I was left in the room for days after that. If I didn't have that food and water from Elin, I never would have survived. It was literally saving my life. I had to eat and drink sparingly though. I needed it to last as long as I could.
I could tell that I was getting weak, and that I was losing weight. I could feel it and see it. If I didn't get out of here soon, I would die. And that was something that I was not going to let happen.
"What the hell is taking him so long?" I snapped as I stood next to the window. "I told him not to take too long." I mean,yeah, he was a prince and probably had just as many rules as I did. So maybe, just maybe, it was hard for him to get out of the castle on his own.
Well, no one said that he needed to come alone. He needed to just come with his people. He had guards and attendants and who knew what else. How was I supposed to stay alive while I just waited for him to arrive?
About five days after the ball, still locked in the room, I heard a carriage coming toward the house. It wasn't the prince though. It was my storybook father. He was returning from his trip. Well, at least I should be able to get out of here now.
"I am home!" The words barely reached me, but I just barely made them out after he came into the house. "Where is everyone?" I could hear the footsteps as the others rushed toward the door. I didn't know what was being said or what was going on since the voices were not loud enough for me to hear, but at least he should make that evil bitch let me out. It would benefit me the most if I could leave this place and just go and find the prince myself.
"WHAT!" That one word was shouted so loudly that I heard it before the footsteps. "What do you mean?! Why would you lock her in there? How long has it been?" How long indeed. About a week now. I wanted out of here desperately. The smell in the room was getting to be so horrible. I was just glad that I actually had a bucket in the room, though I was unable to empty it.
"She went wild, Billy. She attacked us all. If she was left out here with us all, she would have killed us." I could hear the fake hysterics from the theatrical Milly.
"That is not true." Gilly was standing up to his mother. Now that his father was back, he was not as afraid as he used to be. "You just didn't want her to go to the ball."
"Ball? What ball?" Billy, my father, sounded so confused.
"Oh, Daddy, it was wonderful. The prince threw a magnificent ball to find a wife. We weren't chosen, but it was so beautiful in the castle." That sounded like Jilly, the more airheaded of the twins.
"I don't care how pretty it was. The prince should have chosen me." That was Tilly, complaining just like her mother.
"I don't care about any of that. Why would you lock my daughter away like that? Did you take her to the ball with you?"
"No, father, they did not take her. Mother made us lock her away first. I am sorry that I helped her, but I didn't want to be punished." There was the sound of skin hitting skin after that. I could guess that Milly had slapped her son when he spoke out against her.
"MILLY!" Father snapped at her. "How dare you hit my son. If you're capable of that, hitting your own child, I can just imagine what you've done to Ashenella behind my back." He sounded pissed, and righteously so. He had not known about the abuse his kids were receiving.
"So what. They are partially your children, and that makes them horrible people. And that girl is just disgusting. So ugly. No one would ever want her. Even her own mother didn't want her. That was why she took her own life." Milly seemed to harrumph at the end of that like she was just saying the truth. I guess I never knew how my story mother came to leave me. I didn't know if that was true, but if it was then it might even be worse than how my real mother left me. I guess it was good that I didn't have an attachment to mother figures.
Suddenly, there was the sound of another slap. I had a feeling that it wasn't Milly hitting someone this time though.
"Billy? How dare you hit me?"
"You deserved that. And I will hit you again if you ever disrespect my first wife again. She was ten times the woman that you are and you could never hope to come close to her beauty. Gil, lock your mother in her room, let her get a taste of it for a bit. After that, help me with these boards. And you two." He seemed to pause, presumably to look at the twins. "Because you most likely had a hand in all of this as well, you are going to do all of Ashenella's chores, starting with cleaning her room. I will not let her be mistreated any longer."
Milly was screaming. The twins were crying. And the sound of someone grunting and something scraping against the wood at the bottom of the stairs could all be heard at the same time.
I knew what was going on around me. I could hear it all. And I was responding mentally. Yet I didn't get up. I didn't physically respond to what was going on around me. I think that I was getting too weak for that. The food had run out and there was barely any water left. I was literally at the end of my time in this room one way or another.
"I am coming for you, Ashenella. I will be right there." I could tell that my father was worried about me. At least that was something that he and my real father had in common.
"I am coming too, Ashenella. I am sorry that I didn't help you sooner." Gilly's voice came next. I wanted to say thank you or to acknowledge them, but I couldn't make myself do it.
I must have blacked out, or just lost track of time. The next thing that I knew my father was picking me up off of the bed and running down the stairs with me in his arms.
"Clean that room, now. Gil, get her some bread with milk and honey. She needs food right away."
"Yes, father." Gilly answered right away, the twins didn't say anything at all. I guess they were too stunned about what was going on.
Another jump in time. I was laying outside with my father spooning water from the pump into my mouth. When he wasn't giving me drinks, he was cleaning the sweat off of my face. When did I start to sweat?
"She is burning up with a fever. We need to cool her down." I still couldn't say anything at all, I was just stuck there in his arms.
"Fill the wash bin." That was Elin's voice. She was out of breath and seemed to be running as she spoke. "Fill the bin and put her in there." She clarified. I guess my father didn't understand at first. "No need to take her clothes off first. Just put her in, she needs to bring down her body temperature."
"Who are you?" He asked, but he was still doing as she said. I could tell by the sound of splashing water.
"I live across from you. I am friends with Ash. I have not seen her in days, so I was getting worried. I was going to have my husband break in and rescue her if something didn't happen soon. I have been watching the house for some sign of her.
"You know my daughter?" Dad was shocked.
"Yes." With that, Elin started to tell him about how I was sleeping in the barn and forbidden to eat. She was the one that fed me and kept me alive but then I disappeared. They helped to sneak me out of the house and to the ball, but I went back to protect Gilly. Now we were just waiting for the prince who said he loved me and wanted to marry me.
While Elin was talking, I felt my body slide into the cold water. It felt so much colder than I expected. I guess my fever was worse than I thought it was. It felt good though. The water felt like it was instantly cooling me down, though I wasn't shivering at all.
"I have the bread, father." Gilly came out, clearly running by the sound of his voice.
"Good. Give it to me." While I soaked in the water, I felt a spoon touch my lips. I barely had the strength to open my mouth, but I managed it somehow.
I choked almost instantly. I could barely manage to swallow. Still, in my couching state, I managed to swallow some of the food. It was good too. Sweet and thick but also filled with the sustenance that my body was craving.
I was given another bite of the food and managed to swallow it. I could feel my body gaining strength almost immediately. That was good. However, there was another unexpected development.
"What is going on here?" A new, very male, voice joined the others. "Where is Ashenella?"