“It’s dangerous, but they’re going to be in here soon, Your Majesty. You’re trapping yourself by staying here,” Argent combated, and Noah snorted in disbelief.
“I don’t believe this. Fine, I don’t care if you people want to commit suicide, just don’t drag her into this if she doesn’t want to go. Penny, what do you want to do? Make your decision and we’ll go along with whatever you choose. Just think quickly, because there isn’t much time left,” Noah told her and Penny dropped her gaze to her knees. There was so much turmoil around and inside of her, she found it hard to think with a clear head. She could not stop hearing Hector’s shouted words, and glanced at him. He was turned away from her.
“I...”
“Wait,” Noah cut in breathlessly, his eyes narrowed in thought. He cleared his throat and sat beside her. “I’ve just had an idea. This could change everything. Penny, would you come with me for just a moment?”
Disoriented by the request, Penny looked to Annette for a second opinion. When Annette nodded that Penny should go see, she stood and followed Noah out of the room. He led her to the far west side of the castle, ignoring passersby. They began to climb stairs, higher into the castle than Penny had ever been before. Her legs threatened to give out, and Noah urged her onward, taking her hand and pulling her along.
“Where are we going?” she asked apprehensively.
“I’ve got something important to show you. You’ll understand when you see it. Not much farther now, just be patient,” Noah huffed.
At long last they reached the top of the stairs. Noah led Penny over to the only door in the chamber. He unlocked it with a silver key and ushered Penny inside.
The room was beautifully furnished, with a grand four-poster bed, a desk filled with treasures, and an oil painting that depicted a family of golden-haired royals. A white and gold door at the end of the room was the only exit. Penny saw nothing out of the ordinary and turned to Noah, puzzled.
“What is this place? What did you want to show me?”
Silently he waved her to sit on the bed and then sat beside her, seeming lost in thought.
“Noah? Are you all right?” She had no idea what he intended to show her, but felt she was simply too tired to care right now. She had to get out of here before she wasted any more time.
As she started to stand, poised to tell him she was leaving if he didn’t explain himself, Noah jumped to his feet, hurried out the door, and shut it with a snap.
Penny blinked twice before she felt a wave of disquiet. She heard the lock click.
“Noah, what are you doing? Open the door!” Penny flew at the door and hammered on it with her fists. She alternated pounding and pulling at the latch, and when her fit died down, she heard Noah’s muffled voice from behind the door.
“I’m so sorry, Penny. I know you’ll probably hate me for this, but it’s the only way I can save you. It’s for your own good.”
“LET ME OUT!” Penny screamed at the door, feeling lightheaded as a wave of claustrophobia passed over her. “You can’t do this. They’ll stop you! Hector will come find me!”
“Penny, I’m the King. I can do whatever I please. Now, I’m going to tell them you’ve decided to stay after hearing my idea to keep you safe. I’ll tell them you were too scared and ashamed to say goodbye. And I’ll be back later. Feel free to make yourself at home, and try to see that this truly is the right choice. Just try.”
Angry tears poured from Penny’s eyes as she pounded on the door, screaming for Noah to let her out, even when she knew he was out of earshot. She shouted herself hoarse and when she could scream no more, she fell to her knees and laid her head against the door. The tears ran silently down her nose and splashed onto her legs.
They’ll know he lied, of course they’ll know. Hector will be here any second. Any second now.
When Penny awoke and felt someone else sleeping beside her, she experienced a moment of acute disorientation and terror. As she recalled the events that had led to her exhausted collapse, she drew away from the sleeping King beside her. Her first instinct was to throttle him, to demand to be set free, but then she hoped that Noah had left the door open.
Creeping as quietly as she could, Penny climbed out of bed and tiptoed to the door, her heart beating so heavily in her chest she was sure it would wake him up. She tried the latch.
No good, she thought, stepping away and looking around. He’s got to have hidden the key somewhere.
As silently as she could, Penny ransacked Noah’s desk.
“It’s not there,” came Noah’s voice softly out of the darkness, and Penny gasped. She whipped around to find Noah sitting upright in the bed, watching her. “Did you think I’d be so careless? Just to save you from going out of your mind searching for it, I’ll tell you it’s in this box right here.” Noah gestured to a wooden nightstand beside the bed. On top of it was a blue boxed encrusted with silver and sapphire. “It’ll only open to my fingers, however.”
“Noah, this isn’t right. Let me go, or I’ll—”
“Or you’ll what? Attack me? Perhaps you ought to try to sleep some more. You’ve been through a lot.”
Tears stung her eyes. “Let me out! I have to go to my friends, I have to help them! Noah, please, I want to leave!”
Noah remained silent, watching her as if she were a child throwing a tantrum that he was sure would pass soon. Her blood boiling with rage, she advanced on him with the intent to fight. He caught her wrists in one hand, holding her with ease as she struggled. With a sigh he reached to the nightstand, pinched some powder from a jar, and flung it in Penny’s face just as she pulled free. She recognized sleep sand too late and slumped forward.
THE LIGHT FLOODING through the curtains woke her in the morning. She sat up, her body creaking and aching, and her hair one massive tangle. Heart surging into a furious panic, she looked around for Noah.
The bedroom was vacant, so Penny got to her feet and went to check behind the other door. She found a luxurious bathing chamber with a golden tub and grand floral arrangements, but not a soul in sight. Back in the bedroom, she spotted a collection of beautiful silk gowns in scarlet, midnight blue, cream, olive green, and more at the end of the bed. Some were covered with golden embroidery, pearls, or lace trimming. A note from Noah informed her they had belonged to his late mother, and were a gift to her. Penny tore up the note, vowing to stay in her torn and bloodstained clothes.
She went to the lone window and looked out, anxious to get an idea of what was happening. The smell of smoke assaulted her senses as she stuck her head out. From the dizzying heights Penny could see dark trails stemming from the rooftops of the city. She sat there for a long while, frowning down at the turmoil and wishing she had wings so that she could fly away from her prison with its gilded adornments.
Penny turned to smashing the little box that Noah had said contained the key, but no matter how she abused it, it wouldn’t open.
After hours of kicking at the door, trying to devise ways to escape from the window without falling to her death, and calling for help, she grew so uncomfortable in her soiled clothing that she simply had to wash in the tub. Begrudgingly she donned a modest gown as she washed her clothes, afraid Noah would return while she was undressed.
The day stretched on, and the extended isolation only heighted Penny’s sense of entrapment. Her restlessness worked her into a state of panic, and all she could do was pace around the floor and pound at the door from time to time. Each hour seemed to last twice as long, and by mid-afternoon, Penny was close to tears again. It was about this time that the door opened and Noah entered, setting down a steaming plate of food on the table that gave off a tantalizing scent. Although her stomach growled audibly, Penny focused on the door and made a run for it. Noah was too fast for her and shut the door, holding her at bay as he locked it.
“Give me the key, Noah!” she snarled.
Fighting her off, he went to his desk and stowed the key in the box. When the lid snapped shut,
Penny groaned. “Noah! Stop this! You have to let me go! I don’t want to be here with you!”
“Are you feeling any better?” Noah asked cordially. She was determined not to respond to this, and stared at him. “I wish I could stay longer, but there’s so much going wrong I don’t think I have even a half an hour to spare. I only wanted to see that you were doing better.”
“I’m not, I’m going out of my mind in here,” she seethed, wanting to attack him again, but knowing she could not win against him in her weakened state.
“This is for your own good, try to understand that. The world is falling apart out there, and I’m keeping you safe. You should be grateful,” he told her.
“I’m really starting to hate you right now, Your Majesty,” she spat.
His eyes narrowed and he turned away from her. “Eat something. I’ll be back later. And if you keep fighting me, I’ll be forced to take preventative measures.”
At this threat, Penny’s eyes narrowed and her anger eclipsed any prior misgivings she had about dream weaving. Penny lunged, her fingers sparkling with hints of dream matter, but Noah caught her by the back of the arm before she could hit her mark, tossing her to the ground and slipping out before she could get back to her feet. She raged at him from behind the locked door long after his footsteps had faded.
Alone again, it took every ounce of willpower Penny had left to leave the food untouched. She hoped that by not eating, Noah would be forced to let her go. However, with each hour that crawled by, she could feel her body weakening.
She wandered back and forth across the floor, expending her anxiety by worrying about what had happened to Hector and the others. Had they made it out of the city without being harmed? She had replayed yesterday’s confrontation in her head a million times, and each time the words echoed in her memory she wished she could disappear. Hector was right. She had made him a promise, and broken it. She still believed going to Rhea had been the right thing to do for everyone, but understood now that giving in had not helped anyone ultimately.
When Noah returned sometime after midnight, he too seemed to be ages older than when he had left. Her body was so battered, hungry and weak to summon even the whisper of a dream, so she didn’t bother to fight him, but rather watched him with furious eyes from the sofa, plotting about how she could take him down. She pretended to be asleep until she heard Noah’s heavy breathing from the bed, then silently crept to the desk. She brought the box over to where Noah lay, trying to touch it to his fingers to see if it might spring open, but it wouldn’t work. He had to want to open it.
Furious and stir-crazy, Penny decided to hide it deep in one of the wardrobes, obscured by clothes, to give Noah a taste of his own medicine. When he awoke and found it absent, Penny flashed him a defiant smile.
“What’re you going to do now?” she challenged.
Noah studied her, his gray eyes cold but with that look that suggested he was a parent punishing a naughty child for misbehaving and must remain patient with her. He hunted around for it for almost an hour, tearing his room apart and trying to guilt her into giving up its location. His threats of being desperately needed by his people did not faze Penny. If his sense of duty was so great, he would let her go.
“If you promise to let me out, I’ll tell you where it is.”
Unwilling to bargain with her, he searched for an hour more and uncovered it. Before he moved to the door this time, he took a handful of sleep sand from his pocket, and Penny could not move fast enough.
Penny woke sometime later, and realized she had been tethered to the bedpost by a silvery, indestructible cord. Starting to cry out of fury again, she discovered the cord was just long enough to allow her access to the sofa, washroom and the bed, but not anywhere near the door.
Fuming, she wandered about her cage and did her best to ignore the presence of the untouched meals. Her head was growing dizzy and her limbs weak, and gradually she fell into a bizarre pattern of passing in and out of sleep. Her dreams were foggy and peculiar, and she often saw recurring images of a glittering river in a green wood, a hospital bed, and sometimes an unnaturally bright red sun.
Noah came in and out during the day, always bringing different meals that became more and more torturous to Penny as time passed. After the second night, he began showing up with different amusements for Penny, such as storybooks, puzzles, paper and paints, beautiful jewels, live butterflies, magical toys, and a yellow bird in a platinum cage. Whenever she had the energy, she spit angry words at him, pleaded to be let go and begged him to undo her tether, but otherwise she stared out the window, watching the smoke clouds and listening to the distant screams in the street.
After three sunsets, Penny lost track of how much time she had spent in Noah’s room. The combination of the pain from her wounds, the deep ache in the pit of her stomach and the weakness it caused was getting the better of her.
The wrathful frustration at being a prisoner to someone she had once trusted was driving her into a hazy state of madness. Several times she wildly considered hurting herself badly enough that Noah would be forced to take her to get medical help, but decided it would be too risky.
Noah was exceedingly distraught every time she saw him, and from the look of things, was engaged in a losing battle with Rhea’s forces. Each time he returned he appeared even more harried, and behind his tired eyes there was a horror that he could not hide. He gave up initiating pleasant conversation with Penny and ignored her until, many days later, he realized she wasn’t just refusing meals, but starving herself.
“Penny, you haven’t eaten anything at all have you?” His voice was low and disturbed as he stepped to the couch where Penny lay, weak but livid. She heard his words as if they echoed through a long tunnel. “What’s wrong with you? You’ll starve to death. Don’t you like what I’ve brought you?”
“I want to leave. Let me go.”
“Out of the question. You’ve got to eat something, please. Stop acting like a child,” he commanded, kneeling beside her and extending a bit of bread as if it were a peace offering. As the bit of food entered her vision, Penny’s stomach raged in agony and she wanted nothing more than to tear it out of Noah’s hand and devour it in animalistic glee.
No. I can’t. I’ve suffered too much to give up now. He’s got to let me go sooner or later if I keep it up.
Noah was at his wit’s end. “Penny, please don’t do this to me. Everything’s going wrong at once. I’m just one man trying to keep this whole world from falling apart. I can’t be worrying about you like this on top of all that. Just eat it.”
“I want to go home.”
“You’re safe here. This can be like your home. If I ever get this disaster straightened out, I’ll be able to make it a proper one, at that. Just tell me what you want and I’ll bring it for you. Just don’t hurt yourself like this,” he protested, and she closed her eyes once again.
“The only thing I want is for you to let me go.”
“So you insist on being obstinate.” She heard him stand up. “I’m not going to let you bluff your way out of this. You just sit there and punish yourself for as long as you like. Goodness knows you could do with a little of that,” he spat, then left.
Penny passed out again, and when she came to, it was very dark. It took her a few seconds to realize she was lying under the covers of Noah’s bed. She sat up, her head light and her senses unfocused, to see Noah sitting at the desk some feet away staring silently at a jar he had placed on the table. It was full of lightning bugs bumping into the glass walls and struggling against the lid.
“You’re awake,” he mumbled, looking over at her. “I was just about to sleep myself, but I wanted to apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have been cross with you. It’s just…” He became lost in thought as he stared at the jar. “These insects come out in summertime. Some of the children of the servants caught them and gave them to me. I thought it might please you to see them. Fireflies for my firefly.”
Penny stu
died him, frightened by his eerie sense of calm. Her eyes flickered to the bugs in the jar and she felt she could sympathize with their predicament.
“Won’t they die like that?”
“I’m going to set them loose soon. I just want to watch them for a bit longer,” he murmured, and went back to his musing. Penny felt uncomfortable lying in Noah’s bed, and even more so when she realized he must have carried her there while she was asleep. Before she could scramble away, Noah lay down near her and caught her wrist.
“No, Penny. Don’t go over there, please. Not tonight.”
“Get away from me.” She pulled, but he held firm, his eyes dangerous. Penny felt a stab of cold fear that sent shocks through her entire body, disbelieving that Noah was capable of the darkness his eyes suggested.
“Oh, don’t look so terrified. I’m not going to do anything to you, you silly thing. Do you really take me for such a brute?” His expression lost its edge and he sighed, releasing her. After a long, awkward moment, Noah lay down, then gently worked his arms around her waist. “I just don’t want to feel alone―is that so much to ask?”
The night that followed was long and riddled with terror. Penny lay away, a bloodcurdling decision teetering in her mind.
I could choke him. I could somehow kill him. People would come looking for him and they’d let me out. I’d be a murderer, but I’d be free. I could do it.
No matter how deep her hatred burned, Penny found she could not harm him. Sheer exhaustion won at last and she drifted to sleep, returning to the forest she had not encountered since her last morning on earth. She was searching for something there. Something hidden in the woods, buried under a tree.
The next morning Noah was gone, and Penny did not have the strength to get up. She watched the lightning bugs from where she lay, her heart feeling hollow when she saw some had perished during the night.
Eden Undone (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 2) Page 27
