Free The Agrista (Between the Lines Book 1) by Shannon Lamb

responded in unison. Marie couldn’t help but smile at their melodic synchronization.
      Before Marie got a chance to ask them why she couldn’t use the showers, Agatha shooed them out the door.
      “We’ve been expecting you. We prepared a bath for you in here.” Agatha cast Marie and irritated glance and pointed to a large wooden washtub filled with questionable, murky water.
      “Why can’t I use the showers?”
      “It’s this, or remain covered in…”
      “A bath it is!”
      “You’ll find soap, a scrubbing brush, and a towel in there.” Agatha pointed to a cupboard in the far right corner of the room.  “Put your things in here,” she impatiently thrust a burlap sack toward Marie. “There’s clean clothes for you in the cupboard as well.” Agatha curtsied and left the room abruptly.
      Marie grabbed the soap and scrubbing brush from the cupboard, being extremely careful not to touch anything else. She stripped down and gingerly stuffed her things into the sack, eyeing the water unfavorably.
      Shivers racked her body as she dipped her toe in the washtub. The water was freezing cold and didn’t exactly look fresh, but Marie would take whatever she could get. She was in no position to be picky.
      She quickly, but thoroughly, cleaned herself, thinking of how much she missed warm showers, among a few other luxuries like shampoo and rooms without flesh décor. She dried herself off and unfolded the clothes they’d left for her, examining them. She groaned when she discovered that they’d given her a simple black dress and a vintage leather bodice.
      She’d never worn a dress a single day in her life; not even to her Aunt Kat’s wedding, which had caused quite an uproar. She definitely wasn’t thrilled about it, but she figured it was better than her t-shirt and jeans caked in excrement, and she couldn’t deny that the silk felt good against her skin. Almost immediately after she’d finished getting dressed, she heard a knock on the door.
      “Yes?”
      Alex came in and closed the door behind him. “These shoes will be better for traveling.” He set down a pair of black, cracked leather, lace-up knee-high boots.
      “Thanks,” she took a seat on the floor and set to loosening the laces. “Alex, if I ask you some questions, do you promise to answer them honestly?”
      “Always,” he sat down across from her.
      “I’m sure you did what you had to do, but…why, for the love of all things clean, did you bring me here through a septic tank?”
    “It’s the only way to get here.”
      “If that’s the only way to get here, how do we get out?” The color drained from her face at the thought of having to go through the disgusting experience again. Why had she even bothered getting clean?
      “The only way to escape is through the dungeon.”
      “Alex, what exactly goes on here?” Marie spoke in broken tones, not quite knowing how to word her question.
      “What do you mean?”
      “You know, like…” Marie took a deep breath. “Why is the only way to get here through the septic tank, and the only way to get out through the dungeon? Why is the ladder impossible to climb? Why can’t I use the showers?” Marie ticked the questions off on her fingers, without taking a breath in between them. “Don’t play dumb with me. You promised you’d tell me the truth.”
      Alex stayed silent for a moment, carefully considering his words. After a pregnant pause, he spoke.
      “When these good, hardworking people are done being abused by that wretched excuse for a woman and the twisted prince, the only way for them to get back to this vermin-infested dump that they’re forced to call home is to go through the septic tank. The Queen finds it imperative to remind them, daily , how disgusting and filthy they are. She doesn’t want them to ever think they’re equal to her, just because they’re allowed to work in the palace where superior beings such as herself