2.2 CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE ABANDONED ROOM

2.2 CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE ABANDONED ROOM

Lucian woke up in a cold, beaded sweat. The dream was not anything to fear at all. But there was a foreboding with how his wife had said those last words. It was a warning, he knew, of course. The real question was why.

"Alas, Karme," he whispered with a bitter laugh as he gripped his hair with his left hand. "You will forever be a mystery to me, my dear, "

A knocking sounded at the door. Lucian's eyes gazed over in the direction. He cleared his throat and erased the worry in his expression, returning to a stone-cold knight before allowing them entry to his room. He watched as two maids entered. One was carrying a tray with a set of tea. While the other was holding a tray with a bowl of water and a clean towel. Both of them bowed upon seeing the knight still in his armor.

"The duke has ordered us to take care of you during your stay, my lord,"

Lucian grunted a reply as he stood up and walked toward the sofa to sit. Both maids scurried to serve him. The knight freshened his face with the water bowl and dried himself with the clean towel it came with. Afterward, he was served a steaming, fresh cup of tea. He brought the cup near his nose and sniffed it for anything out of the ordinary. But aside from the fact that it was made of a particular tea leaf he could not afford for daily drinking, he found nothing amiss.

Satisfied, he took a sip.

"Where is the duke?" he asked, putting his cup down.

One of the maids slightly stepped up to answer his question with a bow.

"The duke had left early this morning, my lord. For he has prior engagements. But he had asked for you, my lord, to wait for him in the early evening,"

Lucian nodded as he dismissed the maids, who then said they would be back with his lunch as he had declined the offer of breakfast. Once they closed the door, Lucian sank back into the seat. He could never be comfortable around the maids he knew the duke had ordered to keep an eye on him.

He could not remember doing anything personal against the duke. But with a man with as many rumors as him, Lucian could not push anything past him. After all, he is a man even the king would not be able to touch so easily.

For the umpteenth time, Lucian found himself sighing. He stood up and walked toward the door. Upon exiting the room, he made his way toward the garden. A lot of curious glances greeted him, but he ignored each and everyone of them.

Although, he took a wrong turn. From when he could not think, though, he was undoubtedly lost. But he found himself in a slightly dilapidated part of the castle. Curious, he walked toward the only door in sight and knocked. No one answered. Lucian then tried the doorknob, and it opened.

Finding it unexpected to see an abandoned castle room, Lucian pushed the door open. It creaked on its old hinges, echoing in the dark, empty hallway. The room itself was obviously not in use for years. It was cold, like a fire had never started on the fireplace. The curtains on the windows lay on the floor, covered in dust like everything else in the room. The window itself was barely hanging on while motes floated in the air.

Lucian walked fully into the room. It was as if it had been left in a hurry and had never been used since. The blanket on the bed is still unmade. A cup of tea and a teapot sat on the table. An open book lying beside them. But what caught the knight's eyes was the portrait on the wall.

It was of his wife.

He walked toward it and raised a hand. With his palm, he swept the dust off of it. It was undeniably Karme. He could not mistake her for anyone else. He stared at her portrait before his eyes gazed at the room once more. The bedchamber he was in could not possibly have been Karme's. It was small. Smaller than even a maid's quarters. And with how everything looked, Lucian could discern that the room had been falling apart far longer than Karme had been gone.

A duke's daughter, more so a royal duke's, would not stay in a room such as the one he was in.

He walked around once more toward the table by the looking glass. On top of it was an open jewelry box. Which contained a small pin he remembered seeing in his bride's hair the day of their wedding. With his large hand, he picked the tiny thing up as gently as possible.

"You cannot be here, my lord!"

A maid exclaimed, surprising Lucian. He gripped the small ornament in his hand and hid it inside his pocket before he turned in her direction.

"This chamber is not in use, my lord. For it is dangerous. Please, follow me out,"

It had not escaped the knight's ears how the maid sounded so agitated as she ushered him out of the dilapidated room. He remained calm and nodded as he followed behind the maid. As he did, he gazed around the room as she closed behind him.

"Your meal is prepared, my lord," the maid started as she led him back toward the busier part of the castle. "Would you have it in your room? Or the castle's dining room?"

"My room, please," Lucian answered as he looked over his shoulder to see the closed door one last time.

He had never believed in coincidences. He was not a person who believed in fate. Nevertheless, he could not help but think his wife had led him down the wrong hallway just so he could see the room. As of the moment, it has raised more questions than answers for Lucian.

However, it affixed his beliefs that the duke was hiding something surrounding his 'treasured daughter'. Whatever it was, Lucian swore to find out.