No way out

Moaning softly, Lacey kept her eyes closed as she began to return to consciousness, gingerly she reached up and touched her head where there was a wet gooey spot in her hair.

Slowly she put her hand back down and opened her eyes as she slowly turned to her right. Her body felt a little bruised and battered and her head was throbbing mercilessly but she began scanning the room as she adjusted her body.

She let out a grunt in pain as she pulled herself into a sitting position, her body felt stiff and all her muscles ached. She was in a small room with stone walls on all sides, with a rot iron door in one wall.

She turned and noticed Ray who was sprawled on the floor beside her.

Her eyes roamed over his face, a slight smile appearing on her lips before it was gone at the sight of blood on his temple. She put out a hand to touch him which seemed to cause him to stir.

His own hand coming up to cover his forehead he groaned and sat up. Lacey quickly snatched her hand back quickly placing it in her lap.

Looking him over as his eyes focused on the room. She noticed there was bruising and scratches on his face and neck. "Where…?" He asked, turning to look around.

Lacey sighed and slowly got up onto her feet. "I'm guessing we are in the dungeon in a cell. But I don't remember them being built this way." As Lacey got up she walked over to the stone wall placing a hand on it.

She felt nothing other than hard cold stone, she sighed not knowing what she had expected. She turned back to Ray who was now standing too. "Why are we in the dungeon? If you are the princess, why did they put us in here?" He said.

"Well, I am the princess, they just don't remember me. I guess. This place is a lot different then I remember." She furrowed her brow worrying that he was doubting her.

"Well. you say it has been a while, they probably think you're dead." Ray said as he began to run his hand up and down the wall. "What are you looking for?"

"Anything." Ray replied, silence fell as they explored their cell from floor to ceiling. Inspecting every rock. They found that they were sealed in tight, no crack or crevices to be seen.

Almost as if the cell had been carved out of stone itself. Lacey slumped to the floor defeated, burying her face in her lap. She began to weep as hopelessness creeped into her mind and the realization set in, of just how bad the situation was getting.

She wanted to go back to before the shipwreck when she understood at least something of what was going on. Back to when her family was happy and together and she was able to enjoy their company.

Her shoulders began to shake as her weeping turned into sobs and tears began streaming down her face and began to soak into her skirt.

She felt Ray's hand on her shoulder as he tried desperately to comfort her in an awkward manner. She continued to sob for a few more minutes before she was able to finally start to control her feelings.

Slowly she sat back up straight with tears still streaming down her face. She tried to force a smile but it would not come. Ray began speaking in hushed tones trying to comfort and console her.

After a few more minutes Lacey was able to take the handkerchief that Ray had pulled from his pocket and offered her, dried her eyes. With a concerned face Ray began contemplating their situation out loud.

"So, while we were inspecting the stones, I noticed that there were veins of a lavender-colored stone threading through them. It is quite interesting and not something I have ever heard of or known before." Lacey stood up and came over to the wall where he was tracing a line of the purple stone that snaked its way through the stone.

"It is unbelievably beautiful for sure. The way it shimmers and sparkles is almost mesmerizing. I wonder what it is." As she spoke, Lacey also traced over another piece of purple stone. "One thing is for sure, we are definitely stuck here." Lacey dropped her hand to her side and turned towards Ray.

"What are we going to do? This sure does seem to be a helpless case." Ray stepped towards Lacey and slowly wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace.

"Maybe soon they will come get us and take us to the throne room and you can then be recognized." Lacey lifted her eyes up and smiled a small smile as a faint gleam of hope entered her eyes.

Ray began absently stroking her hair as they continued to hold each other close. After a few more minutes of quiet contemplation they stepped away from each other and Ray began again to go around the room tracing each stone and trying each one looking for any possible way to escape, or to even find something that may be even a tiny bit loose.

"What is interesting to me is the fact that I cannot seem to be able to do even the tiniest bit of magic. No matter how many times I have tried, whether big or small spells, they just won't work." He said as he finished his second combing of the room. "It really is interesting that this is the case."

Ray and Lacey seated themselves on the cold stone floor of their cell side by side with their backs to the wall and faced the rot iron door.

They sat mostly in silence every once in a while they would both try to start a conversation but every time it did not last very long as they both contemplated the situation and tried to figure in their minds any means they could think of for escape.

They sat this way for a couple of minutes, when suddenly Ray leaped to his feet as they heard large heavy footsteps slowly dragging themselves down the hall heading towards their cell.

-to be continued