#thousandsofyearsago

One of the benefits of having a new window to the outside world is that now we can record the passing of days. 28 of those days have passed, and Amanita has not returned. I do not believe she ever intended to, but we will get out, and I will never forget.

Father said he built these rooms for us to escape to in case some disaster happened. They weren’t meant to be a permanent dwelling, but at least this one was fully stocked with dried food and water, although strangely enough, none of us are ever really hungry. There is also a library of scrolls to read and couches with silks and pillows that are much more comfortable than the stone “beds” we woke up on. Nefera keeps saying that the servants will surely come and let us out. I do not believe that is going to happen, and I do not believe father believes it either. He has been trying to open the door from this side, but it seems to be stuck. He has also been reading through all the scrolls in the library, hoping to find an answer as to why we have slept so long without… aging. Except for that horrible fear that the darkness will swallow me every time Father turns out the lamp, the time has been hardest on Nefera. She spends most of her days - or nights, who knows down here - talking to her corpse flower. Any other plant would have long ago withered from lack of sunlight, but this one looks much the same as it did when the door was shut. Nefera received it as a gift from a delegation that claimed to have journeyed from a strange and far-off country. They told her that it was their most rare treasure and fit only for a future queen. Nefera is entranced by its fragrance, but to me, the scent is not pleasant. And I know this is odd to say, but I think the plant knows I feel this way and it does not like me. If I come too close, it put off a scent that is so loathsome even Nefera can smell it. I also get the impression that it is somehow listening. I think perhaps I have been underground far too long.

Amanita never clenched her jaw like that because it caused headaches and pollen clumping. "Did you go into the supply tent and drink two barrels of shivering spring water?" Amanita was confused by the question and why Medusa was angry. Of course, she drank the spring water. What was her alternative, the common well water the rest of the caravan had to share? No, no, no, that would never do. Medusa's hands grasped the sides of her hood, and for a moment, Amanita could not tell if she was going to pull it back or push it forward. "That water was to be sold in the city; it was not meant for you." Amanita was indignant and said that she could not be blamed if the barrels were not clearly marked. She could not tell if the hissing that she heard next was from Medusa's snakes of Medusa herself. "We will discuss how you plan on paying for that water when we reach our destination," said Medusa, who spun on her heel and left the tent. Amanita wondered if it wouldn't have been better for her to stay in the tomb with the de Niles.

Father has stacked a couple of the stone beds on top of each other - apparently, becoming a monster greatly increases one’s strength- and has been trying to widen the hole in the ceiling, but it is hard work, and progress is slow. In the meantime, Amanita has been giving us a detailed account of her “unlife,” as she calls it. “Amanita can go dormant and revert back to plant form any time she wants, but it takes 1,300 years to wake up when she chooses to do so.” Today we heard a caravan in the distance. We shouted and shouted, but they could not hear us. The hole in the roof was too small for Father, Nefera, or even myself to crawl through, but Amanita turned out to be slight enough to fit. She said she would return with help to free us.

Amanita likes to talk and talk and talk. I think she could seriously talk the nose off a sphinx. Her favorite subject is herself and how her beauty has been celebrated through the ages. “Amanita has many statues and monuments dedicated to her. She is surprised you are unaware of that.” But in between her praises of herself, she accidentally spews relevant information like the fact she heard my father’s chief adviser conspiring against him with my uncle, and so she used the fragrance of her flower to cause Nefera to bring her along when we escaped. “Amanita didn’t want to be thrown out like a common house plant when the new regime redecorated.” She also said the magic wraps were supposed to make us sleep forever, but something must have gone wrong because we woke up. She also warned us not to remove the wraps because it might cause us to revert to our true age. “Amanita wants you to know that there are other monsters like you. She has seen them, and now you will have to move into their world because ‘normies’ will fear and misunderstand you.” It is so much to take in I can hardly believe it.

Three things happened today that turned our dark little world upside down. The first was an earthquake. It struck during the dark hours and seemed to last an eternity. Everyone called out to each other, but it was mostly our nerves that were shaken. The only casualty was the lamp. It fell off the table where father kept it and shattered into a thousand pieces. I started to panic again when the second thing happened. There was another jolt, and a ceiling tile came loose and smashed to the floor. Sunlight flooded in through the opening like water through a hole in a dam. We all rushed forward and huddled together in the light. I think we stood there hugging and crying until the sun went down. Then we were jolted out of our celebration by a voice from behind us. “Amanita Nightshade hates to break up your little family gathering, but she needs you to stop what you’re doing and meet her needs for a moment.” We turned to see a gorgeous girl standing in the pot once occupied by the corpse flower. “Amanita hopes she hasn’t bloomed at a bad time, but after 1,300 years in this room, she needed to burst forth.” 1,300 years? 1,300 years! Oh. My. Ra.

I hear my father’s voice calling out to us. “Nefera! Cleo!” It is so dark I cannot tell up from down, left from right. It is like a weight on my chest; like the air is being sucked out of me. I sit up and start to panic as I try to catch my breath. I feel a hand grab my shoulder. I scream and try to run. “Cleo, stop!” My father commands, “It’s me!” The voice of my father temporarily stops my panic, and I grab hold of him and hold on, afraid he is going to vanish, and I will forever be alone in this darkness. Finally, he says, “I am going to try to find a lamp, but I promise I will be right back.” I can hear him slowly moving around the room and occasionally tripping over things in the inky darkness. Nefera starts humming a song our mother taught us to sing when we were afraid. I finally hear my father’s grunt of satisfaction from someplace in the room, and then there is a spark. It is just a tiny spark, but in that darkness is as bright as lightning both from the heavens. There is another and another until a lamp blazes up, throwing out what seems to be the light of a thousand suns. I close my eyes against the glare and then slowly open them. I am shocked to see the dust of ages covering us and everything else, but it is what I do not see that brings tears to my eyes. The fourth stone bed is as empty now as it was when we all fell asleep. Where is she, and will I ever see her again?

I don’t remember very much about the night it all happened. I do remember being shaken from a dead sleep by one of my attendants. “Princess, wake up; we have to leave the palace!” Normally, I would have rebuked her for such a rude awakening, but there was an urgency to her request that made me follow without question. She led me to a secret door that even I didn’t know existed. Behind the door was a short passage that ended in a set of winding steps leading down into the darkness. I touched the side of the wall for balance and started down without thinking. I had not yet learned to fear the dark, which would come much later. At the bottom of the stairs, a sobbing Nefera, who was holding her prized corpse flower, and my father were waiting, but by the grim look on father’s face, I could tell he was in no mood to answer questions. Father’s chief adviser soon met us with a torch, and we were led even further underground and away from the city. Wait! Where was mother? I stopped and asked, no, demanded- to know where she was and what was happening. Father hesitated, and for a brief moment, placed a hand on the wall to steady himself. Without turning, he said, “Your uncle has decided he would make a better ruler than I and has convinced many to follow him. They stormed the palace gates and broke through them. Your mother...your mother was in her garden on the other side of the palace. We were cut off, and I could not reach her.” The adviser gently broke in, “Sire, her concern was for you and the princesses. It was her desire that you see to them first. The Queen is undoubtedly already safe in her own secret room, as should you all be.” From that point on, it was a blur of running, hiding, and passing through dark, silent places. When we finally stopped, it was in front of a blank wall with no visible cracks. Father stepped forward, and placing his hands on the wall, whispered a word in a language I did not know. Faint cracks appeared in the shape of a door that pivoted in on a center hinge, and we stepped through. It appeared to be a luxurious version of the royal living quarters except for the four stone ‘beds’ in the middle. Each was lined with faintly glowing wrappings. Father was reluctant at first, but his adviser assured him that the magical wrappings would protect us from all harm, so my father agreed. My father was the first to be wrapped, then Nefera, and finally me. As the wrappings were applied, I could feel a slight tingle as the magic swirled around us. Then I became very Sleepy. The last thing I remember seeing was the torchlight disappearing as the door closed, and the last thing I heard was the sound of.. laughter?