Queen's Obsession

Chapter 105

*Suzanna's P.O.V*

Turns out, running around a castle is not a good idea. I had no idea how massive the castle really was until I was running around the hallways almost completely lost. I passed guards everywhere but none of them tried to stop me so clearly I was allowed to be running around the hallways. That was a great thing since I would be doing it often.

Apparently I was better at running away from Mama then I thought because I ended up completely lost. I know that I am somewhere by Mama's room since I had gone through the heavily guarded door that led to the hallway that led to her room and her study. After that though, I was just completely lost since apparently there were even more hallways after that.

I try to retrace my steps but that's kind of hard to do when you don't even know where you are. I wander down hallways, which is quite boring. This could be an amazing adventure if the doors weren't all locked. As I ponder why this is, I spot a door that is open. I walk towards it, pausing at the doorway to peek into the room. To my dismay, I see that it is just a bedroom. How boring! 

I suppose it still could be an adventure but I didn't think it would be a very fun one. I decide to enter the room, noting that it is very plain. At least one half is. That half just has a bed, one with dark blue sheets with curtains around the bed in a slightly darker shade. The walls are made of stone but someone has painted in between the stones to make a sort of flowing river of color although it kind of peters off at the bottom like the person hadn't finished it.

When I look at the other half of the room though, it is shockingly different. It's got no painting on the stones but the walls are covered in frames with butterflies in them. I step closer to look at them, noticing that they have their fancy names written underneath them and underneath was another name. Like a person's name. Each butterfly had a different person's name under it. Aoife, Edna, Kabir, Michelle and Stevie were just a few of the names that were written under them.

"Are these your names?" I ask after a moment, looking at the butterflies. I know they won't answer me back but the question still escapes me.

"Yes," a voice says and I turn around to look at the doorway. I sigh when I realize that it's just King Theron, putting my hand over my heart.

"It's not nice to scare people," I say as I put my other hand on my hip.

"Yes well it was not my intention to scare you," King Theron says. He limps forward and I notice that he is using a cane to assist him. He's got a shirt thrown on over his bandaged chest. I know it's bandaged cause I can see a piece of the bandage wrapped over his shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be in the infirmary?" I ask as I tilt my head.

"I am well enough to walk around for a little bit now," King Theron says. I nod as I glance back at the butterflies which seems to catch his attention. "Malik named all of them," he explains as he walks over, standing beside me as he looks at the butterflies.

"How did he get so many?" I ask as he reaches out and takes one of the frames off the wall, showing me the green butterfly that rested on the inside of it.

"They were all injured or had passed naturally. Most of the injured ones he tried to rehabilitate and release but when their wings get ripped badly, they usually do not make it," King Theron says. I look at the butterfly more closely and realize that the butterfly has a large piece of its wing missing. Someone had used paper to try and replicate it so it looked whole but you could see the differences up close.

"Did he paint? To try and replicate the missing pieces on the butterflies," I ask, noticing that King Theron is just staring at the butterfly with a small frown on his lips. My question snaps him out of his daze and he nods his head after a moment.

"Yes, he did his best to make them look whole after they passed. I think because he wanted to study them since he could no longer help them," King Theron states as he puts the frame back on the wall.

"They almost still look alive," I say. I squeak when something hits the top of my head and I flinch towards him, clinging to him as his arm rests on my back.

"What touched my head?" I ask, making him chuckle. His other hand touches the back of my head and I feel the thing move which makes me cling to him even more.

"It's just a moth darling," King Theron says as he steps back. It surprises me so I don't even have the chance to follow him. He has the moth perched on his hand and I look at it with interest even though I don't dare get close to it.

It's a light green moth that's body kind of forms a wonky Y shape. It's actually quite pretty and I've seen some of them before. I had never had one smack me in the back of the head though so that was new.

"It was mean to me. It hit me," I say as I look at the moth with a small pout on my lips.

"I don't think it meant to hit you. I'm sure it's just as surprised as you are," King Theron states. I suppose he is right but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. He lifts his hand up to his hair and the moth craws onto his hair, sitting there.

"It's still not my friend," I sulk. It hits me that now that he is here, I have a guide to show me how to escape this endless maze of hallways.

"Will you help me find my way back to Mama's room?" I ask after a moment.

"Of course dear," King Theron says. He offers me his hand and I take it, following them out of the room. I still had technically got to have my adventure so I was happy and I was now no longer lost so I had gotten both of the things I had wanted!