EVERMORE (COLBY BROCK)

BONUS: EXILE

Lady Serena had heard the stories of the royal penitentiary. She would have to have been an idiot to not know of the horrid atrocities that occurred within those walls. She knew. She knew better than anyone. She just never thought that she would be one of the prisoners. The first woman in half a century, the guard specifically assigned to her had said. In a sick, twisted sort of way, she felt honored. Perhaps she would be remembered, after all.

But, in an even more sick, twisted sort of way, Serena held a lot of pride in her imprisonment. For as much trouble as she had caused, she wasn't experiencing that much torturing. She could hear it, though. She could never get those screams out of her head. It was maddening. She almost wished she was being tortured. Well, that was a small lie, but anything would have been better than to hear the sadistic laughs of the guard and the pained whimperings of the prisoners.

She supposed, though, in a way, that she had it better than most of the prisoners. Or all of them, really. She had been given the best sort of solitary confinement that most prisoners could have dreamed of. She was alone, totally alone—not even her guard would look at her. All she had was a desk, a bed, and a toilet and sink in an eight foot by ten foot cell. She was basically on an all-expenses-paid vacation that just so happened to be really shitty.

She had been given a small amount of belongings—a couple of books, her old diary, and a dull quill. She had no one. No one to talk to. No one who would listen. No visitors. No one. She just had herself and the echoing screams.

And so, she spent most of her days alone with her thoughts.

Perhaps the cruelest punishment of all.

Cole was perhaps a lot more intelligent than she had given him credit for. He knew how much she longed for validation, and for it to be taken from her? To be ripped away from her? After being made out to be fool in front of the most prominent members of the ton? In front of her family? Yes, he had a cruel streak that she never could have imagined. The thought almost made her smile. In another life, perhaps, where he indulged in that cruelty more frequently, they would have been a perfect match, and that bitch Y/N never would've stood a chance at getting in her way.

In another world, Cole would have been her prince charming.

Yeah, that was a nice thought.

She would hold onto that thought.

Maybe that could get her through the rest of her miserable days.

For now, though, she would look back on her diary and reminisce on the better days, when she could bask in the sunlight and at least speak to someone.

-------

Dear Diary,

I feel as though my first entry should be something monumental. Something worthwhile. Something that makes me stand out. Who knows if I would become a well known figure in society and future historians look back on my diary as an artifact?

It's a foolish thought, though. I will not amount to anything great. Father tells me so. He calls me stupid girl as if it's my name. I don't know if he knows my name. If it wasn't for the maid, I would think that my name was stupid girl. Once, when I was practicing my letters when I was little, I had signed my work as stupid girl. And my teacher wept and wept and wept as she held me. I didn't understand what was wrong until my maid explained later, when we were alone, that I am Lady Serena Wharton, and that no matter what Father says, I am no stupid girl.

I didn't believe that for a long time, but then I made a friend.

Prince Cole Robert Brock, heir to the throne. Oh, he makes me feel like I matter. As if I'm someone important and he cares for me. He calls me friend, and I almost think it's my name. He always includes me in everything he does, and I don't have to ask to tag along like I do with Priscilla. He even lets me just call him Cole, as if I'm part of his family. I wish I was part of his family.