The Wolf and His Queen

Chapter 4: Where Am I?

Rosalynn's POV:

This was a very strange feeling that I was starting to feel. What was this feeling? It was like I was feeling really groggy as I was coming around to the point of starting to wake up. That was when I tried to remember the last thing that happened to me as I attempted to open my eyes at that moment. Wait, why can I not open my eyes? What was wrong with me at that point that I could not open up my eyes? I needed to calm myself down for a moment and think about everything that was around me. That was when I noticed then that I was unable to see the room around me. Alright, what else did I notice other than not being able to see? I asked myself what I could feel around me. I started to move my head from side to side and that is when I noticed that there was something that was wrapped around my head. This must be the thing that was blocking my vision so that I could not even open my eyes. What else was around me that I tried to notice at that point?

I then tried to focus my hearing on what I could hear that was close to me. I tried to listen to see if I heard any voices around me but the only thing that I could make out sounded like water?! How could it be that the only thing that I heard was the sound of running water in the near distance? The more I paid attention to what was around me, the more my senses were honed in the room that I was in. That is when my sense of smell was getting stronger. After I started to smell this room, or whatever it was, I wished that my nose did not work so well. The smell in the room I was in seemed to be a very old and musty smell. I tried to think as to what would make sense, as I remembered that the castle was old but not like the smell that I was smelling at that moment. I guessed at that point that I was no longer at the castle but somewhere else entirely.

After everything that I learned so far, I could not understand what happened to me. I knew that I had a long day of events to attend, so who in their right mind would have done something like that to prevent me from carrying out my duties? It was then that I tried to move my arms and that was when I found that my hands were tied at my wrists and placed high above my head. I swallowed a hard swallow as I tried not to let the fear overwhelm me. I then tried to move my legs and I was even more shocked when I found out that I could not move them either. I was tied at my ankles and they had them placed a little more than shoulder-width apart. Who was doing this to me? Why were they doing this to me? Where were they now? I did not hear anyone in the same room as me at that moment.

Despite being tied up, I still tried to move around a bit and then I noticed that I seemed to be lying on what felt like a very hard table or platform of some kind. My hands and feet were tied by something soft, maybe it was a silk scarf so as to not damage my skin. However, as soft as this material seemed, it was tied so tight that I could say that it was almost to the point of cutting off circulation to my hands and feet. I figured that whoever did this, was in no way going to allow me a chance to escape while they were not around. Or at least I did not think anyone was close to me. I was pretty sure that I was left alone at that moment in time. I could not smell any odors or fragrances of any sprays that a person would wear. Nor could I hear anyone breathing around me and guys usually breathed harder than women.

I did have a very strong sense of smell, however. One thing that I could not figure out was why this was the case, but I could pinpoint when someone walked into a room, almost as if I had super senses. Then I thought about things for a moment, as I knew werewolves had these heightened senses. I knew this as we even had some werewolves who worked for me in my very own kingdom, but that did not explain why my senses were a lot stronger at this point either. I had previously chalked it up to circumstances and good genetics. I could not see and then I knew that when you would lose the ability to use one sense, the others would get stronger due to that situation.

Then I went over it in my mind several times. Who could have done this and what was their reason for doing so? I started to listen to my surroundings again to see if anything had changed in the few minutes since I woke up. I could not tell if there was any light in the room either, as the band that went around my head and eyes was so thick that I could not see any sort of light coming through it. I knew that I needed to try and keep myself as calm as I possibly could, which was extremely difficult to do in this situation. I was fearful, as I could not see anything and that fear was growing as I was starting to fear the worst right now, of all things. That was until I started to feel fear creep up inside my chest as I tried not to overly panic.

Then I knew why I had that feeling starting to grow in my chest, as that was when I began to hear footsteps in the distance getting ever so closer. Once the footsteps got close enough, they all of a sudden stopped. Why did they just stop? I thought to myself of different reasons why they would stop. Maybe that was because of my current stress level, it was causing my mind to run wild, or was it? Just then I heard a door creak open very slowly. Then I was hit by a gentle breeze that was filled with a musty scent. It almost smelled like mold or something that was very wet and was not given adequate time to dry. The scent was very potent, and in a way, the smell itself burnt my nose upon contact. I knew that I had to be either deep in the woods or in a seller of some kind. No other location would make sense for this old and wet smell to exist.

Other than that, I honestly had no idea where I could be. I also had no idea why I was here or who could have taken me in the first place. I then tried to recall the details of what happened right before I blacked out. The next thing I heard was the footsteps starting to walk even closer to me before the sound of the door closed, as they were now in the room on that side of the door. Again I swallowed a bit hard and I tried not to move so as to alert whoever it was that I was awake and paying attention. The sound of the creaking door would give even the best guard shivers if they could not see it happening.

Whoever this was seemed to turn around and walk closer to me. I could hear how they walked over next to me to where a table or stand of some kind was positioned. I figured that as I heard something heavy that was being placed down on top of whatever it was that was next to me. When the item was placed there, I could not help but jump at this particular moment, as I was not expecting it to be placed with such force. It seemed that it was done in such a manner to elicit a response that would make me jump out of my skin as well. If they wanted to ensure that I was conscious and awake, this was indeed the way to accomplish that task for certain.

“Ah, you're finally awake!” I heard a strange voice with a strong accent speak up after I jumped for the sake of my nerves.

I was really confused at that point. I knew a lot of people as I was a princess of my very own kingdom and met different people every day. I have never heard anyone like this person speak before, so I was still puzzled about why I was there in the first place. I again tried to struggle in front of my captor this time. As I pulled against my bindings, the strange voice spoke up again with delight in his voice.

“There is no point in trying to struggle," he said with an eerie tone, one that made me cringe upon hearing it. "No one knows you are here and no one will ever find out! You are going to be here for a long time to come. So get comfortable.”

As he said that last part, I felt a fingertip run from my right wrist down my arm to the underside of my body down through my ribs. I tried to pull away from him but to my surprise, there was no point. I could not help it, but the feel of him touching me sent shivers down my spine, and I am not talking about the good kind. These feelings are the creepy kind that you would not wish on your worst enemy. The worst part about this is that I could not see anything coming. I could only listen and pray that things did not get worse.

As I lay there, I was swallowed up by fear and started to tremble as I heard the man open up the apparent bag that was placed on the table a moment ago. It was like he was enjoying taking his time with this, as I heard the zipper of this bag open very slowly and then quicker at the end.

Just then, it seemed like he had taken something metallic out of the bag. He then turned to me and as he got closer to the right side of the table on which I was lying, he touched me with what he had in his hand. It felt as if I was still wearing my pale purple silk sleeping gown. If that was the case, then I knew that my clothes were thin and I could not hide the apparent shaking that was radiating from all over my body. I also remembered that I had not had a shower yet at the start of my day and it was a warm night last night. My stomach was growling at that point as well. I usually ate after I showered in the morning and that was my usual routine on long trips away from home.

Another thing that I was trying to figure out is that I also had no apparent realization of the current time, as I had no idea how long I had indeed been out of it. Just then, his movement brought me out of my own thoughts and back to what he was doing. That was when he placed one hand between my shins and with his other hand, which he still held onto the metallic rod, he placed it on the edge of the table beside me. It seemed as if he appeared to lean over me right at that point. I was not sure what he was doing as I could not see anything. Then that is when I heard what he did next.

That was when I noticed that he took in a very deep breath as he was leaning over me. I shuddered at the thought, as I could not tell exactly where he was positioned. How close was he to me? What exactly was he doing? Why would someone want to breathe in my scent? That thought did not help me from trying to keep from shuddering at that moment. After he took his breath, he seemed to stand back up straight again and I felt him lift his hands and the metal rod up off the table. I had no idea what was going on nor did I know what he was going to do to me next at that point. This was all getting too much for my nerves to handle. I didn't know how much my mind was willing to take at that point. I was trying to remain calm, but what could possibly happen next? That was when I feared something bad was about to happen to me.