I stare back up into the ceiling, admiring its intricate gold carvings, forming small suns. The spaces in between were painted, each with detailed portraits of kings and queens, knights and conquests, saints and holy work. I stared at it for a while, letting my eyes get lost in the details, before getting lost in my own head.

After I left that room, everything became much clearer to me. Everything is much more familiar. My name is Angie Montes. I am 20 years old, and a student at Broadwood College. I was at a house party with my friends to celebrate the end of midterms. I had been drinking a lot that night, so my memories of the party itself are fuzzy. The last thing I remember is laying down on the couch, so this is probably some sort of weird fever dream as I fight the alcohol.

It seems my dream of choice is based upon a novel I finished a week ago called Divine Heart. The main character is a powerful saintess, and the book is about her love story with the king of the land. In my dream, I have taken the form of the protagonist, Catalina Santos. She is said to be of pure heart, and the tamer of a dragon which ends the century old war between the kingdoms of Lumina and Tarik. By doing so, she earns the hand in marriage of Prince Arthur, and lives happily ever after.

The man who saved me from the attic fits the description of Arthur perfectly. He was described to have golden hair and eyes, inherited from the royal family lineage. In the novel, all of those of royal blood had that gold hair and eyes, instantly setting them apart from any other character in the novel.

It seems I have arrived before that happens, however, and I’m living in the very early events of the novel. I remember there being some sort of passage in the novel about Catalina experiencing a cruel upbringing before being rescued by Arthur, however it was clearly not done justice. I can not imagine having the few days I experienced in the attic being Catalina’s reality everyday. The darkness had made me lose every sense of who I was. It distorted my thoughts, altering my mind. I cannot stress enough how glad I am to be out of there, even if it hasn’t been long.

After being rescued from the attic, I was thrown into a carriage and taken to Camelot Castle. Even with dusk, its grandness wasn’t overshadowed. The bricks were pure white, each meticulously stacked. It was adorned with grand marble columns, holding up large balconies and ridiculous detailed marble statues of dragons. It was full of arching windows, all decked in gold lining. The architecture was breathtaking, and it almost made me forget that Arthur had taken me in as a prisoner. When I stepped out of the carriage, I was surrounded by guards, who bound my hands to cuffs and escorted me inside. They took me through the large and winding halls of the castle, until we reached a throne room.

It was a grand room, like everything else in the castle. Its walls had hand-painted wallpaper, detailing glorious kings. There were multiple marble columns, all leading your eyes to the center of the room. Above a set of marble steps was a large throne. It was completely made of gold, only accented by its ruby upholstering, which seemed to have a silky finish. On it sat a regal man. He had the same hair and eyes of Arthur, only his face was decorated with wrinkles. For a moment, the world stopped. Everyone knelt, and I was yanked down by a guard to do the same.

“Greetings to the sun of the empire,” all the knights chanted in unison, their voices echoing.

“Father, I bring you a prisoner from House Santos. It was kept secretly by Duke Ferdinand for an indefinite amount of time. I have brought it here to you, so you could decide what to do with it,” Arthur said, standing tall. He had not knelt like the rest of us, and instead faced the king head on.

“A secret prisoner you say?” The king pondered out loud, his gaze landing on me. He stared for a moment before speaking again.

“Do you know what crime it committed?” He asked, now looking at Arthur.

“No. I left House Santos before I could ask the Duke,” Arthur said with a shrug.

The king shook his head, sighing in disappointment. He turned to look at me once more, his gaze softer than before.

“Well then, I have no reason to treat it as a prisoner. I will not punish them until I am given a cause. I will have to ask Duke Santos about it tomorrow. Until then, treat it as a guest of this house,” he said simply. He then raised himself from his throne, now regarding his knights.

“However, we do not know what this prisoner is capable of. Keep it under strict surveillance until I determine its final fate tomorrow morning.”

And so, I was escorted by knights into my new room. I was handed over to Myrtle, a maid of the castle, who prepared me a bath (they had offered to help bathe me, and I very obviously declined their assistance). Then, I was changed into a silky nightdress with a ruffled collar and sleeves, and fed the greatest meal of my entire life; a porkchop and wine.

I was taken to the room I am in, and the maids helped me up into my lush bed. I could just sink into it. The mattress was so soft it felt as though it was made of feathers. The bedding was a thick quilt, adorned with elaborate flower embroidery which looked like it took years to craft. I was not alone, of course. Guards were stationed at my door and near my bedside, commanded to neutralize me upon any unexpected movement. It didn’t take long before I dozed off, having the best sleep I’ve had in a while.

I was awoken by a maid, gently shaking me.

“Wake up miss, your day of judgment has come,” she said simply.

I rose up without an argument, my body sliding out of the bed unwillingly. What I wouldn’t give to sleep in that bed again.

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I was taken to the bathroom again. It was completely made of marble, with a grand sink and a gorgeous tub in the middle of it, surrounded by large stained glass windows, illuminating the room with shards of color. A bath had been drawn for me, rose petals drifting on the surface.

I stepped inside it, the water cold, simply leaving myself to my thoughts. Let’s see If I remember this correctly.

Once Catalina was taken to the throne room in the original story, Duke Santos had lied and said she was a maid being punished for stealing a piece of jewelry. Catalina tried to argue against it, insisting that she was innocent, but the king had made his ruling and sentenced her to life in the dungeon.

“Myrtle, I’m done,” I called out, shivering as I stepped out of the water, instantly assaulted by the cold air.

I was then dressed by Myrtle in another nightdress, despite being morning. It was similar to the one from the night before, but it was instead a baby blue, and it was missing the ruffles on the collar.

I was escorted by the knights, their eyes never once leaving me. Their eyes were sharp, waiting until the moment I stepped out of line. That moment did not come however, and I was instead granted an audience with the king. Santos was in the room, leaning on one of the columns as he waited impatiently.

I was once again forced to kneel in front of the king.

“Greetings to the sun of the empire,” they all chanted once again.

A knight grabbed me by the arm, yanking me back up. The king looked down at me for a moment, before tilting his head to face Duke Santos.

“Now, Lord Santos. Tell me why you’ve kept this girl prisoner,” he said, an eyebrow raised as he waited for the duke’s response.

He smirked, clearing his throat as he pushed himself off the column.

“Of course, your majesty,” he replied, turning to face him.

“You see, this…girl…if you can call it that,” he started his gaze narrowing as it landed on me for a moment.

Oh, he’s going to regret that.

He turned back to the king, his gaze returning to the king.

“She was a maid of Carla’s, my precious daughter.”

“Ah, Saintess Carla?” The king exclaimed, his eyebrows raised.

“Yes, our empire’s dearest,” Duke Santos added, matching the king’s tone.

“Anyhow, it appears she wasn’t content simply serving such a wonderful person, and so she had to steal from her. She stole her favorite necklace, one blessed by the High Priest himself,” he said, his tone utterly appalled.

“How despicable!” The king agreed, nodding with the Duke.

“Yes, and so I couldn’t bear to see her conniving face. I sent her up to the attic and had her there in isolation until I was able to file a report for you to review, your highness. You can understand now why I had to keep her prisoner,” he said, feigning innocence.

The king stood still for a moment, before once again nodding in agreement.

“Very well. Has she returned the necklace?” He inquired, turning now to face me.

“Yes. We made sure of it,” Duke Santos confirmed, glaring at me.

“And if I were to go to House Santos and ask to validate the truthfulness of this tale, would there be others that agreed with you?”

“Yes, your majesty. Lying is a sin, after all.”

The king nodded, now staring at me. Our eyes met for a moment, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Anything to say to defend yourself, Miss Catalina?”

I looked at Duke Santos, eyes narrowed, before turning to the king.

“Everything he said is a lie,” I spoke up, my voice as clear as I could muster.

The king stared a bit dumbfounded, before speaking up.

“Can you prove that?” He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

“No,” I replied back. It was true. Duke Santos was willing to pay every single worker of House Santos their weight in gold if it meant keeping his secret, unluckily for him, it would be revealed today.

“Well, then. My verdict has been made,” he replied softly, staring straight ahead. He cleared his throat before looking at me.

“Miss Catalina, from this day forth, I sentence you to life in the dungeon, for infringing Lumina code and taking something of great value that does not belong to you,” he called. He raised his hand, bending his fingers and extending them forwards, signaling to the guards to take me away. I was once again grabbed by the guards, my hands extended as they cuffed my hands in iron shackles, the weight heavy on my wrist. A guard pushed me forward, leading me towards the door, when they suddenly burst open.

A stout old man ran inside, his white cloak dragging as he ran inside. His long hair flowed as he ran past, stopping dead center in the middle of the room. He knelt down in front of the king, giving him his greeting.

“Greetings to the Sun of the empire,” he greeted, before raising his head.

”Your majesty! Your majesty, I have news coming from the Church,” the old man called. His voice was high and shrill, it was particularly unpleasant to hear.

The king looked down at the man, an eyebrow raised as he waited for the old man to elaborate.

“The saintess has been found!” The man exclaimed, raising himself to his feet giddily.

The king looked at the man like he had two heads, before bursting into a hearty chuckle. It lasted for a few seconds, and echoed inside the quiet room.

“That is the best joke I’ve heard in a while. The saintess has already been found,” he replied looking over at Duke Santos.

Duke Santos was pale once more, beads of sweat began to fall from his forehead. He rose his hand to wipe it, before nodding along.

“Yes, your majesty. My dear Carla of course,” he said, his voice trembling.

The old man frowned, before speaking up once more.“No, your majesty. The real saintess! And she’s in the room right now,” he exclaimed, looking straight at me.