The rest of the afternoon – or what I assumed was afternoon, if it was even afternoon at all – was uneventful. Besides my fretfulness over not knowing what time of day it was, I spent most of that time trying to figure out what to do.
Let's be frank; they hadn't created this room keeping in mind that I was not content to sit quietly on the bed and let them mess with me later.
I was ready to climb up the walls if I didn't find something to do. Marie, noticing my unrest, tried to talk to me, but her conversation topics seemed to be nothing but the latest gossip of the faerie court. Although hearing another voice in the room was a comfort, it's hard to appreciate gossip when you have no concept of who any of the people are.
Debating tearing my hair out, I finally decided to screw the safety of my room. I was bored, and they had left me to my own devices. Whether or not Arion or any of his other brothers were waiting outside that door didn't matter. I was bored out of my freaking mind.
Growling a little in annoyance, I strolled into the bathroom. "Hey, Marie? Any interesting places in the palace? Places where there is a possibility of low prince traffic?"
Marie cut short whatever she was babbling about, and stopped to thing. "Low prince traffic?" she asked. I closed my eyes, and willed patience. She was imprisoned in that mirror a long time ago. I could make exceptions for her lack of comprehension.
"Anywhere that the princes wouldn't be." That was, quite frankly, my biggest requirement. As long as I was alone and there was little to no possibility of the king's sons stumbling upon me. I wanted a space to dance and or think.
"Mmmm," Marie said. I could see her head tip upward thoughtfully. This could be interesting. "The library, probably. No one but Warren frequents there, and even then the lad is usually busy with his inventing. Which really does nothing for gossip. He's the most boring of the lot." I quickly ignored the last part of her statement. This mirror should be in a room with someone who actually cares.
I nearly headed out the door before pausing. I didn't have a clue as to where I was going. For a moment I debated shrugging my shoulders and getting lost… but I didn't know what sort of people I might run into.
"You'll want to take a left, walk past four hallways until you reach a portrait of a grinning nymph. At which point, turn right, take a left, and then the first large double doors engraved with gold are the ones you want." Perfect timing, and I had just been about to call back. Maybe the magical seer mirror wasn't so bad.
I hurried through those halls. A library might be cool, or it might just be a room filled with musty books. All the same, it would mean no princes. I grinned at the thought. Following Marie's directions, I was soon faced with the gigantic portrait. It was a woman. With fins and those black eyes. Did they all have those endlessly black eyes?
That portrait felt wrong. You know how your skin crawls and you feel a tingle up your back? That was what I felt. The woman was beautiful. Her body was formed perfectly, and a long dark curtain of hair graced her – naked? – figure. She looked human, but the eyes and that smile. I wanted to hide from that smile. It said 'I am smarter and deadlier than you are. You're screwed.' Rubbing my arms, I took the right hastily.
The library was hard to miss. When Marie had said 'large double doors' she had meant large double doors. They were imposing, dark and quite a statement. I slowly opened a door, and scanned the room quickly.
I decided quickly that it was vacant, and slipped inside. Sighing, I took in the smell of the new room. Have you ever smelled old books? They have a musty odor. This room was that smell, and it made me smile.
One of the things that had been left of my father was his old books. They had been stuffed away in a cardboard box, and when I was thirteen, I found them in the basement. I remembered that the box had hastily scribbled Markus on the side of it. I remember that I had sat down that day, and thumbed through them. They were classics – Shakespeare, Poe, Conan Doyle – and I didn't actually read any of them. I do remember smelling them, though, and loving the aged smell.
I brushed off the memory hastily. No need for me to get tied up in memories which will only depress me.
I began to wander through the oodles of bookshelves. You know that wonderful scene during Beauty and the Beast when the Beast gives Belle the library? This library had the same number of books, but with less of the prim neatness. Little stacks of old books lay heaped on the floor near shelves, and I could see books scattered all over the tables that were on the far left side of the room.
I mused with the idea that someone could get lost in here. Not that I would mind. I would rather be lost in a sea of leathery tomes than dancing with a prince. I trailed my finger along the bindings of the books, and absently read the titles. I could hardly recognize any of it. There were titles in languages that my little high school education in French could hardly prepare me for.
Suddenly I heard a few thumps from behind me, and I jumped. I swear, my heart jumped into my throat, and I leapt at least a few inches into the air. 'And then we heard a thump. How that thump made us jump.' Oh good. And a Cat in the Hat reference to boot.
Spinning around, my chest heaving in fear, I found myself looking at a disheveled woman. She looked familiar… until I realized that she was the nymph from that creepy portrait. I looked at her, and didn't see that fierce beauty. In fact, I saw a disheveled woman who now had a confused look plastered on her face. If it weren't for the familiar face shape, hair, and skin color I wouldn't have identified her.
"It fell," she stated mournfully, staring at a newly created mess of books. I blinked. Well, yeah, lady. An awkward silence hung in the air. However, this seemed to bother only me.
Suddenly she glanced up, and I was looking into eyes that seemed to gaze at the world in a baffeled manner. Perhaps she hadn't been the nymph in the painting. She didn't have the proper air of… I dunno, menace? While I considered this, she moved towards me quickly, and hand both of my arms in her grip. I was shocked, and I was surprised that I could feel the chill of her fingers through my sleeves.
"You," she said, wonderingly. "You're Lanora's. I know your mother. She was… my lady…" She drifted off thoughtfully, and just remained still. This was weird. Really, really weird. Her eyes wandered away from my face, and she began to mutter.
"So… you knew my mom?" I asked, after a few minutes of absolute silence. Her eyes snapped back to my face.
"Yes," she smiled. It was a friendly smile, despite the oddity of the situation. "Yes, she was my favorite. I wish she had met happiness… but poor, poor Lanora. Met a human, fell in love. Silly girl." She shook her head, and tsked like a disappointed mother. Her hand suddenly reached up to stoke my cheek. Jesus, her hands were freezing. Did she put her hands in ice? "I will make her happy, though. You will marry one of my sons, and she will be able to come back without disgrace."
My eyes widened. Holy shit. I had thought the Queen was dead but… You will marry one of my sons… There was no way to deny what that meant. I was staring at the batshit crazy Queen of the Faeries, who was marrying me off because she wanted my mother to come back to court.
Hearing the door open, I glanced towards the sound. Anything to alleviate the weirdness of this whole scene. I glanced back at her, and noticed her smile slightly, and her eyes gained the light that they had had in the painting. "Come back to see me," she urged quietly, "I want to know you. I want to know Lanora's child." Biting my lip dubiously, I nodded. She was a relatively harmless crazy, and she seemed to fluctuate between crazy and somewhat stable often enough that talking to her might actually be enjoyable.
Grinning to me, she disappeared around the aisle's corner. I blinked. What the hell had that been? One oppressive king, a crazy queen, and three annoying princes equaled one fucked up, painfully annoying royal family. Why me? I sighed loudly, and heard footsteps heading over to the aisle I was in.
A head popped around the corner, and there was Warren. My 'friend'. I didn't know him, and I honestly didn't know why we were on grounds of peace. One 'friend' is better than being alone, right? Maybe if I keep telling myself that, it will become true. Mentally rolling my eyes, I met Warren's puzzled expression.
"Did a tornado come through here, or what?" I stared at the mess the Queen had left and shrugged. He quickly walked towards the books, and began to place them onto the shelf.
"Nothing much, your mother just knocked down a few books." I saw him freeze, and the corners of his mouth turned down.
He turned to stare at me, his face stony and I could have sworn that it was also riddled with grief and anger. "That was a low blow. I merely asked a question. Now I realize that you do not like me or my brothers, but at least honor a dead Queen."
I gaped attractively, and make a few squawks which were formulations of failed sentences. I looked the side, feeling ashamed. "I'm sorry. I just assumed that the woman I saw was your mother…" I could see him thinking about accepting my apology.
"It's fine. Who was this woman you ran into?" I could tell that he didn't entirely mean all of those words, but hey. I had apologized, which is more than I would give any of the others. Besides, I knew how much it hurt to have old grievances woken up by idiots. I had been wrong, and he'd deserved that apology.
"She – erm – didn't you see her when she ran into the other aisle?" He shook his head, and I frowned. I had seen her. I had felt her. She had touched me for goodness sakes! "Ah, nevermind. I'm just being crazy." I shook my heads. Geez, this captivity was fucking with my head majorly.
Feeling unbelievably stupid, I sighed. "Mmmm," Warren responded, his brow furrowing. "So I heard you had your first lesson with the dragon lady. How'd it go?" It took me about thirty seconds to catch on to what he was saying. Dragon lady… was that what they called Mama Thistle? How fitting.
"I threw her through a door," I stated bluntly. He laughed heartily.
"Finally, someone who tossed her into a wall. My first lesson, I –" He was cut off by Winny, who came zooming into the room.
Looking very displeased, she glared pointedly at me and squeaked, "Lady Grace, you need to get ready for the ball tonight." I sighed. Oh goody. Dinner and dancing. Hooray, yippee, yadda, yadda, yadda. "C'mon!" Grabbing a piece of my hair, she tugged at it like someone would tug at the leash of a naughty dog. I yelped, and followed her out.
"See you at dinner!" Warren called after me. Humph. Yeah, woohoo. Even if I got along with the guy twenty billion times better than Arion, I couldn't stand the idea of playing their game. My thoughts were disturbed by Winny scolding me for wandering off. I ignored her more than 70% of the time.