Fallen Queen

Chapter 30 - Present

Amelia held her breath while she walked through the gate of the castle. Even though Brant was walking next to her and even though Thomas was protecting her she felt a shiver rolling down her spine. When she closed her eyes to blink she could see and smell the rotten corpses on the floor, even though the floor was blinking, clean and bright.

"No one knows you've seen that..." Thomas whispered, but his voice was trembling and Amelia knew that he couldn't shake the horror images either. "They all think we fled the castle before the fight started."

Amelia didn't answer. She just kept her eyes on the door leading to the throne room. She knew that it would be empty right now, but she also knew that she would never be able to enter that room without thinking of her parents, the blood surrounding them and their lifeless bodies. She tried to lower her shoulders while Brant pushed the door open.

Even though the marble floor was spotless and even though the empty throne was still where it used to be, the entire room looked different. Dark curtains kept the light outside and all the bright and wonderful paintings had been replaced. It even seemed a few degrees colder.

"How is it to be here again?" Brant spoke softly and he nodded at one of the maids cleaning the windows.

"I've only lived here for a couple of months, but it had already started to feel like home, but this place? This place isn't my home anymore and it doesn't feel like home anymore and it's not just because the King and my parents died here." Amelia took a deep breath and she focussed on her heartbeat, on her footsteps echoing slightly, on everything but the thought that she was only a few meters away from the spot where she had found her parents.

"Yes, the tyrant really made something unique out of it." Brant spoke a little louder now and he started climbing the stairs.

There had always been a bright yellow tapestry on the stairs, but now it was a dark blood red.

Amelia didn't want to know if it was because the tyrant simply liked this color or because this was what a yellow tapestry looked like after a massacre. She placed a hand on the banisters and another one on her stomach. She had barely had anything for breakfast, but she still felt like she could throw it all up right here and right now.

"Don't look at the door. They might not have found it and maybe we'll need it again." Thomas didn't say much, his voice still trembling and shaking as if he couldn't really control his nerves, anger and sadness either.

Amelia followed Brant through the hallway. She knew very well where to find the door, but she looked at everything that had changed, at the dark and horrible art on the wall, at the uniforms the maids and servants were wearing, at the statues of monsters that made her afraid. She had once been so incredibly happy here and now she only wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

"You can always change your mind. We can come up with another plan." Thomas tried to sound soothing, calming and Amelia knew that he wanted to get out of here as much as she did.

But there was a difference between wanting something and actually doing something.

She kept on walking, with her back straight and her chin up. She had left this castle as the future Queen, as the fiancee of the crown prince. She wanted this castle to remember that she still was their future Queen, that she was now the fiancee of the King, the only rightful King.

"A couple of maids are instructed to help you with your bath. Ward was afraid it was too much work for only one person." Brant avoided her glance and stared at his feet. He was clearly slightly afraid of the effect of his brother's comment, but Amelia knew that Ward was right.

Her hair was in no way as soft and shiny as it had once been. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually gotten the chance to wash it properly.

Thomas didn't seem to mind. He still buried his nose in her hair at night, when he couldn't sleep or when he woke from another nightmare. Just like he didn't seem to mind that she always smelled like dirt and sweat. Maybe he had simply gotten used to it. Maybe it was the magic making his love blind for things like that. "Or maybe you don't smell as badly as you think you do. Or maybe I simply like your natural smell."

Amelia curled her lips up into a grin. She shook her head while she stared at her dress. Her dress was ripped and no one recognized it anymore as one of the dresses she had worn as a princess. The color had once been bright and light, but now the dirt made it almost look black. She had long hair growing on her legs and even though Thomas had never complained about her legs not being smooth and soft, she would give a lot to feel pretty once again. Just like she would give a lot for finally being able to wear shoes again.

"You will get it all, Amelia." Thomas spoke to her, a whisper, a promise. "And you will get a part of it today already. Let it be a reminder of the life we had lost and the life we will live again."

Amelia fought the tear that tried to escape her eye to roll down her cheeks. Instead she swallowed a few times, before Brant stood still in front of the door leading towards one of the many bathrooms.

Even though the tyrant had changed all those small details which had made this castle a home, he had not seemed to bother by changing the plan. All the rooms were still where they used to be and even now Amelia would still be able to find her way through the dark, through the smoke of a fire, through anything.

"By the angel..." An elder lady opened the door and she quickly checked the hallway. She was nothing but skin and bones, but her eyes were somehow familiar and Amelia widened her eyes when she recognized one of Thomas' old nurses. Quickly the nurse pressed a finger to her lips. "It's even worse than mr. Woods already told us..." She wanted to place her hands on Amelia's shoulder, but the invisible protection spell kept her from actually doing so.

Amelia knew that Thomas normally would have allowed the elder woman to touch her, but if they wanted to tell the tyrant about the curse, about the fact that no one could touch her, they couldn't make any exceptions, not even for someone who had watched Thomas grow older and older into the handsome man he had become.

"I already filled the bath with hot water." The woman nodded at Brant. "If you would be so nice to wait outside. She might be a commoner now, but that doesn't mean that men like you have the right to see her naked." She let Amelia step inside and closed the door in Brant's face before Brant could answer. "My poor girl..." She shook her head while she led Amelia to a wooden tub surrounded by a few younger maids in the middle of the small bathroom. "Let's restore that natural beauty of yours."