CHAPTER 3

Four years passed with very little change. She still remained in the same room, the same castle, and the same nightmare. Due to her not having tried to escape for two years following the death of her spider friend, she was allowed outside of her room by herself. With another year passing without any escape attempts they allowed her to go the nearby area of the castle, a small forest to the west of the castle being her favorite.

Her fears had also came true, her ears and tails had regrown every two weeks, requiring them to be sawed off again and again. It did not help that the king even used her as a sentient punching bag to release his pent up frustration. Even her regenerative abilities started to slow down due to her wish to die and the constantly appearing injuries. She wasn't allowed to cry, smile, or show any emotion either, and was punished if she did show any, even when in pain.

She was given a few dresses as well, largely because her ragged clothes weren't fitting for someone as her, or so the king told her. The first ones weren't in the greatest condition, but she did get something. A year earlier she received some of the dresses that other nobles didn't like and had put up to be given to the poor. A few weeks ago she was allowed to have a dress of her choice, the only condition being she would have to make it herself. She agreed to it and a few days earlier made herself the one she was wearing now.

It was a long pink dress with a reddish-pink phoenix pattern on its front. There weren't any designs other than the phoenix but she was happy with her achievement. Just to be more comfortable she had also made black leggings similar to ones she has seen other people wearing when they were relaxing. It didn't look as good as good she had hoped for it to, but something was better than nothing.

She walked through her usual path towards the gate of the castle, which faced the forest. The knight recognizing her opened the gates and let her out. She walked through the forest, unbothered. There were some squirrels, birds or other animals occasionally, but they were used to her and didn't run away, and never planned to attack.

She reached a slightly open area with a boulder in its center, and some flowers all around. She climbed onto the small boulder and sat down. The boulder wasn't that big, it was that she was small, the reason it was as tall as her. Her growth having slowed to pretty much a stop due to her treatment at the castle, she was just about three feet eight inches now (111 cm).

She sat there for a while on the boulder, before beginning to cry. The rules that were set for her in the castle didn't apply where nobody could see her. This place being fairly secluded and far she decided for this to be where she relieved her heart of some of the pain, knowing full well she won't ever be free of the nightmare.

She had been late this time and the sun was starting to set on the horizon, the sky already starting to turn orange. She was distracted by this and failed to notice the movement behind her. She heard a thump and the sound of something whistling through the air and jumped forwards on pure instinct. There was a crashing sound behind her, rocks flying everywhere as she fell on the ground.

She quickly got up to her feet and looked at her attacker. It was an ogre, as big as the surrounding trees if not bigger. A wooden club studded with rocks in his hand he walked towards her. She threw a few rocks at him but her arm strength was far too less, she could barely even lift the rocks around her, much less hurt the ogre. Laughing at her the ogre raised its club. She stopped mid-throw and looked on, having accepted her fate, knowing this would be better. This was something that saved her from having to go back to that nightmare, and she felt that even death would be much better than living at the castle.

Suddenly the ogre let out a yelp of alarm and his legs gave away. Falling to the ground with a loud thump the ogre revealed its attacker, a knight wearing the emblem of their kingdom, holding a sword in his hands, standing behind the ogre. She froze where she was, scared of what would happen, to her and the ogre. Walking towards her the knight killed the ogre with a quick slash to the neck without stopping. Sheathing his sword he crouched beside her, and bent slightly till he was at eye level.

"Are you lost?" The knight inquired in a kind voice. Though still frozen with fear, she somehow shook her head, the same fear forcing her to. "This area isn't safe, there is increased monster activity around here. Do you know your way back?" He questioned His helmet covered his face but she could feel him gently smiling. She nodded. "Good, then let's go." He got up as he said that.

She continued to sit there, not wanting to have a knight follow her. Even if he hadn't recognized her yet for whatever reason, he would easily if she went to the castle, and she worried that it might cause more trouble for her.

"I will only accompany you halfway, is that fine with you?" He offered when she didn't move for a while.

Contemplating her choices, she figured she can let him. She could also tell he was persistent and wasn't going to leave, how she could tell she didn't know, she could usually instinctively tell how a person is. She nodded hesitantly and stood up, walking straight towards the castle.

The knight followed her through the woods, a few steps behind and to the right of her. She didn't think he was slow considering she handy not seen him anywhere before he was standing right behind the ogre. He seemed to be one of the new knights, which would explain his lack of knowledge. She had heard a conversation about recruiting new knights a few days ago, and he seemed to be one of them.

She came to a halt and bowed her head towards him before going ahead towards the castle at a faster speed. Understanding what she meant, the knight bowed his head as well and walked back to where he came from.

She reached the castle gates barely in time. The guard was just about to close them when she reached there and ran in through the gap just as the door shut. The knight noticed her when she was already halfway across the garden. Thinking she had got in some time ago and he had simply forgotten he assumed his position beside the gate, ignoring her as they all usually did.

She got back in her room and closed the door behind her. It barely took a second for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. Her night vision was fairly great, allowing her to see everything clearly in the dark room. She climbed onto the bed and rested her head on the small cushion that she had been given. It wasn't great, but still better than the wood of the hard bed.

She lay there completely still. The knight she met had been the only person nice to her except the spider. It was most likely due to him being unaware of everything. However, it still lightened up her mood, and she couldn't help but think of that knight for a while. She slowly drifted to sleep, still thinking, about the one good thing that happened to her in years.