The Cursed Kingdom

FORTY-FIVE

~ LORD OF FLIES ~

A warm, almost red-tinted brown ceiling greeted me when my eyelids blinked to an open, a groan escaping my mouth as a throbbing sensation in my skull made its existence known. I screwed my eyes shut, the darkness slightly easing the sharp jabs of my bloodstream as it pumped against my temples, and bit the inside my cheek, trying to do anything I could to distract myself from the pain even if it was only for a couple seconds.

The stiff pillow underneath my head was so stuffed with feathers that I could faintly feel their sharp ends poking my cheekbone through the cotton fabric, causing the skin there to itch.

I sighed through my nose and turned my head in the other direction before I tossed it back over again, my brows furrowing with frustration when I couldn't find a comfortable position. A muscle twitched uncomfortably in my neck and I winced at the sensation. Nothing was wrong with the bed. It was lovely. But it wasn't the same. It wasn't—

A light hand pressed down on my shoulder and my eyes shot open at the same time my mouth released a gargled gasping noise that got halfway stuck in my throat. My body practically jumped entirely off of the mattress as I scrambled to sit up, my chest heaving while an image of the corpse from the woods flashed through my brain and all I could think of was blood. I could imagine the liquid so vividly that I swore I could smell its bitter aroma all around me, splattering onto snow, dripping onto grass, running down my hand.

My thoughts were draining in themselves that by the time I'd propped my upper body's weight on my palms, my head felt like it was spinning around an endless orbit. I was so dizzy that I could barely keep my head straight and my neck could barely handle the weight, causing my head to lull painfully to the side. Coming out in short, uneven bursts, my breathing had never sounded so ugly  and I swallowed back the horrible need to vomit as my eyes darted all over the room in search for the next monster who would force its way into my life.

"Raena, it's okay." The person placed their hand on my shoulder again, this time more firmly to keep me still, and my eyes shot up to their face, whimpering. "We're okay."

My tense shoulders slackened only slightly at the soothing sound of her voice paired with her kind eyes, and I breathed out, feeling my rapid heart begin to relax as each second passed. Shaking fingers reached up to wipe away a few strands of hair that had plastered themselves on my forehead with sweat and I dabbed away the crusts that had built up in the inner corners of my eyes.

Slowly, I pivoted my head around to look at Oriana, who sat in a chair beside the bed I was laying in, body leaning forward and legs stiffly pressed together. Past the sheen of worry, her eyes were glowing with life and already her skin looked more pigmented, her round cheeks returning to almost how I remembered them. She'd changed into clothes that fit her perfectly, although they were a little loose around her shoulders, and she reeked of her distinct body wash that Taylium had once claimed reminded him of sugarcane, sweet and with the faintest hint of vanilla.

The thought of Taylium and his twin had a familiar pang shoot through my heart but not as terribly as it used to, after having long ago become a victim to time's necessity of numbness.

Tearing my line of vision away from her face, I swayed my eyes around the room and took in everything slowly, from the beam of daylight shining in through the window and to the wall the headboard was pressed against that only bore a single crooked nail.

Oriana's voice sounded as if she was talking through a glass jar when she asked me how I felt. I was too focused on analyzing the ceiling, floor, and walls to respond, noticing how the lighter and darker streaks in the wood reminded me of jagged roads. By the time I'd registered she'd said anything at all, it was too late and so I continued rocking my eyesight back and forth, never once letting them rest.