The Reaper's Curse #1 - Complete

Life Goes On

Alicia can't find her will to move, the will to get out of bed and push through this horrible and consuming pain that has gripped her.

She stares at the dust that tracks a lazy path within the sun streaming through her window. The noise from the people outside reaches her through the glass, an aching reminder.

Life goes on, it always will.

Alicia Zalana was never meant to know the feeling of blood on her hands, her brothers went to fight a war so she wouldn't have to. But all flowers wilt eventually. She did what she had to so her family could begin doing what they wanted to. She thought she'd find peace after.

She was wrong.

The knock on her door has her eyes finally shifting from their observation of dust. She blinks, tightening her arms around herself, hand throbbing with the movement. The knock comes again, louder, Alicia wincing as the noise seems to pound against her skull.

"Alicia, get out of bed," comes the gravelly voice from the other side, thick with annoyance.

She manages a grumble in response, burying her face in the soft material of her blanket.

"Can I entice you from your room with the prospect of food?" he questions, sighing deeply.

Alicia swallows, lifting her head, her stomach letting out a pitiful whine. But it's not the idea of food that has her sitting up, bracing her hands on the sides of the mattress and swallowing the bile that rises in her throat, it's the fact that she needs to move, needs to breathe something other than the stale air of her room. She needs to see something other than her ruined reflection staring back at her. Alicia stands because she's already tired of being with herself and her own concoction of darkness.

"I'm coming," she murmurs, her muscles stiff as she pulls on her over-sized coat.

Struggling into her shoes, Alicia repeats a mantra in her head as she tries to shove down her overwhelming memories and emotions. She's not a princess, not a noble, and she's certainly not the Raven. She's just Alicia. Alicia, the girl with the wind in her hair and a smile upon her lips. The girl before the bodies, before the war. The girl that was starving but was still able to laugh and love. That is the girl that Alicia dresses as today, she can't see herself facing the day as anyone else.

Oliver taps impatiently on the other side of the door as Alicia cringes through the process of tying the laces of her boots. Her right hand is useless as she winds her crimson scarf around her neck and tucks the ends into her coat.

But as she straightens, eyes straying to her reflection, her hair half pinned and falling in messy strands around her face, she understands why she must come back to herself.

Kathryn, her pa, the queen, they all pushed her forward even when they perished. She has to continue marching because they can't.

"Patience isn't what I'm known for, Alicia."

Alicia glances away from her reflection as Oliver's voice reaches her, the huff of his breath managing to bring a small smile to her lips as she moves for the door, cradling her wounded hand to her middle. "Sorry," Alicia says quietly as she opens the door, facing Oliver and having to swallow as those sterling eyes quickly take her in. It's a brief look, one that takes in all of her before settling on her face and offering her a curt nod.

"How are you feeling?"

She opens her mouth to answer him, but nothing comes out, partly surprised that he'd even care to ask. "Life goes on," she manages before pressing her lips together, the split in her lip stinging. But pain is something she can deal with, she's endured it enough over the years.