𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐍 || 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 [ I ]

Chapter 30

There was something off about the stables when she got there.

For one thing, no sound came from beyond the heavy oak doors. Not the usual neighing of the horses, nor the clinking sound of hammer against hoove to secure a horseshoe and no soft gossiping from the stable boys. The princess moved closer to the big oak doors and let her hand waver over the handles. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, She wanted to take her time, but she knew that she had to hurry. Of course the stables would be deserted, there was a fight going on and every man, woman and horse was needed. But Muriel just feared the fact that these stables had most likely changed. She didn't feel ready to face those changes just yet.

And maybe she was right, but she had no choice.

Muriel opened her eyes. The thought of her father laying on his bed coughing up blood was enough to give her that last bit of courage she needed.

She pushed the handle down and tried to push open the heavy door. It was harder than expected, but with a lot of willpower, mumbling unladylike words under her breath and enduring the horrible sound of hinges creaking, Muriel finally got the door open.

It was incredibly dark and Muriel had to blink a couple of times to let her eyes adjust.

Two years back, when Muriel came here daily, the stables hadn't been the lightest place in all of Anvard, she knew that, but there had always been a sense of warmth present among the horses. Rays of sunshine had shone through the cracks of the wood and the laughter of her and Killian had echoed through the air that smelled like hay.

All that was left now were the memories of that laughter, she could hear it ring in her ears, as if it was taunting her. This place had become a reminder of everything there once had been, of everything that had disappeared, just like she had.

Muriel looked around some more, she noticed that the few cracks in the wood had made place for larger ones and that the first spiders had found their home here already. It wasn't as terrible as Muriel had imagined, two years were nothing compared to the thirteen hundred that had left Cair Paravel in ruins, but there was something wrong...

As her eyes completely adjusted to the darkness of the shadows she saw something that shocked her greatly. She ran towards the end of the stables immediately and stopped in front of a tiny door that had been ripped of its hinges. Tears had already gathered in her eyes as she feared the worst.

The door fell to the ground with a heavy thud, causing dust to fly up and make Muriel's eyes water even more. But the princess didn't mind that at the moment, she quickly stepped over the door and bent forward to fit through the opening, which was just too small for her.

Once she'd reached the other side, Muriel stood straight up again, her gaze still settled on the ground below her, eyes fixed on her feet because she didn't feel ready to look yet.

She took a deep breath and finally, glanced up.

She immediately regretted that she had. She wished she had not returned to this particular place, because what she saw completely shattered her heart.

Her whole garden, the place on which she'd spend hours, weeks, months, years, the place where she'd created her oldest memories, the only place where, if you knew exactly where and at what flowers to look, could still see a shimmer of her mother and brother, all gone.

There was no explanation for what had happened here, no clues as to what or who had destroyed the peaceful existence. Flowers had been ripped out and dug up, the ground had been turned upside down, literally.

Muriel had to suppress even more tears when she glanced over at the place where she'd storaged her gardening supplies. The wooden structure Dar had once made her for her birthday had been smashed into pieces. All her tools: shovels, hoes and forks, lay there broken on the ground.