The Dark and Hollow Places; Book Two

Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer

         LONG CHAPTER! ENJOY :) 

           The next few days went by painfully slow. Garth spend almost every waking minute with me. He showed me the entire castle from the first floor all the way to the top floor. He took me to the court yards and I was actually stunned by how beautiful the snow was and all the marble statues. Garth was eating right into my little trap. I was getting him to show me everything and he even told me some other things about his military status. He had people stationed at every corner of the castle. It would be nearly impossible for Will to get in unnoticed.

            “This is pretty.” I say twirling around in the gleaming ball room. Garth smiles. I must admit that Garth honestly wasn’t that bad when he wasn’t forcing me to like him and also when he wasn’t talking about getting rid of my bond. It was hard acting this way because I also had to kiss him when he wanted one and all that. It made my stomach burn.

            “It is where we have all our festivals. Only the royals are allowed.” He says. I raise my brow.

            “Who are they?” I ask. He shrugs his shoulders.

            “My family. Some of the dukes and their families. Other worthy followers.” He says. I nod and look out the window. I longed to get my ass out of here with the stone in hand. I had been in Arcadia for maybe a little over a week. I was quickly loosing track of how many days I had been here. It was hard when calendars and such didn’t exist. They measured years and dates by the sun and the moon.

            “I can’t imagine a room more beautiful than this one.” I say looking at Garth. I gave him a light smile. He move towards me and puts a hand on my waist.

            “Do you like it here?” He says in my ear. No. I hated it here to be honest, but it was all about lying and manipulation with this man. I nod my head slightly.

            “Yes. I have come to like it.” I say. Garth turns me around so I am facing him. He looked handsome, but Will was the only one for me.

            “I have an even more grand room. Come.” He takes my hand and guides me out of the room. I have yet to locate the stone, but it was somewhere in this castle. I just had to get Garth to trust me some more. I felt like he already trusted me a lot more because he let me roam the castle by myself with a guard following me of course. Every night I would tell Will about my day. Of course he would be pissed whenever I spoke about Garth but that was that. 

            I start paying attention when we come to a bookcase in the large library. Garth gives me a sly smile and I give him a quizzical look. He pulls the third book from the left on the second to top shelf and the bookcase slides to the right revealing a secret passageway. I smile in anticipation. This was new.

            “Come on.” He says pulling me along. I eagerly follow him down the stairs. It is dark but we soon reach another room that is lit well. In fact, it is really bright and a yellow hue is spread across the room.

            The room was even more grand than the ball room. The floors were silver and black with an amazing design etched into them. The walls were molded beautifully and a crystal chandelier hung from ceiling. The yellow hue was mystifying and I paused when I saw a stone—The stone in the center lying nice and pretty on a pedestal in all its glory. Garth looks at me waiting for my reaction and I smile at him.

            “It belongs here. Look at it. So beautiful.” I say to Garth. The lie passes my lips smoothly. Garth smiles and I know that he truly believes me. Lying became so easily and I felt that this bond we had was making me stronger but him weaker.