Steel Rose

Chapter 31

Ptolemus Pov

   I twist my hands in front of me as I watch the mail boy makes his rounds. Guards scramble over each other, clutching their mail like a lifeline. He stops by me, looking through his stack. "Sorry man." He says looking up at me. "Got nothing for you."

   He begins to walk away when I stop him. "No that can't be right." I take the letters from his hands. He doesn't even protest, probably dealt with situations like this before. I shuffle through them reading over the names. All unfamiliar. "No." I mutter handing them back. "You must have lost it in transport." 

   The mail boy nods, "Its a possibility." 

   I let him go. Not even a letter for her brothers. Maybe she ran out of time and it slipped her mind. I let myself be optimistic, and yet something tells me that is not the case. Christian walks over to me, but slows his pace when he notices my hands are empty. 

   "Nothing?" he asks and I shake my head. 

   The door opens and the warden walks in.  "Make yourselves look presentable, we're expecting the Queen and King's arrival." 

   "When are they arriving?" One man asks. 

   "The Queen will be here in the hour. His Majesty we will be expecting in the following days. I expect every one of you to be on your best behavior and I need Corros Prison to be at its very best conditions." He makes sure to look at all of us before stepping out. 

   "The Queen." Another man says to fill the silence, "I wonder what she has to do here." 

   "Most likely to check on the conditions of the prison herself." I answer standing up. I stretch my arms over my head. "We should do rounds," I say. "Partner up." 

   They move, but they move sluggishly. I don't have the energy to tell them to move faster, because I know how they feel. Despite handling metal all our lives, the cold does eventually begin to set in. The echo of the empty darkness of the hallways.

   The press of the silent stone is suffocating, and I feel its power creep up on my throat, and press on my chest. I pass by the people I used to grow up with, some the people my father undoubtedly grew up around every day and I will admit I feel a tug of guilt when their souless eyes meet mine. 

   I can only hope the king sends for us all back home soon. I have begun to miss the warm embrace of cotton and silk sheets. The sights of Isabelle purring beside me, her legs tucked close. I miss Eve. I can only wonder the turmoil Maven and his mother has brought upon everyone, and my sister is right next to it.

Belle Pov

   The days go by in a haze and my memory of them are mostly a blur. I feel jaded everyday, yet I know there really is so much going on in the kingdom. I feel my shoulders sag every time I arise from the warmth of my bed. Lucky for me, I do have one small thing to look forward to. Garrett does look forward to me coming over and babysitting when the family, which is usually most of them is at court. Nobody is going to notice one missing girl, I tell myself. 

   As I pull my hair up, I stare at the blank paper sitting on my desk. It taunts me. The call to write growing stronger with every sunrise. I can't bring myself to do it. I can't. Part of me is realived though. As much as I like being with Ptolemus, his sister is more then bitter company when I have to hand them over to her. My gut tell me she reads them. Logic tells me she gave that piece of Ptolemus' engagment to me on purpose. I want to hate her. I do.

   I try to keep that from my head as much as possible. When I do, it stirs up unfamiliar emotions and a fidget uncomfortably in my seat. It's reason I can't bring myself to write back. Not even to my own brothers. If I do, I feel like everything would spill out. I would make a mess of things. And I would rather things be handled in a ogranized and simple fashion. But again, something tells me life won't be that easy.