Random Freestyle Writing

He does remember in the morning. He comes down at the crack of dawn and gives me a tray of food. I had hardly slept at all last night, and I struggle to keep my eyes open as I eat the food he supplies me with. Scotty sits on the floor in front of me and watches me for awhile. "Did I hurt you yesterday when I pulled you away from Alby?" he asks suddenly. "Yes, my shoulder hurts," I answer meekly, touching my left shoulder. "Let me see," he gets to his knees and comes closer to me. He gently pushes aside the sleeve of my dress and touches my shoulder. I cringe away from his hand; it hurts though he"s being gentle. "Sorry," he whispers and touches it again. I don"t cringe away this time, though it hurts terribly, and I whimper. "It looks like it"s just bruised. It should heal up soon." "You"re very different than you were in my father"s castle," I point out. "Yes, well, I"m not exactly fond of your father." Scotty sits down beside me. I don"t exactly protest, but I scoot a bit away. "You see, he killed my parents when I was only eight years old." "That"s terrible!" I gasp. "Yes, I know," Scotty looks for a moment like a lost child: sad and alone. "Is that why you started the war?" "I didn"t start this war; your father did. He broke into my kingdom, fully armed, and demanded that we surrender our army. We have the best army in all of Ireland, though, and I didn"t want to surrender. I told him that, and he began the war." I think about that for a little bit, not quite knowing what to say. Everything my father has ever told me is wrong; Alby has lied to me too many times. Knowing that bit of information fills me with anger and distrust for my kingdom. "I have to go, Princess Nessa," Scotty says, standing up. "I have many things to do today, but I will be back tonight at dusk to bring you more food." He walks out of the room and closes the door behind him. I try to find something to pass the time before morning, but I just can"t do it. There"s nothing to do down in this dark, damp dungeon. I notice a single beam of light falling over a pile of hay, and I go over to see where it"s coming from. A small window is over a rather large pile of logs, nearly to the ceiling. I climb up on some logs and try to look through it, but it is mostly covered in grime. I brush away as much of it as I can with my hand, and peer through the glass. I see the vast hills of Birr, stretching over miles of land. There are small clusters of houses scattered around the hills and farmland in between the clusters. I watch the farmlands for so long, captivated by the farmers and animals, I don"t notice how much time passes until I notice the sun going down. The heavy door to the dungeon opens suddenly, making me jump. Scotty comes in with a tray of food in his hands. He looks over and sees me at the window. I leap to my feet, afraid he"ll be angry with me for going near a window. He may think that I"m trying to escape. He doesn"t seem angry, though; he motions for me to come over and he sits down on the dusty floor. When I sit down on the ground, he hands me the tray and begins talking. "So, I see you"ve discovered the window." I nod. "You"ve been admiring my kingdom? There"s not much to admire, but it"s probably not something you"re used to." "No, I"m not used to it. I"ve never seen so many animals and so much farmland. It is very strange, but beautiful in a rural sort of way," I say as I finish the food and push aside the tray. "Gosh," Scotty laughs. "You finished a whole meal worth of food in a minute." "Maybe I wouldn"t be so quick about it if you fed me more than twice a day." "My apologies, Princess," Scotty nods his head. We sit in silence for a little while before I get up and go back over to the window. I look out of it again. "Will I ever get to go back home?" I ask quietly. "I probably seem like a monster to you: taking you away from your home and holding you captive in a dungeon. Let me ask you this, though: what exactly do you think you"ll miss about Parsonstown? Is it life in the city, or Ian Coleman of Dublin?" I vaguely notice that he avoids answering my question. "Neither," I answer honestly. "I"m not particularly fond of life in the city; it"s too crowded. And Ian... well, I"ll miss him, but it"s not like he won"t find someone else." I turn to Scotty; he"s standing closer to me now. "No, I think the thing I"ll miss most is the dance that father held every month. He would get the ballroom all decorated like it was a special occasion and Ian and I would just dance all day long. It was a bit ridiculous and childish, but it was the one day of the month when we actually had any fun." I smile a bit, remembering it all. "He only let other people in once every three months or so." "It doesn"t sound ridiculous and childish," Scotty says. "Well, I"m sorry, but I have to leave now. But I promise you that I will be back tomorrow morning." Scotty leaves the room, closing the door behind him.