Blood & Cinders- Choose your Own Adventure Story

Chapter 10

The palace was a maze Isabelle had not yet fully mapped.

By the time she had meandered her way back to the small room allocated to her, she'd already made up her mind. Today, she would explore. Cautiously.

The castle lacked the traditional courtyard in the middle as her family's estate had held. Branching instead, like bird wings, from east to west. It boasted three floors- five- if one counted the spired towers at either end and a large hedged garden that fanned like a long cloak at the castle's back.

Tall hedges and stone paths wound like a maze toward the forest and Isabelle often paused on her way to the dining hall to steal a glance at the swirling patterns of green through the window. The deep evergreen that reminded her of the trees in her family's garden-of home.

Jaqueline had called the castle a modern marvel. Isabelle simply found it confusing.

The blood maids all kept to the second level of the west wings. A floor beneath where the Royalty and high nobility resided in their plush dwellings, lavishly enjoying themselves.

The east end of the palace held the kitchens and scullery maid dwellings—but not like hers. She had heard the women bunked in large rooms together above the latrine pits. Mattresses were laid on cold floors instead of bed frames and the blue-robed scullery maids were afforded a bath once a week unlike the daily washing she revived.

The center of the castle held a library on the third floor and the ballroom on the second. The main floor hosted the throne room, a grand dining hall, and the one she was most curious about: the solarium. She had seen glimpses of the large glass structure from the outside. Whispers caught her ear from the other blood maids, that it was a place plants still grew and where the king spent most of his time. Isabelle was doubtful that anything at all could grow with such little light but it did not stop her from wanting to see inside.

"Come on, Rosie." Isabelle scooped up the tiny mouse from the bed, tucking her gently into her apron's pocket. "Today, we are going on an adventure."

The mouse gave a squeak in response.

"Well, yes, I'm rather nervous myself," Isabelle confessed, "but don't worry, I'll protect you." She patted the mouse's head softly before taking in a deep breath, leaving her room and heading east—toward the unknown.

Isabelle wasn't daft. She knew animals couldn't talk. But chatting with her small friend always helped settle her nerves. She liked to believe that, even a bit, the mouse could understand her. Rosie was, after all, a very smart mouse.

As she walked, pretending to be confident, she quickly realized that all the corridors looked exactly the same, and it wasn't long before Isabelle found herself aimlessly wandering the halls. A concerned squeak came from her pocket.

Isabelle glanced down at her little friend with an anxious smile. "Okay, so we may be a little lost. No matter, I'm sure—oh, stairs!"

A set of stone steps spiraled down at the end of one of the halls, and her footsteps quickened towards it.

"Stairs are always a good sign," she told Rosie. "Perhaps we can meet someone along the way and ask for directions."

Rosie fidgeted in her pocket, and Isabelle cupped her hands round the outside of the fabric. It wouldn't do to have people notice a moving bump in her skirts. Best to not draw attention to one's self.

But there had been no curious eyes to fret over. The palace at midday was quiet. The scullery maids kept their heads to their work polishing the brass or stoking the fire as her red skirts dragged softly past. Most creatures were asleep at this hour along with the blood maids who kept them comfortable late into the night.