An Eternal Wintre

Chapter 5

Anai sits among others of the court before the king, his family on either side of him; save for her. Everyone seems to lean forward slightly as he stands tall. With a hand raised to quiet the silent hush of whisperings, he speaks. "We have caught one of the beasts that tried attacking our beloved town," he starts, sneering at the word beast. A woman that sits beside Anai shivers. "It is being held in our dungeons and will be interrogated. We'll find out the truth of these creatures and what they want. We will stop at nothing until the people are safe!" Cheers roar up all throughout the room, but Anai stays silent. The woman beside her has a runny nose and sneezes.

Prince Mal watches Anai with a worried expression. His heart clenches as he watches her stand up with the rest of the crowd and leaves the room in a hurry. It's as if the room got suddenly warm with her absence.

She can't seem to escape the confines of the throne room any faster than she'd like. The king's hard words, but kind eyes as he looked over at her for her aid in the rescuing of several lives made her skin itch. Absentmindedly, she hugs herself tightly and just walks fast, away from the room and all the whispering people.

Pure bliss meets her as she hides in the atrium. No gardeners are present today, not even the creepy old man from the other day. It'll take a while until somebody knows where she's hidden herself. A few moments are all she needed.

Anai walks straight for the back of the atrium, towards where the luphantias thal would be. It stands proud where it was before and she looks around for scissors to cut it. Finding none, she quickly leaves and goes into the shed next door before returning with small shears.

The shears cut crisply through the flower and she wraps it gently in a cloth and holds it close to her body as she makes way for her chambers. Guards are just going back to their posts –since the king's speech was over with- as she shuts the door to her room.

Locking it soundly, she turns and places the wrapped flower on the table top. Unwrapping it, she sits down and trails her fingers gently above it, barely touching it. Air separates her skin from the deadly flower. Something sparks in her fingertips as she lets them fall to the table.

The flower looks less menacing now with it clipped as if it were a mere weed. Anai stares at the deadliest plant that's ever lived in all of Lutenia. "Deadly, yet fragile. Just like everything else," she whispers aloud. "Everything wilts eventually." She wraps it back up and hides it in the top drawer of her bedside table where nobody would find it. It's as if all she's doing these days is hide things.

Throwing on an overcoat, she decides to head to town to see the damage. Flipping the hood over her face and hair, she double checks her locked door before pushing over her dresser to reveal the secret doorway.

The door looks just like the wall in everything, except for a small divot for a handle to grab onto to pull it open. She pulls on it now and slides into the dark spot after pulling the dresser back into place just enough to push again when she'd return.

Anai knew that the king wouldn't let her out of the castle any time soon what with the incident the other day with her and now this new one. She brings trouble no matter where she goes, unbidden.

Cold air whistles through the secret passageway as Anai treads down a flight of stairs that leads down to the castle's sewers. Putrid smells tickle her nose as she enters the expanse of the dungeon area and sewer systems. A mere bar of metal poles separates her from the prison cells of the most dangerous creatures and villains of Alua and maybe even of all Lutenia now with a shape shifter in its midst.

Her feet are steady and sure as she steps aside wet spots and piles of excrement. Anai only stops when she hears the pained roar of something past the bars. Knowing she should keep going, her curiosity overpowers her and she peers through the bars to see the middle of the room that is the dungeon.