Mirror, Mirror {#Wattys2016}

Chapter 6- Palace

Cassandra shrieked in surprise and jumped away from the Mirrors. There were two guards in the doorway, neither betraying emotion.

"I said you were under arrest! Get over here with your hands in front of you," bellowed the first guard.

Cassandra scurried towards the guards. As soon as she reached the doorway, guard number two grabbed at her collar and dragged her down the street where a carriage waited. He threw her inside and slammed the door after climbing in.

"Her Majesty'll be sure to give us that raise now, eh Frank?" grunted the first guard.

The guard called Frank mumbled something that sounded like 'yeah sure, Carl" but Cassandra was unsure if she had heard correctly.

The carriage jolted to a start and rolled over the cobblestone walkway. Every house in Echo that had once remained stable and unmoving began to blur into flashes of grey, blending together.

The usually quarter-hour walk took only minutes, and Queen Pandora's palace was outside the carriage much sooner than Cassandra had expected.

When she got out, Frank resumed his hold on Cassandra's collar and pulled through the palace doors. Inside Queen Pandora's exquisite palace was a sight unbeknownst to Cassandra ever before. Expensive, lush furniture sat in every corner and on top of each ornate rug. Watercolour paintings daintily lined the royal blue walls.

And perhaps most distinctly of all was the overtly sweet perfume that lingered in the hallways like a ghost. It's scent penetrated Cassandra's nostrils relentlessly until she found it hard to breathe. However, underneath all the sweet innocence, laid a darker note that spoke of unspeakable horrors.

At the end of the hallway, Cassandra could see an open door leading into the throne room. It's polished look had become familiar to Cassandra after years of mandatory viewings taking place inside it's depths. She began to make her way over to the door when suddenly, Frank pushed her down a flight of rusty stairs.

Possibilities raced through Cassandra's mind as to what she could possibly be doing downstairs. Cassandra couldn't recall a single time that somebody had mentioned a lower floor in the palace.

Closer to the bottom she noticed a pungent smell coming from behind a wooden door. Carl yanked on its brass handle and gestured for Cassandra to step through.

The stench was unbearable. It seemed to attack from every angle until you couldn't breathe. Cassandra looked around until she found the smell's awful source. Dozens of iron cells lined stone walls, where things Cassandra could only begin to guess at occurred.

"Hey! In here, you filthy scum," Carl yelled.

Cassandra's mouth dropped to the floor. Surely they wouldn't put her in the Queen's dungeon for experimentation on Mirrors? Or would they? Nothing had ever felt more unfair than being forced into a damp, putrid cage.

"But I can explain! I didn't do anything, I swear!" Cassandra protested.

In response, the two guards shoved her into a cell, slamming the door. They had locked her inside, sealing her off from the world.

Cassandra sat there for a quarter of an hour, letting reality sink in before she started screaming for help. Just when she was ready to give up, a small voice sounded from the darkness of a nearby cell:

"It's okay."