I was invited by some distant relatives of mine, and I do mean distant, both in terms of where they live, as well as lineage-wise. We’ve never had much contact, so when they called and asked if I’d like to come over, I jumped at the chance of getting to know them a little bit better. They, Lisa and Bert, said they’d send the tickets, so I could fly out there the following Friday. As Friday was only a couple of day away, I immediately started packing. I didn’t pack much as I only planned to stay for a few days. When the ticket arrived, I thought it strange it was a one-way ticket, but thought I’d be given the return ticket, when I was supposed to leave.
I landed at the airport, took my bag and went out. “Are you Karen?†a middle-aged man asked. I said I was, and he showed me to an SUV. We got in and drove off. A woman, roughly his age, was already sitting in the car waiting for us.
“I’m Alex,†he introduced himself, “And I’m your fourth cousin Mia†she said.
We chatted on the way to their place, but when I got there, I was dumb-struck. They didn’t live in a nice little house in the suburbs; they lived in a medieval-looking castle, complete with a tower and everything!
“Wowâ€, I said, “what a house!â€
“Well, we like it. In the summer, we turn it into a hotel. That gives us enough to live on, the rest of the year. I hope you don’t mind, but we’ve placed you in one of the tower-rooms. You’ll have a great view from up there!â€
I bet I would. The castle stood on the top of a hill, overlooking a vast forest. I went in and up the stairs to it. It was a circular room, right at the top of the tower, with a window facing each direction, so I’d have sun coming in the whole day long. Alex, who stood in the doorway behind me explained: “We, or rather I, thought you might like to have the full experience of castle-life medieval style, so I took the liberty of ordering some appropriate clothing for you. It’s on the bed, waiting for you. Change into it, while I bring up your bag.†He left and I quickly changed into the dress, which was lying on the bed.
When Alex came back, he helped me with the buttons in the back, those I couldn’t reach myself. All buttoned up, it was tight down to my waist, but the skirt-part was billowing behind me as I walked. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to breathe properly in this thing,†I said, gasping for air.
He looked me in the eye and said:â€You’ll get used to it, eventually. There’s one more thing. From now on, you can’t leave this room, other than for short walks around the courtyard. From now on, you are our prisoner. Do you understand?â€
Thinking he was joking I said “Yes.†He went over to a big cupboard, and took out a long, heavy chain and some padlocks. It was just long enough for me to go around the room, but that was about it. He put one end of the chain around my ankle, locking it in place and the other end to a ring in the middle of the room. “What are you doing?†I asked, terrified. I tested the length of the chain and found out I could reach the door, but only by doing some serious stretching.
“Making sure, you don’t go wandering about, without our permission. As I said, you’ll be given a chance for exploring, don’t you worry. But not yet, I’m afraid.†He left, leaving me exploring my room turned prison. As I looked out the windows, I couldn’t help admiring the surroundings. As I looked out the window facing the courtyard though, I saw a pole.
There was a bookcase, filled with books, but no way of communicating with the outside world. I took one of the books out, sat down in an easy-chair by one of the windows and started reading. It was a sleazy novel all about manly knights in shining armour slaying mean dragons left, right and centre, and poor damsels in distress. A couple of hours later, Alex and Mia came in, wearing medieval costumes. They were carrying ancient looking hand- and leg-cuffs, and some more chains and padlocks. They put them on me (with my hands in front) and unlocked the chain around my ankle. With some difficulty, I went down the stairs and out into the courtyard. I had to walk two laps around it (running was out of the question), and then was tethered by my waist to the pole, I had seen from my window. My hands were un-cuffed only to be cuffed again, this time behind the pole. All the time, I asked them why they were doing this. Mia said it was for the benefit of the tourists. I could now see, the windows all around the courtyard were filled with people looking down at us. I stood there for about an hour, before being released and lead back to my tower room.
After having put back the chain around my ankle and taking off all the other cuffs, they pretty much left me alone for the rest of the day, with the exception of carrying up my meals.
That, my friends, is how I spent a weekend in an old castle. I was eventually allowed to go home, on Monday afternoon, still dressed in my costume. But I’m still there every weekend, doing the same thing. The only difference being, Alex now drives me there and back, so I can be in costume and shackled when I arrive.