The Serpent's Chains

Chapter 10: Starvation

Sabine

I knocked on the bedroom door. "Is anyone out there!?"

A hollow echo greeted me back. I'd heard from the maids that when Prince Cole left the palace, his wing was barely attended. He didn't like people getting into his business when he wasn't there. No one was there to hear me but I still called out every few hours.

My eyes shifted to my bedroom window for the thousandth time. I hauled myself up, leaning on the door. My legs trembled slightly as I walked across my suite. With each step, my stomach gurgled and growled.

I put a hand on my stomach to steady it. This wasn't the first time I'd endured starvation. It was the first time I'd been denied water.

Shortly after arriving in the palace, I learned that if one wanted to take a bath, they had to send a request to the bathhouse where the water was heated and pumped through the pipes to the appropriate room. Turning the knobs did nothing if there wasn't water waiting.

I was completely cut off.

Sighing, I leaned against the bedroom door frame to catch my breath. I licked my dry, cracking lips, my tongue like sandpaper. My mouth tasted like ash. I smacked my lips, searching for any kind of moisture. There was none.

I got to the window, resting between each step and leaning against whatever was close by. My fingers slipped from the lock again and again. I plucked at the fastener but couldn't get a grip on it. All the strength was gone from my fingers.

Groaning, I slammed my fist against the windowsill.

"Ouch," I hissed, biting the inside of my cheek. My dry, brittle skin tore on the wooden frame. Warm blood oozed down my wrist.

I tried the lock again and it loosened. The window popped open and fresh air whooshed in. I gripped the windowsill and breathed in the air. My mind cleared and I felt a surge of strength. I could do this. It wasn't that far of a climb down to the ground.

Quickly, I scanned the area. There was a ledge I could drop down to and from there, a tree I could reach.

My heart swelled and I swung my leg over the window sill. I just needed to hold it together a little longer...

"Ahh!"

I flew off the windowsill, landing hard on the bedroom floor. Electrical shocks crackled from my collar down my arms and legs. My muscles twitched uncontrollably.

I whimpered, my body jerking with electrical shocks, and the metal against my skin burned blisters around my neck. This is what happened when a slave tried to escape. I lay as still as possible with my muscles spasming, willing the pain to end.

If the prince didn't return soon, I was dead. I threw my arm over my eyes and wondered if this was all a dream. It couldn't be real, could it?

A soft tap, tap, tap prickled my ears. I squinted my eyes closed. Whatever it was, I didn't want it. I put my hand on my aching stomach and tried to swallow, my mouth tasting of sand.

Tap, tap, tap.

"Hello...?" a soft, gentle voice called.

Great, I was so hungry I was hallucinating.

Light footsteps echoed through the stone floor, vibrating in my skull like a drum. I pulled my arm away from my eyes and saw a pair of curious blue eyes peering at me.

"Are you okay?" her eyebrows shot into her hairline.

I shrugged and closed my eyes. Overwhelming fatigue and weakness wrapped around me and dragged me down like it was pulling me straight to hell. I closed my eyes and finally gave in to it.