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**Short chapter, may add to it later**
When evening came Michael had to leave. He had been gone the whole morning and afternoon in Ariel’s locked room. They had surrendered their hearts to one another and even spoke about a wedding briefly. When he had his clothes back and managed to escape from Ariel’s arms, he unlocked the door, put the key on a small table next to the door and left, mumbling something about supper.
Ariel was sitting up with the blankets down by her waist, listening to his footsteps fade. When they faded completely, she got up and locked her door. She drew the curtains over the glass doors and gazed around the room. Only now was she noticing the furniture. There was a huge armoire in the corner with three body length mirrors at different angles. There was a night table next to the large canopied four-poster bed. A table and chairs occupied the area around the glass doors. Next to the door to the bathroom were hooks, which held towels and a bathrobe made of pink satin with light flower prints. There was a white couch next to a bookshelf full of books and magazines. An area rug took up most of the bare, pink stone floor. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace in front of the couch, crackling ever so slightly. She then spotted her trunk of clothing sitting behind the closed door. Before rummaging through it, she put on the robe and tied it tightly around her waist.
She managed to carry it to the tabletop with some difficulty where she began to go through the contents. She put all her clothing into piles. Keep, toss, and keep for old time’s sake. She kept all her under clothing, a few nice shirts and pairs of pants she had and threw out old work clothes from the bar. While going through the toss pile once more, her thoughts floated to Ryan for some weird reason. When she came across the hat she wore everyday for the past five years, she instantly pushed it out of sight. When she finished sorting everything, she put them in the appropriate drawers in the armoire, finding new clothes already there. She added hers to the clothes in the drawers and began to browse through the underclothing. When she picked out a suitable pair she tossed them onto the bed. She straitened up tossing her curls back over her shoulder.
She then began going through the racks of clothing. When she found a nice pair of dress pants and a blouse, she tossed them onto the bed too. After finding nothing but sandals, she chose the most flattering ones and tossed them at the foot of the bed. After eyeing her selection, she gave herself an approving nod and headed for the bathroom to take a bath. After washing her hair and scrubbing her skin the way Hannah did, she got out and wrapped herself in one of the fluffy towels. Spotting the fire, she decided to dry her hair that way. After it was dried, it was stick straight and her normally curly hair, which reached past her shoulders, now reached just past mid-back length. After tying it up with a ribbon, she got dressed.
When she was ready she took one last glance at herself in the mirror and left her room, dropping the key into her pocket as she left. She wandered around the place; bumping into people who gave her looks she wasn’t sure what to make of. While walking along the lower levels, she bumped into someone that looked too familiar. He was bent over, whispering into one of the old women’s ears. She left, giggling; he turned to look at her. He immediately tensed while she crossed her arms just below her breasts. The air in the hallway seemed to have thickened with an unknown emotion.
“Looking lovely tonight, Ariel. Big difference from last night,” he said trying to walk past her. She immediately grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him back.
“And where are you going? You’re going to explain to me what the hell is going on here!”
“I can’t reveal my work. It’s private.”
“Oh private this!” she shouted, flicking her fingertips at him, causing him to fly back.
“What are you doing?” he gasped as she neared him, getting his own blast ready.
“Repaying you for making me lose my cool.”
“But you look happy now!” he shouted, throwing a dark ball at her pushing her into the wall.
Meanwhile, Michael was a floor below them speaking with General Andarie when there was a clatter from upstairs followed by shrieks. They looked at each other, and went dashing out the door. When the arrived at the scene both Ryan and Ariel were on their feet with their arms tensed and eyes blazing. Before they could act, Ariel let lose another shot just as Ryan did. General Andarie leapt forward, grabbed Ariel around the waist and blocked Ryan’s attack. Ryan managed to dodge her attack as well.
“What the bloody blaze is going on here?” General Andarie roared, releasing Ariel. She immediately spat at his face and ran past Ryan, pushing him roughly into the wall. Pieces of stone were chipped from the walls and dust floated in the air.
“What happened?” Michael demanded of Ryan.
He smiled. “I think she realized I was working for you.”
Ariel had made her way to her room and slammed the door shut.
“That bastard!” she shouted out loud, pounding on the door and hard as she could. She caught her reflection on the way to the balcony and she wasn’t too surprised to see ripped clothing, bloodstains, disarrayed clothing and one missing sandal.
“The asshole!” she shouted again, opening the glass doors with a bang sending a crack to splinter it’s way through one of them. She slumped down on the thick marble rails and gazed down. There he was now. Bidding goodbye to Michael and his general. She watched Ryan step inside a carriage and close the door. With a pat on the side of it, Michael sent him off. Probably to go find another one of his lost brides. She spat down but quickly pulled back as the general looked up. There was a slight breeze starting, beginning to toss the curtains around.
She slowly made her way into her room and kicked the bathrobe she discarded before around on the floor before picking it up. She found a nightgown in one of the lowest drawers in the armoire and slipped it on with the robe over it. She put a pair of slippers on and threw her clothes she wore for fifteen minutes into the bathroom.
She sighed as she brought the fire back to life and dropped down on the floor in front of it. Her hair was beginning to curl right around her face from the sweat of being angry. With the fire her only light, she lay on the floor and began to point out shapes the shadows made. It was her first night in this dreaded place. She suddenly sat up as a thought filled her head. She quickly turned to look at the balcony. She got to her feet, not keeping her eyes off the rail. Putting one foot in front of the other, she made her way to the edge. She looked down and saw it wasn’t as far as she thought it was. Maybe five floors up. There were plenty of bushes to soften her fall. She smiled. She would be free yet.
She dashed back into her room and locked her door. She threw on the ugliest dress she could find: beige with brown material wrapping her body from under her breasts to her waist, as well as from her elbows ending at her wrists. She grabbed a shawl to hide her hair and a handful of soot from the fire and dirtied her face. Then she grabbed the blanket from her bed. When she was ready she wrapped her shawl around her waist and stood on the marble rails, holding the blanket in folds in her arms. Without a backwards glance, she hesitated for a moment and then jumped. She let the blanket out and it created a parachute. She floated down to the front yard, the wind’s speed increasing and whipping the skirt of her dress around madly. As soon as she hit the ground there were yells from behind her. As they advanced, she dropped the blanket and ran. She ran around fountains and shrubs, through flower arrangements leaving behind nothing but footprints and the blanket.
When she thought she was free, there was a loud shout and heavy thuds behind her. She glanced back and saw General Andarie chasing her, gaining speed. That General could run! When she ran into the gate she slipped through the bars leaving General Andarie clawing his way through his pocket to get his keys. But what she thought was a key was actually a whistle. He blew it with force. She paused to see what he was going to do next. When she was going to turn to run someone grabbed her from behind, pinned her arm painfully behind her back and forced her to her knees.
“Let go of me!” she shrieked, thrashing around wildly. Her only response was a searing pain in her head. She was released as she closed her eyes and collapsed.
Michael and General Andarie came running through the gates as soon as they were opened.
“You knocked her unconscious?” Michael fumed.
“I had to. She could have blown my arm off, as well as a huge chunk of the front lawn,” Ryan said, kneeling down to check her pulse. He suddenly leapt up; pushing Michael away as Ariel gave a fierce kick. While they recovered from the surprise, Ariel was up and running again and rushed into the night without a backward glance.
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