" Is better to have tried and failed than to have not tried at all,"
Once again, my memory is rather fuzzy, and I have no memory of where that particular advice came from.
I don't know for how long I have been in here but it certainly feels like an eternity has passed. Just me and the walls to keep me company.
Eagan has made good on his word and made no appearance whatsoever since I last saw him. I did find a notebook, a pen and a note saying " You should write down a letter for loved ones explaining where you've gone,"
Sure, I'll get right on it.
It turns out, that the heartless monster had a conscience. Or maybe they were seeking to erase me out of existence.
After all, we just vanished overnight. I wasn't a socialite like many other women in Morston but still, questions will be asked when an entire family of three just disappeared into thin air. One of them being a prominent member of their elite.
Since nobody has visited me in a while, not while I was awake anyway. I had nobody to ask for how long I had been stuck in this hell hole.
I'm still wearing the same clothes and frankly, they are starting to stink. This entire chamber stinks. It feels like I landed in medieval times before running water and toilets were invented. But even then, I think they had something called latrines. Even they lived in more civilised conditions.
My wish is granted when the sound of footsteps drags me back to the present.
I'm curious, if not intrigued as to who do I owe the honour of visiting me.
The corridor holds enough light to distinguish features but not enough to see them in detail.
I straighten myself when along with Eagan there is another man and four other women, or girls hard to tell with the light being so bad.
" If I'd known you were coming, I would have done a quick tidy-up, " I quip, and Eagan grimaces, most likely displeased with the smell. I didn't smell pretty.
The man next to him looks around with a curious look on his face, as if unfamiliar with the place itself. The girls behind them have my full attention. More precisely their attire.
Their golden-coloured headdresses, their eyes are downcast in submission, but what captures my gaze is the reddish collar, that extends to their shoulders, with a pattern of fish scales that has an iridescent shimmer to it that catches the little light giving them a silvery hallo on their upper bodies. I can't see other details since they are at the back of the two men.
Since nobody spoke, I tack on, " That's very lovely of you to drop by, but if you don't mind I need my beauty sleep," I'm smirking for some reason when I should be begging for food because I'm on the verge of collapsing. I spend more time asleep than awake.
The man next to Eagan turns to me as if he finally noticed I was in the frigging room. Although, to call it a room is a bit of a stretch. More like a nook in a corner where nobody has any use for it. There is a ledge wide enough to be used as a bed and a little bucket at the end. Worse than the Middle Ages.
" Miss Abernathy, " He begins in a very soft tone but the undercurrent of his voice tells me that it was more of a scold for my loose lips. I should know, Mason had scolded me plenty to know how one starts.
" Yes," I answer sweetly, and plaster a smile on my face just to annoy the posh bastard.
" T'aersy will give you a bath and a change of fresh clothes. Eagen will clean your ....," He stops himself there, probably at a loss for words. He didn't know how to call it either.
" Why, thank you. I've always wanted to be a princess. Just never had enough money to afford servants and all that," His brows draw together at my response.
" And your name," I carry on not giving a flying fuck of his self-importance.
" Micah," He replies curtly, and bristles. I guess, I have a special talent for getting on people's nerves. My superpower.
" I told you she is difficult," Eagen whines and the girls titter.
" Get a hold of yourself," Micah chides and drags Eagan with him into the dark corridor, and the four girls trail after them.
" Hey! What about my bath and clothes?" I call after them but the only response is silence.
I suppose meeting the man who has ordered to capture me is the highlight of my day.
Once again, I'm left alone in the numbing silence, just me, the walls, and my wayward thoughts.
What more could one ask from life?
I don't where everything went wrong in my life, but most certainly this was not how I pictured my future.
All my hopes and dreams. All yesterday's worries pale in comparison to my present, seem futile and a waste of energy.
I longed for the days when my only worries were whether Mason loved me or not and whether I'd make it into the Academy. My current predicament has put things into perspective.
The sounds of rushed footsteps and light chatter coming from the dark corridor have my interest piqued.
By the looks of it, I'll be getting a bath after all.
The girls reappear carrying each a bucket of steaming water. And I make an effort not to say something to spook the girls.
They seemed young, a lot younger than I am. My best guess, their age varies between thirteen and fifteen years of age. I don't know exactly what I've stumbled into but it carried a hint of cult-like behaviour. Never had the fortune to stumble into one, up until now but that was the simplest explanation I could come up with. Their drab, upon closer inspection, were robes of a deep purple, and the collar-like armour that they wore around their necks was nothing like I had ever seen. The golden headdresses that they were made them look eclectic.
I watched, as they rushed around me setting up the buckets on the floor in a circle around me, one of them brought out a little pairing knife. I suppose no sharp objects were allowed in my vicinity.
I was just as dangerous as a butterfly. But the girls seemed extremely cautious in approaching me, even when I was chained to the floor.
" Please, don't make this difficult, " One of them said as she took a step towards me. It sounded like a plea.
" I haven't done anything," I bristled, " Just get on with it, already," I wasn't exactly going to fight them over bathing me.
They seemed to think that I was the devil impersonation, by the wild look in their eyes.
The one that spoke looked at the eldest who nodded in assent at the unspoken question.
" I'm going to take your jacket off first," The youngest spoke as she lowered herself to the floor, and began undoing the last two buttons of my jacket. Strangely enough, she monitored my every reaction and looked ready to bolt at the slightest movement on my part.