3. Amelie
Amelie
“ W hat if we sent her into the Whispering Forest? Let the monsters take care of her.”
My skin covered in a gleam of cool sweat instantly at the mere mention of the Forest that haunted Holleberg’s dreams, let alone the sentiment that I might find my end there.
“Arthur, you never fail in your service to the Palace. That is a fantastic idea.” Lady Bosque’s voice was joyous as she clapped her hands together and looked at the two-faced fucking guard standing next to me.
“Dear, I think this would set a wonderful example of the zero tolerance we take to thievery,” she drawled to her husband.
Lord Bosque ignored his wife, his eyes deadlocked on mine. Igor rested a hand on his father’s shoulder and shared a look that I could only explain as agreement.
“Very well.” Lord Bosque stood from his luxurious red velvet chair and started walking in my direction. I got to my feet. My body ached in all the familiar places but I wouldn’t let my position on the floor be mistaken as obedience toward the piece of shit who ruled my village.
Arthur tugged at the back of my shirt, almost like he was trying to bring me closer to him .
“Arthur, prepare the girl to be released to the Forest,” Lord Bosque said, keeping his eyes on mine before looking to his head guard. “Then take care of that family of hers. The Bloch’s have caused enough trouble for this village.”
I thought I might pass out. Not only would my soul be stolen from me by the evil that lurked in the Forest but my family would be punished for my offense too?
“If you touch my fam–”
“Silence!” Lord Bosque shouted as his palm struck the already bruised side of my face. Blood spewed from my mouth, painting the immaculate marbled floors crimson. Arthur’s hold on my shirt kept me upright.
Igor and Arthur carried me away from Lord Bosque like a rag doll. He wore a sick smile on his face as he watched one of his villagers being dragged away to her death.
“Fight us,” Arthur whispered. I hesitated, feeling like it was a taunt. But his slow nod told me it was a show. So I kicked my legs, and wrestled my arms in theirs the best I could through the pain.
“Keep fighting, sell it,” Igor piped up now. I wasn’t sure why they were encouraging me to fight until I heard a sinister laugh escape Lord Bosque’s mouth as his head rolled back. We rounded the corner just in time for the evil view of laughter in the face of a death sentence to disappear.
Igor and Arthur let my feet find the floor, but Arthur kept a firm hold on the back of my arm.
I noticed the guards that lined the hallways looking at us, their eyes were full of hunger as they studied my abused body.
The pads of Arthur’s fingers were absolutely going to leave a mark but it didn’t feel like the evil touches I’d felt so many times before from the guards.
Not once had Arthur ever made me feel unsafe. Not until he offered my life up to the Forest that threatened my village daily with the stories passed down through generations.
A minimum of thirty sets of eyes took me in and watched as Lord Bosque’s head guard and son escorted me to the last door in the hallway. Was this where we’d came from before? We stepped through to be greeted with a deep pit in the earth and spiral staircase.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded from either of them.
“Just stay quiet a little longer.” Arthur led us down the stairs, taking my hand to support me.
As we descended, I noticed the vision in my right eye narrowed to only a tiny slit. The swelling was setting in, along with the slow thump of blood rushing to the area. Maybe if I was lucky, a brain bleed would kill me before the Forest could.
“Only a few more stairs to go. Are you feeling okay?” Arthur’s voice echoed through the damp smelling archway we were approaching. It was dark and cold ahead, a metaphor for what I imagine death felt like.
“No.”
Arthur halted briefly, letting me rest against his back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he bent to grab my legs and hoist me onto him. Nausea rolled through my stomach and threatened its way up my throat.
Arthur stepped into the hallway, small lanterns spread twenty feet apart from each other giving the already creepy dungeon a worse feeling. Iron doors lined either side and it hit me that this was where I woke up earlier. The putrid smell rushed a wave of adrenaline through my body.
“What’s going on?” I choked out.
“You’ll leave through here.” Arthur opened one of the heavy cellar doors, setting my unsteady feet on the cold ground. I shook my head but Igor braced his hands on my shoulders and guided me forward.
“It’s safe,” he assured. “Come on.”
Walking through the threshold, I noticed it was the same cell I was in before. This time, though, the bed had been lifted and Arthur was holding it up, exposing a human sized hole in the ground.
“What the hell is this? A tunnel? ”
“When the palace was built, we tried over and over again to fill this hole with cement. Every time we’d come to check if it had dried, it would be wide open.
Igor and Liam were playing when they were little and found it, they figured out it was a tunnel,” Arthur explained, adjusting the bed against the wall so it stood on its own.
“Does Lord Bosque know?” I asked, trembling at the thought of going underground for my escape.
“No. He knows about the hole but he has no idea it’s a way out of the palace.”
“So, where will I end up?”
“At the tree line behind the palace. When you resurface, you will be shaded but you’ll need to be quick or the moonlight might spot you.”
Suddenly, this all started to feel like a quest from my dreams. Something my unconscious self would muster up, but awake Amelie would know better than to do. Survival 101 and all that.
The dreamer in me couldn’t help but wonder what might find me on the other end. After all, this was a portal of sorts.
Arthur must’ve heard my heart beating as I focused in on the hole because my gaze was ripped from it as he cupped my cheeks in his hands.
“Amelie, this is important, okay? You need to listen to every word I say.”
I nod the best I can in his hold.
My heart spun out of control. I wouldn’t be surprised if it exploded in the next beat. To my surprise, it didn’t.
“When you get to the trees, you are going to run. You aren’t going to stop, sweetheart. Even when you feel like you couldn’t possibly take another step, you take another and then take one hundred more.” His tone was full of determination.
“Do you know of the ravine behind the palace?” I nod.
“You are going to run through it, it will lead you to the other side of the mountain. Once you’re on the other side, follow the river to the fork.
Cross it, it will be deeper where it splits so be careful.
Follow the stream as far as it will take you.
” He released my chin and allowed me to get my bearings.
“Do you understand Amelie? Can you do that?”
I tried to steady my breath and wondered how the fuck I was going to survive the night with broken ribs and a swollen eye. Not to mention all the evil things that lurked out there.
Nothing about this made any sense. Arthur had always looked out for me in his own way, but now he was sacrificing me to the Forest.
“Why would you send me to the Forest?” I was wasting precious time and finding it suspicious that I’m being led to the one place we’ve been told our entire lives to stay away from.
“Lord Bosque will want to see you away, so it’s best to go now. You will be safe there.”
I could tell Arthur’s patience was wearing, but none of it made sense.
“How could you possibly know that I’ll be safe there? You–” I pause to gesture toward all three of them. “All of you know what they say about the Forest…”
Arthur studied my eyes, seemingly following the flow of the gold rivers in them. He rolled his lips together and took a deep breath in then exhaled it slowly.
“You’re a Bloch. Some things you’ll need to learn on your own. Trust me, please.” His please was a near whisper. Like it pained him to say.
“How could I trust you? I don’t even know you.” I searched his face for a lie, but I couldn’t find one. Though Arthur never hurt me, he was Lord Bosque’s head guard.
Arthur let out another long breath, his eyes laced with what looked like regret.
“Because I promised my brother I would take care of his family, and I haven’t done a good enough job thus far. I won’t fail you or our family any further. There’s too much at stake. ”
More confused than I was before, I asked one last question as I took a step down into the ground. “Your brother?”
“Alfred Bloch.”
My father.
To my surprise, the tunnel was short. It couldn’t have taken longer than twenty minutes to get from the beginning to the end.
I had to dig myself out where it opened into the tree line but so far it was manageable.
So far, no danger. Adrenaline raced through my blood as I watched the moonlight creep closer and closer to the trees.
I wiped my dirt caked hands on my satchel, trying to distract from the heavy feeling creeping in my gut.
Determination heated my skin, veiling my aching body and giving me a false sense of confidence that I might just survive this.
I needed to believe Arthur, my uncle apparently, that it would be safe out here.
If I spent too much time looking for a monster under the guise of night, my opportune escape would be meaningless.
But I didn’t need to look, I could feel it.
The dark magic radiated from behind me, wrapping around my shoulders and curling itself down to the marrow of my bones. It was so fucking powerful.