Losing everything I thought I once had

Chapter 3

“Keep the peace, keep them happy. What a stupid book title for one that is just a medicine list,” I muttered as my gaze flickered from book to book. I reached forward, pulling a tattered and dusty binder off of the shelf, shuffling through the pages at a gentle pace.

“I honestly have no idea how you know where anything is done here,” Betty spoke, brushing herself off for the millionth time.

“It was something I had to do as my training for being Queen, memorize the layout of the archive. I don't see how it is so hard to understand.”

I shut the binder, placing it back in its home. I flew up to a higher shelf, skimming the backs with my fingers, grabbing a silver book about medicine.

“How come you can't remember what you had for dinner last night but you can remember the positioning of old books? Ahh! Spider!”

“You have a point, and a shoe, but they forced this down my throat. And, of course, they wouldn't pass the crown to anyone else since the test confirmed I was Hannah’s daughter.”

“Why can't you just say mom? And why are we down here in the first place!? It's so gross here,” she whined, keeping her limbs as close to her as possible and away from anything covered in dirt.

“Well, it's weird to change who you call mom. It's also weird how caring they were once they found out we had her blood in us,” I landed a foot away from her, causing dust to spiral up in the air.

“They must have been trained to accept whoever was Queen...or King, if they have ever had one born in the royal family. Haven't the past few been female?”

“The past 5 have been girls, yes. However, our blood line was started by a male so they have had Kings born into the royal line.”

Betty’s white dress was turning a shade between gray and brown, the dust clinging to the angel. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stay as clean and pristine as possible, huffing out before coughing from the dirt.

“You never answered my question as to why we are down here. Can we go now?”

“They have cured letvimotitis in the past, they must have written it down somewhere. And if I can find it, then Weiss can work her magic and I can have my Muffin back.”

“So, is that a reason of love or of not wanting to be alone?”

I turned to glare at her, a muffled banging noise stopping me. Voices reached my ear as I spun toward the sound, following it with my hand on the sword at my hip. I motioned with my tail for Betty to follow, her heels clicking as she walked.

“What is that?” She breathed, fear creeping into her voice. I took a glance at her, seeing my sister shiver from cold and fear.

I shrugged, my footsteps silent but swift as I bolted ahead to a door. I stared at it for a heartbeat before grabbing the door knob and twisting, watching it pop open with a loud screech. Betty’s hand latched onto my arm as we descended the staircase the door revealed.

“I don't like this!” She whispered in my ear, slowing our pace to a one step down at a time. I could feel the cold from her seep into my arm, my body heat fighting it off.

The voices got louder, snippets of sentences bouncing off the walls. At the bottom of the stairs stretched a dark hallway, a set of bars on both sides being caught in the light from the top. I reached my hand out, my palm facing the roof, lighting a fire for vision.

A few sharp inhales could be heard as soon as the light came on, the flame creating shadows that danced across the hallway. I moved my feet forward, seeing stone walls separating the bars, people snarling as we walked passed. At the end of the hall was a large cell, two figures lying inside, bones littered around the bars.