My Patron's Keeper by Chante

My patron's Keeper

I stood in my bedchambers, utterly put out. My mother had left for a ball in the eastern lands, stating that I could not risk leaving the castle grounds. I was trapped in my rooms most of the time, stuck with my fussy chambermaid. Then there were the ladies in waiting, who were mean and terrible gossips. All my time was spent with these people or my teachers, which were stuffy and enjoyed powder and wigs much too much to actually have a conversation with them.

I hated my life, yes it is true. I was not always the heir to the throne. I wasn’t meant for castle life. I was meant for the life that I lived in my family’s apartment in the outer ring of the city. I was meant to enjoy sweats and I was meant to eat the food that was placed before me, instead of shyly eating a few bites and politely declining anything that had more than a teaspoon of sugar in it. As it was the food in the castle was bland and was often odorous in the most unpleasant way.

But due to an unfortunate turn of events, the King and my father had been killed when they went- as they did annually- to the memorial dedicated to the only war our small country had ever had.  King Elio, sire to my father and the king, was buried there as well. We had received news of their assassination, and as such my mother or I, depending on which came first, had to marry or another war would break out, because word spread fast and it was only a matter of time before someone would strike. This is the reason I was stuck in my quarters.

I stared hard at our emblem, a dog of silver, woven onto a tapestry. I glared hard at our patron, my eyes watering. What had this great beast done to protect my father? Nothing! My anger flared about me, as many things did these days.

I rose and struck the tapestry, right where the dog’s snout was. However, my hand hit nothing, but instead my hand and forearm disappeared into the wall. I couldn’t stifle my scream as I jerked my hand back, losing my false calm. I stared at my hand, and found it to be right as it was before it plunged into the wall. I flexed my fingers, and found that they all moved as they should.

My long skirts took forever to sort out, because of not only their length, but also their number as well. After righting them, I stood and walked slowly over to the tapestry, sticking my hand out. I moved my hands until I found where the hole ended, and I found that it was more of a doorway than a hole. Placing my feet inside, I found I was in total darkness.

And quite amazingly, I couldn’t find the exit to this horrid darkness. Slowly I crawled until I found a stairway, which I climbed until I reached the top and a doorway. I sighed in relief as I groped for the handle, but once I opened the door, I jumped. There, before me was a large room, with several doors leading to different places in the castle, I surmised. But I was only interested in the single mirror the first room bore, from the wall to ceiling. I stepped forward to the mirror, forgetting the thick layer of dust that nearly surrounded me. Using my sleeve, I wiped the mirror of its grime as high as I could reach.

Once the mirror was clean, I noticed that it wasn’t a mirror at all. In fact, I didn’t quite know what it was. I expected my reflection, but was instead gazing at a boy who was also looking at a mirror, I gather. He gazed at me as well, intent on making me edgy, no doubt, and I noticed something strange about him.

The stripes! The stripes that adorned his cheeks! Their lavender color didn’t belong on his pale skin. And that crescent moon that was displayed upon his forehead, that didn’t belong either! I leaned back as he leaned closer, my displeasure evident.  To my utter shock and horror, he reached his hand toward the mirror and it passed through. Grabbing my arm he pulled me through the mirror.