She could feel everything. The world was on fire, the smoke was in her lungs, sparks were flickering, and she was in the center.
She felt the hysteria take over her mind, and her muscles went into autopilot, ready to do whatever it took to get away. away...... she needed to get far away.....
"Sorry about having to tackle you earlier, but-"
Her head jerked up and she took in her surroundings like a deer in the road looking for an escape.
Tibe's words cut off as he took in her what must be terrified appearance.
"Coriane? Are you okay?"
She felt herself shaking, and she glanced at the fire that burned in front of her. There was smoke, and it was burning her lungs, and the fire was enveloping her.
She screamed, but there was no sound. She tried to run, but tripped and fell over an object. An object that was charred, dead, and on fire.
The world was on fire, and she was at it's center.
***
Tibe glanced at her stricken form, feeling a wave of emotion he didn't know he was capable of.
He stepped forward, around the fire he was monitoring, feeling like he was attempting to comfort a tortured puppy.
He took her freezing hands, trying to ignore the blood in her hair, as he looked into her unseeing eyes.
"Coriane? Riane? Are you okay? You're freezing, maybe you should move closer to the fire or-?"
At the word fire, her eyes snapped closed and a whimper of sorts came from her, and his heart hurt.
She shook her head, her eyes still closed, and she seemed to be trying not to cry.
He started to ramble, "You weren't at lunch and no one could find you and we were all looking and I volunteered to ride out, and I found you here, where I'm guessing when that horse went wild," he said, gesturing slightly to the palomino that was tethered to a nearby tree," and ran off here, he must've knocked you out, but by the time I found you it was too dark and I didn't know what to do and you were freezing and I just," he ran a hand through his hair, worried and frustrated at her distant expression. He grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her, terrified by her lack of response and growing pit in his stomach.
"Riane..... Please..... ", he pressed his forehead to hers, and felt stinging behind his eyes, too overcome by emotions to lecture himself on weakness and proper etiquette.
***
She was screaming, and she was alone. Please help me. I'm dying. Please.
She was screaming help in the languages of the soul, and no one could hear her.
Please.
Kill me.
"Riane."
Now. I want to die. I'm burning. And I want it to be over. Please.
"Please."
She opened her eyes and saw Tibe, his own eyes closed tight and a clear liquid glistened on his face.
His eyes opened and when he saw that she could see him, he pulled her into the tightest and most comforting hug she had ever known.
"Gods, Riane, I thought- I don't know what I thought, I thought that blow might've- I just-" He pulled back and looked her in the eyes, "Please don't ever do that again."
She felt herself nod glanced fugitively over his shoulder at the still smoldering fire.
"Why is there a fire?"
He looked at her, "You were freezing."
She felt herself be overcome by trembles, "Would you mind putting it out? I'm sorry it's just...... I don't really want to talk about it."
He nodded and the fire disappeared; if only it was that easy, she thought.
He explained to her about missing lunch, and she recalled checking the saddle fit on the horse, and fixing the adjustments, before she felt the palomino's muscles tense under her, and she was flying.
"You're still freezing", he muttered, grabbing her hands and turning them over in his larger ones, before pulling her to him, enveloping her in his arms.
She froze, before relaxing and letting herself rest in his warm embrace, silently inhaling his intoxicating smell, like trees on a far away mountain.
She felt his him lie his head atop hers, and she smiled at how the two of them must look- her torn clothes and matted hair, next to his royal garments and tousled locks, propped against a tree, in the middle of nowhere.
His head leaned back against the trunk of the large oak, and she pulled back slightly, looking up into his burning eyes.
"What happened?", he whispered.
She closed her eyes and looked to the charred remains of the fire, her breath was caught in the smokey memories that filled her lungs, on the tip of her tongue and ready to ignite a fire that could never be put out.
She breathed in slowly and the smoke cleared away, replaced with sparks and a desire to be set free. She breathed out and the fire came.
"When I was twelve, I had a guard. If you could call her that, she was a Telkie, and she was to protect me and Jillian at all times. She was with us since I was two, when Jillian was born."
She took another breath, "For his tenth birthday, Jillian wanted to visit some distant cousins at their house up North. I was supposed to go to, but was overcome with a cold days before we were supposed to leave.
"The second night he was gone, there was something wrong with my Guard. She seemed.... Absent. I don't really know how to describe it. She would play all sorts of games with me, but she was distant.... That night, when I was in my room, I heard screams down the hall. I opened my door and she told me it was just an intruder, and that they were taken care of. I trusted her and went back to bed, and soon the screaming stopped. But I can still remember them.
There were tears in her eyes now, and she was in another world, "I remember what seemed hours later, but was probably only minutes.... The bottom of the door was on fire. There weren't any windows in my room, so I opened the door..... And the world was on fire. Everything. The banisters. The tapestry. And on the ground..... Sylvia, the Telkie. I tripped trying to get down the stairs, and I don't know how long I lay there, but my legs were broken, and I was burning."
She breathed in hastily, "Right before I blacked out, I saw a figure over me. It was a man, judging by what I could see of his face. And he smiled at me, and I swear I heard a voice in my head, saying, 'I'm sorry. But for the survival of the world, some must die'. And I woke up in a nursing ward, with burns all over the lower half of my body and arms and Jillian holding my bandaged hand."
She looked up into his eyes, a storm of fire and rage forming, "My parents died that night, and it was murder."
***
1201! AND TA DA!
I've been wanting to write this scene for such a long time, so here!
Sorry for all the POV complication and confusing beginning, but hey, creative license, right?
Anyways, we had a power out over here, and I haven't had much time to write, between French studying and emotional prep for a new school year so yeeaaaahhh.
AND OMF WORLD TWINKLE I JUST ASDFGHJKL OMYGODS THOUGH AND I WAS REWATCHING EPISODES TODAY AND LUDWIG AND FELI AND THE PROPOSAL AND FLOWERS AND THAT ITALIAN AWKWARDNESS AND I REREAD WE'LL MEET AGAIN AND AHHHHHH IM DEAD AND WANT TO KILL SOMEONE BUT IM HAPPY SO THAT PERSONS DEATH WILL BE A PRODUCT OF MY HAPPINESS!!!!!
Soooorrrrrey......
Comments please!
-Eliza
P.S. Sorry if that chapter seemed bad, I blame it on the night (DID YOU SEE THAT), and it's midnight here so yaaahhhh....
YOU ARE READING
Silver King
Fanfiction"They are no longer kind" --------------- WARNING: This was written immediately after my reading of Red Queen, and I haven't had the chance or time to read anything beyond that, so please refrain from critiquing my plot and character choices in the...
