The Caged Princess(Book 1)

Chapter - 10

A boy sat on the cold hard floor. He was pressing his palms to his ears with as much strength as his frail arms could muster.

He was crying loudly. But the screeching noise around him drowned his voice.

It was too dark.

He was huddled in the corner of the room shivering . If it wasn't for his battered white tunic, he  would have been obscured in the dark.

He faced the walls so that only his back was visible.

He was alone.

His ankles were bound in heavy iron shackles. The braces being bigger than his palms.

But he wasn't scared of the shackles, he wasn't scared of the dark, he wasn't even scared of the constant screaming and crying of the other prisoners.

He was scared of what was to come or rather who was about to come.

He was scared of the light that would fall on his cell and who would come with it.

The closer one came to the boy in the cell, the clearer his emotions became.

He was helpless. He was angry. He was crying not for himself but for how powerless he was in stopping the inevitable.

He wasn't crying at all. He was yelling something repeatedly.

Just two words.

"Kill me."

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Nadia woke with a start. It took her a few seconds to adjust herself to her surroundings. She was in her house not some dingy prison cell.

She shook her head. Not her house anymore.

She looked out of the window. Dawn was breaking. She had fallen into a troubled sleep on her couch.

She must have been really tired. She hadn't had this nightmare since she was a child.

Falcon was propped against a pillow with his head in an awkward angle. He had intended to stay awake with Nadia to keep her company in her solitude but his exhaustion had gotten better of him.

Father Clay was nowhere to be seen. Nadia wondered which room was offered to him to sleep in. Her bedroom, most likely. Her house only had two rooms. But her bed was tiny compared to the towering height of Father Clay. Nadia had only ever seen a handful people who were that tall.

It was hard to believe a little less than four hours back the house was bustling with activity. Now, it was serene. The only sound being that of the bracket clock on the mantel and the sound of the world waking outside.

One night- no- a few hours. That's all it took.

Now she couldn't go back to her old life anymore. Her trip to school and library. Her daily meandering through the woods. Her orchard. What would happen to her orchard?

Her legs felt numb. She got off the couch slowly and walked towards the window.

The birds were chirping. The black clouds had faded and the blue sky had taken over the expanse. The wind was still a bit frosty but it felt pleasant on her burning cheeks.

How cruel. The morning had no business being this beautiful when Nadia felt so hollow inside.

With a sinking heart she thought of Minerva. She had reluctantly made dinner, shown Father Clay to one of the rooms and then slipped out of the house without even giving Nadia a second glance.