Uncle Vlad made sure that nobody but he and my nanny ever entered my room. Miriam has been my nanny ever since that day my uncle brought me here. She has tried her best to give me a relatively normal childhood, even though I've never seen another child in person. The only interaction I've had with my uncle, until recently, was when he brought new books in for me to read. Those books were my education and my way to escape these bedroom walls.

Miriam taught me many things about the world and life in general. In fact, she taught me to read when I was only two years old. It was easy for me. I just understood it. A lot of things have come easily to me. There are some things I just know. I've always thought this was normal, but now, as I near the age of twelve, I'm noticing that there are more and more changes happening in my surroundings that only I seem to be able to see.

It's early in the morning, and the sun is just about to break the horizon. I'm not allowed a clock in my room, and Miriam has told me that there are no clocks in the house at all. Uncle Vlad's jealousy of his brother and the way he could fix clocks has intruded into the lifestyle of everyone who lives here. I've been raised to wake when the sun is rising and go to bed when the sun is setting. This is the schedule Uncle Vlad insists that Miriam keeps me on.

Today, Uncle Vlad left to go on a business trip. Miriam has promised me that, once he's gone, she will come to my room and allow me the chance to finally explore his estate. She tried to give me the chance to explore when I was around the age of four. However, just as I was out of my room and barely twenty feet down the luxurious walnut hallway, she came running up to me and snatched me into her arms. My uncle had come back home because he wasn't feeling well. She had to rush me back into my room as quickly as possible so that he wouldn't find out that I had been let out of my prison.

This time, though, she's making sure he's been gone a few hours.

Suddenly I hear Miriam's key entering my door lock. I turn in my bed to watch the lock change color as it is manipulated from the outside. No two objects ever seem to be the same color. Metals gradually shimmer to a bluish teal color when they are being changed, and that's what happens to my shiny, brass lock. It really is quite beautiful. Just as the lock reaches its full color, Miriam comes through the door.

"Good morning, sunshine! Are you ready to go on an expedition today?"

Miriam is so good at making my life in this prison a new adventure every day. The wrinkles on Miriam's face give away that she is older, well past the age of having her own children, but she has said that the Monarch blessed her the day I came here. She said that because He protected me from the fire, He allowed her the chance to raise one of His little ones — one of His special ones. That's what she has always told me.

I bound out of bed, having already gotten dressed in my long jean skirt and flowery T-shirt, and clumsily skip across the room. I must've grown since I last wore this because my bony ankles are poking out from under the hem, and the top is tight across my widening shoulders. My red hair is still a sleepy mess, but I don't care as I run to hug her.

I love Miriam as I would've loved my mother. She's short, barely two inches taller than me, and she's soft in all the right places. Her gray hair is held back on the sides with little gold clips, and she always wears a tattered, red plaid apron. She folds me in her arms and tells me that today is the day. My uncle has boarded the flight to the States, and we have nearly eight hours to explore this grand palatial estate.

"I'm very ready, Miriam! I've been waiting hours for you to change the lock to blue!"

"Blue?" she asks. "Why would it change to blue?"

"Because you were unlocking it, silly! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" I ignore the puzzled look on her face as I grab her warm hand and pull her toward the open door to my freedom and to the secrets waiting for me to find them.

The hallway is dark, as dark as I remember it being back when I was four. As we walk down the hallway, I notice that it curves around my room. There is one other door and a window to my left that looks out onto the sky and the tops of old oak trees.

"Where are we, Miriam?"

"This is the tower, sweet child. Your uncle was quite determined to keep you safely away from anyone who might find you and sway you to do their bidding. He wanted to keep you pure."

"Pure? What do you mean? And how would I do anyone's bidding?"

"There are things you know now, and there are things to come, but the things to come haven't made themselves known to you yet because you're not ready. There is more to who you are than you realize." Miriam leans over toward me and squeezes my shoulders. I'm puzzled as to what she is talking about. What kinds of things? When am I going to be ready? I'm ready to know now! I decide to just let it go and continue on with my exploration. I can tell from the look in Miriam's eyes that she isn't going to go any further with the discussion anyway.

The curved hallway seems to have a downhill slope, and soon I see a staircase going down. I look to Miriam, my eyes pleading to proceed, and she nods. This is so scary and exciting!

There must be at least twenty steps, and they wrap around in a spiral all the way down to the floor below. As I slowly wind my way around, I can sense something calling to me, something drawing me onward. I step off the last step into a long, dark walnut wood hallway. I walk through the hallway and see door after door on the left side of the hall. I can tell by the color of most of the doorknobs that they're locked. There is one door in the bend of the hallway that's not locked, and it is bigger and more ornate than the others. I'm surprised when it starts to glow as I go closer.

"Look, Miriam! It's glowing!"

"What's glowing? All I see is a lot of dust that I will probably get yelled at for not cleaning."

"That door!" I exclaim as I point down the hall. "It's glowing. Don't you see that?"

Miriam looks at me with a puzzled look that melts into understanding. It seems as though Miriam knows a lot more about me than she lets on. For now though, I just want to get through that door.

The closer I get to the huge, adorned door, the more it glows. The door is engraved with a beautiful picture of a forest. There is a tree winding up the left side by the hinges, and its leaves blend into clouds at the top. The rays of sun shine down onto a river that has an assortment of rocks in it that turn into gems the closer I get to it. As I get up next to it, the scene engraved into the door becomes alive. The tree looks so real that when I touch it, I can feel the sap running between the scales of bark. The clouds appear fluffy like cotton balls but are only moist air to my touch. The sun warms not only the door but my hand as I follow the rays down to the river that is gurgling over diamonds, emeralds, and rubies.

Miriam stopped about three steps behind me. I look back at her, and she has her hands folded in front of her over the old, tattered apron. She smiles and asks, "What do you see?"

"I see paradise."

"Don't you see it? Can't you see the tree moving in the breeze or hear the river lapping over the gems?"

Miriam gazes at me with a twinkle in her eye. "You have to let me see it, Patrina."

"How can...