Chapter Four.

I couldn't see anything. It was completely pitch black. I couldn't even see the next step. I felt for it gingerly in the dark, hoping I wouldn't fall down. I took a few steps down, before I hit what I thought was a wall. I felt along it with my hands, and discovered that the staircase turned, like a spiral, and I had reached the corner of it. Slowly, I felt my way along it the wall, and found the next stair.

'Blanche?' I whispered. 'Where are you?'

'Right here, I'm trying to find this infernal candle!' She said back to me.

I took a few more steps down the staircase, and reached what I thought was the bottom. I waited a few more moments before I heard the striking of a match, and light erupted from Blanche's hand. I blinked at it. She had a small candle in her hand, and was lighting it with the match. I looked around where we were. It was a small room, no windows or doors, save the cupboard door we had just come through. There were a few old boxes and trunks down here, covered in dust and rotting. Other bits and pieces lay on the floor; scraps of material, pieces of wood, that sort of thing. Blanche placed down the candle in a candle holder built into the side of the wall, and began to take her cloak off. I was still gazing around me, trying to work out what exactly had just happened.

We had just been chased by a guard or a soldier through the forest, had almost been caught, then ran away to this cottage; where a strange girl who I had never met before had told us we could hide in the basement. I just couldn't seem to get my head around it.

If it had been any other day, I would have looked upon these events as a grand adventure, something exciting and scary. But not today. Not when all I wanted to do was simply get home. I just had to get home and make sure my Father was alright. He was sick, I had to be there. I didn't know what I could do, but I just had to be there.

I was tired, and scared and upset, and I just wanted to be at home. I wanted Alexander to give me a hug. I wanted Daniel to try and cheer me up. I wanted Richard to hold onto me like he always did. I wanted Clara to make me feel better with her sisterly love. I wanted Tom, Robbie and Gwen to distract me with their playing and shouting and screaming.

And I just wanted Father to be alright. I wanted him to be strong and healthy again. I wanted him to be happy, as happy as he had been when Mother was alive.

I slumped against the wall of the basement, swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat. I wanted to go home. I wanted to feel loved and safe again. Instead, I was who-knows-where, with Blanche and a stranger; on the run from someone who Blanche would not tell me the identity of.

Home. I just wanted home.

'Why are we here?' I asked Blanche in a hoarse voice.

She turned to face me.

'We need to hide; Rose will hide us.' She replied.

'I just want to go home.' I told her. 'Instead, I'm here.'

'I know,' She said. 'And I'm sorry for dragging you into this. But we're over halfway back to Rault, even if we stay off the path, it's only a few more hours walking tomorrow. I'll get you home tomorrow, I promise.'

I wanted to believe her. I really did.

'But what if that man comes after us again.'

She shrugged.

'Then we run.' She said, very matter of factly.

'You haven't done anything wrong.' She continued. 'So they shouldn't have a reason to catch you. But if they see you with me…'

'They'll get me too.' I finished.

She only nodded.

'We stay here tonight, and leave at first light. They will have gone home hopefully by then, and won't be back in the forest until mid-morning. If we move fast, we should be able to get back to Rault before they can start to track us again.'

It was a good plan, and a sensible one. But that didn't stop the horrid feeling of worry and sadness that had taken root in my stomach. I wanted to get home, and every minute we spent here, was a minute we weren't getting closer and closer to home.

A loud noise sounded from above us. We both whirled our heads round to look at the door. It sounded like conversation, a loud one.

Blanche signalled for me to hide behind one of the wooded trunks on the floor, and Blanche moved herself so she was hidden behind a box.

I tried my hardest to keep my breathing quite, not making a sound. The fear I had felt just a few minutes ago came flooding back to me, and I tried to ignore it the best I could.

Suddenly the door to the basement opened, and light poured in. I froze in terror.

Then, a shadow passed over the doorway as someone made their way down the staircase.

'You can both come out.' Came the sing song voice of Rose.

I saw Blanche peer over the top of the box, and then stand up. I followed her, slowly pulling myself upright. Rose was stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at us. Then, as quickly as she had arrived, she turned around and left, leaving the door open for us.

I looked to Blanche, no clue what to do.

She just shrugged again, and moved towards the door. I followed her, still not quite sure exactly what we were doing.

Both of us emerged from the basement, to the main room, and we found we were not alone. Rose was standing there, but so were three other women. All of them were older, they looked around 50 or 60. All three of them wore plain simple clothes, various shades of grey and brown.

But their eyes.

There must just have been something about this house and unusual eyes, but all three women had the same eyes, a bright golden colour.

They were just so peculiar. I'd never seen gold eyes before, never.

Their hair was greying and kept in loose buns, covering their ears. I could never wear my hair like that, it would get in the way far too much. I always found myself tucking locks of my hair behind me ears, because it irritated me when it was in that form. How it didn't annoy them was beyond me.

All three of them were staring at us, and they didn't look best pleased.

'Why are you here again?' The one on the left asked Blanche.

'I'm sorry. I know I said I wouldn't bother you again-'

'Yes, you did.' The one on the right said, very matter of factly. 'You said you'd leave us alone, for good.'

'We're desperate. She sent them after me again, and we almost got caught. We just need to hide for one night, only one.' Blanche pleaded.

'That's what you asked us the first time.' The one in the middle almost snarled.

'I know, and I'm sorry.' Blanche tried to reason with them. 'Don't do it for me, do it for her.'

Blanche indicated to me, and all three of their gazes fell on me.

'She hasn't done anything wrong, she's my friend, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she needs to get home. Just one night. We'll leave at first light, and you never need see us.' Blanche said.

I stared back at them, silently begging them to just let us stay. The sun was almost down now, so there was no chance we'd reach Rault today. Tomorrow, maybe, but I didn't know this part of the forest at all, and I had lost track of how exactly to get back onto the path.

The three women assessed me with their eyes, taking in every detail.

'Please.' I managed to stutter out. 'My father is sick, very sick. I just want to get home safely.'

The women continued to stare.

'She's telling the truth.' Rose said, to no one in particular.

I stopped, and took in what she just said. The young woman knew nothing about me, nothing at all, and yet for some reason could say that with absolute certainty. It was very odd.

'Yes, she is.' Said the woman on the left.

I still had no clue why they knew this, or what they meant, but if it meant they let us stay, I was willing to go along with it.

'Please.' I said again.

The woman on the right inclined her head, and all three of them walked out of the room, through the front door, and it slammed shut behind them. I did not think I saw any of them reach for the door, it just closed.

Maybe I was imagining things. I'd had a difficult day, and now my mind was playing tricks on me. One of them must have reached for the door.

'Where did they go?' I asked Blanche quietly.

'Off to decide whether to let you stay or not.' Rose replied, even though the question hadn't been posed to her.

'Oh.' Was all I said.

'Things have changed.' Rose said. 'Since you were last here.'

I guessed she was talking to Blanche and not me, as I had never been to this cottage before.

'How so, and why?' Blanche asked.

'They're getting stricter, and more paranoid. My eighteenth birthday is next week, and I think they are afraid of something once I become of age.' Rose told us.

There was something about this that sound oddly familiar. Something I wasn't quite sure of.

'Why should your eighteenth be of such importance?' I asked.

'I don't know.' She said, to neither of us in particular, again. 'But I'm not allowed to leave the house on my birthday. They have told me that many, many times.'

That seemed even stranger. Who wasn't allowed to leave the house, especially on their birthday?

There was something, something right at the back of my mind, trying to push forwards. Something that sounded familiar, as if I'd known about this before.

Three strange women, and an even stranger girl. A girl whose eighteenth birthday was significantly important, for some reason.

I began to think deeper and deeper, until suddenly, my vision began to cloud over, and my head started spinning. Blackness danced around my sight, and I felt weak.

'Marion?' I heard Blanche call out. My head was still spinning, faster and faster and faster.

I felt an arm grasp around my shoulders, and guide me into a nearby chair.

'Breathe, just breathe.' I heard her say. I concentrated on that. In and out; breathe in, and breathe out.

The dizziness began to abate slightly, and the blackness disappeared. I'd been getting these dizzy spells a lot recently. Maybe something worse had happened when I had hit my head on the floor.

Breathe in, and out. Eventually, I began to feel normal again.

I looked up, and found Blanche in front of me, holding my arms, with a look of genuine concern on her face.

'Better?' She asked.

I nodded slightly.

At that moment, the front door swung open, and the three older women appeared at the doorway. They all walked into the room, single file, and stood in front of us.

'We will let you stay one night. Only one.' The one in the middle said.

'And, you will get this one to not say anything about it, anything at all. Just like you.'

I was confused, and still not thinking clearly.

'You,' The one on the left spoke directly to me. 'You, will not speak a word of this to anyone. We will remain a secret. You will never tell another living soul that you saw us here in the forest, do you understand me?' The one on the left said.

I was very confused as to why they had to remain such a secret. Who didn't want people to know about them that desperately?

But, I just wanted to get home, wanted to make sure Father was alright.

And so, instead of questioning them, and fighting back, I simply nodded my head, and agreed to keep my mouth shut.

'We will be watching; you cannot tell anyone we are here. Anyone at all.'

I nodded again, I understood, but did not grasp why it was such an important thing. Maybe they were also criminals, like Blanche, who needed to stay hidden.

'She won't say anything.' Blanche said, 'I trusted her with my own secret, and she has never told anyone else.' She gave me a small smile.

'Good.' The one on the right said. 'Now, please, get back down there and hide. We will bring you some food in a little while. You are not to leave that basement until first light, and then we want you gone.'

'How will we know it's first light?' I asked quietly. 'There are no windows down there.'

The three women glanced to each other quickly, as if not quite sure how to answer the question.

'You will know.' The one on the left said, rather cryptically.

That sounded odd. A little too odd.

Blanche met my eyes, and gave me a 'Don't question it' look, and tugged on my arm. I stood from the chair.

'Thank you very much.' I said.

'We wish your father, and your siblings, the best.' The middle one said.

Wait, what? Did I mention my siblings? I wasn't sure that I had. How did they know? Before I could ask them, Blanche tugged harder on my arm, and we walked back to the hidden basement, and descended the dark stairs again, with the cupboard door slamming behind us with a loud bang.

Blanche quickly lit the candle again, so we could see what we were doing. She lifted up one of the trunk's lid, and peered inside it, before then shutting it quickly.

'We need to find blankets, or something similar.' She told me.

'I've got a blanket.' I said quietly, still stewing over the conversation we'd just had with those strange women.

'We're in a basement. It's not going to get any warmer, trust me.'

It was rather cold down there. My hands were already beginning to go numb. And so, I began to open boxes, and rummage through them. There were scraps of materials, moth eaten and filthy, no use to us at all. I dug deeper into the trunk, moving scraps out of the way. Blanche was half way inside a trunk on the far side of the room. Only her legs were visible.

I looked further and further, but there were only pieces of material. My hands were freezing cold now, and covered in dirt and mud, at least I thought it was mud. I didn't really want to know exactly what it was.

My hand hit something hard, something that felt a little like wood. It hurt. I could feel a small bruise forming on the back of my hand. My curiosity was peaked, and I pushed aside the fabrics, to find a small wooden box, about as wide as my shoulders. There was a metal clasp on the front, a very intricate metal clasp. It was gold in colour, and looked very expensive. A little too expensive. People who were living in a small cottage like this should not be able to afford that box.

I knew I should have left it alone. It was common curtesy that guests don't go looking through all the possessions of their hosts. But it was me, and I couldn't let it lie.

My cold hands grasped the clasp on the box, and a clicked it open. The lid lifted slightly, it was heavier than I had thought.

Inside, the box was lined with dark purple velvet, padded throughout. I lifted it a little higher, and saw a small image embroidered into the velvet. A small crest. It showed a shield with a sun and a flower; a rose.

I'd seen it before.

Everyone had seen it before.

The royal crest. The crest of the house of Valorian.

I lifted the lid higher and higher, until I could see exactly what was inside. Even in the dark of the basement, with only one candle; I could see what was inside.

A jewelled crown.

Well, more like a coronet. It was smaller than anyone's head.

It was beautiful. A large sapphire lay in the centre, and variously sized red and purple jewels ran along the metal. It was stunning, so intricate that there was no mistaking what it actually was.

A royal crown. It was even in the royal colours of red and purple.

What were the strange women upstairs doing with a royal crown? Maybe they had stolen it?

But then, why were they living in this tiny cottage in the middle of the forest, and not in a large house in a town, enjoying all the luxuries of having money. It made no sense.

'And so, the lost princess still lives, somewhere, unaware of her heritage, and the curse place upon her, while her parents rule the kingdom waiting for her to return. The end.'

The words echoed through my head. Where had I heard those words before. My mind began to start spinning.

'The other three faeries told the king and queen that they would hide the child, and raise it as their own, to prevent the evil faerie ever finding her.'

Three faeries, three strange women. Which would make Rose….

My head was spinning far too fast now. Dizziness clouded my vision. I focused on my breathing, and I moved my hand to grasp my head, hoping to stop the spinning. As I moved my hand, the lid of the box clicked shut, hiding the coronet again. I didn't care, I just wanted the dizziness to go away.

I pushed myself out of the trunk and slumped onto the ground, my back resting again the hard wood of the trunk. Breathe, just breathe.

Blanche was by my side instantly, holding the tops of my arms, telling me to just breathe.

In, and out. Breathe in, and breathe out.

Eventually, the blackness abated, and the spinning began to slow.

'Marion?' Blanche asked. I could just about work out what she was saying now.

I swallowed. What had brought that on? Maybe I had spent too long leaning over the edge of the trunk.

'Are you alright?' Blanche asked.

I nodded slowly.

'I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure what happened.' I told her.

'You've been having a lot of dizzy spells recently. Is something the matter?' She asked. She sounded genuinely concerned.

'I don't think so. Maybe it's just lack of food.' I said. Yes, that's exactly what it must have been. I was just light headed because I was hungry.

Blanche looked at me concerned.

'Are you sure you're going to be alright?'

I nodded, feeling a lot better. I could see everything again, and the spinning had completely stopped.

'Good. Now, I'm going to see about getting some food.' Blanche said, giving me a quick pat on my shoulder, and then disappearing up the stairs, leaving me in the basement all by myself.

I stood slowly, scared it was going to make me dizzy again. The trunk behind me was still open. I hadn't found anything of interest in there, anything important. And so, I placed my hands on either side of the lid, and pushed it shut with a loud click.