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stopped the guards and went to her chambers smiling.

      Sophie and Patrick were in a cage. They couldn’t believe that this was really happening to them. After a while, Edwin walked up to the cart where Sophie and Patrick were contained. A bald man in Golden armor and a huge scar on his face from a sword was accompanying Edwin. He cast a thunder eye at Patrick and Sophie. As it turned out, it was Albert, a well-known slaveholder. He asked Edwin:

      “You told me the rat could talk.”

      “Yes,” Edwin said.

      “So, make it talk.”

      Edwin moved closer to the cage and said, “Say something!” he ordered Patrick.

      Patrick did not utter a word pretending that he cannot talk to make a liar out of Edwin. Edwin came even closer and whispered

      “If you don’t talk now, I’ll cut the girl to pieces and make you watch.”

      “I’m not a rat, I’m a mouse!!!” Patrick said at the top of his voice.

      “How much gold do you want for this rat?” Albert asked Edwin.

      “Ten thousand gold coins, my Lord. And this girl goes for free,” he said.

      “Good! I’ll take them,” said Albert, the slaveholder.

      He handed Edwin ten thousand gold coins and ordered the guards to take Sophie and Patrick to the house next to the castle and lock them up. As ordered, Sophie and Patrick were taken to the house, locked in a basement, in a while, guards brought them a jug of water and a couple of bread slices.

      “What are we going to do now?” Sophie asked Patrick.

      “I have no clue, we have to come up with something and get out of here,” he said. “I’m sorry, Sophie,” Patrick said, “I’ve dragged you into this, I shouldn’t have talked you into going to the lake and getting on that old boat. I have no doubt that we will find a way out of here, we just need to figure out how.”

      No one will help us,” said Sophie sobbing. “How will my mom and dad live without me now?” she said crying even harder.

      The basement was huge, it was almost dark there, the basement was lit just by a candle that was barely burning dimly illuminating the whole area. Dampness and high humidity that filled the basement making all the clothes damp, froze everyone there to the bone. After a while, the guards went down to the basement. They opened the cage with Sophie and Patrick, ordered them to get up and follow them. The bright daylight hurt their eyes, they barely could walk, as their feet were placed in iron, so they could not escape. The guards brought them to a small wooden bridge leading to large castle’s entrance doors. The bridge linked two rocks together hiding a huge gap between them. One of the guards warned them to follow their orders unless they want to be thrown off that bridge into the abyss. Dreadfully scared Sophie and Patrick looked down and stepped back from the edge, coming close to the guards. There were four more guards at the entrance, enormous and strong, they carried axes and large metal shields. The guards opened the door, and Sophie and Patrick entered the castle in their company. There were many portraits in the long and narrow hall, King Louis and his dead wife Queen Navina were shown on some of them, there was also a portrait of Princess Milena. These portraits frames were in golden colors, the walls were made of red carved wood, large crystal chandeliers with candlesticks inside hang on the white ceiling along the hall. There were a lot of doors along the walls, but the guards took Sophie and Patrick down the hall to the door leading to a laundry to meet Robert, the butler. He was of average height with a grey head and thick black beard, he was in charge of everything in the castle. Robert’s family had served the kings of this castle for many centuries. His male ancestors had been butlers, blacksmiths, or carpenters, and the women had always been maids. Robert was very strict, he could put in a dark cell for a week without food, having allowed the guards to give just water.

      “Follow me!” Robert commanded Sophie and Patrick in an arrogant tone.

      The guards removed their shackles, and they followed the butler into a small room with large and small wooden troughs, brushes, rags, and brooms in a corner.

      “You are to take these troughs, rags and brushes,” Robert said in a commanding tone, ‘take everything to the throne room, and fill these troughs with water.

      “I will explain you what to do next later,” he turned to the door on his heels, looked at the guards, and ordered them to take the mouse and the girl to the throne room.

      Sophie and Patrick took rags, brushes, and troughs and headed to the throne room. When the guards opened the doors, Sophie and Patrick were standing with their eyes bulged out and mouths opened. The beauty of the hall was beyond words, the hall looked dazzlingly beautiful and bright, its glory radiance even made the eyes hurt. The coupled columns along the walls made it look like a temple. The room was decorated with marble of white, gray, pink, and bluish shades. Gold-plated interior items and bright, picturesque dome shades were everywhere. Statues were placed in semicircular niches against the walls. The place for the throne looked like a stepped podium with the throne. The throne was made of gold, had a long back and wide armpads. In a few minutes, Robert, the butler, approached and informed that a ball in honor of the Princess Milena engagement would take place there, and that everything should be shining by nightfall.

      “Everything is already shinning in this place,” said Sophie.

      “Shut up!” said Robert, the butler.

      “How come would we manage to clean such a huge hall?” Patrick asked Robert.

      “That’s not of my concern’, he said, turned and walked away.

      “I suppose if we don’t start right now and hurry up, we may end up punished or executed,” said Sophia.

      “I will say even more, we may as well be executed if everything doesn’t shine in here,” said Patrick.

      Sophie and Patrick brought water and got to work.

      “Patrick’, said Sophie to the little mouse, “I think you should start from dusting, and I’ll clean the floor.”

      The floor in the throne room was also made of marble. It was all white, and it took a lot of effort to wash it. An ordinary rag did not help with the dirt, so Sophie decided to take a brush and use it against the dirt, of course, it was very difficult, but still the dirt slowly had been being vanished on the white marble.

      “I wish I could be a king and live this way,” said Patrick, ‘no troubles, just sitting on a throne and giving orders to others.”

      “I wish I would be a princess myself,” Sophie decided to dream a bit too, “I would wear lush and beautiful dresses, and host a ball every day. I would marry a handsome prince, and we would raise a bunch of children.”

      “And, also, you would have lived happily ever after,” Patrick said laughing.

      Patrick stopped laughing, he went to take the bucket and slipped on the spot where Sophie had washed the floors. Sophie almost laughed her head off; it was so loud that she was heard by one of the guards standing outside the door. The guard came in and said in a threatening tone,

      “Enough of talking. Hurry up! Soon, they will start bringing tables and chairs into the throne room.”

      Patrick waited the guard to turn away and made a face at him. Sophie smiled and continued brushing the marble floor. Then servants started bringing tables and chairs into the hall, they lined them up along the walls, covered with white velvet tablecloths, and placed crystal candlesticks and white vases with flowers in the middle of the tables. By this time, Sophie and Patrick had finished with the floor washing and dusting. The Butler, still looking arrogant, walked up to Sophie and Patrick and told them to go to the kitchen and find the chief Aunt Dorothea to receive further instructions.

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