190: Darkest hours of the night

Darkest hours of the night

A deluge of rain poured down on the Storm Castle as ominous clouds growled in the sky, preventing Emily from falling asleep. With the burning fireplace as the only source of light in the room, she peered at it from beneath her blanket. The night was stormier than the previous two days of her stay, almost as if testing her courage against the enveloping darkness within the room.  1

The curtains remained drawn, concealing the window through which intermittent lightning flashes attempted to cast eerie shadows from the objects in her room, seemingly menacing her. 

As thunder struck nearby, Emily's heart swelled with unease. She whispered to herself, 

"Maybe I should go look for the candles." Over an hour had passed since she had settled into bed, and the relentless rain showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. 

Emily pushed the blanket away from her body and climbed out of the bed. She made her way towards the door, her hand reaching for the doorknob and turning it. As she stepped into the corridor, she observed the dimly lit passage being occasionally illuminated by flashes of lightning outside the windows, only to be plunged back into darkness moments later. 

Emily's bare feet carried her away from her room, leading her in the direction of the stairs. Silently, her feet padded down the steps, the faint creaks muffled by the relentless storm outside. Yet her ears caught the haunting music that floated through the air like ghosts of departed souls. 

A few dimly burning candles cast a soft glow as she made her way towards the location of the piano. Her hair was loosely tied with a small ribbon, and her nightdress was covered by a robe. Eventually, she arrived at the source of the soul-stirring music. 

As Emily finally reached the room, she noticed that the door had been left slightly ajar. Peering inside, she caught sight of a small candle sitting on top of the piano, before which sat Raylen. 

His head was slightly bowed, his eyes closed, something she could discern due to the candlelight casting a glow upon his face. She noticed how passionately his hands danced across the keys, their rhythm in tune with the pace of her anxious heart. 

Emily watched Raylen from a distance, her hand gripping the wall next to her for support. She had never seen him in this state of intense concentration, as if he were pouring his very soul into his performance. With each higher note he played, the tumultuous clouds outside grew even more violent. There was something profoundly heartbreaking about the piece of music he was currently playing. 

When Raylen's fingers came to a halt, and his gaze shifted towards the door, Emily quickly hid herself behind the wall. For some inexplicable reason, it felt wrong to listen, as if she were intruding upon an intimate secret buried deep within the sands of time. Abandoning the idea of finding candles, she quickly ran back to her room, her rapid footsteps masked by the thunderous roars of the stormy clouds. 

Once Emily returned to her room, she picked up a book from her nightstand and, along with her blanket and pillow, arranged them on the floor near the fireplace. She positioned herself to catch enough light while also staying safe from any wayward embers. While she read the book, her thoughts continually drifted back to what she had witnessed on the floor below. 

"He plays the piano so well," Emily murmured, reflecting on the graceful fluidity of his movements, as though he had mastered the skill over a lifetime.

Emily had always wanted to learn how to play the instrument, but circumstances had never allowed for it. Now that she was in the West, she could use it as an opportunity to start learning. 

As the fireplace continued to radiate warmth, Emily's eyelids grew heavy, and she gradually drifted off to sleep, taking her to a place reminiscent of the stormy ambience outside. 

'P—please let us go,' a young Emily, who was around nine years old, implored, her face and clothes stained with mud and dirt. Her back was pressed against the room's chilly wall, the violent thunder outside striking with ferocious intensity. 

A man wielding a knife entered the room, the blade glistening with fresh blood, while his hands bore dried, splotchy stains. 'No one is going anywhere!' he declared firmly. 'Not until we finish checking each and every one of you.'

In the same room, two more children around Emily's age were present—a boy and a girl. They were bound by their ankles with iron cuffs, the chains of which were firmly anchored to the wall. The girl sobbed inconsolably and cried out in desperation, 

'Mama…! Papa…! I want to go home!'

The man with the knife looked at the girl angrily and said, 'Looks like you want to go next.' As he grabbed her by the arm, she screamed and thrashed, shouting,

'NO! HELP ME!' 

'I'll deal with this noisy thing first,' the man declared to someone nearby. Then, he turned his gaze towards the boy and Emily. 'The better you behave, the more time you get to stay alive.'

'Handle them with care,' responded an eerie voice from the adjoining room. 

Emily watched as the man unlocked the girl's ankles before carrying her to the other room. Although she couldn't see the individuals inside, she discerned the shadows of two figures as they laid the girl down on a table.

The faint sobs of the girl who had been taken reached her ears, her voice trembling with fear. 'Please, d—don't hurt m—me,' she pleaded. 'P—please.'

She heard the other man speak softly, saying, 'Shhh… No one is going to hurt you.' There was a sinister undertone beneath his seemingly reassuring words. 'Close your eyes, and soon you will see your parents,' he cooed. 

Emily watched in horror as one of the shadows raised their hand, still gripping the knife, and, in the blink of an eye, brought it down upon the little girl's chest. A high-pitched scream filled with agony pierced the air, 'AHH!!!' 

The ensuing silence felt deafening against the backdrop of the torrential rain, until Emily heard footsteps drawing closer to the door, and the shadows slowly receded. A man came into view, wearing an innocent smile despite the blood staining his face and clothes. 

"Princess Emily!" 

Emily awoke with a sudden start, a surge of panic gripping her chest. When she attempted to sit up, she ended up accidentally headbutting her maid, who had leaned in close to wake her. "Ow!" Emily winced, instinctively reaching for her throbbing head. 

"Forgive me!" Julia exclaimed, quickly moving backwards and pressing her forehead against the cold ground. "I didn't mean to do that; I was just worried that you might have fallen from the bed and gotten hurt!" the maid hurriedly explained in a state of pure panic. 

Emily was still in a daze, her mind half-submerged in the realm of sleep. Thanks to her maid, the dream that had held her in its grip was replaced by a throbbing ache in her forehead as she rubbed it. She replied, 

"I didn't fall from the bed," Emily replied, lowering her hand from her face. 

"No?" Julia asked, her confusion evident as she raised her head. "You chose to sleep like this of your free will?" 

Emily nodded, and the young maid had stars in her eyes, sparkling with admiration for the princess, grateful for the opportunity to serve someone as humble as her. The maid assisted the princess to stand up and swiftly began the task of helping her get ready. 

While Emily bathed, her maid spoke up, saying, "Princess Emily, I shall ask them to provide two additional blankets so that you can sleep more comfortably if you intend to continue sleeping in the same manner." 

"That won't be necessary," Emily replied, but the maid trembled with concern. 

"You were shivering from the cold when I found you. It could be troublesome if you were to fall ill during these crucial days," Julia said as she washed Emily's arms. "Also, Miss Lauren handed me your dress for today, which arrived from the tailor early this morning."

Once Emily finished bathing, she slipped into a lilac-coloured silk dress adorned with delicate white embroidery. The dress featured half-sleeves, and the bodice was snug around her bosom, as if to provide a slight lift. The dress came with lacy knitted gloves in a design of floral patterns. Her hair was elegantly pinned up today. 

"These clothes are pretty, aren't they, Princess?" Julia asked, admiring Emily's dress. "They suit you so well, truly making you look as if you belong to the Storm Kingdom."

"They are pretty indeed," Emily agreed. The fabric had a slight crispness to it, yet it felt smooth beneath her fingertips. 

A sense of dread loomed over her, and she hoped to avoid running into Layla or Nathaniel. Regardless, she knew she needed to learn to ignore him the way he ignored her and not let it affect her. There seemed to be no other choice, she thought to herself, offering her reflection a resolute nod as she made up her mind. 

As Emily made her way down to the main floor with her maid trailing closely behind, she spotted Raylen. He had been walking past the stairs when he came to an abrupt halt and stared up at her. His blue eyes were focused entirely on her, and the attention he directed at her made her nervous. 

The half-sleeves and the snug dress must have made her look different than usual, Emily thought. Nevertheless, she greeted him with a polite bow, saying,

"Good morning, King Raylen."

"Good morning, Princess," Raylen returned, still maintaining his gaze on her. He smiled and noted, "You have a bump on your forehead. Did you hit it after feeling bad for me?"

Was it that noticeable? Emily asked herself. Her maid replied, "Princess Emily's head and mine collided earlier when she was sleeping—"

"We headbutted when I woke up. It was an accident." Emily finished the maid's sentence and questioned, "Are we to leave now?" 

Raylen's eyes held a sense of curiosity, but he didn't delve further into it. His lips curled into a smile as he replied, "The carriage awaits us, Moon Princess."

—

Thank you everyone for voting for Anastasia and helping her win the 'Most Popular Character' female lead. Thank you for showing your excitement and being part of the entire event<3 

pqdm.com