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@mamaauthoress

Val:

“Ch-challenge?” The man struggles to his feet, gazing back at me anxiously. “What do you mean?”

“Well…Usually the castle likes to throw challenges our way.  They’re not deadly as far as I can tell, but they’re awful nonetheless.  Last time, we had to share our worst regrets, or have them played out on a screen in front of us…” my voice catches as I try to block out the memories. “It was horrible, and there were some I wish I’d never seen…”

“And then after that, His Lordship himself appeared to fight, and as soon as he was defeated we each met our future self, and as far as I can tell we’re all just stuck here miserably waiting for the next challenge.” I pause. “There seems to be a pattern of sorts – before we had to share our worst regrets, we had a nice banquet and watched a ballet performed by some of our party.  So, we had a nice challenge, then a miserable one.  As for me, I thought meeting my future self was rather nice. So I’m going to assume we’ve got another miserable challenge coming our way.”

The man’s gaze weakens in a lifeless gaze as his face blanches sickly white.  I’m not really sure he heard me, to be honest.  I clear my throat.

“Would you like to join Kit and I?  It’s a lot easier when you’ve got someone to lean on.  I know I couldn’t have done it alone.”  I smile weakly, nervously extending my hand.  “I’m Val, by the way.  What’s your name?”