Bound to the North {Complete!}

16| Omen

Serena POV

The kingdom was in flames. Children ran around the streets, crying and pursued by evils disguised in shadows. The villages stank of disease and death. The world was ending...

I jolted up in bed panting, cold sweat beading on my forehead. My hands were shaking uncontrollably, and I struggled to breathe. There was a splitting pain in my head, and my body felt weak.

I started to lay back down, dismissing the odd nightmare, but the door to my chamber opened and the Duchess walked in.

Can you at least knock? Without a word of greeting, the Duchess curtly said, "You were screaming."

"I'm fine," I murmured shakily. Was I, though?

The Duchess sighed and sat on the corner of my bed. "Serena," she said seriously, but with a hint of disdain. "I know we haven't had... the best relationship, but if you just had a nightmare that caused you to yell like that, you must tell me. My sister—your mother, had similar dreams at night. She told me about a few of them. The world was ending in fire and disease."

I shook my head. "I don't know why I was shouting," I lied.

In the dim light, I could see the Duchess's usually emotionless eyes were clouded with grief. "Serena, your mother...she died under mysterious circumstances-"

"-I know," I interrupted, my voice cracking.

"Your sister and I went to the oracle after her death," the Duchess continued firmly. The oracle was a young fairy girl who could read the past, future, and interpret dreams. "She said the Queen's dreams had been so rough on her, she died of fear."

Yet again, left out of all family affairs, I grumbled to myself. I shook my head. "It wasn't a dream," I lied again.

The Duchess nodded hesitantly and left.

I couldn't sleep the rest of the night. I couldn't stop thinking about my mother and what the Duchess said, not to mention Irene's betrothed drama.

The Duchess. That woman just made my skin crawl. My father may have been the king of the fairies, but he was mindless. It was the Duchess who advised him, who basically controlled his actions. It was the Duchess who told him to beat me, who convinced him to separate me from civilization, cooping me up in the castle.

I almost never got to leave the castle, and when I did, I had to sneak out at night. I'd gone years in the past never leaving once. It was the Duchess's fault, who watched me like a hawk, because she was too lazy to leave and fight with our family on the battlefield.

And the worst part: I wasn't always separated like that. It was only after my mother's death that the king listened to the Duchess. Before, the Queen helped my father make decisions. She would never have let me be separated like this...

I thought back to my dream. It couldn't have been an omen, could it? It had certainly scared me.

Hours passed as I laid in bed, thinking about my mother and the Duchess, Irene, and also Finn. I knew I was being so reckless seeing an elf like that, but I found myself not caring. Two years of being locked away in a castle, it's about time I did something for myself...

AN
Sorry guys, I know this chapter was kind of boring and uneventful, but the story is going to pick back up again very soon! In the meantime, here's the ages of the characters so far...

Finn - 17
Amara - 17
Ozio - 16
Gemma - 15
Serena - 14
Irene - 18

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