Castle of Glass

My eyes narrowed when the entrance to the cellar opened. Expecting Phoenix or any of the other guards assigned to watch me, I was thoroughly surprised to see Chester enter instead. He is holding a tray of food in his hands which is almost comical for me. Chester is a respected knight who typically has food served to him. Watching him attempt to serve me food is quite demeaning to his character.

“What do you want?” I asked bitterly because I’ve been here for two days.

I can barely feel my arms since it has been suspended to the ceiling for a long time. But I tried to ignore the discomfort. If I grow numb to it, like my hands and arms are, this feeling will go away. It has been effective to some extent but boredom turned out to be my greatest enemy.

“I just want to feed you, see to it that you’ve had your supper,” Chester placed the tray on the floor and picked up a piece of bread.

I scoffed at him as he approached me.

“Did they degrade you to be my servant after the weakness you showed?”

Chester ignored my stab at him because he knows what I am trying to pull. I am trying to get under his skin but he knows me too well. He understands the way my mind works and if he falls into my trap, if he takes my comments too personally, he’ll just be playing into my hands. Instead, he extended his hand out to feed me the bread. I stubbornly kept my mouth closed and continued to glare at him.

I would never admit it out loud but this betrayal still hurt me. Living in this cruel world, I learned to never trust anyone. To be honest, I barely trust my own adoptive father. However, there are a couple of people I trust with my life and one of them is standing in front of me trying to feed me bread while my arms are tied to the ceiling. If I was some other princess in distress, I would cry. But I am stronger than that. I have to fight past my anger and betrayal. I would assume revenge whenever Sayer finds a way to get me out of these chains.

“Eurydice, please…”

I kept my mouth closed because I refuse to be at Chester’s mercy. He betrayed me and claimed to have feelings for me. While I do believe the latter, I can and will never get over the former. If I let him give me food, I will be giving in. It will be a sign of weakness I refuse to give him at a time like this.

“Alright, but when you are starved, you wouldn’t be so damn stubborn,” Chester dropped the bread back into the tray and relocated to the other side of the cellar.

He situated himself on the floor, resting against the wall as he glanced up at me. He pursed his lips and contemplated over something. I can tell he has been dying to ask me something, especially ever since the scene we caused two days before.

“Were you going to do it? Would you have done it?” He asked quietly.

“Are you going to sit here and wait for me to beg you for food?”

“Eurydice,” Chester stared at me sternly.

I shrugged, knowing that I wouldn’t have done it. My anger for him will make me do many things, but actually committing the deed to end his life is a different story. But that is not something I would tell anyone, Sayer included.

“You betrayed us. You lied to me.”

“Eurydice, we did not kill your father. I swear it was not our faction who attacked your people,” Chester tried again.

I rolled my eyes, refusing to fall for his tricks again. His explanations will never be good enough for me. Lying about who he is already left a sour taste in my mouth. Now, in my presence, he is trying to proclaim his innocence. He is an elf and his kind wiped out my entire village. His kind murdered my father and left me an orphan.

“I know you have no reason to trust me, but we are working to convince the queen to release you and your sister. The queen wants to keep you for diplomatic reasons. It is all politics for Michael, the queen, and even Sayer. But for people like you and I, there is more to it than that. We are warriors and we fight our way for a place in this world. You can fight me all you want, but we both want the same things.”

“And what is that?” I challenged.

Chester sighed.

“To be recognized for our strength, and naturally, for your release because politics is irrelevant to me,” he replied.

“Are you saying that you are going to help me escape?”

He scoffed.

“Eurydice, that is treason. We will barter for your release in Queen Vira’s court.”

It is my turn to scoff.

“I thought politics are irrelevant to you,” I taunted.

“I would prefer it if we tread on this carefully, you need to think this through for once in your life. We have our strength, but what is strength without logic? Without picking and choosing our battles?”

When I didn’t respond, he continued.

“From my experiences, I know this is the battle you sit out on.”

Before I have a chance to challenge him again, the cellar door opened again. This time, Michael entered in haste and closed the door behind him. In his hand is a scroll.

“Chester, release her at once, with discretion if you will,” I can sense the panic in his voice.

Although Chester is sharing the same confusion as me, he followed Michael’s orders without question and lowered me from the ceiling. I would be lying if I said I was not relieved to finally be let down from this thing.

Michael pulled a table from Chester’s side of the room and moved it to the middle of the cellar. He placed the scroll on the table and unrolled it. I noticed a quill and ink wrapped in it. Chester removed my hands from the chains, knowing that even though he cannot trust me, I wouldn’t attack. I would very much like to retaliate and hit him for leaving me chained for days, I have no strength to do so. My arms and hands still feel unlike my own.

“Sayer is missing and I am afraid the queen will see this as an escape attempt or even an attempt to mobilize Jakobi’s people since she did not agree to release you,” Michael looked at me meaningfully.

My eyes narrowed at him.

“What do you mean Sayer is missing?”

“I know someone took her and they got help from the inside. This castle isn’t entirely impenetrable but no one can infiltrate the castle without anyone’s notice. Now, someone took Sayer and I’m afraid it could be the enemies of your people and mine. I assume it would be forces within the Zratil les forest, I do not care if you believe me or not, but I know Sayer is in danger and I will do anything to ensure her safety.”

I want to call him out on his lie. I want to deny his façade, but I believe him. Michael may be the prince to an elven kingdom but his feelings and concern for Sayer has never been in question. I am not saying I believe their fabricated story of other elven forces attacking my village, but I believe Michael.

However, I do not want him to know that.

“Why should I believe you?”

Besides, I am beyond concerned for Sayer’s safety that it concerns me not who I align myself with to get her back.

“Because it’s Sayer. I would never let anything malign happen to her and neither will you. So I need a few things from you…”

I smirked.

“And what makes you think I will give it to you?”

“If it means arming you and allowing you free from this castle, then you will do it,” Michael reasoned.

“And ensuring Sayer’s safety,” Chester added.

I turned to him with another ice cold glare. He quirked his eyebrows at me, unfazed by my threatening gaze.

“I want to round up the others and take on Zratil les. You are going to come with me and we will do all that without the knowledge of the queen,” Michael explained.

I raised an eyebrow.

“So you’re acting against the orders of mother dearest?” I quipped.

He glared at me but then proceeded to pick up the quill from the table.

“Meanwhile, diplomacy is still important to me and the safety of this kingdom. You are going to do something for me,” he beckoned for me to walk over to him.

While it seems a difficult task, I wobbled my way over to him. Chester watched me like a hawk; I can feel his uneasy gaze behind me.

“And what would that be, your grace?” I mimicked.

He ignored me.

“King Jakobi will be wondering about the whereabouts of you, Sayer, and the lot of us. We need you to write to him. You are going to tell him that you were sent here by the Queen Vira to talk alliance against the threatening forces in the forest. You took the six of us along for your protection.”

I laughed.

“And why would I do that?”

“Because you want to be taken seriously by your father. While Sayer has always been in consideration of succeeding him on the throne, you were overlooked. He saw you as irrational and power hungry. You will want him to see you as capable of solidifying alliances for the safety of your kingdom. He will never take you seriously as a contender for his throne if you never give him a reason to believe you can involve yourself in politics,” Michael smirked at me because he knows he got me.

I hate to admit this but I have to write to my father to hold him off. He can be sending forces over, if he hasn’t already. But if sending a raven to Jakobi would satisfy Michael and convince him to release me, I would do it. Circumstances change and anything can happen in the forest. As soon as we find Sayer, we will find a way out of the forest and back to the north eastern kingdom.

“Alright, but I will be armed and we will move heaven and hell to find Sayer,” I shot Michael a pointed look.

He nodded in agreement and handed me the quill. I dipped it in ink and started writing to my adoptive father. Michael glanced over my shoulder to give me advice on what to write. I asked him questions and he answered them as frankly as possible. On several occasions, he rushed me to make haste. The queen hasn’t noticed Sayer’s disappearance yet and we need to leave before she does.

Chester was sent to gather the other four knights and mobilize for this journey. Additionally, he was instructed to collect a raven to deliver this message. When I finished the letter, I handed it to Michael for final revisions. He scanned through my writing, nodding in satisfaction as Chester returned with the rest of the knights and a raven. Michael pulled out the wax seal from his undershirt and walked over to the furnace behind me to collect the fire. He placed his seal on the letter and attached it to the raven.

Meanwhile, Chester handed me my weapon in alarm, glancing at me to make sure I wouldn’t attack him. Circumstances have changed and I no longer wish to draw my sword on him. I need him to help me find Sayer. I am satisfied and relieved to find that the blood has returned to my arms and hands. The sword fit my hand like a glove, a familiar feeling that brought bliss to my heart. After being in captivity for so long in this castle, I am finally glad to be armed and ready to fight.

Michael handed the raven to Phoenix, asking him to set it free as soon as we make it outside.

“Eurydice, one more thing before we go…”

I glanced at Michael curiously.

“I’m not sure if you have knowledge of this but there are forces beyond just elves in Zratil les, you have to expect to take on orcs if we run into them,” he looked at me hesitantly.

I snickered, never backing out from a challenge.

“I can take on those ugly things, rest assured.”

And with that, we left the castle with discretion.