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**A/N: This is currently an untitled original short story. What I am posting now is the EXTREMELY rough 1st draft. Please feel free to leave feedback!**

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Elizabeth closed the heavy wooden door to Richard's...well, her room now, she supposed. At least it would be, after tonight. Tonight...each second seemed to be speeding toward her much faster than she'd ever imagined it would. Was she ready? "It doesn't matter,"she said aloud, "it is inevitable."



Crossing the dark, polished floor, she knelt by the ornate marble fireplace & started a fire...not so much for warmth as for something to do, something that would distract her thoughts...it wasn't working. She gazed for a while at the flames, watching them dance, hearing the cracks and pops of the wood as it was devoured, and remembered that there were some who claimed to be able to divine the future by looking into the depths of all that was before her now. "Tell me how it ends..." she pleaded softly. "Tell me how I end." But no answer came. She hadn't really expected it to. Still, she could not help but sigh as the last ember of hope was extinguished from her soul.



Slowly, she crossed the room to Richard's-her- bed, where her cloak lay, neatly folded, ready to be put away. Clearly, no one expected her to have further use of it tonight...or perhaps, ever again. She shuddered as she banished the thought, and took no small pleasure in rumpling it thoroughly- balling it up in her hands, tossing it down, even stamping on it- before picking it up, smoothing it out, and draping it across her shoulders. Pushing aside the heavy scarlet hangings, Elizabeth stepped out, onto the great balcony.



Involuntarily, she gasped at the beauty that surrounded her. The moon, full and beautiful, cast a glow over the entire scene, and the inky black sky was pierced by the light of thousands of stars. She went to the edge of the balcony and looked...the scenery below her was indistinguishable in the night, though she knew the chateau was the only building for miles, the rest of the land taken over by wild, overgrown fields and beyond them, steep rock cliffs. Even the land itself imprisoned her.



Suddenly, Elizabeth became aware that she could hear noise...was it laughter? from below. "The dinner must still be going on." She mused. And yes, there it was! A peal of laughter from Catherine rang out, and Elizabeth felt a surge of indignation rise in her. It was fine, for Catherine to laugh! She had her whole life yet to live! Stupid girl! She did not even realize how close she had come to this fate that now rested upon her sister's shoulders. The dinner would be over soon, Catherine and their father would begin the journey home, while Elizabeth would...well, she wasn't quite sure yet. Would he kill her, as he had planned to Catherine? Or would her imprisonment be enough? He had claimed it would, but how could she trust him? She had trusted him as an old family friend, and look where that had gotten her!



She was jolted out of her musings by the sound of carriage wheels on cobblestones...her family was leaving! Her breath quickened and her heart raced as she realized her time was drawing near.



Moments later, a soft knock sounded on the door. Fighting to stay upright as her legs threatened to buckle beneath her, she made her way to the bed and gripped a post to steady herself. "Who is it?" she was suprised to hear her voice sound so confident and self assured, when she was anything but.



"It is Richard, my lady." the deep, silky voice would have sounded pleasing, were it not for the fact she was certain it would be the last she'd ever hear. Praying he could not hear her traitorous heart thudding in her chest, she gripped the cool golden handle and moved to let him in.

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©2011 AFR aka NoirGracieux