Once Aldreera steps back out into the hallway she begins to feel worried. What now?, she thinks to herself. Sir Ambrose rounds her as if to be directly in front of her. His brow furrows and his fingers jump to his bottom lip where he says, "you look like you could use some new clothes.". And just like that he swivels on his heel and begins to walk in the opposite direction.
Aldreera, whose mind is still racing, fumbles out inaudible words as she plants her feet in bewilderment and confusion; unable to move due to the amount of time it's taking for her to process everything.
"You'd better be getting along now little girl. Wouldn't want you to fall behind as you did before." Without even missing a step, Sir Ambrose rounds the corner to the right and disappears. Everyone is being so strange!, Aldreera thought.
Once Aldreera had caught up to Sir Ambrose then, he finally shortens his steps to walk similar to the pace of his recovering guest.
Aldreera hangs a few paces behind as to not crowd Sir Ambrose however, she gets the feeling that she is being secretly judged by this man. Sir Ambrose walks a small distance before peering at her from the corner of his eye and another couple of paces before repeating his same act.
Aldreera knew that if she brought light to his actions that it might cause a bigger issue to the already enormous issue she was currently in.
Her handsome escort plants his feet in front of a plain-looking, narrow door. The door had a brass knob and was seemingly no wider than her escort himself.
Sir Ambrose peered down at her with a slim smile and watched her as he motioned his arm for her to enter the room. Aldreera gulped before placing her fingers on the cold door knob. She twisted the knob and the door opened with a pop. This made her skin crawl with fear. Every hair on her frail little body was standing.
"Hahahaha! You poor thing." Sir Ambrose exclaimed loudly, making Aldreera jump which led to more laughter from him. "I have not smelled this much fear on someone since I ki…," as he got to the end of the sentence his face turned bleak. Before what?, Aldreera thought.
Aldreera was now too worried about what lay behind the door than Sir Ambrose with an unfinished sentence. With eyes becoming like a hawk peering through the blackness that lay on the other side, Aldreera began to see shapes and dull colors from the inside of the room. Tiptoeing forward at a snail's pace she steps over the threshold but, before she immerses herself completely into the room she pulls the door toward her and leans herself forward trying to peer behind whatever may lie behind the door. The light from the hall shines bright enough as to give light to some of the shapes presiding inside the room. And it was exactly that. A room. Not just any room for it had a bed and at the foot of the bed sat a small wooden chest with copper rivets that reflected a small amount of light that seeped through the door. Aldreera's nerves subsided a bit and she slowly planted both feet inside the room letting go of the door and taking in the entirety of the space. It resembled a human's simple room. No colorful walls, no extravagant designs of any sort, no fancy blankets. Even the bed frame was a sullen brown. Some would consider it the bare minimum of rooms. Where one came to sleep and nothing more. A room fit for a peasant.
While she was taking it all in, Sir Ambrose lit a candle he had kept in his pocket and placed it into a candle-holder that had been laying right inside the door which Aldreera had overlooked. Once the candle was lit and placed into the holder it was then set on the floor just far enough inside the door where it wouldn't cause it to get caught if the door were to shut. And that's exactly what Sir Ambrose did. Once the candle was placed securely on the floor he promptly grabbed the brass knob and slammed the wooden thing shut.
Before Aldreera could realize what he was doing it was too late. The door was already shut and a swift and slight clink of him locking the door rang through the room. She was now trapped once more and beginning to get accustomed to it.
"Why did you lock me in here?," Aldreera says before walking up and pounding on the door. "Let me out."
On the other side of the door Sir Ambrose said with a smile, "This is your new home now, deary." This room is where you shall sleep and where you shall eat. You may not come out of this room unless you are asked to. If you do somehow make it out of this room then, the consequences will be far worse than that of your late godmother."
Aldreera felt the walls closing in on her again and began to panic. She spun around to face the room and picked up the candle, holding it close to her bosom in hopes it might comfort her with its radiating warmth.
"You will find a change of clothes in the chest." Sir Ambrose said from behind the door. "Please, make haste for I am not a patient man. Once you are clothed I will allow the door to be unlocked. Once it is unlocked you will make a right outside the door and a sharp left. As you get to the ballroom you will then make a right into a hallway. At the end of that hallway is one singular room. Stand outside that doorway until I arrive. Are my directions clear?" He paused for a moment to give Aldreera some time to respond.
"I understand." A flat reply came.
Aldreera swung her head to the direction of the chest. As she stepped closer and examined it more it made her question whether or not she was a guest or prisoner or even a slave. Why would she be given her very own room with a decent bed and a chest for her clothing? Aldreera placed the candle onto the floor and allowed her fingers to form around the edges of the wood. As she opened it her eyes widened. A beautiful ball gown. She reached deep to gather all of the material that filled the chest. What a beautiful and wonderful sight. Aldreera reached for the candle and brought it close to the gown after placing it out on the bed. Her eyes scanned the entirety of it; from corner to corner. The color was an azure blue but, what made this dress special was that the top half was white and the bottom a deep azure blue but, fading into one another. The crystals that ran from top to bottom also matched the wonderful colors going from a cream-white to blue. Aldreera quickly undressed and put the gown on. She took her time with the sleeves as not to tear them or damage any of the fabrics. There was a silk train that came out of the back of the dress along with draping sleeves that touched the floor. The height was perfect and the waistline cinched her in just right. Once the dress was safely put on her Aldreera reached around and tightened the sewn-in girdle. She felt as though she dared not move for the dress seemed too delicate to even wear. What would it look like if I just… Whirling around like a little fairy she giggled for the first time in a long time. Realizing how good it felt Aldreera wondered if she should even be allowed to have this much emotion since the predicament that she was in is dyer, to say the least.
Peeping into the bottom of the chest to assure herself there was nothing left She realized that she had missed something. Glistening at the bottom were shoes that perfectly matched the dress.Reaching to the bottom and plucking them out like they were hot pieces of coal from the fire… going to burn her if left on the fingertips for too long. Was this right? A gown AND shoes?! Aldreera got a cold chill up her spine just thinking of why they might be dressing her up in such pretty clothing. Was it to dress her up to look like a pig ready for slaughter? They won't get much out of me, Aldreera thought. What a horrible thought it really was. But… if this was the last thing she was given then, her mind would be at ease. It was a treat to be able to put something on as beautiful as this. If this was her dying wish then, she would wear it with pride. Aldreera never did anything halfway. So, if this was where she was going to be slain then, she would know that her wish of wearing a pair of beautiful shoes and dress to match is more than she would have deserved in her lifetime. So much for dreaming big, right?
Aldreera slipped the most perfect shoes onto her feet and began making her way back to the door. With how intrigued Aldreera was with the dress and the shoes she almost forgot the directions she was given. Wait… make a left or a right after the ballroom? Or was it, keep going straight? No. It was an immediate right then, left then right again and once I make it to the ballroom I'll wait in front of a door? I believe that's what it was.
Aldreera placed her hand on the doorknob and for a moment she completely forgot about her scars until she saw the back of her hand around the knob. Her heart sank into her beautiful blue and white shoes. She is too ugly for such a dress. Her hair was unkempt and mangy and she hadn't taken a warm bath in quite some time. As she thought some more she realized that she hadn't even been able to see what her face looks like after taking lashings from her godmother. This made her self-conscious. Aldreera's heart was all but on the floor. Letting go of the knob her heart began to pound. What am I doing here? Where am I?
Aldreera's unconscious willingness to follow was now something she regretted the most. Why hadn't she asked more questions? Why didn't she pin Sir Ambrose to the wall?
It was too late to turn back now. Aldreera grasped the cool knob, turning and slowly opening the creaky door. She took one final look into the dark room, took a deep breath and her first step was a one that came with a heel.