Chapter 3
Elodie
My feet hurt.
It’s the only thing that my brain can focus on as I follow behind the knight through the confined stone corridors.
The sound of his boots against the stone floor is steady and certain.
Mine feel too loud in comparison. Echoing down the narrow passageways, the air smells of metal and damp stone.
Lights flicker in iron brackets along the walls, though when I look closer, it’s not a flame as I would have expected.
They look more like orbs of light, hovering above the metal sconces.
The ceiling arches high above, carved with faded patterns I can’t quite make out, and the floor is uneven in places, worn smooth by the years, maybe centuries, of footsteps.
A powerful scent of cold minerals and old smoke fills my senses immediately.
The knight doesn’t look back at me, his shoulders broad beneath the weight of his armour.
He carries an air of power with him. A gold star stretches out in the centre of his upper back, something I didn’t notice on the other knight.
It feels like I have dropped into someone else’s memory. One minute I’m clearing the last bit of ivy at work and the next I’m here.
And I don’t even know where here is.
My thoughts feel distant.
I don’t know if I should scream, cry, or demand answers.
So instead, I just walk.
Numb.
Afraid that if I stop moving, the world will finally catch up to me, and whatever is happening will become real in a way I can’t undo. The knight turns a corner without warning, and I nearly collide with his back. My hands are shaking as I shove them into my overall pockets.
This can’t be real… but it’s too detailed to be a dream and too solid to be a hallucination.
Every step I take on the hard stone beneath me gives me one less reason to believe this isn’t real. My thoughts are completely scattered, and then my hand finds the small blade in my pocket.
I never returned Sam’s pocketknife.
Sam.
My job.
My flat.
Are people looking for me?
Is anyone worried?
The knight coughs aloud and rips my thought from my mind.
“This is my wing of the castle,” he says without looking at me.
He walks me through the main room, pointing at various items and mumbling under his breath.
He leads me further down the corridor, points out his room, then opens another door for me.
“This is your separate bedchamber and washroom,” he says, walking into the room.
“You will have privacy here. While you are not technically being imprisoned, you are to stay within my sight. Do not leave my wing of the castle without me or another knight at your side.” He looks at me, his gaze sharp as if searching my face for signs of defiance or fear.
I try to give neither, but my resolve crumbles under the weight of his intimidating stare.
“Oh, um. Okay, thank you,” I whisper.
Neither of us speaks as we stare at each other awkwardly.
Normally I would do anything to break this silence, fill the gaps between voices, but today...
Today I have no words.
“It’s only until the King decides what to do with you. I need to be sure you are not a threat to the castle,” he says, and the thought of the King deciding what to do with me sets a fresh rush of panic through my stomach.
“Well…I have to go sort some things out. Can I trust you to stay here and wait until I come back?” he asks me, though I’m sure it’s more of an order than a question.
“Yes,” I breathe out, unable to form anything more than one word. The knight looks at me, his brow furrowed. His jaw tightens, and he swallows before nodding at me and heading towards the door. He pauses at the doorway, turning to me with his hand on the doorframe.
“If someone has truly sent you here,” he says. “There is no use in trying to hide it. He will find out one way or another.” He eyes me carefully, waiting for my response.
Panicking at the accusation, I stumble, rushing my words out.
“No... I swear. I really… I mean… I don’t.”
God, Elodie, stop talking.
This guy must think I am completely inept. Before continuing, I take a deep breath to steady myself. “This isn’t even real. I’m going to wake up and everything will be back to normal again. I just need to —”
“I believe you,” he says.
My words die in my mouth. I don’t know what I expected him to say, but it wasn’t that.
“I believe some unknown threat did not send you here. But I can’t be sure that you are not a threat. If you attempt to leave, just know I will find you.” It doesn’t feel like a warning, not in the way I think he means it to.
“I’ll be right back,” he adds, already turning to leave through the door. I sink onto the edge of the bed, my hands shaking now that I don’t have to pretend they aren’t.
What the hell is happening to me?
The nausea hits fast.
Barely making it to the bathroom before my stomach turns, I grip the edge of the sink as I retch, pulling my hair back with one hand and breathing hard when it’s over.
Wiping a hand across my mouth, I rest both palms against the side of the sink, looking up at myself in the mirror before my eyes fill with tears.
This is definitely not a dream. I can clearly taste the bitter remnants of vomit in my mouth. The raw sting in my throat feels too real.
God, this is pathetic.
Get a hold of yourself.
Turning on the tap to rinse my mouth and splash water over my face, I freeze.
The tap keeps running. Warm and steady.
I’m staring up at my reflection, then at the stone basin beneath it. Why warm running water surprises me, I’m not sure. But this entire place looks like something out of one of my history books.
Running water.
Heat.
Running it again, just to be sure, but the burn on my thumb is sharp and immediate.
Where the hell am I?
A wave of exhaustion rattles through my body as I fight back a yawn.
I glance over my shoulder at the bed. I don’t have any energy to untangle the impossible right now.
Exhaustion wins in the end. My thoughts circle, but none of them land.
Lying back on the comforter, I tuck my legs close and stare at the ceiling, my eyes damp with tears.
It doesn’t take long for sleep to take me.
A sharp gasp tears from my throat, fingers clenched tight in the bedding beneath me. Disoriented and dazed, I blink my eyes open, taking in my surroundings.
I’m still here.
Wherever
the hell here even is.
Hearing a rustle on my left, I rotate my head toward the sound. It’s the knight, but this is the first time I’ve seen him without his helmet.
His dark hair is damp at the edges.
He looks… younger like this.
Maybe only a year older than me. He looks more human, in a way he didn’t before, with all his armour and metal.
He’s undeniably attractive.
I catch the faint crease between his eyebrows that looks like a permanent etch in his face: concentration, anger, power. He has the type of expression that belongs to men who have buried more than they have saved. I realise I’ve been staring for far too long and quickly avert my eyes.
“I brought you something to eat.” He places a tray of food on the chest at the end of the bed.
I don’t respond. I just stare up at him, unsure of what to say.
The room appears darker, the night sky glistening through the window to my right.
The only light that illuminates the room is now from the side lamp next to the bed.
“Figured you’d be hungry. I don’t know what you like, so I just grabbed a bit of everything.” He gestures at the food before stepping away and taking a seat in the room's corner.
“Oh, um… thank you. That was nice of you.” Standing abruptly and brushing out the creases from where I was lying, I make my way over to the food.
He wasn’t lying.
He really grabbed a bit of everything.
And it’s all normal…
Soup, bread, potatoes, vegetables.
He watches me eat, never muttering a word. Cleaning his blade, keeping himself busy. Glancing at me now and again as if to check that I am, in fact, still here.
“Where am I?” I ask suddenly, breaking the silence.
It must catch him off guard because I hear metal strike against stone as he drops the sword he’s cleaning. He looks at me, brows knitted, before returning his sword to its place at his side.
“Greyhollow Castle,” he answers simply.
“Right… and that’s where, exactly?” I ask, my voice thinner than I’d like. He meets my gaze, saying nothing, simply staring at me in a way that makes me feel completely conscious of everything.
“Likely the worst realm you could have found yourself stranded in.”
“What does that mean? What do you mean by realm?” The word sounds almost theatrical, like something out of one of my fantasy books I’d usually roll my eyes at for being too cliché.
Geographically, it could mean I am a lot further from home than I’d care to admit.
A completely different ecosystem. The same sky, perhaps, but altered chemistry.
“It would be in your best interest not to ask questions,” he grumbles at me.
“Right, sorry,” I reply on instinct.
“Why are you sorry?” he asks me.
I don’t even know how to answer that.
I’ve always apologised as a reflex.
I mean, I must apologise at work that much people don’t even register it anymore.
“Um. I’m not sure, actually,” I eventually respond. He gives me a look that I can’t quite decipher.
Before he can answer, a knock sounds at the door. We both turn, breaking eye contact. I place the fork down beside me, waiting to see who enters. It doesn’t take me long to recognise it’s the other knight from before. What did the king call him?
Commander Rook?
He seemed kind. Of course, I know nothing about him. But of the people I have encountered so far, he is the least intimidating.
He reminded me of Sam, actually.
The thought makes a pit form in the centre of my stomach, a twang of pain and worry beginning to form.
“Hey there, mystery girl,” the knight says to me. “You caused quite a commotion today at training.” He says playfully.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I wince when I hear myself say it this time. The other knight pauses his cleaning to look at me. His eyes darkening slightly before he turns away.
“Ha, it’s okay,” the commander says, ruffling my hair and nudging my shoulder. “Listen, I thought you might want a change of clothes. Not that there’s anything wrong with yours, just, well-”
I smile, releasing a small breath. I thought today would have taken that from me too.
“That’s really thoughtful. Thank you. Actually, I should change. These are my work overalls,” I say, looking down at the mud and grime coating my body.
Oh God, I probably look horrific.
“Work overalls? What do you do?” the commander asks, setting down the spare clothes onto the bed.
“I’m a... um…junior botanical assistant,” I say, unsure of myself as I say it. “God, that sounds so stupid now I’ve said it out loud.” I cringe at myself, scratching my head.
The two knights share a glance, but neither comments on what I have said.
“Well, I hope these fit you okay. I grabbed them from my family's cottage near the village. My sister looks about the same size as you,” he says, giving me a smile. I decide to remain silent this time, choosing instead to return his smile and slowly grab the clothes from the bed. I turn to the other knight, who doesn’t look up once.
“Um, sorry. But would I be able to have a shower? I just… I’m covered in dirt and I—”
“You have your own washroom. You don’t need to ask permission to use it,” he says, cutting me off. “And stop apologising,” he mutters under his breath.
“Right, sorry.” I internally scold myself. “Crap. Sorry.” Shaking my head and releasing a sigh before gesturing towards the bathroom. “I’m just gonna…yeah,” I say, retreating slowly and removing myself from the room. Closing the bathroom door, I press my back to it and slide down onto the floor.
Hiding my head in my hands as tears stream down my face, my sobs silent as I try to swallow them back.
It’s useless.
Crying seems the only thing I can do right now.
So I cry. For my little flat back home.
For my job.
For my friends who may not even know that I’m gone yet.
For my morning coffee shop server, who won’t see me in the morning.
For the old lady, who visits the botanical gardens every morning with a smile.
I’m not sure how long I spend in here with my restless thoughts, but it’s long enough that when I return, the lights are off and the knights have both left me alone.
I lie in bed, thinking about everything, anything, and nothing.
I haven’t felt this scared since I lost my grandmother and had to learn to exist in a house that no longer sounded like her.
Back then, the silence had been unbearable, but this—this is different.
The world I knew feels impossibly far away now, and here there is only stone, shadows and darkness.
Eventually the black outside the windows thins as pale light slips through.
I haven’t slept, and wherever the hell I am… I’m still here.