Aside from the fact that she was missing Logan she had been quite satisfied for her new life. She had had her own estate. She had had her personal cook. She had had three maids. She even had had a gardener. And ten most reliable guards her father had picked to escort her at that fateful night.
And now she had nothing. Nothing but the cold cellar she spent her days in, and the rubble of the mansion she had lived in. And all the small animals she managed to catch and wild herbs as her nourishment.
At first it had been like a fairytale. She had been making it up as the days went by. She was a princess, held in prisoner for one reason or another, and she was just waiting for her knight in shining armor to ride in and rescue her. Of course it had been basically true.
But the knight never came. The cook, maids and the gardener fled after first two weeks when rumors about the war reached their little haven. Then guards got called back. Then came the rebels, burning and looting, and she had fled underground, to the vast tunnels expanding so far from the main building that it was actually easy to get lost in there.
She had gotten lost, several times. That was how she had learned how to catch mice and light a fire by hitting rocks together. And how certain dry branches burnt longer than others. And how certain type of moss tasted actually good with mouse meat. And how easily one could wake up to her own screams and sobs if one didn’t choose her resting place well enough. Always some small nook or cranny, never a spacious cavern where the sound of her voice would echo long moments after it had left her mouth. And she had learned about the differences between pure water, and water that would make her sick if she took even one sip from it.
She was actually quite proud of everything she had learned. It almost felt like she had always known what to do in a situation like this. Like everything she needed just fell on her when she needed it. Like lighting the fire, for example. She had been cold and hungry. She had managed to capture a mouse, and she was almost ready to eat it raw. She had already been raising the squeaking and squirming animal towards her lips when her eyes had landed on to something white on the floor of the cavern. A stone. And not just any kind of stone. She just knew that she should find another stone, slightly different, and make a good pile of dry branches and she could get her meal cooked once she got decent amount of sparks beaten out of the stones. Just like she had known that the best way to skin the mouse had been to peel off the pelt from tail towards its whiskered snout.
She had her suspicions of where the knowledge came from, but she tried not to think about it. Tried not to think about him. Tried not to think about Logan. He was probably dead. Or just plain hated her for some reason. For surely he would have come and get her otherwise as soon as the guards left her to her own devices?
She sighed and wrapped the shawl tighter around her shoulders. The sun would set soon. She could go out. She’d have to remember to take a basket with her. Last night she had managed to stumble upon a patch that grew blueberries. All those fresh and sweet berries just waiting for to be picked up and eaten. She’d need the vitamins. Anything and everything she could find she should drag in to the tunnels with her. Berries. Fresh meat. Fish, if she managed to capture any from the decorative pond that still stood in front of the ruins of the mansion. Dry wood. Hay. Herbs. Seeds. Grain. Grain would be important once it ripened. There was a small field behind the mansion that rebels hadn’t burnt for some reason.
Approaching winter would be long and cold.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
It has taken quite some time. Apologies for the long wait, I hope this makes it up. Second part in an not even near finished story.