by C. A. Sabol
“No, why is he there? What’s wrong?” Selene’s voice was coming back. As Cyerra stepped forward to pour the princess a glass of water, Kadrianne was unable to say anything. Selene started to push back her covers when Kadrianne finally responded.
“Your Highness, he is ... Hey, wait a moment! Where are you going?” Kadrianne broke off as she watched as Selene had stumbled out of bed, and began pulling her medication tube along with her as a support as she headed for the door.
“Your Highness!”
Selene ignored Kadrianne and Cyerra’s calls as she hurried out of the room. Her bare feet stumbled along on the cold floor. She felt her head spin and her heart beat furiously. Her hand clutched her stomach, which stung with every other step. Her eyes watered as her pain increased. It took an enormous amount of energy and will just to stand. But Selene was desperate. Her dearest friend was in pain, she knew. Surely if anyone should be able to help him, it would be her.
She looked in all the rooms as she went past, her focus blurring over more than once. She finally found Garth, the King’s foremost guard, and rushed inside. Her brother would’ve sent his most trusted guard to watch over Etoileon until he was better.
Garth was staring off into space as the princess walked in. He nearly jumped in surprise. “Your Highness,” he said, bowing his head respectfully as he stepped up beside her, “You should not be up. You are clearly still suffering from the attack.”
“Etoileon,” Selene murmured as she side-stepped around Garth and hurried over to his side. She nearly collapsed once she reached his bedside. She fell to her knees, clinging with weak hands to the sheets.
“Your Highness!” Garth softened his tone as he watched her struggle. He carefully took a step closer, in order to be nearby if she fainted.
Etoileon was lying peacefully on the bed, a bandage on his head and a few more on his limbs. There was a cut healing just underneath his left eye, and the areas of his arms not covered with medical bandages showed some sign of the cuts and scrapes he had endured in the palace raid. Selene reached for his hand but drew back. She was suddenly scared. “What’s wrong with him, Garth? Is he going to be okay?”
At this point, Kadrianne and Cyerra had entered the room quietly. “Sir Garth,” Cyerra spoke up softly, “You must tell her.”
“Tell me what?” Selene asked. Her stomach turned and her heart began to sink.
Garth looked down at his feet. “Your Highness ... Your protector has suffered several blows to the head. He is in critical condition at the moment.”
Selene felt the air rush out of her. For a moment she was silent and unmoving, as though it took a while for her to absorb the news. “But ... but he’s going to be okay, right?” she asked. When Garth said nothing, Selene tried again. “Isn’t he?”
“Maybe you should go back to your room, Your Highness. You have been under a lot of stress lately,” Kadrianne suggested. “I can get a doctor to explain everything to you.”
“No,” the princess objected. Her eyes clouded over with unshed tears as she looked from Garth to Cyerra, finally resting her gaze on Kadrianne. “Tell me what happened! Why is he like this?! He is not going to ... to ... ?” She could not find it in her to finish the question.
Kadrianne found it hard not to squirm under her princess’ gaze. She took a step back and looked away. Cyerra was wringing her hands nervously and Garth made no sound or movements at all.
Selene finally looked back at Etoileon. The last moments before she’d fallen unconscious flashed before her eyes as she was finally overcome. Suddenly all that was bright and good in the world seemed to grow faint. There was a great feeling of helplessness and fear as Selene felt her world come crashing down on her and felt herself hitting rock bottom.
“Why won’t you tell me!?” Selene demanded, her eyes red and swollen. A teardrop slid down her cheek, falling onto Etoileon’s hand. Selene sobbed as quietly as she could, her hand releasing the covers and reaching out to take his limp one in hers. “Etoileon! Please, wake up!”
“Your Highness!” Aura had come into the room, to find her charge weeping over her protector and everyone else silent and unmoving.
Selene didn’t even hear Aura come in. She shook Etoileon’s hand, once again pleading with him. “Etoileon ... wake up ... please wake up! Don’t leave me here all alone,” she sobbed quietly. Selene doubled over, crying. Her tears streaked her face incessantly, her hand tightly grasping onto his.
He didn’t move or make a sound to indicate that he’d heard her call or felt her hand. He slept on peacefully, unable to wake up from his deep unconsciousness.
Selene felt her fingers being pried away from Etoileon’s as she slumped over. Her head was splitting with pain and her stomach was feeling more twisted than ever. Her bruises were stinging and dizziness took over. Selene struggled to remain fully conscious as she straightened up. There was a feeling of warmth as someone behind her tucked her cloak around her shoulders.
“You must be cold, Your Highness,” Cyerra’s soft voice whispered as Selene felt herself being picked up.
Selene had taken a hold of her cloak, but nearly dropped it when someone tried to move her. “No!” she objected. “Leave me here! I want to stay with him!”
“Your Highness, don’t be ridiculous,” Aura’s crisp voice cut through her like a knife. “He’s ill. There’s little chance that he will wake up anytime soon. The doctors need to be in here to watch over him and check up on him every so often. Besides,” Aura continued as she started to pull Selene even harder, “You are not well yourself! You should be in bed!”
But Selene managed, with the small amount of strength she had left, to wriggle out of Aura’s grasp. She surged forward, almost tumbling into the bedside cabinet. She hesitated a moment to catch her breath, before standing up as straight as she could. She looked up at Aura, and said weakly, “Aura, please ... let me stay. I will feel much better if I know that I am doing all I can to help Etoileon get better.”
“But you don’t know that, Your Highness,” Aura remarked. “You could be hurting him even more.”
“I ... I ... I can’t explain it, Aura, but I do think that I am needed here.” It was almost like there was a whisper in her heart, telling her not to leave just yet. She looked up at Aura with imploring eyes. “At least let me stay for a few moments. I would not be alive, were it not for him.” Selene looked intently at Aura with weary eyes. “I owe him my life, Aura.”
Aura sighed. She was lost. “Alright,” she agreed. “But only for fifteen minutes, do you hear me?”
Selene nodded. Normally she would’ve argued, but she did not have the strength to this time. She looked at the others in the room with an expectant expression. Her two handmaidens and Garth took their leave. Selene looked pointedly at Aura next, and the governess resigned herself to just outside the room. Once she was alone with Etoileon, Selene knelt by his bedside, fresh tears emerging from her eyes.
Why did he have to protect me? Oh, why did this have to happen?
Sapphira is a planet of peace, not war, she thought as she watched his chest rise and fall with his slow, deep breathing.
She suddenly shivered. Selene fumbled with her cloak, trying to get more warmth out of it, when something in her pocket stuck out against the soft folds of the fabric. Curious and almost annoyed, she reached to fix it when a surge of recognition hit her.
It was her feather. “Huh ... I forgot about that.” After a quick look to make sure no one was watching her, she took it out of her pocket and examined it.
The light it shined was no less radiant than it had been earlier, she thought with a small smile. It had helped her, in an odd way, to find peace for the moment. Looking back at her friend, Selene happened upon an idea. Remembering how she’d awoke that morning, with the light casting out all darkness to bring forth the morning light, she carefully laid the feather on top of Etoileon’s heart.
She waited expectantly for him to awake. When nothing had happened after a few momen
ts, Selene felt her face scrunch in disappointment. She put her face into the covers and began to cry again. “Please ... Etoileon ... ” her voice was muffled and hoarse as she murmured into the covers. “Please! Why won’t you wake up?”
The feather remained still as Etoileon continued his rhythmic breathing. Then suddenly there was a great sparkle of light, and the feather disappeared, fading away in thin air.
The light startled Selene, but she saw nothing for sure as she jumped up, her face red and splotchy from her tears. Seeing the feather was gone, she fell further into dismay.
“Huh? Where’d it go?” she wondered out loud. She stood up carefully, and looked around. But she saw nothing to show where her gift had gone. When she looked under the bed and all around on the floor, it was still nowhere to be found.
Aura tapped on the door a moment later. “Your Highness, time is up,” she called. “Time for you to get back to bed.”
“Wait, Aura! I lost something,” Selene called back, still looking all over.
“Your Highness, now!” There was no patience left in her governess’ voice.
Selene felt her heart sink further. It was not fair, she thought as she reluctantly got up from her position on the floor. Looking once more at her friend, she reached down and brushed a wayward strand of hair away from his face. Leaning down, she whispered, “I’ll come see you again, I promise ... my dear friend.” Still seeing no sign of her feather, she sighed, past the point of being able to do anything. I’ll have to get it later, she thought despairingly. I’m sure that it’ll be fine anyway. Someone is bound to find it and give it to one of the nurses.
She headed out of the room more exhausted than she could ever remember being in her whole life. Aura was at the door, her foot tapping and her lips pursed in annoyance.
“I’m sorry, Aura,” Selene apologized in a soft voice. “I can’t seem to get my head on straight today. With all that has happened ... ” her voice trailed off and Selene could not find it in herself to confide her sadness and her torment to someone who would tell the entire court in a matter of days. Sometimes, Selene mused, silence is the best answer we can give.
Aura dropped her stance and helped the princess walk back to her room. When Selene was back in her bed, Aura looked down at her meaningfully. “Your Highness, I shall never know what to do with you. Every time I find that you’ve gone somewhere you should not have, I find that protector of yours is there too.”
“It’s a good thing, Aura,” Selene gave her a tiny smile. “If he had not been there with me today, I would most likely be dead.”
Aura drew back from Selene’s comment. “Yes ... I suppose so,” Aura agreed after a moment. “Indeed, I doubt that I shall forget that moment when I saw the two of you unearthed from that pile of rubble. I almost had a heart attack.”
Selene’s eyes widened in surprise. “Aura, I didn’t know you cared so much.”
“Well, Your Highness, this place would not be the same if you weren’t here to lighten it up,” Aura admitted thoughtfully. “The attacks were enough to rattle us all, I suspect.”
“When will the palace be rebuilt?” Selene asked.
“Reconstruction of the city has already begun. We’ve got several workers and machines on the job as we speak. It won’t be too long, Your Highness ... maybe in about three months, the city will be completely rebuilt and better than ever. The palace will be finished later, in order to get some much-desired renovations and additions up. One advantage about these attacks—we shall be getting some more room in the palace.”
“That’s good, I suppose.”
“Well ... it’s not for you to worry about. Get some rest now; you have a long recovery to attend to, Your Highness.”
“Will you call me Selene?”
Aura’s eyes snapped up from their unfocused glance. “Beg pardon?”
“I asked if you would call me by my given name, Aura,” the princess repeated patiently. “In light of this tragedy, I think it’s only called for.”
Aura shook her head. “It is not proper,” she insisted. “You are royalty. One needs to look no further than your complexion to know it, and see your royal bearing to confirm it.”
Selene looked disappointed but said nothing further.
Aura went on. “Your father would often insist that he be treated with no special titles. Only a few would listen to his request.” She sighed and looked down back at Selene. “It must be a family trait.” She paused here, as though she wasn’t sure she should go on. In the end, she must have decided not to, because she simply sighed again and bid farewell.
Selene was surprised that Aura hadn’t given in to her request to call her by her given name. It looks like no matter what happens to shake her up, it will not affect her convictions about social hierarchy, Selene mused.
Aura was soon forgotten as she thought once more about Etoileon. She was heartbroken at his trauma. How she longed to be with him, to be there when he woke up! She had to believe that he would. But as she lay in the hospital bed in her tattered clothes and many bandages, with pain screaming with every movement, Selene began to wonder what would happen if he didn’t.
What if he died? What if he left her here? Would she be able to take care of herself? Would she be able to accept his death? He meant so much to her, and so much of what he was to her was unspoken and left unsaid. Of course that was her fault! It was all her fault that he was in the condition he was in, too. If she hadn’t tried to stop that fight, both of them might’ve avoided all this trouble. He’d been so brave, to protect her. So devoted, too. And she’d called him on it just the night before! How blind she’d been. How ignorant. How undeserving. Her nose prickled with the oncoming of unshed tears. “How awful I’ve been,” she whispered. What kind of person am I, to hurt someone like that?” Why couldn’t it have been me who got injured? she wondered.
Selene rolled over and pulled the covers up high, shielding herself from view as she attempted to calm down. She curled up, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around herself. Shivering, she tried to gather up some true warmth, but she found little. Staring off at nothing, letting fresh grief surge through, her eyes were wide and unfocused. The only indication that she was somewhat aware of her surroundings was the teardrops steadily flowing down her face.
DORIAN CAME TO SEE her as soon as he could manage to slip away from his duties. It is not fair, he thought angrily as he walked down the medical ward hallway. Why is it that the king is the only one who can’t have an hour to go down and see his loved ones?
Yana and Kadrianne were standing dutifully outside the door. Dorian had to have some sympathy for these ladies. They were only a few years older than Selene, and yet they looked as though they had not had a chance to sleep since the attack. They had most likely been watching over his sister for nearly a day.
Dorian gave a small smile to the women, smiling ever so slightly more when Yana, whose name he had vowed to remember after she had left before, smiled wearily back.
“Ladies,” he addressed them. “Surely you are tired. Take a break. Get some rest.”
The two women exchanged glances before Yana bowed her head and replied, “Your Majesty,” she began to explain, “We are currently on a break. Lady Cyerra is inside with Her Highness now. We have chosen to stay here on our own.”
Dorian raised his eyebrows in surprise and then nodded. He understood. He’d probably be there himself, if everyone had not insisted that he take meetings with all of his advisers and officers. Selene was just as important and as loved by the kingdom as Dorian was. Taking a moment, he said, “I’ll have my wards bring you some chairs to sit on, then. You cannot possibly be comfortable standing there all day.”
Kadrianne bowed her head respectfully as she opened the door for Dorian while Yana peeked up at him and gave him a tiny smile.
Cyerra sat on the foot of the bed, her hands in her lap. She sat with the dignity of a handmaiden, and watched with the worried eyes of a friend. The sigh
t of her heartfelt dedication to his sister filled Dorian with a sense of tenderness.
“Lady Cyerra,” he spoke softly. “No, don’t get up –“ he ordered as she moved to kneel before him. “I have come to see how Selene is doing.” Cyerra was still, unsure of what to do as Dorian moved forward and peeked over the mound of covers Selene was buried under.
“Brother,” Selene murmured, “I am, as far as my body goes, fine.” As for her heart, it was in turmoil. She could not even get to sleep she was so anguished.
“Selene ... ” Dorian reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged away from him. “Selene, I’m sorry about this.” He was her brother. He knew that she was more than sad about what had happened.
“Dorian, please. I am very tired,” Selene implored. She did not want him to see her crying. “I have had a very long day.”
“Is there anything I can do to make it better?” Dorian asked.
Selene shook her head. “Not unless you have the power to bring back the lost,” she whispered.
There was a short silence following her words. It was then that Dorian turned back to the door. “I know you’re concerned for Etoileon,” he said stoically. “I was there when the excavation crew managed to pull you out.”
Selene turned and faced him, her eyes red. She just looked at him and said nothing as her brother continued.
“There was blood everywhere. And then there you were,” Dorian’s voice cracked as his eyes looked away from her and found the floor. It appeared that even the king was emotional this day. “Lying there, so still. We were all so afraid in that moment. Several of the women looked away and began to weep for you. How much harder they cried in joy when we discovered that you were still alive.”
“The ladies of the court always looked up to Her Highness,” Cyerra spoke up gently. “They really admire your spirit, Your Highness.”