Violet.

CHAPTER 5.

Announcements to leave the ball were finally being made. I started to gather Lady Caroline's purse and then suddenly I overheard that she was one of the lucky girls that was asked to stay with Lord William for a few weeks in his house. Caroline accepted happily. I didn't know what to think about the move. It was just another house I needed to be familiar with. Another house I needed to know the escape route of.

When we were escorted out and back into the small room we came from, Caroline told of the good news to the others and I stayed near the wall to wait for her call. I was terrified of moving for I fear she will lash out on me. In this room I was able to look up at the faces and I felt relief wash over from the worry. Johns face brightened at the news being told and so did Anne's. Everybody in the room hung onto her words. Even I listened into the story that I had not heard fully.

Lord William is a couple of years older than her and is a very wealthy and respected royal. I was not aware that some royals were more respected and wealthy than others. He was the kind of royal that her parents had planned on her to be partnered with, very powerful, very well respected. Although, it is not up to parents on who partners with whom. It is by fate apparently. I didn't understand what that meant.

There was suddenly a knock on the door interrupting her conversation. A man that looked in his late twenties early thirties, like John, peeked in the door and John invited him in. "Excuse me, Lady Caroline may I show you to your room for the next couple of weeks?" the man asks. Caroline agrees and she starts to walk out the door with him and we all follow quickly after her.  

"Violet... just please wait a minute." Anne says grabbing my arm and I stop and turn to look at her. Everybody keeps on walking as we stop in the hallway.

"Violet, I will not be staying here with Lady Caroline, you will be on your own with her and John. I just want you to know something before I go." She whispers to me.  

I listen intently looking down the hallway to make sure Lady Caroline and John are still in sight.

"There are secrets kept outside these walls, but they are not what they seem. You must look out for yourself. Not everything is as beautiful and perfect as this mansion. Don't let the secrets consume you." She says.

I look at her puzzled. "I don't understand?" I say. She shakes her head. "Just stay calm and don't do anything that will get you in trouble... please" she says looking me straight in the eyes. I see fear rise and I can't quite understand why. I nod my head quickly. I stare at her as I walk away trying to catch up with Lady Caroline.

Anne is soon out of my sight and I find myself lost among the hallways. When I finally make another turn I see Caroline walking into a room. I breathe a sigh of relief and I run down the hallway to catch up with her.

The night I stayed In Lord William's home was something you would create in your dreams. I had never slept in a more comfortable bed or laid my head on a more comfortable pillow. Caroline had her own bed to herself in the closed off room to the left. The room had smooth, dark wood walls with intricate carvings. The room also had a stone fireplace that had already been lit when we walked in last night. The main room had two beds on opposite corners of the room, one for me and one for John. A couch and chairs sat near the fireplace and a wooden table sat in the middle of them. I was amazed at the size of the room. It was wide and tall, it was even bigger than Caroline's room. It had hit me that morning that we were the only guests here and this room was made for only guests. I could only imagine how big the master rooms were.

I couldn't even imagine.

I unpacked Caroline's clothing when I woke up. Giving myself things to do to put my mind off of the thought of how crazy everything was. I had my suspicions of what this place could really be. I could be crazy. This thought had entered my mind so many times. I almost believed it. Another suspicion was that I could be dead. I never thought about what would really happen when I died, but something like this was never imagined. Maybe this was all real. Maybe I wasn't crazy.