When you had grown up as a Princess, you would find this unhealthy amount of pride in you that would not let you break down in front of people. It did not matter what kind of Princess you were – I was far from a proper Princess, yet this pride was instilled in me from such a young age that I would refuse to grovel even in the face of death. So, of course, being thrown into the dungeon was nothing. I was ready when the Siren asked me to be thrown into the dungeon, but apparently, the guards were not.
"Lady Azura," One of the guards spoke up hesitantly. "We have direct orders from our king to –"
"Do you intend to disobey my direct order?" The Siren's eyes flashed at the Guards.
"No, no, not at all, My Lady, we were just –" The guard tried to explain.
"Do you believe our king would be pleased when he hears you disobeyed my order for this human tramp? Who do you think he would believe?" The Siren smiled coldly, and the surroundings got colder.
The Guards immediately backed down, and I could not help but laugh quietly. The Siren reminded me of my precious sister; I could almost remember the exact same words she once said to me. Monster or human, entitlement and manipulation sounded the same.
"Take her!" The Siren ordered and the Guards moved towards me.
But before they could touch me, I stepped back but held my head high.
"I can walk on my own just fine," I said before turning around and walking back the way we just came through.
I felt everyone's eyes on me as the Guards caught up to me. Both of the Guards said nothing but they looked surprised.
The dungeon turned out to be on the other end of the castle grounds, so it was a long walk. I knew we were close when I started to see multiple guards around, all on high alert. Finally, we reached a modest-looking building; it wasn't so bad, but just a bit duller compared to the other structures. The guards inside the building looked up as we entered. Some looked surprised, some looked like they expected something like this. The Guards with me silently led me down a narrow staircase. One staircase, then another, and then another. Slowly, everything around me got unbearably cold, and a poorly-lit dungeon came into view. There was barely one or two light orbs to see, and there was this palpable dampness wafting from the dark walls.
The Guards stopped in front of a cell, unlocked it, and without waiting for any instructions, I stepped inside. A guard followed me inside and grabbed the iron shackles hanging on the wall, but then he looked at me and hesitated. I examined the iron chains, which had visible dried blood stains on them. There were also blood stains on the musty walls of the cell. I had visited holding cells back at my home castle, and to be perfectly honest, compared to this, they were much worse. At least the stains on the floor only looked like blood stains, nothing worse.
"Hurry up, Taurin!" The guard outside the cell barked loudly, and Taurin, the guard inside the cell with me, quickly made up his mind.
He roughly grabbed my hands and clasped the shackles around my wrist. Iron dug into my flesh. I understood that the shackles were intentionally made smaller; they were meant to restrict blood flow and enhance the effect of one's punishment.
The heavy, iron-bound cell door closed as Taurin stepped out, and they walked away. From a distance, I could hear them talking to the cell guards in whispers. They explained the whole ordeal with Lady Azura, and the cell Guards sighed before saying they understood, then, the footsteps receded. I had no idea what they understood, nor did I have the energy to wonder.
I was exhausted. My chest hurt. I felt suffocated.
I pulled my veil from my face and threw it away. I sat down heavily on the floor. Finally! Finally, I was alone.
First came the sigh, then another one, then a tear rolled down my cheek, then another tear. I leaned back and rested my head on the wall, and let the tears fall. My mouth did not make a single noise because I did not think I ever knew how to sob or weep; I cried like I bled, without a sound.
I did not cry because I was scared. I cried because I was mourning. I mourned the man I thought Arthur was, I mourned the stupid princess who fell in love with him and trusted him with her life, I mourned the little girl, who once believed that her parents would never bring any harm to her, and I mourned myself, the new human wife of the Beast . . . now locked in his dungeon.
At some point, I ran out of tears, and I closed my eyes briefly. I was done mourning, now I needed to plan, to strategise, to survive here and make them weep and down in their misery.
I froze all of a sudden when I heard some clinking noises coming from somewhere. When the noise came again, I realised it was coming from the cell beside me. Another prisoner.
I did not even realise there was someone else in the next cell. The clinking noise came again, followed by a question.
"Are you awake?" It was a very soft female voice, which surprised me.
I was expecting a loud voice of some criminal, not a girl, who sounded like she had barely raised her voice in her life. Was this a women-only dungeon or something?
"I guess you are not," the soft but cheery female voice said when I did not reply. "I apologise. I just thought maybe you are awake, but since you are not answering . . ."
I still did not reply.
"Unless . . . you are just ignoring me," She continued, blabbering and her voice got a bit louder. "Which is also a real possibility. You do not want to talk to the criminal next cell."
She fell silent, and I remained quiet, hoping this was the end of this conversation. I mean, how long could a one-person conversation go?
"But in case you are listening and you are the human Princess our King brought, and what the warriors said was true," the girl began again. "I just wanted to warn you against it. Do not challenge Lady Azura, and avoid her from now on, or she will make your life a living Hell until you apologise and grovel at her feet . . . And still she wouldn't forgive you. Because she was never going to forgive you, she just wanted to see you on your knees."
I stared at the wall for a moment, wondering how someone says things like this sitting in a jail cell and still sounds as if they were discussing beautiful weather. I could not stop myself from speaking; my curiosity got the better of me.
"Did she throw you in here, too?"
There was a pause on her end. I guessed she did not expect me to talk at all.
"No, no. Lady Azura is too important to care about a servant like me," the girl's voice got louder and excited and came in a rush, like this was the moment she was waiting for. "Lady Rusea ordered my capture because I spilt hot tea on her dress. I am so clumsy sometimes. I know I did not burn her with it, but I ruined the dress. I hope they do not execute me, I like working in the castle."
"You could be killed for spilling tea?" I was shocked, less because of the statement, more with the nonchalant way she said it.
"Yeah, Lady Rusea likes her dresses, and she expects her attendees to be more attentive," She said, and I was sure she had gotten much closer to the wall now. "She is from the Vixen family; they are one of the most respected families in our kingdom."
"But it was an accident," I started, then corrected myself. "But that doesn't matter. Anything that looks insulting to a noble can result in punishment for the servants."
I was raised as a royal, of course, I knew that. I had seen things like these, and every time I had gotten angrier with each injustice. Every time I had stood up for the servants, even if they never knew it.
"Correct!" She declared, clapping her hands once. "You sound very smart . . . and very brave for standing up to Lady Azura."
I almost smiled at this girl's childlike nature, and I instantly knew, it didn't matter if she was a monster or not, I should probably help her, so she shouldn't die.
"Oh! I did not introduce myself," She suddenly piped up when I did not reply for a long moment. "I am Libelle, at your service, my lady"
"Esmeray."