A/N: Hello friends! I'm back with chapter two! If you guys like it at all, feel free to review it helps me out a lot! Positive feedback is great, but constructive criticism is also amazing because it lets me know how to improve!
light-and-Shadows-Mist-and-ice: Thanks!
.writing: Thank you so much! Sorry it took awhile to update!
Briella's POV
Briella peered over the edge of the window. She had to stretch to see over, because the metal clamp around her ankle refused to let her get close enough. Even if she did manage to escape, the drop would kill her. As well, the only foothold was at least twenty feet below her window.
Sighing in frustration, Briella crawled back to the middle of her tower cell. Her ankle had been rubbed raw from trying to slip free. She'd watched all night as the artificial moon in the dome slowly crawled higher. Now, it would've been about midnight. Once dawn broke the surface of the dome, she would be killed.
It wasn't even her fault. Spinning straw to gold…. It was physically impossible. She would die. The only comforting thought, though a bit sad that she thought it, was that her father would be executed for lying, as well.
Just as she was about to close her eyes to get her last sleep, Briella heard the clinking of keys in her cell door. She bolted upright. The door swung open, and a guard stepped in. Briella gulped. Was he here to check on her progress? To torture her into a demonstration? She had no idea.
"Why, hello there, pretty girl. Having troubles with glamoring everyone into believing you can actually spin straw to gold?" the guard snickered. Briella frowned.
"Why should you care? And yes, I am, actually. It's physically impossible to spin straw to gold, and now they took away my gift and…." Briella let out a quiet sob.
"Now, now. It'll be fine…. I have a deal for you. I'll glamor everyone in this entire palace, this entire city, into believing you actually did," the guard started.
"What's the catch?" Briella asked attentively.
"Smart girl. I want that pretty diamond necklace of yours I saw hiding under your dresses collar," the guard offered with a smile. Briella clutched the necklace that was, indeed, hiding under the collar of her dress and made of diamonds. Her necklace was the one thing she had left from her mother. She didn't want to give it up. The only thing was that if she didn't, the King would take it from her corpse she had no doubt.
Slowly, she reached her hands around her neck and unclasped the precious necklace. She paused though, halfway in between giving it to him.
"How do I know you can even glamor everyone in this dome? You would have to be crazy powerful to be able to do that," Briella questioned. The guard smirked.
"That I am. Now, do you want to trust me or would you like your head cut off tomorrow?" the guard asked. He held his hand out, waiting for the necklace. Biting her lip, Briella finally handed him the necklace. The guard smiled, flashing perfect white teeth.
"What's your name, pretty lady?" he asked, stuffing the necklace into a pouch on his uniform.
"Briella. What's yours?" Briella asked.
"That, my lady, is a truly beautiful name. You may call me…. Er…. Sir Daxton, if you please," Sir Daxton finally said. Briella frowned.
"What's your actual name?" she pressed.
"I told you, dearest. Sir Daxton," he replied.
"Don't call me 'dearest'," Briella snapped. Daxton only smiled at this.
"I'm afraid you aren't in a position to do anything about it, Sweet. Soon, you'll be mine. I bet on it," Sir Daxton responded smoothly. He reached a hand up and gently laid it on her cheek. Briella pushed it away.
"I'll be seeing you soon," Sir Daxton promised as he left her room. Briella was seething. She absolutely hated this. She hated Sir Daxton. She hated King Cyprus Blackburn. Most of all, though, she hated her father. This entire situation was his fault. Now, she was trapped in a tower cell, threatened by the king and now…. Now there was Sir Daxton. Thinking of him sent chills through her body, and though she was a bit grateful for his help, Briella feared what he would do to her most of all.
His chocolate brown hair paired with his ice blue eyes made him almost handsome. Something beneath those eyes worried her, though. A cunning glint. Briella knew she should stop trusting him, that he was her enemy, worse then even King Cyprus. Unfortunately, she needed his help.
Shaking her head, Briella willed the realization away. Assuming she survived and he kept his promise, she had bigger things to worry about.
Dawn broke, and Briella once again heard the clanking of keys unlocking her cell. The door swung open, and three guards stormed in. Their expressions quickly changed from thinking they'd guessed right, that she was a fraud, to absolutely shocked. Rubbing her eyes, Briella noticed all the straw in her room had turned into gold over the night. Pure, solid, beautiful gold.
"I…. It's true…. You really can spin straw to gold," one of the guards murmured through his surprise. Briella blinked a few times, just in case it wasn't real. Then she remembered the night before- Sir Daxton.
It took an hour before all the 'gold' was removed from her room. Briella felt hope flare where it had recently been snuffed out. Maybe the King would only demand for her 'services' a few times. She only had one more thing that might be valuable to Sir Daxton, though. After that…. King Cyprus would learn this was all a trick of the mind.
A/N: Hello guys! Sorry this took like forever, I took a bit of a break from writing. I hope it's okay!