Under the Queen's Rule

Chapter 3: Timeout

~~~~~~ Kelia ~~~~~~

Timeouts were new for me. Punishments I was used to, but this was a strange sort of discipline for me. It felt... odd, but it did give me time to think on my new predicament. My earlier plan was tremendously bad, but I thankfully didn't get the worst punishment I could think of. Since it didn't seem like I was heading to the dungeon anytime soon, I began to ponder other matters. I wasn't sure whether my pending marriage was still on the table and I still needed to find a way to escape. The Queen must get busy with royal duties, so maybe this would offer me the chance to escape.

Maybe once I escape, I'll go off grid and become a farmer person, living off the land. I had never farmed before, but I had also not been an insane person before today so perhaps I had a knack for picking up new skills. I started to daydream, losing my earlier train of thought entirely.

After a few minutes the quietness of the room started getting to me. The Queen had left me alone in the room sitting in the corner. This was weird, very weird. My parents had left me alone unattended plenty of times, but this felt different. It was like there was this pit in my stomach every time I thought of my earlier behaviour. I never felt so uncomfortable. Maybe it was because this is a new place, maybe I was still scared of the Queen, or most likely, it was because I was still drunk from sneaking all that liquor. Whatever the cause, I didn't like it. Since I was going to run away anyways, I might as well run away now, that way I won't feel these strange feeling anymore.

She likely had a guard at the door, so maybe escaping through the window would be the best option?

Looking out at the 14 story drop I quickly crossed the window off as my available options.

If the window was not an option, bribing the guard would probably be the only way out, but I didn't have anything on me. I wondered if maybe I could use something of value in the room to bribe the guard? I searched every drawer and corner of the room. The room was impeccably clean and very bare. I did still find some small decorative ornaments that could probably be sold for a high price. I knocked on the door. No response. I put my ear to the door listening intently, the guard was dead silent. I knocked again. Silence. Was there a guard outside? I was starting to think those times my parents had locked me in a guarded room weren't normal.

Even without a guard on the other side, the room was probably still locked and I would need to find something to pick it with. I looked back at one of the ornaments I had grabbed. It was a small decorative sword on the royal crest. It was the perfect trinket for the room to show the wealth and status of the crown, and potentially the perfect item for me to pick the lock. All I had to do was break the little sword off of the rest of the ornament. Carefully I banged the edge of the ornament on the windowsill until it fell apart.

Grabbing my new lockpick, I headed over to inspect the door. That's when I realised the door was not locked, and I had wasted all that time over nothing. Of course the Queen wouldn't lock the door, everyone feared her. It was foolish to disobey! This one small thought made me second guess my current plan entirely. If I was caught, which I likely would be since I was improvising, I would surely face the Queen's wrath. 'The Queen's hand is more firm than mine or your father's.' my mother's words sang in my mind. The Queen was known for harsh justice, and I think whatever punishment I was in now, must have been a miraculous moment of mercy which could be changed at any moment. Parents were known to discipline their children with a harsh slap, a belting, or grounding them to the confines of their room. The punishments of nobles not related to you were often brutal. They could involve dungeon time, starvation, physical striking, and even sometimes whipping. I didn't even want to know what the Queen's form of punishments were.