Fairy Tale Wedding (Book One: The Road to Ever After)

Chapter Seventeen

The land of Distress was the same every single day. The grey cotton of the clouds never cleared. The harsh winds never mellowed. The thunder and lightning never ceased their rumbling and crashing. The dust that burned the eyes and nose never wandered or settled. Every stormy, wretched day was exactly the same as the stormy, wretched day before.

The inhabitants of Distress were not surprised to hear shrieks and clashing chains coming from Lady Jacqueline's castle. The tower's windows poured forth blood-red light as usual. So many sad creatures had trudged through the gates of the castle, never to be seen again. The dragons had been unusually active lately, but that hardly concerned those dwelling in Distress, not that there were many inhabitants anyway. Shut off from all memory of a happier existence, they did not bother themselves over her Ladyship's schemes to conquer all of Fairy Tale. Once forced into slavery to the dark Lady, one forgot any other life except that of apathetic submission.

So when Princess Adeline continuously smacked the chain that locked her one arm to the wall, no one wondered who made the noise. When she bellowed for someone to pay attention to her demands, no one came to her cell. No one even considered saving her. All the inhabitants of Distress forgot how to utilize their freedom, because their foul mistress had convinced them such liberty did not exist.

Princess Adeline rubbed her right wrist, trying to ease the itchy, biting agony of the shackle around it. The chain holding her to the stone wall was rusted with patches of bronze and black. Adeline could extend the chain to the length of about five feet, so she was not totally confined to a cramped captivity. She could still walk back and forth, reaching as far as she could stretch to help her screams vary and carry along.

"There is someone IN HERE," she wailed, her throat beginning to hurt, "Come on! Somebody listen. Anybody! Show a girl a little respect. You know, R-E-S-P-E-C-T? Ugh. Please! Help me. Heeelllppp Meeee!"

Adeline crumbled into a heap on the cold floor. Her head drooped down towards her chest. Her unhindered hand inspected the tatters in her dress, holes and cuts created during her journey to this land. The dragon was not careful; he dashed her into tops of trees and along mountain peaks without pity. Even now she began to breathe quickly and clamp her eyes shut with the recollection of this most traumatic experience of her life. She ran out of tears to cry halfway through the trip.

Now, Princess Adeline was not so much scared as she was angry. Lady Jacqueline went to a lot of trouble to get the princess here, and yet no one had shown her any attention since her arrival. The dragon plopped her down within the castle's courtyard, overgrown with dead weeds and dust encrusted, brown topiaries. Out of a hidden door, two human-sized naked mole rats came to take their prisoner to the dungeon. Their whiskers whacked her in the face as they tied up her hands. Adeline attempted to stomp on their pink feet and long, silver nails that looked like sturdy arrow heads, but the red-eyed mammals shuffled too much for her. They led her down dimly lit halls, deeper into the mountain's winding corridors. Adeline expected to see frightful sculptures of bloodthirsty monsters but oddly enough there were no decorations in the castle. All that existed were stones and torches. Life had no place there, nor artistry.

Now Adeline was locked inside this circular cell, nothing but cold air and rock to serve as her companions. Thankfully, it was clean. There were no cobwebs or critters or build up of dust – in this it was better to be captive inside than running for your life on the exterior. Still, this was not a cozy home away from home. There was no furniture or blankets, no cot or pillow of any kind to comfort her. Her belly roared in hunger, for no one yet offered the princess a scrap of food or sip of water. This was a total opposite to the royal treatment she was used to.

Princess Adeline knew why Lady Jacqueline was giving her the silent treatment. This time in solitary confinement was a perfect breeding ground for guilt and despair. All alone, Adeline was left with her thoughts and how viciously those considerations condemned her. She brought this upon herself; she alone was to blame. If she had only been less self-centered, none of this would have happened. The dangers of pity parties were all too real as she sat in the dungeon with nothing to do and no one to give her the slightest degree of attention.