Cassandra

XIII. Ripley's New Toy

I feel the fire.
The dance, the celebration, the harmony.
The music ignites my blood, the dance infects my soul. Their hands lace with mine, their faces blur before my vision. We are dancing, celebrating, laughing, weeping.
The Suntree is drenched in blood. It drips from the leaves. We are running, the dancers are running, I am running. The wind is roaring, howling, screaming. It rips at my clothes, it rips at the Suntree. Lightning scorches across the sky, the clouds heaving, the world ending.
Blood is raining down. Blood and fire. The city is burning, I hear it screaming, I see its flames. Behind me the ground shatters. Nothingness, emptyness, only nothingness. The Suntree is falling. Into the darkness, the death, the hunger. It rises behind me.
I stumble. The ground gives way beneath my feet. I'm falling, screaming. The nothingness consumes me. It rises around me, embraces me, swallows me whole. The darkness is rising, and I am falling.

I jerked awake, my chest heavy with the sensation of falling, and my head was pounding. I struggled to rise, my hands shaking so badly I could hardly command them to do anything, and finally managed to free myself. Trembling I shrank into the corner, pulling up my legs as a barricade between me and the rest of the world.
Gradually my breathing slowed, as the world returned to normal, but sleep still remained far away. After several long minutes I mustered enough energy to move, and I came out of my corner. Fumblingly I crawled out of bed, and ran my fingers through my tousled hair, as I snatched up a shawl. Pulling the wrapper around me, I stealthily pushed open my bedroom door.
My unshod feet made no sound against the matted floor, and I flitted through the upstairs corridors like a white ghost, making my way downstairs. The hallways were cold, chill winter air seeping through the windows, and settling like an invisible mist over the floor. Cold billowed down the stairs as I descended, the stone floor of the entrance hall freezing against my feet. The rooms were all still and silent, the fires burned down into low cinders.
Finally my wandering came to and end, and I settled in front of the sitting room fire, now little more than charred pieces of wood, dead coals, and a few dull glowing embers. My feet were cold, and I gathered them up underneath me, curling up on one of the sofas near the fire. Shivering I snuggled deeper into the shawl I had brought, trapping in my body heat.
"What are you doing out of bed in the wee hours of the morning?"
It was Lady Briarwood's voice, and I glanced over my shoulder. She had come softly into the room, escorted by one of her undead thralls who was holding a torch for her, and she quietly shut the door as she spoke.
"I hope you weren't trying to get into some kind of trouble, my dear." She murmured, keeping her back to me, and I could sense a whiff of menace in her voice.
"Of course not!"
"You know how Silas and I feel about those meddlesome tendencies of yours..."
"No I couldn't sleep!" I exclaimed, eager to defend myself. "I would never sneak off without your permission."
"I'm glad to hear it." Lady Briarwood replied, crossing the room, and sinking down next to me on the sofa. "It was not an easy lesson to teach you, I should hate to see you forget it."
Gently she reached out, touching my chin and turning my face so that she could examine it. Her eyes looked black in the flickering torchlight, liquid and brilliant. I felt a swell of devotion rise in my chest.
"Why couldn't you sleep, my dear?"
"I--" Her fingers brushed across my cheek, and I faltered. "I had a bad dream."
"And what was this dream?"
"It was like..." I paused searching for words, and she smiled encouragingly, inviting me to continue. "We--these people-- were dancing under the Suntree. We were all dancing, and then the sky opened, and all this, fire, came pouring out of the sky. The city was burning, and then the ground underneath the Suntree shattered. There was this, this nothingness underneath. The tree fell in, and then this darkness rose out of the hole, I tried to run...But the ground fell out from underneath me, and I fell in..."
"And then?"
"I woke up then."
"Indeed..." This one word was uttered such a strange tone, I quickly glanced at Delilah's face, startled. She was looking into the fire, and as she spoke her eyes glittered. It was a fierce expression, difficult to understand, and a fleeting smile accompanied the sparkle. But there was a dark ambition in that brief flash, and a dark triumph, as if she knew, or was bent on making, some use of what I'd told her. Then the flash was gone, and she was looking thoughtfully down into the fire, smiling gently.
"That is a strange dream. Let us hope you aren't troubled by any more."
Her eyes had come back to me, and she brushed the hair out of my face, examining me thoughtfully. Suddenly she pulled me to her, gathering me into her side, and winding her arms around me. I shivered and leaned my head against her shoulder.
"I am going to miss having you near me," Lady Briarwood murmured regretfully. "I'll be quite lonely without you, my dear."
I slowly relaxed, the tension draining out of my body as we sat in front of the fire. Lady Briarwood's undead attendant built up the flames, stirring the coals, and adding a new log. Bathed in the renewed firelight we sat, with me curled up next to Delilah, soaking in the heat. Already the nightmare was growing distant, fading into a few shattered images, that paled in comparison with the reality of sitting here.
At last Lady Briarwood stirred, straightening up, and unwinding her arm from around my shoulders. I was colder without her, and I once more pulled my shawl close around me. Outside the night was less dark, still black, but more of a blue black as opposed to pure darkness. It must be nearly six in the morning. In the summer months the sun would be rising now, but as winter continued to deepen, the sun continued to rise later and set sooner.
Life was beginning to stir within the castle. I could hear footsteps crossing the hall, passing swiftly back and forth, and under the door I could see the flicker of light. Through the sitting room window glittered torches, like tiny scattered stars, being lit in the courtyard. The time for the Briarwood's departure had come.
Delilah rose, crossing the room to glance out of the window. I shrank closer to the fire, shivering, suddenly quite cold again. Professor Anders entered a moment later, advancing forward with a bow.
"All preparations are made ready, my lady. Lord Briarwood inquires whether you are ready to depart yet."
"Yes, I am quite ready, thank you Anders."
The Professor bowed as she swept past him, a gesture that she hardly noticed, and Delilah flung back the doors to the sitting room, sweeping into the entrance hall. Silently Anders followed, and I rose too, keeping to out of the way and unnoticed. Lord Briarwood was standing in the center of the hall, and as Delilah entered, she went to him.
Outside, at the bottom of the castle steps, illuminated by flickering torches in the pre-dawn blackness was a sleek travel carriage. Several guards flanked it, mounted on single steeds. They were very fine spirited animals, champing and fretting, eager to begin the journey. The carriage horses were a bit more steady, waiting patiently in their harness, their breath steaming in the winter chill. A young man of nineteen or so was perched on the driver's box, rubbing his fingers with the reigns lying loose in his lap, occasionally casting a glance at the other horses and their riders.
"Well my darling?" Silas said, looking down at his wife as she came up to him.
"I've made up my mind to the journey." She replied. "I'm quite ready to go as soon as you say we must."
"Come then, before the sun rises."
Lord Briarwood quickly descended the castle steps, his muscular form fading into the shadows, leaving Lady Briarwood alone in the hall, for Anders had already retreated back upstairs. She hesitated for a moment, glancing around the hall, then held out her hand to me.
"Come and give me a farewell kiss, my dear." She said, and I obeyed. Quickly I kissed her on the cheek, a gesture that she bent to receive, and embraced her for a moment.
"Stay out of trouble." Delilah said, laying her hands on my shoulders, then her face softened and she added "I'm going to miss you."
Her hands dropped away, and she quickly followed after her husband, melting into the courtyard. With a quick step she mounted into the carriage, the footman shutting the door behind her and mounting onto his perch. The coachman cracked his whip, urging the horses into a trot, and the guards followed after, vanishing into the surrounding shadows.