Key of Deception

Chapter 1

"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, who is poor."

- Seneca

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Adeline soundlessly padded down the dim hallway toward her chambers. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her as she moved, her gaze fixed straight ahead. She didn't bother to acknowledge the countless maids who bowed their heads as she slid past; she preferred it when they were out of sight completely. The heavy material of her dress weighed her down, making her trip to her bedroom much more difficult than she had originally planned. It was quite warm--she also noted--enough to make her glisten with sweat. The hardships of being a lady, Adeline thought to herself as she travelled.

The candlelit corridor made it no easy task for Adeline to maneuver around her grand manor. Her mother had begged her to follow tradition and move into Byron's home after their wedding day, but she simply refused to leave the household in which she had lived her entire life. Perhaps it would have been easier to move with him, but she preferred her lavish home over Byron's much less extravagant one. She supposed that her decision satisfied Byron's father, as he always seemed to be quite an elegant man. Adeline was told that he was more than ecstatic to hear that his son's key fit her lock, especially since it guaranteed a happy marriage. She only hoped that Byron was as happy as his father was. But how could he not be? The Gifted Ones had designed their lock and key specifically for each other; they had the vision that Adeline and Byron were meant to be together since the day the two were born. The Gifted Ones had never made a mistake when determining soulmates, so why did she feel as though they did with her?

She felt the silky fabric of her thick crimson dress catch the carpet that lined the hallway, jerking her out of her deep thoughts. She tripped backwards, despising how her seamstress always insisted on gowns that dragged along the floor. Adeline made a mental note to herself to give the woman an earful about the troubles that the thick fabric had caused her today. The dress wasn't even what she had asked for--she expected something much more beautiful than what she had been given.

After turning a sharp corner and the end of the corridor, Adeline finally arrived at the dark entryway of her chambers. She roughly pushed through the heavy doors without a second of hesitation. Her bedroom was even more sweltering than the hallway, and a feeling of claustrophobia rushed over her. She began clawing at the laces that were strung through the back of her red dress, trying to yank herself free of its tight grip. As Adeline struggled to break free, she caught a glimpse of a small servant flattening her bedsheets.

"Would you mind?" Adeline asked, a hint of disgust in her tone. The maids worked for her family, and she was appalled whenever the servants simply stood by without offering their assistance. If she ran her household instead of her parents, half of the servants who worked for her would already be on their way down the large gravel pathway leading away from her manor. In fact, they would never have worked for her in the first place. They deserved nothing for their poor work. The girl rushed over to Adeline in an instant, her tattered, stained tan gown hanging awkwardly from her narrow shoulders.

The girl entwined her fragile fingers with the laces holding Adeline's dress together. She finally tore the thick strings from the fabric, releasing Adeline from its grasp.

"Thank you," Adeline said with a hough, slipping the fabric off of her arms. She remained in her white corset, but she didn't necessarily want some servant girl whom she'd never seen undressing her completely.

"Of course, m'lady," the girl replied hurriedly and bowed her head politely. Adeline just about waved her hand in dismissal before she gazed briefly around the room, noticing the particularly dim lighting. She scanned the walls with her eyes and took note of the candles that were nearly burned to the platforms beneath them."I believe I requested my candles to be changed," Adeline commented expectantly, and the young girl obeyed. Adeline was pleasantly surprised at the girl's willingness to serve. Perhaps she wouldn't need to send as many servants away as she originally thought.

"Right away, m'lady," The young girl responded and scurried out of the room nervously to retrieve a fresh set of candlesticks. As the girl's heavy footsteps subsided, the pattering of rain outside of Adeline's windows seemed to amplify. She bit her lip in annoyance, the irritable sound making her more agitated the longer it filled her ears.

She suspected that her unpleasant mood was caused by her father's comments from earlier that afternoon, something that she wouldn't get over for hours. A lady doesn't fight! She exclaimed after he shared the news. Her sudden outburst earned her a hard slap across the face, and her cheek still ached from the sudden impact. A lady doesn't scream either, but what else could her father have expected after telling her that he arranged sword-fighting lessons for her? She wondered why her father felt it was necessary to teach her how to fight, especially since he had hundreds of loyal men to protect her instead. It was their job, after all. She didn't understand why her family paid others to do a job if she was always forced to do it herself in the end.

The servant girl lightly tapped her knuckles on Adeline's door before she reentered, breaking Adeline out of her trance. Adeline realized that she had been digging her nails into her palms and she forced herself to stretch her fingers. She noticed small bruises forming on the soft skin of her hands, and she flattened her palms against the thin white skirts that still remained on her body.

The small servant girl hurriedly placed the candlesticks in place of the old melted ones and relit them with a small handful of matches. The moment she accomplished her task, Adeline waved a hand in dismissal and the young girl left without another word. She had to have been less than fourteen years-old, Adeline thought. Her mind drifted to what could have brought the girl to her manor. Nothing pleasant, she assumed. Adeline's mother probably welcomed the girl in with open arms after hearing some made-up distressing story. Adeline rolled her eyes at the idea. Pathetic, she thought to herself.

She couldn't wait for her parents to step down and allow her and Byron to run the family's affairs. She often found herself daydreaming about all of the corrections she would make, and how much simpler life would be if she were able to organize it to fit her needs. She would eliminate all of the lazy workers and only keep the ones who proved their dedication and loyalty. As her mind wandered through her future, her eyes began to sag with fatigue.

She carefully peeled off her corset, the laces taking quite a bit of time to undo, and she slipped a silk nightgown over her head a moment later. A dark shadow swallowed her whole as she crawled underneath the royal blue canopy that hung over her bed. Right as her eyelids fluttered shut, she heard her bedroom door crack open.

"Are you already asleep, love? It's hardly passed sundown," Byron questioned quietly as the familiar pattern of his footsteps neared their bed.

"I'm quite tired," she replied in irritation after a moment, and Byron politely left her to her thoughts. After what felt like hours, she finally drifted into a restless slumber.