Free The Forbidden Room (Fairy Tales Behaving Badly) by Annie Eppa Page B

Melisande’s sacrifice that had made it possible.
    But the girl only smiled sweetly at them. “I do this of my own volition. I do not know the Marquise, but I am certain he would not go through all this trouble if he does not truly intend to honor his word.”
    After bidding them farewell, she climbed into the ornate coach. When the door shut after her, Melisande could not help but feel, despite all her reassurances, that she had willingly entered what would amount to a gilded prison.
    The Marquise of Eddom’s castle was only a day’s ride away from Sleeping Fallow. This surprised Melisande. Many in the village, those who had been to the cities numerous times, often spoke of that large forbidding castle that spiraled up from inside the dense woods, but she had not imagined it to be so close. She stared in awe as the carriage approached the imposing gates. Though it was a tall and forbidding fortress of heavy granite, and looked like it was formed of black ash, she could not deny that there was something majestic about its appearance, like a solitary colossus standing within that thick forest, forever keeping watch against the coming night.
    It was just as impressive inside as it had been outside. She stared about the large hall in awe, taking in the expensive rugs scattered about the floor, the brightly colored windows that graced the walls. A heavy chandelier hung down from the ceiling, and beautiful tapestries adorned the stone walls. A grand staircase wound its way up, inlaid with dark oak. Melisande had never been in such a place before; she had only known the thatched huts and the stone houses common in the village. While she had sometimes seen large imposing houses on the very few occasions she came to Aven, the nearby market village, they all paled in comparison to the beauty of this manor.
    The servant showed her to her room, and she gasped as she saw the beautiful bed with its soft sheets and goosefeather pillows. She marveled at the ornate dresser and wardrobe, at the soft rugs that decorated the ground.
    “The master has gone away on business, but he shall return in five days’ time,” the servant continued, oblivious to her delight. “Meals shall be taken at the dining hall. While the master is away, you may ask to have them in your rooms, if you wish. You are free to roam the castle, as the master has instructed that all his possessions are yours - except for one place in particular.” And here the man paused. “There is one room at the end of this hall, the furthest one, that you are not permitted to enter. It contains many of the master’s personal belongings, and he has ordered that no one must be allowed inside, not even his affianced, lest they be severely punished. Is that understood?”
    Melisande nodded, and the man departed.
    Two days passed, and though she enjoyed the many comforts the castle provided, she found that she was lonely. In sleeping Fallow she was always surrounded by people, and here she felt more alone than ever. The Marquise’s elderly servant was not one to make friends, and after receiving only curt responses to her questions about what his master was like, Melisande gave up trying.
    The meals served to her were always delicious, food her family could never have afforded, bordering on the exotic at times. The gardens were a pleasure to explore, with Melisande spending hours up to her waist in herbs, trying to examine every flower and plant she could find. The simple clothes she had brought from the village disappeared overnight, and gowns of every imaginable color and style were laid out for her to wear instead, each costing more than what her village made in a year.
    Still, one thought continued to nag at her. She could still not dismiss the many rumors surrounding the Marquise, and somewhere in the back of her mind she feared that they could be true, that she had agreed to marry an evil man. Wasn’t there often truth to gossip, no matter how ill-intentioned or