by C. A. Sabol
Selene looked at Aura intently, watching her governess carefully. “Will I be allowed to visit Etoileon while he remains here, Aura?”
Aura shrugged her shoulders and looked away from the princess’ gaze. “I am not sure about that, Your Highness. I will ask His Majesty about it, and then we shall see,” she answered finally. “But do not get your hopes up. It has been two weeks since he went into the coma. I cannot say how long it will be until he gets better. I’m sure,” she said with confidence in her voice, “that you shall be concerned with other things that require your attention. You are a busy one, Your Highness. If His Majesty the king does allow you to come, it would only be every once in a while, I’m sure.”
Selene nodded and turned her attention to the floor. After a moment of silence, she looked back up at her governess. “You can go, if you like, Aura,” Selene murmured as she turned around to face the window once again.
Aura hesitated and then left. She hoped that the princess would feel better once she was back in her own rooms. It made sense that she would, Aura reasoned. There was something inexplicably gloomy about a medical ward.
IT WAS NIGHT, BUT SHE was not dreaming. She was not sleeping either.
Selene remained curled up in her bed, the covers pulled high around her to muffle her soft crying.
“Etoileon ... ” she whispered quietly. “It’s been two weeks now since you’ve been gone. I miss you.” How she longed to return to the days when they were together! The times that they spent in the tower, the memories they shared ... so much reminded her of him.
When she’d first heard the news, she’d been stricken with grief. There had been a foreboding shadow that had trickled down her spine, as if to tell her that she would not be seeing him a long while. Despite the news that he was doing okay, Selene worried that at any moment, she would be informed of his passing and thrown into a wave of loneliness and despair that would consume her. She feared that he would be lost to her forever. “I want you to wake up,” she murmured, “But I know that only a miracle will save you now.”
And then she cried even harder, sobbing into her tear-soaked pillow. Why was life so unfair? Why did this have to happen? What good could possibly come from all of this? As far as Selene could tell, her best protector was gone, the Fighter squad was missing its highest-ranking member, and the thought of the war outside taunted her, provoking her greatest fears to eat her up.
There was no way she could sleep. Selene finally stopped crying, her face sticky from her salty tears.
She rolled over on her back, and looked up at the ceiling. It was dark. She should have been afraid, she thought. But now that she no longer slept, Selene had grown accustomed to the darkness. When she’d been little, and the monsoon thunderstorms had awoken her, Selene had always been afraid to fall back asleep. Something about the dark had caused her skin to prickle with unexplainable fear. Now it was the opposite. How quickly her fear of night had turned into the fear of the day. The darkness seemed more like a friend to her now. Daylight only brought the sad truth of her life into focus—there was no one but herself that she could count on. Darkness seemed to sympathize with her, its cover allowing Selene to forget that there was anyone that she couldn’t depend on.
She stared at the whitewashed surface until she could take it no further; she pushed aside her covers and swung her bare feet onto the cold surface of the floor. Grabbing a smaller blanket, she wrapped the warm cover around herself and headed to the door.
Silently, she opened the door and poked her head out. There were only a couple of people in sight; a nurse was at a nearby desk and an aid was filing something behind the nurse. Both of them were talking to each other quietly. Selene slipped out the door without making a noise, and quietly sneaked down the hall.
A few doors later, she reached her destination. Etoileon’s room.
She crept inside and shut the door as quietly as she could. When the door creaked, she jumped and held her breath, hoping with all her might that she had not drawn any attention to herself or Etoileon’s room. When no one came in after a few moments, Selene was reassured that she was safe.
Turning around, her eyes softened. The light of the two moons, Shira and Kuro, glowed pale against Etoileon’s skin. There were no sounds except his quiet breathing; Selene could barely breath herself as she slowly walked over to stand next to him.
“Etoileon,” she whispered, taking hold of his hand. She was shocked to find that his hand was warm. After looking at the monitor, Selene relaxed and gave a small smile. He didn’t have a fever, but he was warm. It was a good sign to her.
She knelt down on the floor so she could talk directly to his face. “Etoileon, it’s me,” she said, her voice just above a whisper. “I know you can’t hear me, but I want you to know that I’m here for you.” Her gaze left his face and looked down. “I feel so alone, now that you’re like this. I know that you’re not ... going to ... to ... ” her voice faltered. Fresh tears came pouring out as she struggled to retain them. “But why won’t you wake up?” she asked somberly. “Please, wake up!”
Etoileon remained as he was, lost in his coma. Selene smiled slightly and tightened her grip on his hand. “Please, my dear friend, get up!”
Still nothing. Selene lost her smile as she withdrew her hand. Looking down at him, she felt the sting of tears coming on once more. Just as she was about to cry, she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. Startled, she held still, hoping that they weren’t going to come into her now-vacant room.
The steps moved past her room and Selene felt her breath rush out in relief. She quickly jumped in surprise when she heard the click of a doorknob.
Oh no, Selene thought, the doctor couldn’t possibly be checking on Etoileon now, can he? Her thoughts were quickly forgotten as she scrambled to hide. She moved behind a curtain and ducked down under a supply table, hurriedly moving to gather her pajamas close around her ankles. Her back against the wall, her arms were clutched around her knees in a crouching position.
She watched as the doctor’s feet moved around the room as he began checking Etoileon’s vitals and marking down his reports. She heard him emit a sigh as he removed his stethoscope.
“Doctor Hamersley?” There was a knock at the door. It was a nurse.
“Yes, yes, come in Fia. I’m almost finished on this patient.”
The nurse came in and walked up beside the doctor, looking over the doctor’s shoulders at the notes. “How is he doing?” she asked, more out of mild curiosity than anything else.
Selene felt her mouth go dry and her heart stop as she awaited the doctor’s answer. There was a pause and then Doctor Hamersley let out a sigh. “It’s not looking good.”
The princess felt her heart plummet into her stomach.
“What’s the problem?” the nurse asked.
“Well, it seems that there are a multiple amount of bruises, cuts, and scrapes. It took them hours to dig him and the princess out of that pile of rubble. He’s lost a lot of blood. With the combination of fractures and the broken bones, it is probably for the best that he’s knocked out. It’s a miracle in itself that he’s alive.”
“Really? It’s that bad?”
“I’m afraid it’s worse than that.” The doctor’s voice fell as he looked down at the clipsheet that he held containing the reports.
“What could be worse than all of that?” the nurse whispered, with a touch of horror in her voice.
Doctor Hamersley shook his head. “It doesn’t look like he will be waking up any time soon. His injuries, substantial as they are, would heal much more quickly if he were, even if he would be in pain. At least this way he’s out of feeling any of the damage.”
The nurse chuckled a bit, nervously. “Try telling that to the Princess. I don’t think either of them would think this is the better way.”
The doctor shook his head. “That is everything I need for now from this young man. Fia, go ahead and start preparing his medicine. Here’s the prescription
.” A paper was torn off the doctor’s pad and handed to her. “Let’s head out, shall we?”
The nurse nodded and walked out promptly, heading for the drug counter. The doctor reached the door, but suddenly turned back. He looked at the peaceful expression on Etoileon’s face and said, “We can only assume that you are much better off in sleep, young man. But I have a feeling that this is according to the will of the one who watches from above.”
Selene waited until the doctor shut the door, so only a slit of light was shining from the hallway out from under the door. It was then that Selene relaxed, feeling certain that she had not been detected in the least by the nurse or Doctor Hamersley.
Safe for the moment, Selene thought as she poked her head out from underneath her hiding spot. Withdrawing, she slumped against the wall. Then she couldn’t take it anymore.
Placing her head in her hands, she wept.
She cried for Etoileon, who was suffering and in the coma all because of her foolhardiness in the first place.
She cried for herself, because she was so lonely and didn’t know what to do, or what to believe. She didn’t know if she would ever be able to face the endless stream of days that held nothing but empty promises and hopelessness.
Who could she turn to, now that Etoileon was gone? She was left alone all over again. Her mother had abandoned her long before she’d given birth to her. Her father had left her all by herself until he had apparently drunk enough moonshine to poison himself. Her brother had neglected her to the lonely hours locked up inside her own palace, making the castle, with all its rich adornments and ornate decorations, to be her prison. Her handmaidens and her governess had left her to stand alone on a platform that was only given to her for her title, not her being. Even her subjects made her feel alone; they were all at war now. Etoileon had been her one true friend, who had called her by her name and treated her like an equal.
“Someone,” she wept harder, “Someone save me from this misery! I cannot take it anymore! I’m so alone ... ” Selene slumped over, falling prostrate on her hands and knees. “I can’t do this by myself,” she muttered. “Who can? Who can save me from this darkness?” Even if Etoileon woke up, she would not feel the same as she had before the war started. She closed her eyes, the last of her tears falling out. As she cried, the clouds began to cover over the two moons and hide their light from Sapphira. There was no light left in the room. It seemed that even the hall light from under the door had grown dim.
When there was nothing left inside of her, Selene listened to the quiet breathing of her friend. There was nothing but the rhythmic noise of Etoileon’s inhale, exhale against the darkness of the night.
Suddenly there was great flash of light outside the window, its brightness filling the room with its brilliance. Selene looked up, and jumped to the window, but it was gone already. “What was that?” she wondered aloud. “Huh?” She suddenly felt warm. And sleepy. Her eyes flickered for a moment, but she felt the irresistible call to rest.
Selene felt her knees buckle and give way, hitting the cold floor. She was out; before the rest of her body hit the floor, she was sound asleep.
FOR THE FIRST NIGHT in a long while, Selene was dreaming.
She woke to find herself lying on a soft bed of sand. She looked up to find that she was once again in a vivid dream. Her hand went up to cover her mouth as she was filled with wonder. She was left speechless at how real and beautiful everything seemed.
There she was, on a sandy beach. The wind laced through her hair, and the sea mist blew gently across her face. Selene looked around; she’d been here before. It was the same place she’d been in after she had argued with Etoileon. She recognized the rock where she’d lain on before, and the pool of water that had given her the precious feather. The bright blue sky sparkled like the rarest of jewels, and the sea seemed to be bursting with knowing joy. The waves even seemed to dance. There was something about this place ... something about it seemed so real, but it was so unnaturally real that it was completely ethereal.
She looked down at herself. Her feet were still bare, and she could feel the tinkling sensation of the warm sand beneath her. She was still wearing her plain white hospital pajamas. There was something wrong, though, Selene noticed as she examined her hands. There were no wound marks on her any longer, nor were there any bandages. Her skin was smooth and glowed with its natural brightness.
“What’s going on?” she wondered. “Is this really a dream?”
A sound seemed to answer her from the realms of the forest behind her. Selene turned and looked at the forest, her voiced curiosity momentarily forgotten as she sucked in her breath at the sight of the forest. It was breathtakingly exquisite. The tree-like structures appeared to consist of a crystal formation, which the surrounding light cast out tiny colored streaks that flickered in the soft wind. There were some leaves on the trees, bouncing along in the wind. The ground progressed from sand to a striking dark green grass, and there was a cloudy fog that surrounded it. The fog added a foreboding feature to the setting, as if to ask each traveler if the truth was worth traveling through uncertain areas or not.
“Who’s there?” she called out. “Hello?”
There was no response, but a stirring of sounds caused Selene to be curious once again. Carefully, she got up from her fallen position on the beach and took her first step toward the forest, a subtle determination seeping into each new step; she was overcome with the need to know what this light was.
The forest was confusing and full of distractions; regardless, Selene stopped for nothing, her hunger for the light to be realized. She began to quicken her pace as she felt herself drawing closer. “I have to see this!” she panted.
Suddenly, the forest cleared out, and there was a lake of crystal clear water before her. Selene nearly fell out of shock.
Walking on the water before her was a winged horse, a Pegasus. She could barely look at him, he was so strikingly beautiful.
His feathered wings were broad and long, the width of them seemed immeasurable; they were folded back against his body as he stood perfectly still on the water surface. It suddenly dawned on Selene where the gift of her feather had come from. His body was strong, his pure white hair gleaming in the cloudy surrounding. The mane and tail fluttered gracefully in the soft breeze. His steps were relaxed and seemed perfectly coordinated, as he slowed to a stop close to the edge of the sparkling lake. His eyes lifted to meet hers. Selene had never seen such a gentle kindness. Looking deeper, there seemed that a humble question was resting in the depths of his crystal fire eyes.
There was no mistaking the question his eyes held; she knew what he was asking her. He wanted to know if she wanted him to come to her or not. The choice had been left up to her. It suddenly struck Selene that he was waiting for her answer. Cautiously, Selene took a few more shaky steps to the border of the lake. She thought about wading in the water to go and meet the strange but magnificent creature, but she did not know how deep the water was or if she should just stay there.
His eyes met with Selene’s, and she fell to her knees, her gaze never leaving his. Her thoughts stilled and dissolved in her mind, her body was left numb and trembling as she just gazed upon the beauty of this winged majesty.
Moments later, Selene somehow managed to find her voice. “Who are you?” she whispered softly, as he continued to meet her gaze with his.
He made no sound, no response. He merely came up to her and stood in front of her. With her hand shaking, Selene reached out to touch him. He did not move away from her; instead, he nudged his nose toward her. She suddenly wondered if he would be as real as the rest of her dream.
Her quivering fingers finally touched the soft texture of his nose in a gentle caress, and Selene felt a surge of power and certainty flood through her as she felt her dream fade away into a shimmering light.
He was the one who could help her. He was the Spirit of True Peace.
AS DR. HAMERSLEY WALKED down the hall, a bright bl
ast of light radiated at the other end of the hall.
Intrigued, he headed over to see where the light had come from. He found himself in front of the princess’ room. Dr. Hamersley poked his head into the room to see if she had seen the flash of light. He half expected her to be still looking glumly out the window. He was amazed to find that not only was she sleeping soundly in her bed, but there also was a smile on her face.
He had to grin and stifle a chuckle of joy. The Guardian always worked wonders.
SELENE WOKE UP WITH a start in the morning. She sat up straight and was surprised to find that she was in her own bed in the hospital. Strange ... she hadn’t felt anyone move her or pick her up. She felt more rested and more relaxed than ever. She wondered why.
Then she remembered her dream. Selene’s face broke out into the first genuinely happy smile that she’d had since coming to the medical ward. Her hands flew up to her mouth, to restrain the laughter that had bubbled up inside of her.
It was at that moment that she realized that she also no longer had any scars or scrapes from the disaster. Selene felt her happiness be replaced by awe as she looked down at her hands, fascinated, that she seemed better than new. Her royal glow was back, and there was no place on her body that she could find a remainder of an injury.
“This is amazing,” she whispered. “What happened to me?” A memory of the kind Pegasus she’d seen in her dream flickered into her mind. Was it Him? Had He been the one who had done this for her? she wondered.
There was a knock at the door. Selene jolted away from her thoughts and looked up to see that Kadrianne was standing in the doorway.
“Good day, Your Highness,” Kadrianne bowed. When she stood upright once again, Kadrianne’s eyes flickered in surprise as she noticed the princess’ recovery. “You are looking well today, I see,” Kadrianne smiled. “How do you feel, Princess?”
Selene gave her a small smile, thinking of her peaceful dream. “I am feeling remarkably better today, Kadrianne.”