I looked at the man surprised. "Lorie? That's an unusual name."

"My friends used to call me that," he admitted with a sad smile. I could tell that something was bothering him.

"Why are you chained up like this?"

"You mean these?" he asked as he looked down to his feet. "I did something bad and therefor the king punished me."

"Oh." I looked at him in silence, not sure what to say. He must have done something really bad, if Father thought that it was necessary to put on this giant chains. "How long have you been here?"

The man stared at me for a while before letting out a sigh. "I don't know, it's been too long since I last saw the sun." He let out another sigh and sat down again.

"I am sorry."

I didn't know why I apologized, I wasn't the one who took away his freedom. But still I felt sadness overcome me. I couldn't imagine a life without being able to feel the warmth of the sunrays touching my skin.

"Do you have a family?" I looked around the room for a while before walking to the wall and sitting down.

"No," he mumbled.

"But everyone has a family," I exclaimed. I wished I hadn't said those words as I saw a flicker of sadness crossing his features.

"I am sorry," I said.

Lorie looked at me, his eyes filled with surprised. "You don't have to apologize."

"Of course, I shouldn't have said that, that was thoughtless of me."

"You are different, I can tell," Lorie said after a while.

I looked at him with a frown. "What do you mean?"

"I have lived a long life, Adelaide. I know how the others think, they don't care about anyone but themselves." He stopped for a moment and pointed a finger at me. "But you, you are different. You have a heart."

"But everybody has a heart," I replied with a laugh.

"But most people forget about theirs."

"And what about you?" I asked.

He looked at me confused. "What about me?"

"Did you forget about yours?"

"No, I didn't forget about it," he said. "I destroyed it."

I stared at Lorie confused and sad. He looked so broken, as if he had lost all hope. I could only wander what had happened to him. But whatever it was, it must have been horrible. I looked around, trying to come up with something to distract him from his misery.

"I am cursed," I suddenly blurted out. It probably wasn't the best thing to say, but I couldn't figure out anything else to say.

Lorie looked at me confused, a frown forming on his forehead. "What?" he asked in disbelief.

"I am cursed," I mumbled and let out a sigh.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, apparently I am going to fall asleep on my eighteenth birthday and never wake up again, or at least for a long period of time," I explained with a shrug.

Lorie stared at me with an opened mouth, apparently my plan to distract him worked. "How did it happen? The curse, I mean" he asked with a small voice.

"It happened during my christening, apparently a Magie called Malloreigh cursed me. I was supposed to die on my eighteenth birthday, but my aunts, who aren't really my aunts, managed to change the curse, therefore I won't die but instead fall asleep. And since Malloreigh was able to flee, I had to leave the castle and move to the forest where I have stayed ever since I can remember. But apparently they caught him, and my father asked for me to come back to live with him."

I took a deep breath once I finished rambling down my story. I didn't know what made me tell him my story, I just had a this feeling inside of me that I could trust him. Stealing a glance at him, I noticed that he was staring at me. But instead of pity I saw guilt flashing through his eyes.

I looked around and bit my upper lip, not knowing what to say. Apparently, he didn't either. We ended up silent as we sat there on the cold stone floor. After a while, I let out a deep breath and looked back to Lorie.

"So," I trailed off. "What's your story?"

He looked up tome with a frown. "My story?" he asked unsure if he had heard my correct.

"Yes," I said, nodding. "Everybody has got a story, what's yours?"

"You wouldn't want to know," he mumbled and shook his head.

"Of course, that's why I asked." I looked at him curiously, my arms wrapped around my feet as I leaned my head on my knees.

He hesitated for a moment before letting out a deep breath. "My story isn't a pretty one. Made some bad decisions, angered the wrong people. It's complicated," he said after a moment.

"It's alright, you don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to," I said, noticing his discomfort. "I should probably head back. They must be waiting for me."

"Of course. It was nice talking to a friendly face once in a while." His voice sounded sincere.

"Isn't it lonely down here?" I asked, not able to hold back my thoughts.

"Yes, but the silence helps me think." He tried to lighten up the mood, but I could tell that I had hit a nerve.

"Well, I hope you won't mind, but I think I'll stop by more often from now on," I said with a smile. "I think we both could use a friend here."

He couldn't help but smile at my words. Nodding, he let out a slight laugh. "I suppose I won't mind."

"Then it's settled!" I looked around the room with a frown. "You don't know how I can get out of here, do you?"

He laughed before explaining to me how I could get out of the dark room. Thanking him, I smiled at him one more time before turning around and following his instructions. After leaving the room through a small door, I had to follow several passageways until I finally ended up at a staircase.

Finally, my surroundings started to become familiar again as I recalled using the stairs earlier to reach my room. After asking one of the maids where the dining room was. She gave me a strange look, but kindly pointed me towards it. I thanked her before walking down the hallway and around the corner.

On the other end of the hallway I spotted the dining room and quickly walked the rest of the way. As I got closer, I could hear people talking on the other side of the door. One I immediately recognized as my father's, but the other one I couldn't make out clearly enough, but I could have sworn that it sounded familiar.

I greeted the two guards standing on both sides of the door with a warm smile and a nod. Upon recognizing me, they both bowed their heads. At first, I was confused by their action, but then I realized that it was probably some sort of court etiquette. I felt slightly uncomfortable by their action. I wasn't used to people bowing in front of me.

But since it seemed like they were used to it, I didn't say anything as they opened the door for me. Thanking them, I entered the room that had fallen silent upon my arrival.
Immediately my eyes landed on my father, who sat on the end of the table that was closest to the entrance.

As soon as his gaze landed on me, his eyes widened. "What happened to you, Briar Rose?" he asked with a worried look.

I frowned at his words and looked down at myself only to realize that my dress had pieces of straw attached to it. I could only imagine what I had to look like right now. "Oh," I said, trying to brush the straws of. "I-"

I stopped midsentence, realizing that it probably wasn't the best idea to tell him about my little encounter.

"It doesn't matter now," Father said, brushing it off. "Since you're finally hear, there is someone I would like for you to meet," he announced. I nodded, remembering him saying something similar earlier to me when I showed me to my room.

"Briar Rose," he said, his hands pointing towards the other end of the room. My eyes followed his gaze and landed upon a familiar looking man. As soon as my gaze landed on him, I froze. My eyes widened in surprise as I stood there with a frown.

"This is Prince Philip of Reigndon."

Hey guys! So I finally managed to write another chapter! I hope you liked it. Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment and vote! I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!