The light tapping of metal rang in her ears, echoing in her head as she faded in and out of consciousness. She tried to raise her arms to her head to shut out the noise, but her arms refused to budge from their spots at her sides. Believing at first, she was paralyzed a fear struck her, however it wasn’t until she tried raising them again that she felt the sudden aching pain of stiff muscles that hadn’t moved in a while. Pushing through the pain she forced herself onto her elbows, shimmering white hair gliding down her shoulders to her hands. She opened her eyes slowly adjusting to the light in the room before her.
The images were all blurred at first, but slowly objects were coming into focus. She hadn’t noticed anything odd about the room until the vivid colors came into full view. The walls were more ornate than her normal room. Two large pillars stood in the middle of the room seeming to frame two large doors across from her. The large bed was black wood with four posts supporting a shear multi layered silver canopy. The canopy drawn back and tied to the posts with blood red satin ties.
The terribly loud tapping rang in her head again and she brought her hands up to cover her ears. Through squinted eyes she tried to refocus her eyes on the room before her. Her ears were under an assault. Her head aching further she rolled onto her side to try and get out of the large bed. She rolled to far and collapsed onto the floor. Her head still ringing and now tangled in blankets she was left in a vulnerable state. Her milk white hair slithering around her like a nest of snakes as she thrashed about trying to untangle herself without her hands.
“Mistress!” a painfully high-pitched voice screeched through the tapping followed by a loud crashing sound. As all of the converging sounds threatened to tear her head apart Aynilia’s last resort was to curl into the fetal position while trying to force her hands into the sides of her head, her eyes sealed shut. Fresh tears formed at the outer corners of her eyes as moans of pain escaped her throat. Then all at once all the noise ceased to exist. The breath trapped in her chest came out slowly and a little bit labored. Her eyes eased open while her hands slowly moved from her ears. In only moments a fur headband was placed over her head to cover her ears.
“Mistress, I’m sorry for my tardiness” the familiar sound whispered to her while helping her from the tangled mess on the floor. Aynilia grabbed onto the edge of the bed to lift herself up from the floor, her legs unsteady. “How long was I asleep?” her voice hoarse and her throat dry. “3 phases mistress” the whispered reply came as a shock to her. She did not have the energy to be surprised, she was still fighting her memories from temple. The handmaid carefully helped the weak Creegin onto the edge of the bed.
“Where am I?” Aynilia asked with a cracking voice. A thundering sound beat in her head like a drum. Her stomach turned into a knot and she felt sick to her stomach. “Where is she?! I have not been told a single word since she was found! Now I demand you let me in to see her!” a deep, comforting, and loud voice rang through. The headband covering her ears did little to block the sound. With one hand on her head and one hand steadying her body against the bed, Aynilia stood up and slowly made her way towards the sound. The voice she had found comforting moments ago was now tugging at her irritability. The voice kept increasing in volume, making her head ring more than it had previously.
“Mistress!” the voice came suddenly as two delicate hands grabbed her arm and hoisted it from the bed. Her arm was draped over the small set of shoulders and she was steady. The young girl helped her towards the noise that both eased her pain and created it at the same time. They crossed carefully into another room attached to the main bedroom. As soon as she stepped through the threshold silence fell over the group. Aynilia tried to focus her eyes on the people before her, but her vision remained blurry. The ringing in her head softened, but did not disappear.
“Are you okay?!?!” the loud, thundering voice came again, assaulting every last sense she had. She felt strong hands on her shoulders as she was tugged from side to side. The unexpected movement caused her to release her human crutch and nearly crash to the floor. The same strong, steady hands that nearly threw her onto the floor were now wrapped around her waist holding her up. “Why are you out of bed in this condition?” he asked lowly as concern flooded his voice.
“I wouldn’t have needed to get out of bed if it wasn’t for the beast trying to break down the door” she replied, her voice soft and gravely. Without another word the man she was speaking to moved an arm down to her legs and carefully lifted her up and carried her back through the doorway. Once he stepped over the threshold, he quickly kicked the door shut. He carried her over to the bed and placed her down, covering her legs with the heavy blanket. Her eyes felt heavy again, but she wanted to focus on this person before her. “I realize we have not been properly introduced to one another. And I hope you can forgive my rudeness today” the deep whisper caught every fiber of attention she had.
“Who are you?” she managed to choke out of her increasingly dry throat. “I am…” the voice was cut off by the sound of the doors being thrown open once again. “The healer has arrived” a young voice said. “Yes, I am here, now I respectively ask to be left alone with her so that I may examine her” Fova’s delicate voice was like a soothing melody. “I will be back to see you again” the deep voice said, his hand finding hers and giving it a quick squeeze before he departed.
“Now let’s take a look at you now that you are awake” Fova’s long thin fingers carefully removed the fur headband. As she brushed some hair away from the Creegin girl’s neck she saw an alarming sight.
