Eyes of Emerald

Chapter 3 - The 'Chat.'

The first thing I felt was pain. Pain in my arms, pain in my legs, pain in my neck, and pain concentrated in my head. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. I wanted to scream, but instead I gritted my teeth, opened my eyes and climbed out from the depths of sleep.

                Then there was light. Pure, white light, shining so bright I had to close my eyes again, to escape into the dark once more. Dark was good. I felt safe in the dark.

                But I had to open my eyes again, the darkness only reminded me of that terrible nightmare I'd had. The nightmare that Keira had been bitten by some sort of wolf, and then had a fit. Someone must have spiked my drink, the Coke must have been drugged in some way. I coughed, and opened my eyes.

                The light was painful this time, once again, but it ebbed away and left a dull ache in its place. My head was throbbing...what on earth had happened? I was sure I hadn't been drunk or anything...

                "Finally!" came a voice I didn't recognise, it sang like a flute and sounded like sunshine and rainbows, if that's possible. I blinked groggily. Who could it be? I didn't recognise the voice.

                "What?" I mumbled, holding my head, and sat up. Mistake. Pain lanced through my head like a spear, making it throb and my stomach turn. I felt sick. I winced, and looked up at the speaker.

                She was beautiful, in a cold sort of way. She had straight blonde hair and a wreath of flowers, daisies, honeysuckle, jasmine and white roses on her head. Her eyes were green like a meadow in summer, she wore a pure white dress that reached her knees, trimmed with gold, and somehow it was spotless. If I'd have worn it, it would be dirty within two seconds. How did she manage it? She reminded me of some Barbie doll.

                But this girl hadn't been Photoshopped, she was here, she was real. She couldn't be human, she was too perfect.

                But...if she wasn't human, then what was she? Animal, vegetable, mineral? I shook my head.

                "You've been sleeping since two days ago. Do you know how boring it is having to watch over you constantly, in case you woke up?" she said haughtily, sounding like one of those posh girls who went to private schools and had enough money to buy the Eiffel Tower. I ignored her.

                "Where the hell am I?" I asked, panic beginning to consume me. Who was she? Where was I? Why was I here, and where was Keira?  I glanced around, for anything I could use to my advantage when I tried to escape. I seemed to be in a hospital room, but the light wasn't electrical, it was far too natural for that. I was lying on a bed with crisp white sheets, and a window was set in one wall, giving me a view of a sunny sky and rolling fields. If I listened carefully, I could hear the quiet swish-swoosh of waves breaking along the shoreline.

                "You're in the Recovery Section of the Rebel's Camp in Aldeari." she told me. Her head was down, her long blonde hair brushing her bare knees. Where was this Aldeari? It was no country I'd ever heard of.

                "Look, who are you? And where the hell is...Aldeari?" I asked, beginning to get annoyed at the lack of answers. I tried to mask my fear with anger and annoyance, hoping I wasn't coming across as some sort of scared fifteen year old with panic issues. Which I was.

                "Aldeari is...it's on the border of your Croatia - it connects Croatia and Italy, across the sea on your maps.  And I'm Princess Celandine Valerian, daughter of the King and Queen of the Fae." she announced in a bored voice, like she'd said it all before and she didn't want to have to say it again. "But if you call me 'Your Majesty', or 'Your Highness', or even 'Princess', I will hit you. Call me Celie." she grinned at me, her attitude (which had begun to annoy me) suddenly changing from I'm so amazing and way better than you, to I'm actually not that bad, d'you want to be friends?