“And then Arthur taught me the right techniques of fencing.”
Diana spoke while caressing the rose petals with her slender fingers. Her lips were curved in a small smile as she lived her beautiful childhood memories in her mind.
Confined in the King’s room like a prisoner, Diana had nothing to do so she befriended the birds, squirrels, and plants of the castle to spend her time. Her relationship with Zachary hadn’t improved a bit instead was turning bitter day by day. Zachary initially tried to talk to Diana but when she kept ignoring him, he also lost hope. He would get mad at her, and throw tantrums at her silence but Diana stood her ground. She knew that Zachary didn’t intend to make her cry but if she keeps condoning his mistakes every time, he would never realize his fault.
Suddenly her blue orbs noticed something strange. Streaks of black smoke were dancing in the air which when caught her attention, got accumulated into a small ball. Intrigued, Diana raised her hands and tried to touch it but it slipped between her fingers and swayed inside the room.
Curious, she immediately stood up and followed it inside. That small fluffy ball floated to the southern side of the room and halted his journey. Diana again ran to touch it when it broke into the wall.
“Urgh”
Frustrated by that mischievous goofy ball, Diana started tracing her fingers on the wall to find it but found no trace of it. Defeated, she sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Forget it. Must be my imagination.” Convincing herself she wheeled around to leave when she heard something strange.
As if something heavy was moving.
Diana immediately turned back but her eyes turned to the side of the saucers when she found that giant wall moving.
“Oh my God!!“, She gasped in shock as the wall shifted to the side revealing a black wooden door. Diana slowly stepped forward and extended her hand toward the knob but something pulled her back.
“Should I go inside?”
She muttered under her breath while her blue orbs gazed at the golden snake that was carved on the knob giving it a ghastly yet intriguing look.
“There’s no harm in checking that. Zac had prevented me from roaming in the castle but at least I should know about my room.”
With that thought in mind, she grabbed the knob and twisted it. Her heart was slamming wildly against her chest. Her conscience scrupled her not to go inside but the curiosity to check what was behind that door overpowered her sanity.
Diana exhaled a long breath and opened the door only to be met with complete darkness.
“I need a torch.”
She then waved her hand in a circle and a shining silver wand appeared in front of her eyes. Coiling her fingers around it, Diana then murmured a spell and soon the top end of the wand started burning with glittering silver light. Gulping a lump down her throat, she lifted the hem of her gown and entered that creepy room with baby steps.
Diana kept moving inside aimlessly. Trudging through the darkness with her heart in her mouth, she had no idea where she was heading to. Trusting the silver light that was guiding her way, she continued exploring that abyss when her gaze landed on an old, wooden vintage shelf that was draped in dust and cobwebs.
Diana scrunched her nose in disgust, revolted by the unkempt and stinking room.
“Lord looks like it hadn’t been cleaned for years.”
Carrying the dirt on her flowy gown, she took timid steps toward her latest research, the wooden shelf. Reaching there, she found a bundle of torn yellow pages, antiquarian books, manuscripts, and thick novels.
Her pink lips stretched in a small smile. Diana loved reading books and now she found her secret hideout. No one will disturb her now and she can easily read them here.
But slowly her eyes darted around, checking her surroundings.
“No way. I am going to read them here. This place needs to be cleaned.”
But the moment she uttered those words, the silver light from her wand shot up in the air like a rocket and spread around. Its sparkles fell over the room like embers and in no minute, the place was tidied up.
“WOW!!!”
Diana screamed in delight as the place was a lavish and marvelous library. With an ornate chandelier on the ceiling, a gilded spiraled staircase that can be helpful to pick books that were placed in mahogany almirahs on the top floor, baroque furniture, and the peaceful ambiance, what can a bookworm like her wish for more than that?
Clasping her hands together, Diana started spinning in excitement, “Great, now I can spend my whole day here.”
After her little dance, she started exploring the beautiful library. But then it hit her.
“Did Zac design this for me? Is it one of his surprises like Celestial Meadows? But then what was that mysterious ball?”
Debating in her mind, Diana started searching for that black ball of smoke when a thunderous growl jarred her heart.
“DIANA!!!!”
“Oh my God, that’s Zac”, Diana broke out in cold sweats when she heard him raging from the other side of the room. She immediately ran in the same direction from where she had come inside.
“PRINCESS!!!”
His pitch kept turning louder and louder with her every step. Panting hard, she reached the door and was about to open it when her hands froze midway.
She was able to see Zachary through the wall. Zachary was standing in the middle of the room screaming her name but the shocking part was that his gaze was fixed on her.
Diana was paralyzed in fear. Her eyes welled up when she looked into his blood-red eyes that were shooting fireballs. A cold shiver ran down her spine. He won’t spare her today.
“Z-Zac, I am s-sorry. I was just curious and I-” Diana started blabbering in fear. Her body started to tremble and her chin wobbled as fat drops of tears rolled down her cheeks. Zachary was raging like a bull. There’s no way in hell he would give an ear to her pleas or her darned explanation. She continued to ramble when something very strange happened.
“Princess, are you in the balcony?” Zachary spoke anxiously and ran outside the room.
Diana stilled on her spot.
He couldn’t see her?
Relief washed over her. Diana exhaled the breath she was holding onto. Wiping her tears, she wrenched the door open and exited the library.
Diana felt a strong urge to check that mysterious door. Wasting no time, she turned around. Her jaw dropped.
There was no door. It was just the wall.
“W-What is going on?”
Incoherent words escaped her lips as she was shell-shocked by this bone-chilling magic. Diana quickly placed her hands on the wall and started searching for the door.
“Where is it-”
“Princess”
Hearing her husband’s voice, Diana turned back only to confront a furious Zachary. She blanched when her gaze landed on his bloodshot eyes.
“Zac, look I can-“, she opened her mouth to explain to him when she was pulled into a bone-crushing hug.