Night After Day

Chapter 8: The Patenuades

After they closed the door, they let go of me. I immediately pulled away and ran down the hall and up the cold stone stairs. I ran for a few seconds. Then I paused. They were still coming but why were they just letting me run away?

Because there's nowhere to run too, a voice said in my head.

They came up to me. "Keep walking." A high female voice sounded from under the hood. She grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

"Who are you?" I squeaked, "what do you want?"

"I want you to shut up."

I had no choice but to follow her as she pulled me along to another door, wood this time. Without letting go of me she pulled out a ring of old keys and unlocked it, pushing me through.

I gasped as my eyes seared from the sudden brightness and I was temporarily blinded. When I could see again I stared around in wonder. The walls were white with golden lining, paintings hung above huge fire places and I sighed as the warmth hit me. There were candles on chandeliers and along the walls. The woman didn't even pause. She pulled and shoved me along through more and more rooms, each with elaborate furniture. I was stuck by a sudden feeling that I'd been there before and I drew in my breath as I remembered. I'd been to Versailles before when I was younger for a holiday with mum and dad. This house, while not as big by a long shot, was remarkably similar. I drank in my surroundings, but i couldn't shake the thought; why am I here?

Eventually she stopped outside a massive fancy decorated door with two men who looked suspiciously like guards. I eyed them nervously but they ignored us. She knocked quietly and I heard a soft low voice from the other side call. "Entrer."

As if by clockwork, the two guards beside the doors sprang into action, opening the doors elegantly and standing to the side.

The woman pushed me inside and I gave a very undignified whimper of confusion.

A throne room? As we walked further into the long hall I began to notice details, the same white walls and gold lining. My bare feet walking on soft red carpet. High windows that told me that it was night time outside and the candles, which were the only source of the light and caused shadows to dance across the floor. But the grandest objects in the room had to be the four thrones that were sitting on an elevated position with stone stairs covered in carpet leading up to them.

I swallowed nervously and approached the figures that were seated. When I got closer I stopped in surprise and the woman shoved me forward. Angeline sat lounging across the armrests of the throne on the far right.

I stared at her for a few seconds, but she was outright ignoring me. Focusing instead, with a bored expression, on the dagger she was throwing and catching into the air. After a few seconds I focused on the other three people. Next to Angeline was a lady, by far the most beautiful that I had ever seen in my life. She wore a long silk white dress and she had a kind, but stern look on her face. The man next to her was wearing a black suit with a tie, and was also ignoring me, focusing on the newspaper that was laying on his lap. The last one was a teenage boy, I estimated his age to be around eighteen and I felt a shiver go up my spine as he met my eyes, glaring.

They all looked vaguely the same. The older man shared Angelines' black hair. While the lady and the younger man had dark brown. They shared the same dark eyes and their skin all had the same tone of white.

I realized that I was shaking and I clenched my fists to try to stop. The lady stood up gracefully and nearly floated over until she was standing directly in front of me. She was even more breathtakingly beautiful up close.

"Bonjour Hayden Alexandra, " her voice had a very strong french accent, "apologies for how you have been treated during your time with us."

I didn't know what to say, I had been held against my will for god knows how long.