The Toy Prince

9. Ursula

The nearest doorway was in fact in the basement of the castle. Once Ursula was sure she could get to it, she snuck out of her room.

Finding the basement was easy, Axel had conveniently put a sign on the door she needed. It opened up to a flight of steps that led down into darkness. Ursula flicked the light switch but the paltry lone lightbulb did little to chase away the darkness.

She didn't have time to waste though and hurried down them, shutting the door behind her. The stairs opened into one of two rooms. There was a smaller section that house miscellaneous household items but the second room was enormous. It housed five racks of wine bottles that all clinked softly as she moved past them. In Axel's journal he'd described how the doorway was the far end of the cellar.

She saw it as soon as she cleared the wine racks.

The doorway was another clock. The Silber clock had looked like it would fall apart at any moment. This clock looked like it belonged in pride of place in the middle of the palace hallway.

The body of the clock was made from dark wood that gleamed from being painstakingly polished. The majority of the clock considered of straight, simple lines until you reached the top. Sprouting from the top of the clock was an intricately carved wooden owl with its wings outstretched. It looked so realistic that Ursula could have sworn the owl was about to take flight. In a slightly more gruesome fashion there was carved mouse held in the owl's claws.

She had to bring over a small stool to be able to reach the clock face and turn the hands round until they were both on the 12. She stepped back, expecting this clock to open exactly as the Silber clock. Once again this clock was completely different.

The owl at the top of the clock moved, launching itself off the clock and flying around her head. Ursula had to duck to avoid getting caught in it's now very real and vicious looking claws. As suddenly as it had moved, the owl flew back to the clock, perching on the clock with its wings tucked at its side. Only then did the clock's door open for her to step through.

Stepping back into her home was the single most powerful experience she imagined she would ever have. She was home and she was safe. It was a feeling she would never take for granted again.

"Why have you come back?"

She jumped when Niklaus appeared in front of her. One blink he wasn't there and one blink he was. She would almost certainly have stumbled back through the doorway if he hadn't caught her by the arm.

"Where did you come from?" she asked, brushing him off. "You weren't there before."

"I was asleep. You woke me up." He shrugged as if materialising from nothing wasn't a big deal. She couldn't deal with it anymore. She started to push past him but Niklaus had no intention of letting her go.

He wrapped her arms around her, holding her in a bear hug from behind. She struggled at first, sure that was planning to hurt her but she soon figured out that he was simply trying to comfort her. She just had to let him. It wasn't easy. She still didn't trust him yet at the same time she suspected that he was the only one who was actively trying to help her. So she let him hold her until the tornado of emotions inside of her calmed down.

"Are you OK now?" he whispered near her ear.

She nodded softly so he let her go. She sat down heavily on the nearest available space which happened to be the sofa. Niklaus sat across from her giving her the space that she needed right at that moment.