A Court of Dreams and Heartache

5. Leia/Nyx

When I woke, I felt cold. Every muscle in my body ached alarmingly as I struggled to sit up and look around. 

The room was completely dark. I felt thick blankets under me and beneath that, hard wooden planks. Panic began to set in as I desperately tried to remember where I was. I had dreamt that I found Nyx, then woke up and got coffee...

The images came flooding back, the spilled mug, the kidnapper. Well, I assumed that I had been kidnapped. I couldn't identify my surroundings, but based on the frigid temperature, I was far away from the University. I took deep, freezing breaths and tried to fight off the terror of the oppressive, pitch-black room. 

Stretching my hands out, my fingers brushed wooden walls. There was a wooden ceiling about a foot above my head. I pressed against it, feeling increasingly claustrophobic, and it moved a fraction. Trap door? I pushed again, harder this time. It was heavy, but the clinking of metal told me that there was a lock on the door. I felt my way towards the edges. Bracing it up, I could just poke my fingers through. I felt the stinging cold of snow, but there was no light outside. I called out hesitantly, then louder. Surely someone was nearby. I was concentrating hard on staying calm. I didn't appreciate being trapped in a cold wooden box, alone in the dark. I burrowed my way into the blankets- the only objects in the box. 

Suddenly, I remembered my phone in my pocket and hastily pulled it out. The time showed eleven twenty in the morning, which couldn't be right. Of course, there was no signal. At least my kidnapper was thorough, I groused to myself. I knew I shouldn't drain the battery with flashlight mode, but the sudden vision did much to ease my panic. It didn't provide me with much information though. The wood surrounding me was old and grey, though it held strong against my kicking and prodding. The blankets were dark brown and hefty, but perfectly normal.

After some minutes, I settled back against the corner, covered in blankets. There was nothing I could do then, as it seemed to be the middle of the night. I must be really far away if the time change is around twelve hours. Hopefully someone would come in the morning, then I could figure out where I was and how to escape. Unless I'd been left to starve and no one was coming. 

At that cheery thought, I switched off the flashlight and tried to find sleep again. My head ached and hunger tickled my stomach. I breathed deeply, trying to coax myself back to unconsciousness. The cold was hard to ignore, but after some time my shivering eased. As my sleepy thoughts turned to Nyx, as they often did, I became conscious of the bond. I hadn't noticed it once during my panic. With a start, I realized that it didn't ache at all. 

For the second time, there was a delicious relief. I massaged my chest, savoring the absence of pain. A hopeful thought blossomed in the back of my head, that Nyx must be close if the bond didn't hurt. Maybe he'll be able to help me, I thought absently as I settled back. The practical, independent side of me shoved the thought down. Waiting for a fantasy man isn't going to get me  un-kidnapped. But as I drifted into sleep, I held the bond close, in my mind, savoring the new, pleasant feeling of it.

___

I woke from peaceful dreams. For the first time in a long time, I had not dreamt of Leia. Lying on my back in bed, I stared placidly up at the vaulted, wooden ceiling. The House of Wind was an alluring place to stay. The energy was so different from my parents' house by the water. They said that Aunt Nesta had brought it to life some hundred years ago, which didn't surprise me. I could almost hear the walls breathing.

My parents and I had stayed late for a family dinner with the inner circle. There had been much talk of Leia's appearance and disappearance at the Illyrian camp that morning. Everyone was very concerned, hanging onto first my telling and then the accounts from my aunt and uncle. No one had many ideas. The conversation had drifted to discord among the Illyrian tribes, and my tired thoughts had turned inward. There was little intrigue in Illyrian politics, at least for me. I had elected to stay the night there, so that I might train with the Valkyries in the morning. I always enjoyed doing that. There was a subtle intensity about them that was so at odds with Illyrian warriors. 

A glance at the clock told me that I had an thirty minutes before the house had breakfast. Thank the Cauldron, I thought, rolling back over. As I let my eyes fall closed, I felt a sense of wariness coiling in my gut. I peeled one lid back, scanning the dim bedroom. Something was different.

After a few moments of tense watching and listening, I realized that the new feeling was one of comfort, tethered right to my chest. I immediately grabbed onto the bond, shocked to feel not the tense, throbbing ache, but a relaxed, cozy calm. I felt myself sigh deeply as I rolled back over. This is what a mating bond is supposed to feel like, I thought contentedly. 

My next thought had me sitting bolt-upright. The black sheets drifted off of my bare shoulders and I gripped them so hard that the fibers began to tear. This is what it feels like when she's here.