The Princess, the Pea and the Night of Passion

Chapter 4

Adara slammed her palm against the door. "Lionel," she called out for the servant who seemed to despise her. "You locked the door. I need you to unlock the door."

There was no answer. She banged again, her palm red and hurting. That no good cretin. Why would he lock her in? Her right hand hurt so much from the banging, that she took her left hand and smacked the heavy wooden door again. "Please, the door is locked," she called out.

"Your Ladyship," she heard through the door. It was Lionel. He still refused to call her Your Highness. He hadn't believed she was a princess from the moment she showed up at the castle door with Nassi.

"Yes, Lionel," she called through the thick wooden door. "The door is locked."

"I know," he said, his tone annoyed. "The queen demanded we lock you in for the evening. She would not want your father to think we did not guard your virtue while you were in our care. The door will be opened in the morning, m'lady. I believe there's a chamber pot, a pitcher of ale and some fresh bread in your room."

Adara wanted to scream. She hated the queen, she hated Lionel and she hated her father. Now she was trapped here. She'd thought she might sneak out during the night with Nassi. She'd gotten her head together as Lionel gave her the tour the queen had ordered. This castle was huge, and the storm seemed to be dying down. She'd planned to grab some provisions and escape with Nassi sometime during the night. They could have still avoided being captured by her father's men. They'd have had fresh clothes and a head start. Only now, there was no way. She was trapped.

She turned around, leaning her back against the heavy wooden door, and sighed. Nassi had been right. They should've just stayed outside, tried to take cover somewhere else, or found no cover and frozen to death. Adara shook her head at the memory of the cold. She remembered the elation at seeing the castle, at thinking it would be her refuge. Now, she was thinking the opposite: that coming here had doomed them.

Lionel hadn't believed her, and it seems the queen didn't either. The queen was clearly no dummy and figured Adara would try to leave. She'd probably locked Nassi in, too.

Adara sighed and decided to examine the room. It was lit by candles in wall holders, and looking around it was actually quite large, but it felt small with that towering monstrosity near the rear wall. To the left was a set of windows, out of which Adara could see drizzle, but the sound of howling wind had died down, so it was nothing like what she'd faced earlier. In the corner was a small rounded alcove.

There also was a hearth with a roaring fire. A few logs of wood were set beside it in a metal rack. A little further away was a table with the bread and ale Lionel had mentioned. Adara walked over toward the fire, enjoying its warmth. They definitely didn't believe her if they expected her to tend to her own fire. But, Adara had learned a thing or two in the last months, and she could tend a fire. She sighed, then turned back to the rear wall and looked at the behemoth. She wondered if the king and queen were mad. Surely, no one else in the kingdom slept in a bed like this. There had to be 20 mattresses piled on top of the frame. They'd given her a ladder! It was insane. She considered climbing the ladder to try to knock one of the mattresses to the floor. At least she could sleep on it without worrying that if she had a nightmare and rolled, she'd fall to her death.

She turned away from the bizarre bed and walked over to the windows, where a trunk sat beneath one. On top of the trunk was a nightgown. She assumed it was for her. It was white and folded, and when she lifted it up, she gasped. It was a sleeveless frock, but rather than being full length to her ankles, it looked like it would barely cover her ass.

"You'll look lovely in that," she heard a voice say. She startled and turned around to see Prince Richard.

"Where did you come from?" she asked, her heart racing from the surprise.