Chapter 296
“Maya… can you hear me? Blink if you can p>
That was the Queen’s voice. And she was calling me by my real name.
But was that even my real name, since the identity of my real parents was yet unknown?
And what was that about blinking? My eyes were not open. They still hurt.
But I attempted to, because in attempting, I was sure that my lids would move and that would be enough confirmation that I was alive, that the treatment was working.
“Thank the Goddess.” I heard her mutter in relief, and would have gasped if not for my immobile state, at the irony of things.
I had thought the Queen was my enemy, that she would be the one to kill me, but it had been Adam and his brothers, and their pack.
What did I know? Malek was right. I shouldn’t have taken things at face value.
Malek. She had kept her word, hadn’t interrupted my sojourn in the black deep. For how long? I wasn’t sure.
I wanted to ask, but my lips refused to move, refused to open. I was still comatose, though somehow, by some strangeness, I could hear. Faint, but I could pick words in the air.
“How much longer, Laura? She has been out for more than three months. Is this a part of her makeup, that being beaten leaves her body somewhat degenerated p>
“I’m not sure, my Queen p>
My second foster mother. Her voice was tainted with deep sorrow.
My heart ached at the sound. And I wondered where Diana was. What about Peter? What about Raul? Had they discovered the truth—that the triplets had been behind this?
“I will do my best. But I think you should take Raul with you. He has not left her bedside, and I fear for his own health. He doesn’t eat properly too p>
The Queen sighed, a long, weary exhale. “I will try to convince him. Rachel isn’t here, she would have done a better job at convincing her twin p>
A length of pause followed.
“Thank you for this, for giving your magic to save Maya. I’m sure she will appreciate it when she wakes up.” Mother, again.
“Let’s hope she does p>
The Queen’s voice turned softer, reflective. “She has a fiery mouth on her, yet I find myself wondering who she had offended to have been left like this. Was this the state she had been in the first time, when you and your husband had found her p>
“Yes, my Queen. The same state. And I think I know who was behind it p>
Another pause, thick with unsaid things, where I knew the Queen was contemplating her curiosity and Laura’s decision to hide this fact from her before now.
I hoped she didn’t punish Laura for the latter.
“The first time was the King’s sons. They hadn’t been pleased with her report to their father for bullying her p>
“Oh… she is that Maya? I heard the story… I was the one that told Brekan to let the girl go… the triplets beat her up because of that p>
Yes, they did. Those brats!
Even though my anger grew within me, it didn’t give me enough power to get to my feet, to wreck terror on the Lycan’s pack, and so it was useless. My hands would not clench, but in my mind I was already breaking their bones.
“Yes. And I think they were behind this too. I think the King is aware of their involvement, of their destructive anger… they need to pay for their crimes!” Laura’s voice was a shout, I was sure, but in my ears it was barely a whisper.
“And they will… but you know what the last war cost us. This time, Maya herself will make them pay. You just have to hurry the healing process, so I can send her to the Isles of the Chosen, so she can be trained p>
“I will, my Queen. I will p>
“And Laura p>
“Yes, my Queen p>
“I am sorry about Zande. I have made a lot of bad choices, and Zande was one of them, that and training Diana without your consent p>
“It’s okay. You ruled with justice at the party, and that’s okay p>
Really?
“Thank you. I will check in again tomorrow. Goodnight, Laura p>
“Goodnight, my Queen p>
I distinctly heard the Queen calling Raul, tapping him. He must have been asleep.
“Raul, follow me home. You are of no use to Maya, if your body is weak. She will be awake soon, and you need to be strengthened to do the needful p>
That must have been enough convincing, because I heard Raul’s agreement next, his goodnight wish to Laura, just before they both left the space.
Laura’s healing hut most likely. But the scent was somewhat different. Maybe I was recuperating in the palace?
Then I heard the sobs, gut-wrenching sobs. Laura was crying.
I wanted to tell her to stop, that I would be fine, that I would not return to her in this dilapidated condition ever again, but the darkness was dragging me into its embrace; and before I lost all consciousness I wondered how long I would remain submerged in the deep.
I didn’t stay long, however, as I had thought. Instead I was thrown into another space, a familiar space, the dream I always never understood, the dream where I seemed to have a taste for blood, like a vampire.
I was back at the bleak place again. That place thrummed with filth and despair, just like before. I sighed, wishing for the empty darkness, when a woman’s despairing cry echoed in my soul, tearing at me, reprimanding me.
It was just as before. Every cell in my body craved food and something else, something I could lay my finger on, mostly because I had rehearsed the dream by now. Blood. For original chapters go to ⓝovelFind.net
The hunger raked at me with merciless claws until a red haze covered my sight and my pulse hammered with the need for immediate sustenance.
Desperate, I scanned the area above my resting place for the presence of enemies and, finding none, burst through the rich layers of soil, into the air, my heart thundering in my ears, my mind screaming.
I landed in a crouch in the midst of dense shrubbery and thick vegetation, and took a slow, careful look around me, not in the least concerned about how I could jump out from the ground.
Another jolt of blinding pain lashed at my temples, blackening the edges of my vision. But I knew it would happen. I tried to mentally brace myself for what was coming next, but it still didn’t prevail.
I covered my eyes the next second as I had always done in the previous dreams, to try to block out the shooting stars coming at me like missiles. But closing my eyes worsened the effect.
Was I really going to go through the entire episode again?