The Girl with The Dragon Wolf Tattoo

Chapter Three

{Adrienne’s POV}

After probably more than an hour and a half of walking, I finally reached the end of the tunnel. Finally.

A ladder was at the end, so I walked towards it and looked up. It was pitch black, but I could clearly see the twinkling stars above. There was no doubt that it was already night, though I couldn’t exactly tell what time it was now because my adrenaline rush was still high for more than an hour of walking.

But I knew for sure that if I became sleepy, then it was probably late.

I climbed on the ladder, almost falling on doing so. My hands and knees were shaking and all I wanted to do now was lie on the soft mattress of my bed with the comfort of my parents. My home.

But that thought was also the reason why I would keep on going no matter how tired or hopeless I was. I would never give up until my family became complete.

When I reached the top, my body seemed to give away on its own accord and all I could do was lay down with my back on the ground. My chest was raising and falling for finally having enough oxygen, and I felt my head spin in dizziness.

Very human thing.

I felt something warm on my chest, so I look down and saw the ruby necklace that I found on the safe. And it was…glowing?

I quickly sat down and held the necklace out to take a closer look. It was really glowing, and not only that, but it was also warm on my hand.

What the hell?

Was this normal? It was still after all a stone.

But come to think of it, why would Mamai leave this necklace to me? Of all the things she could possibly leave, why a necklace?

It was so frustrating that I would have to figure out the answer myself, and how I wish I could be mad at them for not explaining things to me sooner. But sadly, I couldn’t. We’re all just a victim here.

I got a name, and it could be a lead, but I wasn’t certain if the man named Cadmus was really the one Mamai was pertaining to in the letter that she left me. Besides, I have no idea where I would locate that man. No place and no other information. Just a freaking name.

“Great. Just great.” I muttered dryly before standing up.

I take in my surrounding and as expected, I saw nothing. It was so dark and if I didn’t know any better, I would assume that I had turned blind because no matter how I squint my eyes, I still see nothing. But when I look up, there, the stars shining so bright above. But it was still useless because it wouldn’t light up my way out of this place, and the necklace wasn’t glowing anymore, so basically, I have no source of light with me.

But do I have a choice? Na-da.

So, slowly, and carefully, I started walking forward, my hands mid-air to feel any object or whatever that might come in my way.

And I wasn’t wrong because not too long after when I felt something hard pressed against my palms. My finger traced every detail of whatever it was that I was touching. It was rough, hard, and huge. Soon, I realized that it was a tree. I was touching the body of a freaking tree.

So, that means I was in the woods…I guess.

My eyes widen in realization.

The thing was, there were no woods in our not-so-hidden home. So, it only meant that I was outside. I was in the presence of a harsh and dangerous world.

My heartbeat quickened.

Calm down, Dahlia. There’s no time for any panic attacks. You’re just in the outside world. What could possibly go wrong?

With that thought, I did my best to calm my raging nerves down and started walking again. I have no planned destination in mind. Just walk straight forward and stop if I would ever saw any sort of form of light.

And if that didn’t happen, then I would just have to wait until dawn.

And of course, it had to be the latter. Just look how fortunate I was. Note the sarcasm.

I must have been walking in the dark for hours because I could already see the sun rising. And the word exhausted would be an understatement to describe what I was feeling at the moment.

But even with bags under my eyes, dirty clothes, and messy hair, I continued walking until finally, I saw my entire surrounding.

Turned out, I was right. I was indeed in the woods, but because of my never-ending walk, I have managed to make it out and into the…holy crap.

“Woah…” I gasped in pure amazement.

There were houses everywhere, and people who had different features. There were some small ones, tall, and beautiful, and some that were not so good to look at, but still. They’re all beautiful.

I could recognize the houses as medieval ones. Stores and other establishments. They were all here and I was seeing them in person. For the first time! It was obvious how huge this place was that it was a city.

I started walking with a mesmerized look on my face when I bumped into someone who was walking in a hurry.

“Hey! Watch it, girl.”

A fat guy with a thick beard glared at me before walking away.

“I’m sorry,” I uttered.

After that, I tried to be as careful as I could but with the way they acted, it was impossible. Their actions were too hasty, rough, and clumsy, not to mention that they were also very loud. In short, everything was the total opposite of the way I was raised.

And I was starting to think that my parents were right about the outside world.

As I continue to walk, I saw a bunch of apples outside a store, and I felt my stomach grumble in protest. There was a lady behind it that looked like she was guarding the apples. I frown but still walked over her.

“Uhm, hi. Can I have two, please?” I asked, hoping that the lady would say yes, and to my delight, she actually said yes.

But to my utter confusion, the lady then asked me to pay for it. Like, does everything they offer have a price? I thought she was giving them for free.

Still, I paid for the apples with the gold coins that Mamai left for me in the safe. The lady even looked shocked when she saw it.

While happily eating my apple, I heard a voice yell at someone.

“Tell your King to f/ck himself! I ain’t paying for sh/t!” And the next thing I knew, the guy was being dragged away by tall and bulky men.

I walked away before anything happens.

King? They have a King here?

What if that could help me solve my problems? I just have to go find where the palace was and asked for the King’s help. But that man earlier though. He spoke about the King with spite in his voice as if he hated nothing more than the King. And that makes me wonder if their King was a good ruler at all.

Too occupied with my thoughts, I didn’t even notice the girl in front of me, and she wasn’t looking either, so before I could avoid her, we both came crashing down with each other.

All the things in her hand fell to the ground, and I notice the panicked expression on her face when she saw what happened to it.

“No. No. No. No.” She quickly got on her knees and tried to see if the bottles of milk, apples, bread, and other foods were clean, and it was…for a brief second at least. Because a bunch of guys walked past us and purposely stepped on it all.

“Hey!” I yelled at the guys, but they ignored me.

The girl paled and a look of pure fear crossed her feature as she stared at the wasted foot on the ground.

Guilt swarmed inside me because let’s face it, it was partly my fault why it happened. I wasn’t paying attention to my surrounding.

“I’m so sorry. Let me help you.” I said and, bend down to help her save the few clean apples left.

“I-it’s okay. It’s fine. Thank you.” I immediately noticed her trembling voice. A sign that she was scared or something, causing me to be more guilty.

I sigh. “Let me pay for those,” I said, pointing my fingers at the food on the ground.

“No. It’s fine. You don’t have to do that.” She gave me a reassuring smile, but I didn’t buy it of course. I saw the fear in her eyes, and I knew it had something to do with the wasted food. For all I know, it could be her food for the entire week.

“I insist. I know you need it, and don’t you dare deny it. I could see it in your face.”

In the end, she gave up and agreed. I insisted on coming with her to buy the food she needs. I even helped her carry the other food we bought.

We went to the last store and that’s when I introduced myself.

“I’m so sorry again for what happened. My name’s Adrienne by the way.” Only my parents call me Dahlia, so I gave her my first name. It was not safe to just give names to strangers so might as well think smart.

The girl smiled at me. “I’m Skylar, and no need to apologize. I wasn’t looking anyway. Thanks, by the way for buying all these stuff for me. You didn’t have to, but still. Thank you. You just saved my life.”

I chuckled. “It was the least I could do.”

She let out a heavy sigh. “You literally have no idea how much it meant to me that you replaced all the wasted food. I would have to pay for it and even get punished if it wasn’t for you.”

My brows furrowed.

“Really?” I asked, almost out of breath.

And to my shock, Skylar nodded. “Yeah. The palace was kind of strict and brutal, to be honest. One wrong move could lead you to punishment or worse, death.”

Death.

“Wait. Is that where you work? To the palace, I mean?”

She nodded again. “Yeah. I work there as a servant.”

My eyes widen and before I could even think of what to say next, words automatically flew out of my mouth before I could stop them.

“Can you take me there with you?”

If I want to know all the things that was happening around the cities, I must go to the only place that control them all, the palace. And once I’m on it, I would know every move that those hunters would make. I’ll make sure that I would be ten steps ahead of them, so they better be careful because once I’ve got my hands on them, oh, they’ll definitely be sorry.

Skylar became quiet and I thought she didn’t understand clearly what I said, so I cleared my throat and tried again.

I raised my brow. “So, what do you say? Could you take me with you to the palace?”

Skylar looked at me as if I’d just lost my mind. Then, she consciously looked around before leaning closer to me.

“Are you insane?!” She half whispered and half hissed at me. “If anybody found out that I was working in the palace, we’re doomed.”

O-okay…so, now, I’m confused.

“Erm, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Skylar sighed.

“Most of the people here haven’t seen what the palace looked like on the inside. They don’t even know what the king looked like. In short, everything that involves the palace was a big mystery to everyone.” She paused, then nervously looked around before turning back to me when nothing seemed to be suspicious around. “While we who worked inside must keep our tongue-tied especially when we go here in the city. Once someone knew that a servant was babbling about the palace, we’re basically dead.”

My eyes widened and I felt my stomach churned. I felt sick and I felt the urge to throw up.

I remained frozen in my spot, unable to move.

I couldn’t believe what she told me. So, all this time, my parents were right about how dangerous it was in the palace? It was like, they don’t get to decide what would happen to their life.

“So, asking me to take you to the palace was like a death wish, Adrienne.” There was a hint of sadness in her voice, causing me to blink my eyes and carefully examine her features. Skylar let out a shaky sigh, then continued. “Most of the servants in the palace wished they weren’t where they are now. You have no idea how badly we want to quit our job and have our own family and home, but it would be impossible to happen. Once you enter, there’s no turning back.”

I could feel her longing to get out of the palace, and it made me wonder how badly she was being treated in that place to make her look so miserable and sad.

But no matter how scary and dangerous her story might sound, I’d made my decision. I’m doing this for my parents, to save them, and for us to be together again, so I would do whatever it takes to have them back even if it meant pretending to be a servant in the palace.

This could be the biggest mistake I would ever do or it could also be the greatest decision that I would ever make. There were no certain things about the future. Everything could turn upside down in a way we could never imagine.

So, it would be up to us if we would choose to…take the risk or lose the chance.

But in my case, I could never afford to lose that chance. So, it left me with just an option; take the risk.

***

“Even if you still want to continue with this crazy plan of yours, it wouldn’t be easy for us to sneak you inside the palace,” Skylar explained as we made our way toward the palace.

After I told her that I still want her to take me inside the palace, she kind of guessed that I, Adrienne, was a psychotic and bored woman who lacks assurance and affection, and would rather resort to attracting drama into my life than to live in peace.

Oh, if only that was true…

Clearly, this girl has no idea what she was talking about, and perhaps, so was I. This—whatever I was doing— could be just because of my emotions and not based on logic and rational thinking.

My parents were taken, and my home was destroyed and exploited. I was a mess and I have no idea if what I’m doing was the right thing.

So, there was this huge possibility that was acting based on my emotions and what I thought was right at the moment.

“Then, what should we do now?” I asked.

She stopped watching and turned to me. Genuine worry was visible in her eyes. “Are you really sure about this?”

No.

I wanted to say that, but a “Yes” came out of my mouth instead before I could even think about it.

Skylar sighed like she’d given up on trying to change my mind.

“Okay. I’ll help you.”

My eyes widened and I smiled even though I was not entirely happy, knowing the danger that might come with it.

I know that my life wouldn’t be mine anymore once I entered the palace.

When Skylar and I were close to the gate of the palace, she told me to wear my cloak to hide at least half of my face while she did the same.

I was amazed at how huge the palace was. It was so beautiful and if I didn’t know better, I would think that the people living inside were lucky for having that kind of home. But the thing was, that place was far from being a home.

“Adrienne, I need you to be quiet no matter what, okay? Even if you hear something from them, do not speak at all unless I gave you a nod. Do you understand?” She said seriously, making my heart beat doubled.

I nodded.

Soon, we went to the two guards outside the huge and thick gate.

“Philip, it’s me, Skylar. Let us in.” Skylar spoke to the guy with dark hair and rough features. He stood for about six feet tall with a scar on his right eyebrow.

He looked at Skylar, dark eyes void of any emotion, then his gaze soon flickered to me. He just stared at me for a moment before asking.

“And who’s this with you? I can’t recognize her as one of our servants.” He spoke roughly. “What is your name, girl?”

I looked at Skylar who slightly shook her head at me. So, I remained silent while she answered for me.

“She is Diana. Can’t you recognize her? Miss Rose asked her to do some errands yesterday. Fortunately, we both saw each other in the city earlier, so we decided to return together.” She gulped but still remained firm in front of the guard Philip.

The man didn’t look convinced and continued to look at me with cold eyes as if contemplating whether to believe or not. And I know for a fact that if they found out that we’re lying, then we’re dead.

“Take off your cloak.”

My heart raced painfully fast when I heard those words leave his mouth.

God…Is this the end for me?

But then, Skylar spoke.

“You know she can’t do that. We are not allowed to take off our cloak when we are speaking to a palace guard. It’s a risk to reveal our identity.”

The guy named Philip didn’t answer but his eyes were sharp, probably knowing that Skylar has a point.

I held my breath, waiting for his next response in anticipation.

Then, Philip turned to the other guy across from him and nodded his head.

“Let them in.”

Skylar and I share a look, the tip of her lips twitching in victory. While my knees almost buckled down in too much relief.

We’re safe…

But oh, how wrong was I to ever think that? I didn’t even realize that I willingly walked into the devil’s lair until I was finally facing the devil himself.

But looking back now, I think it was an encounter that I would never regret…or maybe not.