Door to Darkness

Alice sat at one end of the very long table of the dining room, eyes wide in disbelief. A feast was laid out before her. What even were some of the foods she was looking at? The chef had named all of the dishes off for her, but so very few were recognizable.

She looked up at Finnian, who was seated to her right. He seemed content, having already consumed two whole platefuls of food, and he was halfway through another. Her stomach turned.

Politely setting his fork and knife down onto the table, he gestured toward the mountain of food and asked, "Are you not going to eat anything? If I am not mistaken, you are indeed hungry."

Alice sighed and nodded, her stomach rumbling in agreement. She settled on what she assumed were chicken's eggs and what she hoped was ham. One bite of the mystery meat proved that it wasn't ham, but the flavour wasn't far off.

After their lunch Finnian continued to guide her about the palace. Room after room revealed that the place was indeed much bigger than she could ever have dreamed of. What a truly marvelous place! She couldn't even imagine how much it must have cost to construct, but assumed that money was no issue for Finnian.

"This place is wonderful," Alice said.

"Isn't it just?" Finnian almost giggled. "I worked very hard on it, though mind you it has a bit of a mind of its own. A very fussy thing, it is."

"You built this?" Alice's jaw dropped. That couldn't be possible!

"Do you doubt me?" he asked, looking at her with disbelieving eyes. Alice feared she had truly, deeply offended him. "Ah, I do not blame you. It is a fairly large building, but I assure you it was I who built it."

He tapped her lightly on the nose. She covered her nose in irritation and followed him as he exited the room.

"What room was that we were just in?" she asked, pulling her hand from her nose. Keeping up with him was proving to be somewhat difficult.

"That was just a plain, old sitting room," he turned his head slightly toward her as he spoke. Plain? The room was hardly so! "I think you'll rather enjoy this next one."

The two wandered down a hall, passing many doors on their way. Alice wondered which one they would be passing through. Eventually they stopped at the end of the hall, where large double doors stood slightly ajar.

"Ah, the maid must be in," Finnian nodded. "She is a nice lady; you will not mind her. If you do though, I will have no trouble sending her off."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Alice assured him.

"Right then." He placed his hands on the door handles. "Are you ready, Alice?"

"I guess," she said truthfully.

"Aw, come on," he groaned. "Surely you can be more enthusiastic than that." Afraid of any harm that might come to her, she decided that she would do as he suggested.

"I can't wait to see what's beyond these doors!" she said.

"That's more like it," and with that, Finnian pushed open the doors.

When her eyes finally adjusted to how bright it was in the room, she could see that it was larger than any of the others she had been in. Two staircases on either side of the room lead up to a balcony-like area. Many bookshelves lined the walls; and several chairs, tables, and benches were placed throughout the space. Chandeliers, wall sconces, and large windows lit the place up brighter than she felt was necessary.

"What do you think?" Finnian asked, wandering in and spinning about. "Is it not magnificent?"

"It's breath-taking," Alice whispered. She then noticed the many flower pots- placed on the ground and hanging from the ceiling. "It's so beautiful."

"Thank you; thank you," he bowed, grinning madly. Alice smiled and admired how proud he was in that moment.

"You're welcome," she said. Perhaps he wasn't all that bad after all? She stepped further into the room, looking about and taking everything in again.

"Come; come!" he said, grabbing hold of her wrist. "I must show you my favourite part of this study!"

He lead her up the stairs and to the right, where another isolated space had been hidden by a bookshelf. The area was shaped like a honeycomb. There was a table placed in the center, a few chairs pushed out from it, and several books laid open on top.

There were no bookshelves here, but plenty of grand windows allowed sunlight to pour in. Except for an unlit candle placed on the table, they seemed to be the only source of light for the area. More beautifully filled flower pots were placed about.

"Finnian," she said, "this place is amazing."

"It truly is; I spend most of my time here," he let out a content sigh. "Of course, when I am not playing my piano."

"I'd like to hear you play again," Alice nodded.

"Another time," he assured her. "Another time."

They spent the rest of the day there. Finnian would gather book after book, along with several scrolls and maps, eagerly showing Alice the information on each page. She wasn't nearly as interested as she ought to have been, but she was thankful that he seemed harmless then.

He called for a cart full of delicious treats when they got hungry, and they ate right there in the study. Alice certainly enjoyed the strange arrangement of cakes and pastries she consumed.

Night soon fell, and it came time for him to lead her back to her bedroom.

"Good night, dear Alice," he said before closing the door. She listened to his fading footsteps before turning toward her bed. Sure enough, there was another clean pair of night clothes laid upon it. This time though there was a wardrobe beside her dresser, and a basket in the corner that she assumed was for dirty clothing.

She pulled open the wardrobe and to her surprise there were no gowns within. Suits in many colours filled the wardrobe, and fancy shoes lined the bottom. A note rested on top of a pair of heels.

If you should fee the need to wear trousers, please try these on. I feel they might suit you.

A simple, yet beautifully scribbled 'F' ended the note. Alice found herself smiling at the words that had been written perfectly in cursive.

Closing the doors to the wardrobe, she changed into her night clothes and went to bed. She would continue trying to figure out who she was and where she came from in the morning.