Within five days of my stay at the castle, I had gotten closer to the high pitched maiden who regularly came to serve me.
I learned her name was Mirabel. She had reddish brown hair and blue eyes with a lot of freckles which didn't make her any less attractive. These were features of the Vidiyan people.
When I asked her, she told me she was part Vidiyan, part Kervan. Her mother had immigrated into Kerva and married one of the royal stablemen. Because of this, Mirabel spent her entire life serving in the castle.
Although she was sixteen and I was older than she was, she was quite tall. Almost taller than me even. When we got to know each other better, she often asked me what life outside the castle felt like. She was like the little sister I never had so I indulged her and answered her questions.
One warm windy evening, Mirabel was in my room weaving my hair into fine plaits. I had told her it wasn't really necessary, but she begged with shiny eyes. How was I to refuse?
I decided to ask her something. "Do you get to see the Dark Lord in the castle?" I asked because I wanted to know if he was as busy as Gilbert always claimed.
I saw Mirabel's smile from the mirror. "No. An ordinary servant like me is not allowed to stand close to him, let alone serve him. I've only seen him once in my entire life." She told me.
I gave her a bewildered look? How could she live and work in the castle estate for sixteen years and only see the Dark Lord once.
"Really." She said after seeing my confused look. "There is a selected number of elite servants who are allowed to serve the king. It wasn't this way with previous royalty though. The butler is one of them. He is like the bridge between the elite servants and the regular servants."
I guess there was hierarchy even among the castle servants. Suddenly I got curious.
"What was the Dark Lord like when you saw him?"
Mirabel's voice suddenly became hushed like she was afraid someone would hear her.
"Well, it was two years ago, one night I was running an errand late into the night. I heard a lot of footsteps approaching in the hallway so I his behind the drapes. I saw him and his and his entourage pass by. I never really saw his face, but I noticed the skin of his hands where his robe didn't cover. They were as pale as moonlight."
I listened to her with rapt attention, trying not to miss a single detail.
"When he passed, I felt a wave of cold air that gave me goosebumps. Without anyone telling me, I knew he was the Dark Lord. His aura is chilling."
I didn't realize I was holding my breath until she was done recounting the memory. So the Dark Lord was as scary as they said. I was suddenly nervous and apprehensive about meeting him.
What if he does something scary to me?
But enough being afraid. I wasn't planning to stick around for long enough to meet the Dark Lord. I had something else to achieve.
"Why do you suddenly ask after the dark Lord?" She asked me. I shrugged.
"I just wanted to know the possibility of running into him on a normal day. Mirabel, do you think the butler will let me take a walk around the castle?"
Her eyes sparkled with excitement at the question. "I don't know. But there is no harm in asking." She told me.
No harm in asking unless you're asking the Dark Lord, I thought.
"Well, it's a lovely evening for a walk, don't you think?" I asked and she immediately got the hint.
"Wait here. I'll go ask Mr Gilbert if we can take a stroll on the castle grounds." She said excitedly and left me in the room.
Now all I had to do was wait. And even that didn't take too long. Mirabel returned to the room panting. It seemed she had been running.
"I asked Mr Gilbert... H-he said..." She hurried in between breaths. I rubbed her back.
"You need to breathe Mirabel. Calm down and breathe." When I noticed she was calmer, I asked her to continue.
"Mr Gilbert says it's a wonderful idea. He apologizes for having you cooped up all day in the room."
I clapped in delight. I was finally going to go out of this room!
"Mr Gilbert says I could show you around so you don't get lost. The castle grounds is really very huge and most corridors look the same. It's easy to lose your way." Mirabel added.
Well that was a bummer. I should have known there was a catch. The butler knows not to let me walk alone in the castle, especially since I've expressed my resentment being here.
But it wasn't a completely terrible idea. I was going to take a good look at the castle and know how to plan my escape.
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go."
Mirabel agreed and she grabbed my hand leading me out of the door. The guards did not stop us as we walked past them unlike whenever I tried to leave the room alone.
As we passed the guards, I discovered that the room I was kept in was at the end of a long hallway. We walked down the hallway and down a flight of stairs. I felt excitement bubble in the pit of my stomach.
After climbing down three floors, I was starting to get exhausted. There were no much stairs to climb back in the village. Not even a single one actually. The people lived in low houses and the only two storeyed building was at the village square where the village head lived.
When we reached the first floor, Mirabel stopped running and became more composed and we saw more servants who were busy doing one thing or the other. Some of them stopped to bow at me. They probably thought I was a noble lady by the way I was dressed.
"This is the first floor Lady Frieda." Mirabel told me like the efficient tour guide she was. "The grand ball room and the royal dining hall are on this floor."
"What about the second floor?" I asked.
"The royal dining hall, the royal throne room and the grand ball room are the first and second floors combined. There are a couple of rooms for the guests of the castle at the first and second floors. The third floor hosts some rooms too and then at the west wing of that same floor there is a library and on the east wing, there is a music room.
"The fourth floor is for the royal family. And the fifth floor is for the king and queen. But right now, only the Dark Lord resides there. You'll barely find anyone there. Only special servants are allowed to go up there. In total there are 73 rooms in the castle asides the grand ball room, the royal dining hall, the royal throne room, the royal library and the music room." Mirabel explained.
The castle really was impressive. I was taken by the architecture and the lavish designs on the drapes and the chandeliers. But then I had a question.
"You said the fourth floor is for the royal family? So why am I there?"
Her forehead wrinkled with thought. "I don't know if there is a specific reason why. All I know is the it was the king's orders."
Why would he order for me to be kept in the floor reserved for the royal family and directly under him for that matter. He was the most unpredictable person I have ever heard of.
Mirabel showed me the royal ball room first. And then the grand dining room. Then we went to the royal throne room. There was nothing special happening and the servants were just cleaning it. I saw the large empty throne at the front of the room. There was no seat for the queen. Only the king. The Dark Lord had no wife, but then, who would want to marry him anyway?
She then led me out of the castle building through large doors. And I smelt it. The outdoor smell.
We stood in the castle courtyard and I got a view of the magnificent waterfall from up close.
"You want to see the waterfall?" Mirabel asked when she noticed my lingering gaze.
I followed her to the white stone waterfall that flower endlessly into itself. It was really beautiful. I reached out and touched the water. It was quite cold
"Mirabel!" I heard someone call out.