Henrietta stood out for all the wrong reasons. She was constantly second to her brother, brushed aside by her father, and laughed at by the rest of the public. With many mistakes and an arranged marriage looming over her, she leaves the only home sh...
IV: FLAWED JEWELS AND MINERS Song: Numb Little Bug by Em Beihold
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The dungeons were dark, dusty, and stale. The only light came from torches on the wall outside of the cells. The cells themselves smelled of urine and rotten food. It was no secret the dungeons weren't the cleanest of places, but it couldn't hurt to give the place a little sweep.
Henrietta looked all around her, with the little light the torches provided, she could see the three walls made of metal bars and the brick wall blocking her way to freedom. The cell was tiny, with a single cot against the brick wall in the back. It was not the coziest place, but then again they didn't plan to stay long.
Henrietta had sat on the cot since she had been shoved into the cell a couple of hours ago. For a while, she had stared at mysterious stains and holes on the cot, while listening to guards pass every so often. After she had determined that the guards pass once every fifteen minutes or so, she then began working on a plan to get out. It did not help that her concentration was broken first with Finley's pacing back and forth and panicked mumbles. After he had calmed down a bit with the help of Brianna, Shadow started whining that he was too handsome and too talented to be kept in prison. Haven annoyingly huffed at every dramatic proclamation of Shadow, trying to shut him up.
The guards pass us every fifteen minutes, the keys in their hands as they do. Henrietta reiterated in her mind for the nth time in seven minutes. Each plan she comes up with ends with a bigger challenge or an impasse. Being in a place that held bad memories was not helping her think either.
"Hey H, that big brain of yours has any juice left?" Shadow whispered from the cell to Henrietta's right. Henrietta snapped her eyes from the cot to the adjoining metal bars that separated her from Shadow. In the dark, she could just make out the silhouette of Shadow. He was slumped on the floor, leaning his back and head on the bars. Henrietta could see that being in a small space, in the dark for so long, had taken a toll on him mentally. Looking at the cell to her left, she could see Haven leaning on the bars blocking her from the exit. Her arms were wrapped around the bars, and the light that illuminated the hallway showed the paleness of Haven's skin. Henrietta had never seen Haven that pale before. Finley was in a cell directly across from Henrietta's. He was in a similar position to Shadow, except his arms wrapped around his legs, leaning his head on his knees. On his left, Brianna was in her cell, sitting on her cot and playing with her hair to pass the time.
"Honestly, I'm all out of ideas." Henrietta didn't realize that she said that out loud until all eyes snapped to her. "Sorry," Henrietta whispered ashamedly. She got them into this mess and now couldn't get them out of it. She felt like a disappointment all over again. I hate this feeling. Henrietta started to spiral into an overthinking frame of mind. The heavy wooden door banged open, preventing Henrietta from going down a dark rabbit hole any further. Heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway. Henrietta sat up straight. It hasn't been fifteen minutes yet.
