The shutting of doors, the opening of the wardrobe, the fragrant scent of roses and lilies… The familiar feel of the satin sheets she'd fallen asleep to. Slowly, almost hesitantly, her senses returned to her, easing her gently from her deep slumber.
'The smell of roses… Where is it coming from, I wonder… Where am I, again? Why is it so bright?' so many questions were racing through her mind that she barely had time to actually think them over and remember. Confusion had made itself easily at home within her mind, the lids of her eyes still too heavy to fully open.
"She has awoken… Shall we fetch the Young Master then?" muttered a scratchy, somewhat elderly voice, its owner a shadowed figure against the blurry background of light that shone through her eyelids.
"No, no! Let the young child sleep for just a while longer. The Young Master is currently seeing to some political issues in the study, so he wouldn't be able to visit long anyways. Besides, truthfully I think the young girl is frightened… Let her sleep, let her dream, at least for now." A second voice replied, bubbly and young.
"True, very true…" the older voice replied, a hint of sympathy springing from her words for the girl. Her long, thin, shadowed outline seemed to glide across the girl's vision like a ghost; meanwhile the slightly younger, more energetic woman's shadow loomed over to the right, next to the window.
By now she'd pieced it all together; what they were talking about, WHO they were talking about, and who they were exactly.
For a start, they were speaking of the fast approaching wedding, in which she would be forced to wed Deep Blue. Secondly, they were talking about Deep Blue or the 'Young Master' as it were. Thirdly and finally, they themselves were the familiar pair of maids that had tended to her during her stay at Deep Blue's castle. They had been chosen as her companions, while also catering and preparing the wedding. They'd been the ones sewing the hem of her dress as she slept.
Gulping she realized suddenly just how close that dreaded event was becoming. What'd once been set a year away, giving her time to formulate a plan of escape, had now been suddenly slammed so close as tonight at midnight, the preparations leaving her with absolutely no time to think.
However, as the heaviness began to lift from her eyelids, she was able to just barely peak them open, glancing about the room, taking in each and every individual site, in order to be sure that the man she feared was not looming somewhere close by.
So, deciding that the coast was clear, and that she could safely open her eyes in front of the two maids, she did just that. Yawning easily she sat up, stretching out her long, thin limbs before bringing down her hands into balled fists, wiping away at the crust that had formed there at her eyes.
"Oh my, she IS awake!" declared the younger maid, her slightly pudgy, bubbly face turning in slight surprise towards the bed.
"Well, don't just dilly-dally all day, Sonya, quickly prepare the Young Miss for the ceremony! We've little time to stand about chatting, now that the girl has woken up!" springing into action, the older, scragglier maid rushed towards the newly open wardrobe, pulling forth from it the elegant onyx wedding gown, made entirely of satin and silk, flowing gracefully to the floor.
"Yes, I suppose you're right, Andrea… Come, Young Miss, we'll get you freshly bathed and dressed so that we can begin to apply the proper makeup and get you to the chapel, in order to wait for the Young Master." the younger maid, Sonya, replied turning and helping the girl from the bed and towards the dress. Andrea had stood near the newly empty bed preparing it skillfully.
"T-that's not really necessary, Ms. Sonya… But, uh, would you happen to know and secret ways out of this castle… Maybe ones Master Deep Blue has no knowledge of and can't track me in?" she gulped in reply, eyes shining uneasily at the haphazard plan she'd just formulated on the spot.
"Oh my… Young Miss, you can't! It's too dangerous-"
"So, you know escapes like those?" she cut in, noticing how pale both maids' faces had become. "Please, I really need to escape… You're really kind, the both of you, and I was so happy to finally find such kind people here… Surely you understand that I can't go through with something like marrying him…"
Glancing quickly to each other's face, both maids held an unsure sort of look about them, like they truly wanted to help, but were afraid of Deep Blue's wrath…
Finally, after several moments of deafening silence, Andrea, the older maid, piped up, voice still unsure as she spoke. "Young Miss, there IS a way out that the Young Master cannot track and does not know of. However what will become of us if we allow you to leave?"
"I was prepared for that, at least." She replied, quickly running over to the newly made bed, flopping aside various pillows until finally she came to the one she'd been laying on, reaching under easily, fiddling with something or other until finally she reemerged, a small blue velvet pouch in her palm.
"What is this, Young Miss?" Sonya asked, clearly confused as to what was about to happen. "Where did you get that?"
"If my mother taught me anything, it was to always come prepared. So, I decided to start carrying Slumber Dust with me, as well as Paralysis Dust and Poison Dust… Now, please tell me the secret passage route before I do this." She asked again, stepping quickly over to the two maids, shocked expressions still set across their features.
Sigh "Here, this is a map of the castle that all maids carry with them because of its vastness. However, only Sonya and I know of this secret tunnel system, and how to navigate through it. We've marked the route so that it will be easy for you to find your way out." Andrea piped up, handing over the map from her apron to Ichigo.
"Thank you so very much!" was her reply as she took hold of the map, stepping over to the wardrobe to slip on a more durable, faded blue maid's outfit, flowing down to her knees. It was here that she stopped, securely placing the folded up map into her apron before stuffing in several different colored velvet pouches, full of what could only be the magical dust she'd spoken of carrying with her.
Once all of this was finished, she kept a single blue velvet pouch in her hand, sprinkling the previously mentioned Slumber Dust across the maid's bodies, watching them fall purposely into crumpled heaps, to where they weren't hurt, but it still seemed like they'd been attempting to catch her.
With this successfully finished, she unfolded the map, glancing at the route to the dungeons, leaning down and retrieving the skeleton key from Sonya's and Andrea's key rings, along with the only extra copy of the tunnel routes, so that she could destroy it, ripping it into extremely small pieces.
'Thank you both…' she thought to herself, taking one last look at both maids before striding over to the large wardrobe, pushing it aside to reveal the slightest impression of a door among the rough, baize painted brick. Reaching over and tapping lightly on the area described on the map, she watched in short-lived triumph as the door slid easily open.
Stepping through it, she pulled the wardrobe back securely into its position, as if the door never did exist. Afterwards she glanced searchingly to her left, noticing the panel also described in the map, closing the door and locking it securely with a seal.
The first thing on her mind was to find the dungeon, release the two captive princes, and then finally escape into the safety of her own country.
This in itself was a difficult task to accomplish, seeing as how the tunnel was extremely dark and damp and molded, cobwebs lining every possible corner. It would be an extremely long road, but it was her duty to find the men she cared about most, getting at least them to safety.
Ok guys, I am SO sorry that I've been gone so long and haven't updated almost anything over these past few months, but since the beginning of Freshman Year I haven't had time. But now that it's summer break, I hope to be writing much more than this. So thank you to my lovely, loyal readers and reviewers, because I truly value your reviews and your critiques.
With that said, RxR!
God Bless you and may He be with you in your own writing and lives. XD
