I Love You, My Cursed Prince

Whoever that person was, and it had to be a person, he or she was alone in the night, possibly determined to be so. Nobody met the person on the shore, so that had likely been a leisurely stroll in the night. This was Muriel's thought process. Besides, if the person wanted to meet someone, wouldn't he or she light a torch or a lantern to be a signal? The moonlight did light up the beach, but if Muriel wanted to meet someone there, she'd ask to see something else, preferably made of fire.

Or maybe something unseen, but heard should be a signal?

A bell? A chime?

In any case, whether the person wanted to meet someone or not, no meeting took place.

Where did he ... probably a he ... come from?

If he came from the city, or one of the more rural villages, he must have taken a few long roads. If he came from the castle, then he must have also taken a road, but a comparably shorter one. Climbing up and down the nearly vertical side of the cliff was out of the damn question.

These thoughts encouraged and stimulated Muriel. She was able to get up and walk without any difficulty. She lit a candle in a small holder and carried it as she crept out of her room.

The halls were so dark! Muriel felt like a tiny insect crawling into a dry, long pipe.

Regardless of her feelings, she went on.

And on.

Careful, gentle, alert.

When she was inside the library that had the suspicious wallpaper, Muriel walked over to that oddly sized image of an insect. She put her candle on the table with the potted plant. She looked at the black insect that had bothered her. It was round and beetle-like.

The pad of her index finger swept around the wallpaper's smooth surface, right around the beetle.

But ... around the beetle, there was something not smooth, a lower level, a dip, an indentation.

Muriel lightly pressed into the indentation. It felt looser than the rest of the wall. With some light movement, she was able to slide it almost all the way out of view.

A peephole?

Muriel tried to look into the hole, but only darkness was visible, which was sensible. It was nighttime, and there didn't seem to be anyone behind the wall. But then again, perhaps someone had covered the hole on their side so that nobody could peek in the other direction.

Well ... that wasn't exactly ... shocking? Muriel had been warned, hadn't she? She was being watched. She just ... didn't quite know how to feel.

She did know, however, that she had been lied to.

"Oh, have you found something?"

Muriel gasped, hopped in place, and turned around.

A woman in mostly shadow, but with a glow on her face, she was holding an oil lamp with a glass cover. Her hair was loose. Her clothing was light.

Princess Arya, there was no question.