♛ When Castles Fall ♛

Chapter Three

          The next morning I woke to a start. My younger brothers Finley and Silas were looming in my doorway, however I didn't know why. The two were hanging on the door, making it swing back and forth as they slid across my freshly polished floor, unbeknownst of my presence. I stared at them for a few minutes until they eventually realized I was awake, making one of them jump. Silas grinned a toothy smile before elbowing Finley in the side.

          "Oh, yeah sorry, umm- mother wants to see you. She said it was important or something." The pair giggled before stepping out into the hall and running down the long corridor, their footsteps dissipating.

          The message delivered by my brothers was cryptic, however I was not surprised. They are not the best at passing information along, or even remembering what to say. I sighed as I sat up, running my hand along the plush comforter generously covering my small bed frame. I sauntered over to my closet, being in no hurry to meet with my mother again. Her early morning scoldings aren't anything to get excited over, as I have heard them all. Always something about my work ethic, my maturity, or my non-willingness to do tedious and redundant tasks. It makes me furious that she doesn't understand I don't want to be like her, and I never will be.

          After putting it off long enough, I decided it was time to see what my mother was so insistent about. I wasn't worried about the punishment. What is she going to do, yell at me? I laughed to myself. To my surprise, I was met with not the angry grimace of my mother, but rather a vacant foyer. Normally this area is bustling with activity at this time of day, whether it be the servile maids cleaning the hundreds of useless knick knacks my family has let gather dust for generations, the pitiful butlers scampering around trying to find something to do, or the obsequious chefs working tirelessly trying to set the table and prepare breakfast for my entitled family.

          After wandering for what felt like an eternity, I ended up running into my mother. She glared at me as I stood before her. She was wearing a stunning gown made from a rich red velvet that cascaded around her, making the tail of the dress look like a giant rose. This dress could put any village girl's dream dress to shame, however it doesn't even begin to capture the raw and untamed beauty of my mother. She was tall and thin with a generous hourglass figure. Her lips were always painted a deep color of red, one that reminded me of blood or even death, which really brought out her rich blue eyes, ones that reminded me of freshly cracked geodes, or a hypnotic spiral. She was rather pale, and had a round face vacant of wrinkles or any signs of aging for that matter. She was as fresh as a flower.

          Right as she was about to open her mouth to scold me, my brothers barreled into the room, sliding on the polished floor in their socks as they held onto each other for support. She shook her head and groaned.

          "I need to talk to you, alone. Follow me." Her long, slender finger curled towards her as she beckoned to me, opening the front doors to the garden. We walked side by side in silence, her heels clicked against the warm stones of the cobbled path as the sun peeked over the mountains in the distance. She was taking me to the center of the garden, a place that almost looked like it could be in a fairytale. My mother sat down on one of the large benches, her dress pooling around her. She leaned over, resting her face in her hands as she inhaled deeply. Rubbing her temples, she tried to speak as calmly as she could,

          "I know you haven't been attending your classes on time, and it shows. I don't know what else I can do to get you to arrive on time. I guess I have no other choice." I braced myself for whatever punishment she was about to give me.

          "I brought you out here so your brothers wouldn't hear, but I am willing to give you anything you want. However, if I do, you have to go to your classes on time or there will be dire consequences, understand?" I stood there shocked. I was utterly stunned at the turn her words took. Anything I want.

          It didn't take me long to figure out what I wanted.

          "I want you to open the gates, permanently. In exchange I will attend my classes." She stared at me like I had two heads, before she burst out laughing.

          "You can't be serious. We can't do that. That's ridiculous! We can't let them inside," she chortled.

          "You said 'anything'. That is what I want."

          "Well, I am sorry, but we can't do that."

          "Then I want to see the forest."

          I could see her face drop as she stared over my shoulder, almost as if I wasn't standing right in front of her. She realized that I was being serious. There was an awkwardly long pause before she said,

          "Fine, but if I do this one thing for you, you can't go back. Ever." I nodded, as she got up and turned for the stable with me trailing closely behind. She lead one of the many horses over to a small two person carriage and hooked her up, before helping me up into the bench seat. We rode down to the giant gates that blocked our view of the village below before signaling one of the guards to open them. Slowly but surely, the gates creaked open, revealing the village that I had snuck out to only a few days prior.

          It was only a five minute ride down to the city, but it felt like forever. My mother wouldn't look over at me. She held onto the reins with such force, her knuckles were white, and her teeth clenched. We passed by house after house. The village people looked up at us in awe as we rode down the stone paths, plowing through crowds of people until we reached the village square. Hundreds of people lined the small walkways between rows and rows of small stands selling anything you could think of. The square was decorated with small triangular flags of all different colors as they peacefully swayed in the morning summer breeze. Hundreds of unique and peculiar scents wafted towards me, bombarding my nose, almost overwhelming me. There were people talking, dancing and singing, all with giant smiles plastered across their dust covered faces. They looked so happy and cheerful amidst such poverty, but I couldn't understand why.

          We continued down the path and through the square until we reached the edge of the village, and began trotting into the woods. My mother gasped, yanking on the reins to stop the horse before turning us around in the direction of the castle.

          "Mother, why can't we keep going, I want to go into the forest," I pleaded, turning to watch the forest grow smaller and smaller as we dashed away.

          "The Wandering Wood? No one comes out of that forest alive. It's home to some of the most corrupt and malicious witches in all of West Bleed. It is also home to the fiercest and most uncontrollable dragons and malevolent spirits, casting spells and leaving only death and destruction in their wake. It's far too dangerous to venture out there. You saw the forest, now we go back."

          I sighed, upset about the reality of the woods. I have always heard stories about the Wandering Wood, but how much of these stories are just myths to keep unsuspecting humans away from magical beings, or to protect themselves from slaughter. I think my mother is bluffing, and I am going to prove her wrong about not only the forest, but also about the village people.