“Who is it?” He asked.
"It is Ivan my Lord!" A voice said.
“Very good, come in.” Westan said, trying to sound mature and collected like his father.
Garret immediately opened the door and the boy scrambled in with a deep bow.
"My King, important news pertaining to Zaccheus!" He announced.
Westan shot up from his seat and Garret became tense.
"Well spit it out boy!" The man snapped.
"He was seen trying to escape the castle's wall through a secret route, but your forces intercepted and they were all taken into custody!" He said in a rush.
"I knew it would be just so!" Garret said with a pleased smile.
Westan let out a sigh though, as he did not feel this was truly a victory of any sort. At least not yet.
"Where is he?" He asked.
"He was immediately taken to the dungeon and placed within a secure cell, sire! Then I was sent back to tell you right away!" The boy replied.
He figured as much. This wasn’t going to be easy then.
"I want to see him." Westan declared.
Garret turned to him in surprise.
"My Lord, we cannot possibly take the risk of bringing him here to you for some sort of justification; it is far too dangerous!" He protested.
Westan nodded. Yes, he knew all this. But he wanted to face the man who killed his parents and lied to him for the past nine years. The man who tried to have him killed and steal his kingdom. He was going to face Zaccheus and punish him personally.
“Indeed, I must go to him then.” He declared.
******
"Must I wear a dress every day?" Lila asked, feeling out of breath and unhappy in another very tight corset.
The servant woman smiled. "Why you get so upset I shall not understand, for you look positively lovely in them!”
"But it is absolutely unbearable to wear! How can a woman be expected to talk and walk when she cannot breathe?" She retorted.
Dita's face suddenly became cross. "Miss, this is no way for a Lady to act!"
"I am NOT a Lady!" Lila snapped.
The woman frowned. "Nonsense. You could be, if only you would act like one."
"Oh never mind." Lila sighed with defeat, too breathless to expend any more energy arguing.
She had spent all of yesterday and last night in this guest room, and even today the King still had not summoned her yet. Had he forgotten about her perhaps? Or was he just trying to tease her like he usually did? Lila didn’t know, and she really didn’t care. She just wanted to get out of here already! Dita was overbearing, the clothes were torturous, and the confinement was tiresome. She was also wondering about Bartholomew and Mr. Jameson. She knew they had been rescued, but where were they now? Were they alright? The stress of their interrogations and the execution must have also taken its toll on them. And she truly could not wait to apologize for having falsely condemning their traitorous actions. Hopefully once she explained the circumstances to them they would understand why she did it. So many things she needed to say and do, and all of them waiting on her release!
After a little while Dita came over to her with a small basket of lacy looking materials.
“Perhaps you should pass the time by engaging in some feminine hobbies.” She said warmly.
Lila looked down at the very obvious collection of sewing materials.
"I hate sewing you know." She mumbled miserably.
"Come now Milady, it is not so bad. You merely need practice at it." The woman said with a smile.
Lila sighed. Needle point had never really been one of her skills, even when it came to patching clothing. But she supposed even something boring was better than having nothing to do. So she picked up a piece of cloth and a silver needle and began twiddling away.
However, it only took about ten minutes for Lila to immediately regret her decision. The needle was quite sharp, and she was constantly poking her fingers causing her to ruin more than one piece of fabric. But when she wasn’t bleeding out on the cloth she was busy creating crooked and disfigured lines of a horrendous nature. Although, she supposed it was harder than normal to anything when you felt like you were suffocating in a dress that was too tight. The wretched little napkin she was currently working on looked just terrible! But Dita was determined for her to become skilled at this, and she many times refused to bring Lila anything else to do until the napkin was completed. So Lila picked it back up and tried again and again. Finally, she had some sort of finished product, but it was truly too pitiful to be seen or kept.
"Well, your skills could use improvement." Dita said with a bit of disappointment.
Lila sighed. "I told you I am not good at needle point!"
The woman shook her head. "Practice makes anything perfect! We shall just have to try it again."
"Again!?" Lila gasped with horror.
"Miss, have you no pride in your work? Honestly, I am sure you can do better than this if only you would try a little harder." The maid said, shaking her head.
Lila scoffed and took another blank napkin. She supposed there was nothing better to do right now anyways. She just hoped the next hobby was less boring at least. At any rate, if the King did not call her by this afternoon Lila would just come up with some kind of escape plan.
Chapter 12- Facing Your Fears
"I SAID TO LET ME PASS!" Westan shouted with rage.
Garret shook his head as he blocked the exit to his chambers persistently.
"But my Lord, it is not acceptable for you to enter into the castle dungeon!" He stated anxiously.
"I do not care! I thank you for all you have done thus far, but I command you to stand aside!" Westan snapped.
The man looked uneasy, yet still he did not move.
"Your Majesty, it is not acceptable for the King to enter where lowly prisoners are kept! Besides that, it is far too dangerous for you to be out in the open with Zaccheus's men lurking about!" He said with great concern.
Westan clenched his fists. He was the King and this was his castle, so he could go wherever he wanted to! He had been held here by Garret against his will once before, but he would not be contained again. Just who did this man think he was anyways?
"Why is it that you think it is acceptable to disobey one of my direct orders? How dare you try to stand in my way!" Westan yelled angrily.
Garret remained silent for a moment. He looked torn between his desire to protect him, and to serve obediently. Then he lowered his stance and let out a long sigh.
"My Lord, you are certainly most welcome in any part of your own castle. Please forgive my impudence. I was only concerned with your safety. But now please allow me to be your escort there." He said in a most humble way.
Westan immediately felt bad about yelling. He knew Garret was only doing his best to keep him safe amidst so much conspiracy. But no matter the risk he had to go and see Zacchaeus for himself; the man who betrayed him so completely! He would be sure to work out this argument with Garret later.
"Very well, let us head there now." Westan said.
"As you wish my King." The man replied.
Before they started towards the main floor of the castle, Garret had to make preparations. He arranged for four guards to accompany them, and he also sent for an even larger group of men to meet them at the dungeon. Once everyone was in place they left his chambers and made their way downstairs.
Westan had never been to the dungeon before, and was embarrassed to realize that he did not even know where it was! He supposed that he merely never felt the need to know before, but as the King he really should know his entire castle’s layout thoroughly. Westan would be sure to study a map later though.
It turned out the dungeon was located near the entrance where the servants and supply carts were brought in, a place Westan had never been before. He saw a great variety of people working, but as soon as they saw him every last one of them seemed to clear out of the way of his view.
Westan sighe
d. He used to think it was funny when people ran away in fear of him, but now he just found it depressing. He knew now that despite him never actually doing anything to harm anyone Zaccheus had been doing it plenty enough behind his back for many years, and in his name too. If the rumors circling about him made even someone Lila afraid, then they truly must be terrible indeed.
“Do not worry my Lord, these people are just a bit wary from all the commotion with Zacchaeus and his men.” Garret said in an encouraging manner.
Westan just shook his head. There was no need for this man to try and make him feel better, these people had good reason to fear him the way they did. He was indeed a careless, unfeeling, and selfish young man of a King. But that would not be the case for long. Westan was going to fix and undo all of the harm his council man had produced in his name.
After a few minutes they neared a dark hallway that had about ten guards standing by. Westan guessed this was where the dungeon was located. They were all just standing and conversing, but when they say that Garret and the King were coming everyone became silent and stood up a bit straighter. When they reached the group all the men gave a deep bow.
“Your Majesty, Sir!” They greeted them both in unison.
"Are my men guarding the traitor as ordered?" Garret asked.
One of the guards quickly replied.
"Yes Sir! Two groups of ten men are rotating their watch between the prisoner and the walkways!" He said.
Garret nodded, looking quite pleased.
“Good. But be warned, any man caught standing around casually among such danger will be punished." He said with a raised eyebrow.
All of the men's eyes widened with fear, knowing he was mentioning their previous casual conversing.
"Yes Sir!" They replied in unison.
"Good. Now get into formation and open the doors! His Majesty requests entrance to the dungeon." Garret said.
Everyone bowed and obeyed. Ten of the men surround them both, and two of them prepared to open a large metal door. One of them took out a key and unlocked the door while the other grabbed a torch to lead the way with. Westan immediately stepped forward and down the stairs curiously. The entrance was dim and foggy, with nothing visible past the first few steps. It gave him a strange and chilling feeling, even making a slight shiver go down his spine.
After a moment Garret gave everyone their orders, and then he began leading the way down into the dungeon's dimly lit tunnel. Two men followed behind him to keep in front of Westan, and about ten men would follow in back of him. Every other man held a torch to light the way in front and behind.
Westan took a deep breath and took his first step towards where all the criminals of the castle were kept. It was an awfully dark walk, and after a few more steps it became a smelly one too. There was a terribly wretched stench wafting over Westan from who knows where, a smell which could only be described as rotten garbage. A few times it almost made him start gagging.
"What is that horrid smell?" He finally demanded, almost gagging again as he spoke.
Garret shouted back to him. "My Lord, I remind you that this is the way to the dungeon."
Westan scoffed. "That is no excuse! This is my prison, and this is unacceptable! Honestly, how can anyone concentrate when they have to deal with this?”
"As you wish my King, we can correct such matters later." The man assured.
Westan scowled. Indeed, they would fix this! He could not even believe that such a dirty place existed inside his father’s beautiful castle! He actually had to hold his cloak over his face in order to drown out the stink, although it didn't help too much. Twice he had to stop because he came close to vomiting. His stomach just kept churning and feeling so sour. After a moment he had to stop and rest. Garret quickly stopped and walked back to meet him.
"Sire, please let me go and see to this in your place!" He said with worry.
"No! I need to do this myself! Do not coddle me, I can handle this just fine!" Westan replied with determination.
The man sighed with unease, but eventually he nodded. Then when he was ready to move again Garret returned to the front of the group to continue leading the way. But as they walked further the smell only increased. Westan just couldn't believe how bad the stench was! He was unable to imagine what the source of it could possibly be! Honestly, it smelled as if something or someone had died, and then rotted halfway. Not that he knew what such smelled like, but it seemed about right in his mind.
Just then, Westan though he saw a rat passing by his feet in the torch light. He almost let out a startled yell but with effort he was able to contain himself. Vermin now too? How filthy and disgusting was this place!?
Then Westan noticed that the deeper they got the colder and damper it felt too. He was starting to hear more rat squeaks, and as impossible as it seemed the smell on kept getting worse. Westan had to breathe through his mouth instead of his nose and could almost taste the stench. After a moment he had to stop and rest again to keep from throwing up. He tried to take a deep breath to regain composure, but the air was so damp that he found it hard to breath. It felt like he was swallowing wet garbage!
Westan was outraged. This place was absolutely horrid! It was unacceptable, even for lowly prisoners! How he wondered how Bartholomew and Mr. Jameson must have felt, being brought down here in the middle of the night after being dragged out of their rooms, falsely accused of conspiring to murder him. They had probably been confused, frightened, and disturbed. Zacchaeus would defiantly pay for what he had put them through!
"We are almost there your Majesty." Garret stated.
Westan looked up and saw a bright light in the close distance. Finally! Now they were getting somewhere. And the sooner this was over the sooner he could get out of here!
As soon as he regained his strength the group continued forward. After a few moments they came to a halt in front of a wooden desk that had papers and empty mugs were strewn everywhere. An old man sat behind it with a very long and dirty looking beard.
“Who goes there, and what permissions do you have?” He asked in a raspy voice.
Westan stepped forward and removed the cloak from his face to talk, although he had to fight back another gag as he did so.
“We are here to see the traitor Zaccheus.” He said with a bit of struggling.
When the guard behind the desk saw that he was the King, the old man immediately shot up from his chair and bowed.
"Indeed, we have captured that traitorous snake my Lord! He is being kept in the lowest level of the dungeon under intense surveillance!" He said with a bit of pride.
Westan nodded. "Please, show the way then."
The man bowed again, looking incredibly honored. Then he took a large key from his waist and opened another large metal door, which obviously led to the rest of the dungeon. It's screeching against the floor was very loud and sounded almost like a group of people screaming. Then Westan realized, it really was people screaming.
The conditions of the tunnel leading here had been nothing compared to what he was seeing now. Prisoners, unrecognizable by their dirty appearances, filled each small cell from wall to wall. As he walked through the hall the skinny people crammed themselves against their cell bars and pleaded for help, stretching out their hands for anything. The stench was almost unbearable now, and the sounds of howling filled the whole place so that Westan could not even hear himself think. He started feeling sick again.
Suddenly a prisoner grabbed hold of Westan's cloak, yanking him into the people’s hands. Immediately the fabric of the cloak tightened around his throat and started to choke him. Westan quickly tried to untie it, but among so many hands he was not able to. Garret pulled out his sword as quick as a flash and came towards the prisoners, ready to cut anything off in order to save him. They all let Westan go and the guards came and pulled him to safety.
"You good for nothing cretins!" A guard yelled.
He walked over and pulled out his sword angrily, pushing it through the ba
rs and scaring the half starving and desperate looking people inside.
"Disgusting rats the lot of you are! How dare you touch his Majesty with your filthy hands! I should hang you all for that! Or maybe I will just forget your food for the next week!" He threatened.
"ENOUGH!" Westan shouted to him.
The people’s eyes were large with fear and desperation. They were all starving, cold, and abused. This is how his prisoners were treated, this is how Bartholomew and Mr. Jameson had been treated.
"My Lord it is not safe in here. Please, I beg you to let us handle your task!" Garret pleaded.
Westan wanted to agree to that more than anything right now. He desperately wanted to leave and run back to his safe and comfortable room! But he knew that wouldn’t be right. He had to face Zaccheus for himself, and see what the man had been doing in his ignorance.
Westan hopped up to his feet and started giving out commands.
"You two!" He said, pointing at two of the guards.
"Yes?" The men bowed.
"I want food and water, as well as blankets given to all the people here immediately." He said.
They both looked at one another with shock and confusion.
"You heard me!” Westan shouted. “These conditions are not acceptable!"
The men hesitated, but Garret suddenly spoke up to them.
"It is our duty to fulfill whatever the King commands. Go and do as he says!" He commanded.
Both men nodded. “Yes of course Sir!”
Westan smiled. "Good! Now go and get anything that can be found in the kitchen and bring it here to feed these people. Make sure that everyone gets an equal ration. Then tell the maids to bring blankets enough to cover them all, and pillows for their heads."
The men obeyed, although they could not hide the surprise on their faces.
"My Lord, are sure about this?" Garret asked, also looking unsure of such actions.
A Kind of Beauty and the Beast Story Page 16
