight need to do such a thing? Just to move me to another room I have to be unconscious? How can a girl like me harm anyone?” I screamed at her back while she ignored my questions and locked the door behind her.

Tears prickled my eyes again, and I let them this time. I thought about my future and how I would forever stay in this blasted room, spending my life counting the days a prince who probably doesn’t even know of my existence will come and rescue me. I will die here, a nun, children-less, love-less and life-less. That made me cry harder. Curse the Prince, curse Anne, curse my mother, curse everyone! I’m living on false hope, the life of adventure, adrenaline, discovering things. It will all be just another dream, another desire that I will never get the chance to experience. It was all a hopeless and stupid dream.

As I was drowning myself even more in my sad life and things I will never experience, I heard a deep, throaty laughing, stomps and yelling. I snapped my head up.

What in the world? What is that noise? I looked around, horrified at the sound, and the fact that it was coming from here. A loud yell, followed by laughter came through my window.

MY WINDOW.

I gasped and ran towards it, hope swelling my chest. I looked down at the field to find horses everywhere. Horses with riders on their backs. I watched in awe as the beast galloped across the distance, covering it in seconds. I realized, that was the stomping noise. The laughter echoed from men and young men alike as a man lay in a pool of mud with his horse on the side, neighing. He lifted his head angrily at them, but instead his eyes caught mine instead. I covered my mouth in horror, not knowing what to do, I fell to the floor. The boy had shock and surprise written all over his face.

“There’s a girl there! I saw a girl!” he had been about eighteen, with golden locks and bright eyes.

“Oh boy, someone get him to a nurse, the fall has him hallucinating!” someone said and everyone started laughing. The boy tried to convince them, yelling for me,

“Girl! I know you’re there! Show yourself!” they all laughed at him,

“That’s the Queen’s chamber. Nobody even lurks near the door, and you’re seeing a girl at the window?” A man’s deep voice said. I realized what he said and really looked around the room for the first time. It was more...royal. I caught sight of a curtain covering something in a corner. I slowly crawled away from the window and stood up when I was right in front of the curtain. I reached for the rope, but my arm was too short. I quickly dragged a chair towards it and stood on it. I was suddenly scared and felt myself withdraw from it. I felt as if bad things will happen if I pull this curtain. My hand slowly wrapped around the rope, I took a deep breath in and exhaled it slowly, feeling excitement of the inevitable. I pinched my eyes closed and yanked the curtain back with a gasp.

I opened my eyes slowly and stared at the painting with my breath caught in my throat. I nearly fell off my chair but steadied myself by leaning towards the picture. My eyes came to look straight into a man’s warm and happy ones.

I slowly got off the chair, never leaving the man’s gaze and examined him from afar. A very handsome man with dark hair and bright eyes, very much like my own. I was caught in how he looked and how beautiful he was. I was in a trance as I stared at him awe. There was a sudden longing in my heart, What if I had known my father? I wonder if he would have looked like this man? I wonder if his eyes would crinkle in the corners in happiness when he would look at me? I wonder if would have loved me like he looked to be lovingly caressing one of his son’s hair. He had five sons surrounding him, none of them looking like him. They had beautiful golden hair with dazzling blue eyes. However, when my eyes landed on his wife’s face, my eyes swelled up with tears at her beauty and grace. Her light smile and how she affectionately held on to her husband’s arm. Her soft golden curls and her perfect features stung my heart in so many places.

I couldn’t look at the painting any longer. I pulled the curtain back and ran to the bed, crying.

Why Jove?

Why do I have to have such a fate? Am I to live alone my entire life? Trapped in this room with a painting of a beautiful family while I wither away?

No.

I will not let this happen.

Never.

I need to escape.