Page 10 of Broken Princess
A pit appeared in my stomach as I followed him through the foyer and into a wide hallway which ran all the way through the ground floor of the manor. Most of the doors to the rooms on either side of the hall were open, and I spotted several elaborately-decorated sitting rooms, two narrow banquet halls, a ballroom, a library, and a sunroom with floor-to-ceiling windows and a shimmering indoor pool.
On the far-right side of the hall, close to the end, there were several sets of double doors inlaid with gold. All of them were shut except one. As I peered through it on my way past, I saw that it led into a massive auditorium with tiered seats and a stage with red velvet curtains.
“This way,” Jamie said, directing my attention to a doorway on the other side of the hall. It led to a set of stairs that were twisted in a perfect spiral.
I trudged upward, heart growing heavier with each step.
When I reached the third floor, Jamie pushed me out into another hall. A procession of young women was heading down it in the opposite direction. All of them were dressed in white sweaters and pants. A staff uniform, perhaps.
Some of the women had bruises on the bare parts of their skin, but none of them looked fearful or upset. They had glazed, dreamy expressions on their faces instead, like they were high on drugs.
“What the hell?” I muttered under my breath.
As Jamie and I passed the girls, one of them looked me up and down with a mixture of interest and confusion glimmering in her eyes. She seemed distracted by my blue gown and sparkling earrings, and she ended up tripping over her feet and falling against Jamie.
“I’m sorry, Master Jamie,” she said as she quickly righted herself. “I didn’t mean to fall.”
“It’s okay, Serena,” Jamie said, patting her shoulder. “Are you all heading to lunch?”
“Yes, Master Jamie.”
“Good. I’ll see you later.”
“Yes, Master Jamie. It was nice to see you.”
She hurried away. I turned my head over my shoulder and watched her go, brows wrinkling with confusion.
“Who are those girls? Are they maids?” I asked, looking back at Jamie. As I spoke, I spotted four young men turning into the hall. They were dressed in white like the girls, and judging by their faces, they couldn’t be any older than eighteen or nineteen.
“Something like that,” Jamie replied.
He led me to a door at the end and unlocked it before waving me inside. “This is where you’ll be staying for now.”
I stepped in and peered around the room. It was small, but not stiflingly-so. A wooden nightstand and a single bed with pale gray sheets and pillowcases sat in the center, right under a large white mullioned window, and a threadbare armchair sat in one of the corners. A narrow doorway on the right led into a little bathroom.
Jamie cleared his throat. “I’ll be back later.”
I whirled around. “Wait, no. Don’t—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Jamie slammed the door in my face. Then I heard the key turning in the lock on the other side.
With a heavy sigh, I stepped into the bathroom to check it out. There was a toilet on the left and a tiny sink with a cup and toothbrush right next to it. On the other side, there was a tarnished silver rack with two towels and a small rusted showerhead jutting out of the white wall. There was no enclosure for the shower; just a large drain on the tiles to collect the water.
It was better than I expected. On the way here, I’d pictured a dank dungeon with a bucket for a toilet and a dirty stone floor for a bed, so the fact that this little room contained even the most rudimentary washing facilities made it seem like a luxury hotel.
I left the bathroom and headed for the window. The panes were frosted, but I could see through them if I stood on the bed and pressed my nose right up to the glass.
From this high up, I could see beyond the thick trees on one side of the sprawling estate. There was an enormous green field with several helipads and a runway out there. If I squinted, I could also see countless rows of trellises stretching into the distance on the other side.
It looked like a vineyard.
I furrowed my brows as I stared at the bare trunks and branches, wondering if I could figure out my location based on the sights around me. Then my shoulders sagged as I realized what a ridiculous notion that was. There were thousands of vineyards and wineries in America, and hundreds of them had helipads and runways on-site for wealthy visitors.
I could be near any one of them.
Besides, even if I did manage to figure out where I was, that knowledge wouldn’t help me. It wouldn’t change the fact that Q intended to sell me to a horrible man—or men—in just a few days.
Hot tears brimmed in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks as I slumped down to the bed, finally giving in to the miserable exhaustion.
