To Be a Beauty

Chapter 36 : Seigfried de Chauvegnè

Drip.

A drop of water drizzled on her eyes, making her long thick lashes flutter.

Drip.

She opened her eyes, blinking slowly, her gaze unclear.

Her eyes met a bricked surface full of molds, she realized she was lying on it as the right side of her body was freezing from the cold.

Her body ached as soon as she moved it. Her neck especially felt stiff the moment she sat upright, her whole upper body supported by her right arm.

She took a deep ragged breath and sighed. Her eyes shifted around, her vision surrounded by frightening blackness. 

Only a speck of warm yellowish light helped her see the walls of the room. She sluggishly crawled using her bony arms, her whole body dragging itself towards the wall. With her senses dulled, she didn't notice the sound of steel skidding through the brick wall, as well as clanking, similar to the sounds of an anchor being lifted up on a ship.

Finally, her back hit the partition, surrendering itself to the frigid brick wall.

Her head leaned on the wall, her bleak eyes observing the place once again.

She then realized- she wasn't in a room.

From the right, long thick brasses locked her inside, like a cage, preventing her from escaping.

Her nose wrinkled from the pungent smell of dirt, rust, and a rancid smell coming from the farthest right corner of her cellar, an odor she couldn't identify. 

She was in a dungeon. 

Her gaze drifted to her donned clothes. A simple white tunic dress smudged with dirt and splotches of brown with a tint of red.

Just the same with her dirtied dress, her hands lost its milkish tinge, buried under layers of ashes and filth.

Drifting further downward, she saw her feet.

Her lashes trembled, her own lips pursed. She bent her knees, her arms reaching for her soiled feet.

Her hands touched cold steel instead of the warm skin of her ankles, the brass coiling around it on a vice grip.

Her eyes followed the dark, almost invisible chains, stopping itself on two metal rings embedded on the foot of the wall.

Her ears perked with the sound of footsteps echoing in the dark eerie dungeon.

"Your food."

A guard stopped in front of her cell. He squatted on the ground then opened up a little horizontal metal door, pushing the meal tray inside.

Diana squinted her eyes, observing the guard by her cell door.

A middle-aged man with brown hair, similar to hers.

"Why am I here?"

The guard closed the little door then looked at the corner where Diana was hiding.

He couldn't see much of anything, but the flowing skirt and feminine voice proved the convict to be a woman.

The guard turned his gaze back forward, standing up on his feet.

He took a breath. The woman was clearly scared, with her voice trembling. 

"I don't know ma'am."

"He-hey wait! Wait!"

Her whole body stood itself up, staggering, dragging her heavy chained feet towards the cellar door. 

The chains clanged as they reached its maximum length, making her tumble on her knees.