The Dragon King’s Substitute Bride
Chapter 51

HERA

The first thing I notice is the cold.

It is like the cold of winter, sharp and freezing, the kind that should I open my mouth, would fog up my breath.

But there is something about it that I do not like.

Something beyond the way the cold buries itself deep beneath my skin and sinks its teeth into my bones until the freezing chill of it starts to feel physically painful. Something that frightens me.

I shiver, rubbing the skin of my arms and the goose bumps that have appeared on them in an attempt to keep warm.

Why is it suddenly so cold?

We are in the middle of summer...are we not?

My head feels heavy, fuzzy and I struggle to clear it.

Had it been this cold when I had gone to bed last night?

No...not last night, it is still dark. So dark I can barely see.

So it must still be night.

But then why am I not in my bed?

I look down and see I am not longer dressed in the red night dress I had worn to sleep.

I am wearing what appear to be riding clothes, I can feel a cape tied around my neck and when I glance at my feet, they are covered in leather boots and beneath them...a floor of hard packed dirt.

That is when I finally realize that wherever I am at the moment, it is not my room in the dragon castle.

My heart is pounding and my tongue, dry and bitter, sticks to the roof of my mouth.

Where am I and how did I get here?

What in all the realms is going on?

I can hear whistling. No... not whistling...rustling; the sound of wind blowing through dry leaves.

It at first seems to be coming from everywhere all at once but a closer listen tell me it is loudest directly above my head.

I look up.

The wooden ceiling of my four poster bed has been replaced with low, thatch rafters.

The whistling is the sound of the howling night wind, the kind that blows over a plain, unbroken by trees or tall buildings, passing through the leaves of the thatch house and rustling them with an eerie, crackling sound. I am scared, very much so, even though there is nothing here to indicate any danger.

Not yet at least.

But the air is stale and still, heavy with a thick, cloying smell that sets my teeth on edge and sends the blood rushing through my veins in apprehension.

A smell that reminds me of the Elder forest.

I shut my eyes, squeezing them tightly.

It is a dream. It has to be.

But when I open my eyes, nothing has changed. I am still here.

My eyes in question are beginning to adjust to the darkness but it does not help, not really.

I can make out a few things. Tiny shadowy bits and pieces.

A wooden bed... a swinging, carved bird with a strangely bright yellow beak hanging on the far wall...a herder's staff in the corner.

But it is like seeing out of a tunnel, a fog filled tunnel where nothing is clear and when I try to focus everything stretches and fizzles. Yet it isn't this that has the hairs on the back of my neck standing up in alarm.

I can hear something else, beyond the howling wind and the hooting of night owls coming from outside.

It sounds like moaning, low and continuous.

It is the noise of a person who is in pain but is much too weak to do anything about it.

I narrow my eyes, squinting, trying so hard to see through the hazy web that seems to hang in the air and over my eyes.

My head begins to hurt from the effort, right between my eyebrows.

But it pays off.

I can vaguely make out a figure lying on the wooden bed.

The moaning seems to be coming from them...a sound so sad and hopeless it makes my heart hurt.

But there is someone else in the room.

A taller, skinner figure in a hooded clock standing over the moaning person.

A pressure begins to build in my head as I look at them and my hands start to shake. My throat tightens...constricts... hurts.

I want to run, to hide before whoever it is turns around and catches me watching.

But I seem to be incapable of doing anything, incapable of moving any part of my body, forced to stand and stare and watch them, their hand stark white in the darkness hovering over the moaning person. Then just as suddenly as it started, the moaning stops.

And somehow the silence that prevails in its place is so much worse.

The standing, hooded figure freezes, hand still outstretched.

My blood runs cold.

They know...they know I am here.

The pressure in my head is stronger now. Pushing its way from the back to pulse and stretch behind my eyes.

Gods above...

The wind from outside is louder too...more alive...almost violent in the way it shakes the tiny building.

My head feels it is going to cave in, implode on itself.

I can't breathe...tears cold and wet run down my cheeks.

I can feels myself dying, losing my grip on whatever tiny string is keeping me tethered to this existence.

I am fading...

Falling.

Falling fast...falling hard.

Rushing headlong into the freezing arms of darkness...

My eyes fly open and I jerk awake, hands clutching my chest and gasping for breath.

My night dress, soaked in sweat, sticks uncomfortably to my back.

Strange that I should be sweating so much when I still feel freezing cold.

I still can't seem to breathe and my chest hurts.

So much.

It takes me a moment longer to realize that I am holding my breath and have most likely been doing so for quite a while.

I let it out and force myself to remember how to breathe until the simple familiarity of the motion helps to calm my racing heart.

I clutch my sheets and pull my blanket tighter around my shivering form.

All to remind me that this...the white, warm sunlight streaming in through my window, the sound of the morning bell and the clean scent of creeping ivy...those are real and whatever that...dream had been, it wasn't. But the feeling doesn't go away and neither does the shaking.

My eyes fill with tears.

No...gods above...not again.

The tears fall, wet and salty into the corners of my mouth.

A loud knock breaks into my thoughts, startling me back into reality and I wipe hurriedly at the tears running down my cheeks, pressing the heel of my hand against my eyes in order to stop the flow.

"Yes..."

My voice is not as stable as I'd like it to be. I clear my throat...try again.

"Who is it?"

The voice on the other side hesitates. "...It is I your grace...Henette."

Of course.

It is morning after all, who else could it be?

This dream has unsettled me beyond what I wish to admit.

I sit up straighter, pulling down and arranging my blanket around my legs. "Come in."

Henette steps in cautiously, her eyes momentarily sweeping across the room. "Good morning you highness."

"Yes good...good morning. I trust you had a good night's rest?"

"I did your grace. Did you?"

I nod, not fully trusting myself to speak.

She watches me closely, studies my face. "Your highness...Hera, are you okay?"

No.

I turn away; pretend to be captivated by the open window. "Yes I am, just...a little nightmare is all. I'll be right as rain soon enough."

The maid watches me for a moment longer and when I say nothing more she simply nods. "You know the good thing about nightmares your grace, is that they end the moment you open your eyes." She says it with so much conviction, my throat tightens and the tears threaten to return.

I stare at my hands in my lap and nod. "Yes..."

Nod harder, more for my sake than hers. "Yes of course, you're right. It was nothing but a dream...nothing but a dream."

I sigh.

Henette smiles and begins moving about the room, getting things in order. "It is a beautiful day your highness, a lukewarm bath will do wonders to make you feel so much better."

This time I say nothing in response.

However, it turns out she is right.

Taking my bath, surround by slithery, soapy bubbles and the sweet scent of fresh lilacs, helps drag my mind out of that cold dark place.

Nothing but a dream.

The dress she has laid out for me is a simple off-shoulder, cream colored gown, sporting a plunging v-neckline and two slits in the sides.

The long strappy sandals feel firm beneath my feet and around my calves and a black lace up corset sit comfortably on my waist to provide some sort of definition.

When she attempts to pulls my hair up however, I stop her with a wave of my hand.

My head still hurts a little so I opt to wear my hair loose, letting it fall in soft curls down my back and around my shoulders.

My only accessory is the dragon necklace he gave me.

I have not taken it off since the ceremony.

I still feel strange however.

Like a part of me has not truly woken up just yet and staying cooped up in my room is most definitely not going to do me any favors.

"Henette..."

No response.

"...Henette?"

She pokes her head out from behind the bathing screen where she's working.

"Yes your grace?"

"Do I have any lessons today?"

She thinks on it for a while before she answers, like she does with everything.

Then she shakes her head. "No your grace."

"Good."

I rise, smooth down the edges of my gown with the flat of my hand and reach for my cloak. "Do you also perhaps happen to know where the king might be this morning?"

"I believe he is in the dining hall, having his breakfast."

Fastening the cape around my neck, I nod, exhaling quietly. "Good. I believe I am hungry as well."

She wipes her wet hands hurriedly on her apron. "Do you wish for me to accompany you..."

I wave away her offer. "I shall replace my own way."

And with that I head for the door.

It is high time I left the castle and saw the rest of the dragon capital, this time without half his guards searching high and low for me.

Maybe...just maybe, going outside will be enough to scrub off whatever left over feelings have followed me out from that...nightmare.

At least, that is what I hope.