Chapter 27

They don't fear me, they fear her. 

'And I'm going to-' I was cut off in the middle of my thought. 

She suddenly looked back up at me, using her hand that was originally stroking my hair to push my face towards her. 

"Whores… Gone…!" She said, pausing between her words. Her face slowly crept up into a smile, staring into my eyes. 

After a dozen seconds or so, I averted my gaze to the right, staring at the bloody mess. 

She sat idly, as if not conscious, simply staring at me. 

Then, after what felt like an eternity, she spoke. "Mmm… Let's go." She demanded as she stood up, pulling me by the hair as she quickly walked over somewhere. 

I closely walked behind her, hunched over as I stumbled along, only being able to face the floor. 

We walked up to a door close to the middle-right side of the eastern wall. She opened it, leading me into a dark room.

I subconsciously gulped.

She flipped the light switch, revealing the room. 

It was…

A bedroom. A very large bed with unnecessary decor residing close, outside, and on top of it. 

I stood idly. Not daring to take a step forward. Cold sweat ran down my back, my head starting to get dizzy as I tried to slowly back off, my foot barely an inch off the ground as it retracted. 

She visibly frowned, showing a hurt expression. She looked around, patting the sides of her body in an attempt to hype herself up?

I wasn't sure, I didn't care either. She took a deep breath before hastily walking over to me. 

I made a run for it. I wasn't going to deal with this bullshit again. 

But less than 6 steps in, a knight easily stood in front of me, stopping me. 

Maybe I shouldn't have run right into him. 

He pulled me into a bear hug, his metallic armour edges digging into my skin.

I managed to get one of my arms out, punching him hard on the spot just above his neck but below his head, where his armour was thinnest.

He instinctively let me go, but it was already too late. 

8 knights had already surrounded me, while the rest blocked the exits and protected the Queen. 

I clicked my tongue, surrendering to them. 

2 of them brought me back into the giant bedroom, pushing me back in. I could see her whisper into the knight's ears as they held me in place. 

The knight nodded and hurried off outside, coming back within half a minute. 

I could hear chains dangle as his armour banged against the floor. Entering the room, he quickly ran towards the bed, attaching the chains to different parts of the room and bed. 

They forcefully brought me over and attached the chains to my ankles, wrists, and waist; locking the chain tight.

 checked the chains one more time before leaving the room, leaving only me and her. As they left the room, she waddled over, laying down beside me, placing a pillow under my head and a blanket over my body, then, she plopped down beside me, hugging me tight and fell fast asleep.

'...?'

…

…

I was so shocked that I stopped thinking for a few seconds. 

'Oh well, I'm not complaining. This is… Relatively nice.' I couldn't help but think to myself. 

My muscles relaxed and I sunk into the bed, prompting her to stick closer to me for some reason. Her hair smelled like vanilla cherry or something analogous.

I could feel every breath she inhaled and exhaled, her entire body weight stuck to me as she slowly let her breath trickle down my neck. Her hot and moist breath stuck to my skin, making me somewhat uncomfortable. 

Regardless, it was a good night, and sleep dawned upon me quicker than ever. 

…

My eyelids fluttered as I woke up, signalling the start of a new day. She was gone, the chains were off of me, but I was too… Unmotivated to get up. I continued to lie on the bed, rolling around, falling asleep, and waking back up, only to do it again. 

As I was blankly staring into nothing, I realized something. I still didn't know her name. I never asked, and she never bothered to tell me. My hair was grown out, much more than I'd liked, but not enough to consider it long. Only falling just under my eyes, I stretched it down to test how far it would go down.

'Neck length… Hmmm, my head feels heavy.'

I've never had hair this long before, the experience was new, but nothing special. I played with my hair, using my fingers to untangle the knots.

It felt so blank. I wasn't thinking of anything, doing anything, I was just completely zoned out.

…

I broke out of it when I heard someone walking towards me, I pretended to still be asleep, unsure of what was next. The footsteps didn't sound heavy, they felt more like… Dress shoes or high heels, something you would wear at a formal event.

They walked in, standing at the door for a few seconds. A minute passed, and they didn't move. 5 minutes passed, and they didn't move. 10 minutes passed and they didn't move.

Something washed over me, a wave of anxiety, and I pretended to get up. Standing there was her. She walked towards me, pretending as if she hadn't just watched me 'sleep' for 10 minutes just now.

Cupping my face and turning my head at different angles, she let me go and took my hand and brought me off the bed, taking me along with her somewhere. Led me outside, into the throne room, and into the broad hallways, entering a dining area. 

Bringing me over to the table, I sat down and waited for her to sit down across the table. 

"Wait. 10 minutes." She said.

I didn't respond, leaning back in the chair, my head drooped downwards. I closed my eyes, trying to get in some more sleep, or just rest my eyes. 

I could hear sounds of ruffling from the other side, out of curiosity I picked up my head to see what she was doing.

She had her phone out, the camera pointed towards me.

In realisation that I was staring at her, she flinched and quickly put her phone away. Awkwardly staring at me. 

As I cleared my throat and went back to 'sleep', I could hear ruffling again.

'...'

'More normal than I thought she'd be.'

I rested until the food came. With dozens of dishes, I didn't know what to put on my plate. 

I looked around for what was familiar to me, but there was nothing of the sort, other than the vegetables and fruit. 

Unsure of what to grab, I picked up a little of everything.

Picking up my fork and spoon, I started to eat. 

It was good. The only problem was the fact that she was staring at me the entire time. She didn't take a single bite, but instead watched me eat. 

She unexpectedly leaned forward, using the handkerchief and slowly holding it towards me. 

I leaned back, avoiding the handkerchief and lightly grabbed it, wiping whatever was on my face. Her lips parted a bit, showing an extremely hurt expression. I smiled to myself, catching myself off guard. 

My face quickly returned to a neutral position, not showing any emotion. 

Quickly finishing my meal, I wiped my hands and looked toward her, unsure of what we were going to do next. 

'I feel like a toddler…'

Getting impatient, I got up after a few minutes, walking towards the door.

To my amusement, she quickly got up and followed me outside, trailing just behind me. I smirked and continued to wander. 

I mindlessly wandered the corridors, completely unsure of where I was going and what I was going to do.

The maids and butlers went around and about, but every time a maid passed by I could feel an eerie feeling behind my back, watching my every move. 

I looked back at her, tilting my head diagonally, prompting her to say something. No response. I kept walking.

'Hmmm…'

I continued wandering, until I found the exit. But, before I was even a few meters in the range of the door to the exit, she grabbed my shoulder, her eyes closed and her mouth in a grin, trembling as if she struggled to keep it together.

"Haha…" I laughed as I backed off, heading to the upstairs section, which was completely new to me. Regardless, it was all the same. I had still yet to find any "special" room. All I'd found were guest rooms, living quarters, offices, and rooms I didn't know the reasoning behind. More than half of the rooms were hidden behind closed doors anyways. 

A maid walked out of a room, letting me see inside of it for a few seconds. Books upon books were stacked on the bookcases. I stopped dead in my tracks, walking over to the room. 

The maid looked flustered when she saw me walking towards her, then terrified. She quickly moved out of the way and bowed at a 90° angle, her legs quivering. 

I inwardly laughed and patted her head as I walked past her. 

'Eh? Patted…? The maid…'

Almost immediately, a skull crushing pressure emanated from behind me. I did a 180 and rested my hand on the queen's head, quickly patting her a few times.

She quickly became passive, the maid had already fallen to the floor, her dress starched with urine. I cleared my throat and quickly took the queen's hand, dragging her inside. 

The door shut behind, her face was flushed, but ignoring her, it really was what I thought it was. 

A library! 

At first glance, this didn't seem important, but it was my key to getting the hell out of here. 

The history behind this place, the way this place works, people, science, religion, languages, life, and so much more! And maybe, with enough luck. Just maybe, a few hints. Hints to getting out of here. 

After all, I wouldn't wander around for no reason, right?