by J. D. Wright
Sarita watched the outline of Gabby’s body disappear into a pitch black area of the room. “If we’re locked inside of a prison cell, I doubt there is a window. Ugh!” A bright light suddenly shone directly into Sarita’s eyes, making her cringe.
“Found one.”
“No kidding.”
Gabby pulled the drapes wider, letting in enough light to fill the room. There was another window on the opposite wall, so she walked over and threw the drapes back on that window, as well. The light revealed a small room, a bit larger than Gabby’s own chambers in Junacave. There were a few small carpets, randomly scattered on the floor and shelves with books lined the two walls without windows.
“What is this place?” Sarita asked, walking around the room. “Is this the wizard’s home?”
“I’m not sure. And if he lost his magic, is he still called a wizard?”
“I’ve never met a wizard who lost his magic, so I don’t know.”
“Well, you’ve met one now. Maybe we should call him the unwizard,” Gabby said, leaning out of the window, looking around.
“I’m not really in the mood for jokes,” Sarita said, frowning.
“Uh, Sarita… You might want to come look at this.”
“What is it?” she asked, walking over to the window. Immediately, she understood what Gabby meant. Looking out, she could see treetops instead of tree trunks. Carefully, Sarita leaned over and glanced down. “A tower? I don’t remember climbing stairs of a tower. Do you?”
“No. Do you think he… carried us?” Gabby shuddered in disgust at the idea of the unwizard putting his hands on her, let alone carrying her. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She turned and rushed across the room, pulling on the door, hoping it would open.
Sarita backed away from the window. She wasn’t afraid of heights, really. She had spent many days on the balcony of her chambers. But she knew what was on the ground in Junacave. Here, she had no idea what awaited her below, if she were to fall. That was assuming she even survived the tumble.
“Look, there’s food,” Gabby said, pointing to a small table beside the door. “I’m not sure I want to eat it.”
“I don’t either. I don’t trust him, at all.”
“Although, if he wants to poison us, he’s already done that, without the use of food. Still, I don’t think I can stomach eating now, even if I tried.”
“Me either.”
“The door is locked and we’re too high up for the windows to be of any use,” Gabby said, thinking aloud. She studied the room, trying to find another way out.
“Don’t bother. He’s probably already thought of everything.”
Gabby narrowed her eyes. “You sure are calm for someone who’s just been kidnapped by an angry unwizard.”
Sarita shrugged. “I know someone will rescue us.”
Gabby gaped at her. “I know the queen likes to read stories to you, but you don’t actually believe them. Do you? There isn’t always a brave knight to come and save you.”
“I know that! I’m not a baby!”
“Well, you sound like… Wait.” Gabby dropped to the floor and began to crawl around. She felt along the stone, hoping something would seem different or stand out to her. When she reached the first carpet, she threw it to the side, sending a puff of dust into the air. Sarita turned to shield her nose and eyes. Gabby crawled to the next carpet. “In the stories, with the damsel who is locked in the tower, there is always a…” pausing, Gabby threw back the second carpet, “a secret door!”
Sure enough, below the spot where the second carpet had laid, there was a small wooden door of some sort. Gabby looked up, excited that she was right.
“How did you know that?” Sarita asked, rushing over.
“I’ve heard the stories, too. There is always a secret door that her lover uses to sneak into the tower.”
“Lover?” Sarita scrunched her nose up.
“Sure. Haven’t you heard the story?”
“I’m only eight years old. I haven’t heard that story.”
Gabby grabbed the metal ring attached to the door and pulled. The door moved, but barely. Sarita leaned in closer and also took hold of the ring. Together, they gave it one hard pull and managed to lift the door. The wood was heavy, but they were able to hold on long enough to stand and lift it, pulling the door open.
Looking down, they saw a long tunnel leading down through the tower. There was a wooden ladder attached to one side. It was dark and there was a strong musky odor inside.
“You’re the oldest,” Sarita said, gulping. “You go first.”
Gabby looked unsure if the chance of escape was worth the risk of what could be awaiting her at the bottom of the ladder. It could be a dead end. Or worse, the unwizard could be down there. Not to mention the likelihood of rats, snakes, or spiders.
Slowly, Gabby turned around and stepped one foot onto the first rung of the ladder, followed by the other foot. She took her time climbing down. She couldn’t see the ladder and had to feel around with her feet to find the next step. She could feel her hands shaking and starting to sweat and she was unsure of how far she still had to go before she reached the bottom. Looking up, she could see Sarita’s tiny head poking over the side, watching her.
“See anything yet?” Sarita shouted, her voice echoing down.
“Not yet,” Gabby said, moving another foot down. “Wait! I think I feel something!” Her foot touched something solid. She held onto the ladder and swept her foot around to make sure whatever it was hitting was stable enough to stand on. It moved a bit, like dirt or sand, but definitely felt like the ground. With both feet planted, Gabby started to feel around the stone walls to the sides of the ladder.
Sarita shouted something, but Gabby couldn’t understand her. She was nervous because the space she was in was completely dark. She couldn’t even see her hands, which were right in front of her. She shuddered and tried to block the frightening thoughts of what her fingers might be touching.
Her left hand came across something smooth and she immediately knew it wasn’t stone. It felt warmer. Gabby made a fist and knocked. She could tell from the sound that it was wood. She pushed on it, but it didn’t move. She tried again, and could feel it shift forward a little. She stepped back as far as she could in the small space, took a deep breath, and then hurled herself onto the wood.
The door flew open. She tumbled through some heavy brush and out onto the grass in front of her. The sun was bright overhead and a shock to her eyes after being in the pitch black darkness.
Quickly, she stood and bounced back to the door, shoving the brush out of the way, which she assumed was there to hide the door from sight. Excitedly, she shouted up the ladder, “Sarita, come down! I found a way out!”
“I’m scared!” Sarita shouted back.
“Would you rather stay up there?”
“No!”
“Then get moving!”
While waiting on Sarita to climb down, Gabby brushed some of the dust and dirt from her gown. Then she took a moment to look around the outside of the tower. The grass was bright green, typical of springtime. The trees around her were full and a few had flowers on them. She walked all the way around the tower but noticed there were no trails or paths of any kind that led away from it, which she thought was odd. There was a large door, at least twice the size of the one she fell out of, on the opposite side of the tower, which was probably the door that led to the room, above.
“I think I have spider webs in my hair,” Sarita said, finally reaching the ground. “I don’t want to look.”
Gabby walked over and started to pull clumps of web off of Sarita’s dress. Thankfully, there weren’t any in her hair.
“Where are we?” Sarita asked, looking around.
“I was hoping you would know. Junacave is your kingdom, after all. I haven’t lived here as long.”
“I’m not allowed to travel very far from the castle. Except, for the one time we went to Vale.”
“Ma
ybe we should’ve looked for the castle from the tower window. Then we would know what direction to walk in.”
“I am not going back up there. Help yourself,” Sarita said, shaking her head.
“No, thank you. I would rather get lost in the forest.”
“Lost? In the forest?”
Gabby could hear the fear in Sarita’s voice. “Maybe you should stay here. I can find help and come back for you.”
“No! Don’t leave me here alone.”
“Alright, but we should definitely get moving before we lose the sunlight.”
There weren’t any trails to follow, but the forest was thinner on one side of the tower, so they decided to take a chance on that direction. Gabby led the way, breaking branches to mark their path. She was glad to have spent so much time hunting with Reeve. She’d picked up a few handy tricks throughout the years. She just wished she were wearing boots instead of the thin slippers that barely added any cushion between her feet and the rough ground below.
After walking for a while, they stopped to rest on a large fallen tree trunk. A few moments later, they continued on.
“I’m so sweaty!” Sarita said, wiping her brow. “And thirsty.”
“Me, too. And I regret not eating that food.”
Sarita’s stomach began to howl, just at the thought of food.
“Maybe we should turn back,” she said. Looking down, she noticed several holes in her pretty yellow gown. She owned many gowns but had never actually ruined one. She was just glad that she hadn’t been wearing her crown when the unwizard abducted them. To lose her precious crown would have been much harder to bear.
“But we’ve come so far… I just don’t understand. Why haven’t we come across a trail or another person, yet?”
Sarita started to speak, but her thought was interrupted when Gabby walked, head first, into something invisible and yelped.
“Ouch! That hurt!” she said, rubbing her forehead. “What was that?” She reached an arm out in front of her as Sarita watched from behind her. Her hand hit something solid, but there wasn’t anything there. She could feel a wall of some sort even though she could still see the forest in front of her.
“Let me try,” Sarita said, reaching out. Sure enough, her hand hit something hard and smooth. Walking sideways, Sarita ran her hand along the invisible wall, trying to make sense of it. For some reason, it seemed familiar to her.
“Who puts a wall in the middle of the forest?” Gabby asked, knocking on the invisible barrier.
“A wizard. That’s who.”
“Maybe we can go around it. Whatever is on the other side, it must be really important to go through all of this trouble to keep people away from it.”
“Umm, actually… I think the wall is meant to keep people inside it. And by people, I mean us.”
“What?”
“I think we’re inside a portal.”
“Portal? Like Dagan has?”
“Yes. Think about it. We haven’t seen a single trail or any people.”
“Maybe we’re just somewhere really far away.”
“Perhaps, but if the unwizard went through so much trouble to take us and lock us away, then how was it so easy to escape?”
“And no one was there to guard us.” Gabby sighed and banged her fist on the wall. “Because even if we did get out of the tower, we couldn’t really escape.” It made sense to her now. “But he can’t do magic, remember? How did he lock us in here?”
“I don’t know. But when Rowan proposed to Bree, they were in Dagan’s portal. They got inside it, somehow. A potion, maybe? I don’t know. But if we are in a portal, we probably can’t get out without magic.”
“You do know a lot about wizards for a princess.”
Sarita shrugged, “Sidonie tells me things and I spent a lot of time with Elric. He liked to teach me. I think he was lonely, but I loved it.”
“Is he the one that died? Dagan’s grandfather?”
Sarita nodded and frowned. She missed Elric. Having Dagan around wasn’t nearly as entertaining. Elric would tell her stories and sing to her. She later learned that the songs he taught her were actually his most prized and guarded spells. Of all the people in the realm, including Dagan, Elric had only entrusted her with the spells.
Gabby could tell that Sarita was deep in thought, so she didn’t speak for a while as they turned and started back to the tower. She checked their path to make sure they were going in the right direction, but it hardly mattered. If Sarita was right, the invisible wall would be in every direction so they were bound to come across the tower, eventually.
“It’s a good thing you know so much about magic,” Gabby said, tired of the silence. “Most people don’t.”
“I love magic. I’ve never told anyone, but sometimes I wish I had magic.”
“Really?”
“Sure. Don’t you?”
“No way. Not me. But Sidonie suddenly got magical powers, maybe you can, too.”
“Ha! I don’t think so. My parents aren’t wizards. Sure, being the daughter of King Frederick and Queen Cicilly is great. I’m really lucky. But, still…”
“Hmm…” Gabby said, thoughtfully.
“What?”
“Umm… Nothing.”
“What?” Sarita asked, again. It was obvious that Gabby had something on her mind. “Tell me.”
“It’s just that… No, never mind. Oh, look! There’s the tower!” she said, pointing in front of her.
“Don’t ignore the question,” Sarita returned, glancing over to see if Gabby was lying about the tower. Sure enough, there it was, straight in front of them. Looking back over, she added, “Don’t make me order you to tell me. I can do that, you know?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Gabby said, smirking. “It’s just that I notice things. Reeve says I’m like a sleuth, always finding clues and things.”
“Alright… And? What did you notice?”
Gabby hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to say anything, but she hadn’t felt comfortable telling anyone else. Sarita was the closest friend she had ever had, other than Reeve, but this wasn’t just any clue that she had discovered. This was big.
“I’ve noticed that you and Rowan have the same eyes.” Gabby said it quickly before she changed her mind. Sarita blinked a few times but didn’t speak, so Gabby continued, “I know that Rowan and my brother look a lot alike but they have different eyes, so I noticed that. Then I noticed that yours are the same. I mean, exactly the same.”
“I don’t understand. Why would we have the same eyes? Do you think I am somehow related to Rowan?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Think about it.”
“Sir Nicholas? My mother loves Sir Nicholas now, but she didn’t when my father was alive.”
“No, not Nick. He has the same eyes as Reeve, actually. They’re green. They aren’t like yours and Rowan’s. I think Rowan gave you your eyes.”
“You think he’s my… father? He was still young like Bree was when I was born. My mother would never like a boy…”
“I don’t mean to suggest the Queen Mother had a baby with Rowan.”
“Then, what do you mean to suggest?” Sarita could feel her face heating up. She was growing increasingly irritated by the fact that Gabby wouldn’t just say whatever she meant to say.
“This is why I was afraid to tell you,” Gabby said. She turned and started walking to the tower. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t understand.”
“I might understand if you would just tell me!” Sarita shouted, chasing after her. Gabby’s legs were longer so Sarita almost had to run to keep up with her.
“Just forget about it,” Gabby said, shoving the brush that covered the ladder to the secret door aside. “I shouldn’t have mentioned it.” She started going up the ladder.
Sarita followed her, climbing up much faster than she had climbed down. By the time she reached the top, she was exhausted and didn’t have enough breath to shout, even tho
ugh she wanted to. Tired, Sarita collapsed onto the cold floor.
“Gabrielle,” Sarita said, huffing. “If you are my friend, you will just tell me.”
Gabby felt guilty for bringing up the conversation. Before, she thought she was being clever but now she wondered if telling Sarita might actually be a bad thing.
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“Yes. Tell me.”
“Fine. I will tell you because you’re my friend and I would want you to tell me if I were you.” She paused before continuing, “I do think Rowan is your father, but I don’t think the Queen Mother was unfaithful to King Frederick. I don’t think the Queen Mother is your mother, at all.”
“Of course she is my mother. I look just like her. Bree and I both do.”
“Yes, that’s true. You do look a lot like Bree. And you have Rowan’s eyes.” She waited, hoping that Sarita would put the clues together. The blank look on Sarita’s face made it obvious that she didn’t. “Sarita, I don’t think Bree is your sister. I think she is your mother. There, I said it.”
“That can’t be true!” Sarita said, sitting up straighter. “I am the daughter of King Frederick and Queen Cicilly. I am a princess!”
“You would still be a princess, Sarita. Bree is a queen now. If she is your mother, then you are a princess. Only, now you are first in line for the throne.”
“The throne? What? No. I don’t believe you. Why would my mother, my sister, everyone, lie to me?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re right. You don’t know. You don’t know anything!”
Sarita didn’t speak for a while, staring at the floor in front of her. She only took a few bites of the bread that Gabby handed to her. Even though she knew she needed to eat, she didn’t want to. Instead, she turned and looked out of the open window. The sun was mostly gone, over the horizon, and darkness was beginning to take over the sky.
Soon, the tower would be dark again and Sarita was glad. She wanted to go to sleep and pretend that this nightmare was over. She wanted to be back in her chambers in the castle and forget this day. Forever.
~*~
“Anything yet?” Nick asked when Reeve entered the courtyard. He was pulling his horse, Firefly, who looked nearly as exhausted as Reeve did.
