The King's Lover
Chapter 22: Like A Lighthouse

Chapter 22: Like A Lighthouse

It was nighttime again. The rest of Rose’s day was pretty uneventful. The maids left her alone, and she did end up taking a nap on the bed after eating lunch. It was the best nap she had had in a long time, and she didn’t wake up until Martha walked into the room, glaring at her as she lay on the floor. Neither said a word to the other and after a few moments Rose just turned and faced the wall.

Edna found her some clothes. They were decent enough to wear around, and even if they weren’t, Rose was just glad she didn’t have to wear the night dress anymore. The dress she had on was heavy with different layers, and it was pretty clear it must have belonged to a noble at some point. The dress was still pretty, but the color was completely faded. freeNovelFire

It was almost dinner time, but Rose found that she wasn’t hungry. She sat up on the bed; she was too nauseous to be hungry. It was finally nighttime, and she would have to fulfill the reason she was here. She took a deep breath. She had already made up her mind, and she would properly apologize to the crown prince.

She looked around the partly empty room, which was dark except for the streaks of moonlight that came from the tiny window. Martha had more items than she did, even a dresser. All Rose had was the little satchel that held all her clothes, given to her by Edna.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Rose turned her head to see Martha march into the room with a light in her hands. "Get up; you’ve been sleeping all day."

Rose rested her eyes on Martha and then slowly turned away. Martha didn’t like this and walked closer, shoving the light in Rose’s face. "Didn’t you hear me? Did you forget what your job in the castle is, or should I tell Mister Henry you said we shouldn’t get you ready for tonight?"

Rose sighed and gently pushed the light away from her face. "I don’t understand why ye don’t like me, and tha’s fine. Just know I’d rat’er not be ’ere. If ye can find a way for me to leave, I’ll be more than ’appy to listen."

Martha snorted. "Listen to how smug you sound. We all know this is the best you’ve ever—"

"Martha, if we don’t start now, we won’t finish before dinner is over. She must be in His Royal Highness’s chambers before he gets there, remember?"

---

Rose was back in the room again. Not much had changed since she left, except this time, the drapes of the four-poster bed were drawn. Rose looked down at her clothes, wondering why they always dressed her like this. Was it a preference of the crown prince? The night dress was made of silk and it felt very soft against her skin. She didn’t even think the maids had access to such quality material. It had an inner layer that wasn’t much for coverage, but the robe did a decent job.

She wrapped it tighter and made her way to the bed. She sat on it and lay down with her legs stretched out and her arms on her torso, closing her eyes as she waited. Rose didn’t know how long she lay there, but she suddenly stood up. She had to do something to buy the time or she would go mad.

She walked toward the fireplace. There was a head of a buffalo above it. She hadn’t noticed it before now. She wondered if the crown prince had hunted it himself. The curved horn looked very sharp and it felt like the lifeless eyes were staring right at her. Rose raised her hand to touch it but lost her footing and her entire body slammed against the fireplace.

Rose stretched out her arms in front of her to protect her face from hitting the wall when she heard the oddest sound, but she didn’t have time to react before the fireplace flipped. Since she was resting on it, it turned with her. Rose was swung onto the ground before she could even realize what was happening and started to slide down while screaming. The fireplace returned to its position as though nothing had happened, with the sounds of Rose screaming as she slid down, barely escaping the hidden path.

Rose slid down for a very long time, and at some point, she just stopped screaming and tried to enjoy the ride as best as she could, which was hard to do with her terrible choice of clothes and the fact that she couldn’t see a thing. She had tried to stop herself several times but had only ended up with bruises. Her only silver lining was that couldn’t slide forever, she would have to stop at some point.

No sooner she thought about this than she was slammed against a wall, shoulder first. Rose yelled out in pain, and she could swear she heard a crack in her shoulder as it made contact with the wall. She stayed still, grabbing her shoulder as she waited for the pain to subside.

With her hand on her shoulder, she slowly lifted her body up. Rose shoved her head right into spiderwebs, covering her eyes, nose, and mouth. Rose instantly panicked, moving about as she tried her best to remove them, coughing hard. The space was dusty, it also smelled damp and musty and now she had to worry about spider webs trying to kill her.

The worst part of it was that she couldn’t see anything—not even her hand in front of her. She didn’t know what direction she could possibly go. She bent her knees and grabbed her head as she screamed. How was she going to find her way out of here?

Rose screamed again, but when she got tired of screaming, she was still in the dark, in the secret passageway. She knew she couldn’t remain here. The dark would make her go crazy. She moved her hands, trying to feel the walls. The path definitely led somewhere. She just hoped it was out. Rose treated the secret passageway like a maze, using the wall as a guide. Sadly, her eyes didn’t get used to the dark, and whether she kept them open or closed, it made no difference.

Suddenly, the path curved. Rose frowned, slowing down a bit. She had been walking for quite some time, and her soles were sore. She walked, wondering if she was going to a dead end, but she couldn’t stop now.

Rose’s face brightened as she saw it. It wasn’t much, but in a place so dark, even the tiniest bit of light was like a lighthouse. She picked up her pace, rushing toward it.