Natalya paced around the room, taking stock of her surroundings and current circumstances.
The last thing she remembered before arriving here was the confrontation with Francis at the faerie ring. He used the white ribbon to trap her, and turned her over to the King of the Unseelie Court. The King made her sniff a flower, which immediately knocked her out.
She woke up in this lavish bedroom, and quickly determined that she was no longer in the human realm. The first thing she did was run to the front door, only to find the door was locked from the other side. The second thing she had done was run to the balcony doors and successfully swing them wide open, before stepping outside to observe the area.
Her room was several stories high inside a large palace, with many towers and spires that climbed high in the air. The sky had no sun or moon, no stars that she could recognize, but was full of effervescent rainbow colours swirling in an endless haze. She only knew what time of day it was by the changing colours, as the colours gradually grew darker to represent the night while she stood out there watching.
Once it was darker and cooler outside to indicate that it must be dusk, she finally re-entered the bedroom and took account of what she had at her disposal. The walls were all painted in white with silver accents, and the furniture was done in dark wooden frames and red plush cushioning. The bed was a large one with a red duvet and pillows atop white sheets, and the bedframe had posts in the corners with red curtains tied to the sides.
On a table to the side of the room sat a bowl of fruit and a pitcher of liquid, all of which Natalya knew was not safe to consume. Marianne had warned her, as a child, what happens to humans who dare enter Yuvalon. Human food rots away the moment it enters Yuvalon, and the human's freshest clean water turns to poison. This was how they trapped the travelling humans in the fae realm, as drinking or eating fae food would immediately turn them fae and prevent them from ever leaving. It was therefore in Natalya's best interest to let starvation and thirst take her life first, and not to consume anything here.
To the far side of the room were two small areas separated from the main parlour. One of them was a washroom with required amenities and a large porcelain tub, with a cabinet full of bath salts she'd have to find out if she'd be allowed to use at some point. The other room was a small closet and dressing area, where three long plain purple robes hung. Upon inspection, Natalya found that all three of these dresses were all cut the same way, a straight unflattering cut with a large gap in the back which must allow for faerie wings.
She tried one on out of curiosity, and found the shape to be too flowy and unflattering on her body. As she started to imagine ways to change it, however, the dress shifted magically into whatever shape she imagined at that moment. She experimented with various shapes of ball gowns she had read about in her books, as well as many colours, before settling on a simple and modest dark purple gown with long draping sleeves.
As she hung her previous clothing from Niba in the closet, she realized one key piece of cloth was missing. The enchanted white ribbon Francis has given her, which made her hair grow long, was no longer in her possession. Francis must have told the fae about how she cut off her hair to escape his tower, and warned them to prevent her from a second attempt here in the fae realm. At least they left her new purple ribbon, so she could still tie her hair normally as desired.
So now here she was, pacing the room as she considered her options for escape. With the front door locked, only the balcony and windows remained as an opening to the outside world. However, without the ribbon to grow her hair long, she could not repeat her previous escape method. She could remove the curtains from the windows and bed, maybe even the bedsheets too, and tie them all up into a long rope to climb down. However, she could tell that the balcony was far too high up to get enough length from just that fabric.
She sat down on the edge of the bed as she realized there were only two options left for escape, both of which were terrible choices. One was to make a break for it the moment that front door was unlocked and opened, in which case the fae would easily catch her running amuck through the palace trying to find a way out. The second was to eat some food, become a fae, and use her newly grown wings to fly away.
That second option was certainly a last resort, one that Natalya knew she could never choose. If she turned fae now, she could never return to the human realm. She would never meet her siblings, she would never see her friends again, and she would never know what could've happened with Prince Alfred that would've made her his true love.
And if she chose to stay in Yuvalon, what would she do as a fae? She did not know anyone here, she did not know where to find anything, she didn't even know whether to consider herself Seelie or Unseelie. Her only prospective option here was to give in to the plans Francis made, marry King Gilbert and join the Unseelie Court as his obedient queen.
As if she'd be able to accept that fate. The entire situation was a trap, a gilded cage. She'd be simply moving from one tower to the next, with everyone else deciding her fate for her. She would have no trace of freedom, no chance to choose how she would be able to live her life. Not to mention that the Unseelie Court would take complete advantage of her naivety, she'd be useless as a fae queen.
But what of her fate in the human world by comparison? If she miraculously returned, she'd have to address whatever fate had in store between her and Prince Alfred. He was determined to find a damsel in distress in a tower and bring her home, so that she would marry him and be his future queen. There was no choice in that matter either, she'd be in yet another gilded cage as an obedient queen who knows nothing about living like royalty.
She leaned over and let her back crash onto the bed, staring at the ceiling and the frames of the bedposts above her, before feeling her eyes water a bit. She raised a hand to her face and wiped her eyes, not allowing the tears to escape and drip down her face. She knew she had to hold strong, to hope for an escape and a return back to the human realm, but right now she felt completely hopeless and alone.
Why in the realms did it seem that fate wanted her to be in a gilded cage? Why couldn't she have the freedom she always wanted? Why couldn't she travel the human realm, meet all the people, and live as a free woman? Why was her fate constantly out of her hands and in the hands of others?
Did she really have no control of her own fate?