Saving Her Kingdom

♡ Chapter 65

Chapter 65

During the next few hours that the Council would take to finish the Yearly Reunion, I decided to head towards the tea lounge with the ladies to see if there were any of my old acquaintances.

But, not before taking a look at my old room.

I arrived in the hallway and made my way to the door, only to be disappointed to find it locked. I sighed and looked around, and the service door at the end of the hallway caught my eye. Ah, the secret door! It was near the entrance of this corridor, I remembered.

When I was still living in the palace, this was the only other option to come in and out of my room, when my door was locked or guarded. I quickly walked to the small door, which was hidden in a corner of the wall behind a curtain, and found an imprint of the key instead of a lock. Ah yes. This was the other means of locking the secret doors when there wasn't a key. There was also an imprint of a rose on some locks, which I couldn't unlock then, and had to take another route to end up where I wanted to.

I had always taken my mother's necklace to open the secret doors and I felt a slight lump in my throat when I remembered that I didn't have it with me anymore. But I didn't let that distract me from my goal as I took the pommel of the sword, and pressed the key stamp in the imprint to open the door. I smiled when I heard the small 'click' of the lock, and pulled the secret door open.

I entered the secret passage and turned around to close the door behind me after having lit the oil lamp I found next to me. I then advanced in the dark, remembering the way perfectly, since I had done it so many times before. It was just smaller than in my memories. When I finally reached the secret door leading to my room, I took the key in the recess to open it, extinguished the oil lamp and peeked inside my room through the slit of light.

I held my breath as I pushed the door open, and slowly looked around. It was exactly the same as I last remembered it. Just covered with an extra layer of dust.

I tiptoed inside, quietly closed the secret door and walked over to the windows to open them and let some fresh air inside. Dust flew around the room when I shoved the curtains aside and let the sunlight in.

A sense of nostalgia hit me suddenly as I took in the furniture, the items and the design of my room. It was as if this room had stopped in time.

I leisurely walked along the shelves fully stacked of books, remembering most of their titles, and went to a small desk that was still covered with textbooks, notes, drawings as well as some scores. Flipping through them, I smiled at all the memories they brought me.

After a while, I sat down in my small, but comfortable armchair that I used to read books in, and closed my eyes. Even the smell reminded me of my childhood. I had lived quite happily for the first fourteen years of my life. My eyes reopened, blurring a little when I thought about all what I had been through after the fire.

I had been so young when I was forced to handle my life on my own, after a tragic event I wouldn't even wish onto my worst enemies. Maintaining a sane head had been the greatest difficulty during my years of working as a maid. I had had many mental breakdowns when my employers didn't treat me right, which mostly happened due to the harsh situation I was in.

I got up and threw myself onto my childhood's bed. How many nights had I slept on a cold hard floor? How many nights had I cried myself to sleep, missing my family, or cursing the Rutherfords? I had always tried to keep a smile on my face, because I knew frowning would get me nowhere.

Under the friendly exterior I had always had, it had been difficult for me to trust new people at the Tannerson's palace, or in general. Which was why I had immediately become friends with the royal children, knowing they had no risk of stabbing me in the back, since my father assured me they were on our side.