Book 2: The Old Ruins

Emory

I can feel cabin fever settling in after being stuck inside the castle for too long. Being confined to my room doesn’t help as there are only so many books to read and card games to be played. Even castle gossip is growing stagnant. I’m getting ready to climb the walls when my mother and maids finally agree to let me have lunch outside.

Summer is giving way to autumn, and it’s beginning to get cold, so Nellie and Helga dress me in warmer clothes. The pregnancy makes me feel overheated more than anything, so I concede on a brown cardigan over a pale green sundress. I slip on a pair of brown sandals before quickly making my way out of my room and eventually out of the castle onto the grounds. Helga and Nellie follow with a large picnic basket.

My mother catches up to me before I can get far, chiding me for practically running down the hallways. “The doctor said light walks, not sprinting through the castle like the building is on fire.”