TBTS: Chapter 26
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Aeryn was not responding. She was stunned, expressionless, wordless. She was feeling just too little, the vast, blank void where two days of memory should have been was deafening. Right now, she couldn't seem to hear anything. Sakina's voice was a muffled murmur in her ears. She felt like she was submerged underwater; all sounds were distorted, thick, and distant.
Her head was spinning with an electric-shock-like sensation, the type of searing pain that happens when pressure rushes to the skull. It wasn't the familiar agony of the Blood Discipline; it was the pain of a mind being rewritten and it was painful.
Then, after a minute or so of catatonia, she suddenly came back to her surroundings. Sakina, still clinging to her, shifted her weight, and the cold metal of her saber, resting nearby, mistakenly brushed against Aeryn's hand. The physical shock was instant and jolting.
"Huh? What did you say?" Aeryn suddenly asked, coming back to harsh reality and focusing on Sakina's face.
"My Lady!" Sakina, startled, stood up. She stared at the Queen for a good ten seconds, ensuring Aeryn was truly conscious. Then, with renewed, desperate energy, she took Aeryn's hand. "My Lady! Get up! We must go back! It is dangerous to stay here! I cannot spare any more minute! As the head of your security council, I cannot allow this! I cannot, at any cost, allow any risk to your Royal Highness's health and well-being! And this journey is nothing less than disastrously dangerous!"
Aeryn was already up, pulled to her feet by Sakina's frantic grip. She was too numb to resist. She was just so surprised, why is she calling me her Royal Highness? What journey? What is dangerous? She looked around the deserted tent, then back at Sakina. Without pulling her hand away, she said, "I am not understanding, Sakina… what are you saying?"
Sakina's head started spinning. She was shocked out of her wits. She put both hands on Aeryn's shoulders, staring into the Queen's wide, confused eyes. "Your Royal Highness, do you remember why you wanted to go on this journey? Why you wanted to gather the girls?"
"What journey? What girls?" Aeryn was looking at her with a terrifyingly absent gaze.
Sakina raised her brows, a ghastly smile of disbelief stretching her lips. "Don't do this to me, My Lady! You said you wanted to go on this journey! You wanted to gather girls as your army!"
"Ah… I did. Hmm… why?"
"Why! Why?!" Sakina pointed at herself, consumed by regret that she hadn't just taken her Queen back while she was still unconscious. "You are asking me, My Lady, the reason for your own most urgent command!"
"Yes, I must have told you… didn't I?"
Sakina was silent here. She was looking at Aeryn as if she was not Aeryn, but someone else possessing her body, using her voice and her face.
"Okay, My Lady, for now, we have to go back," Sakina said, regaining control of her voice, deciding to bypass the forgotten memories for the sake of survival. "Your things are already packed, just awaiting your command."
"It's already getting dark… we can…"
"My Lady, day or night is of no importance to me! But your safety is! And my utmost duty is to take you back to the palace as soon as possible, regardless of the phases of the hours. Be it day or night."
"Hmm… I am thirsty. I want to drink some water."
Sakina started heading towards the water pitcher. "Yes, my lady, I will bring you fresh spring water."
"Not this," Aeryn said from behind her. "I want fresh water. The stream."
"Yes, my lady." Sakina was suspicious now, but a Queen's command for fresh water was a command after all. She picked up the empty pitcher and started to go out.
"Leave the saber behind," Aeryn said.
"My Lady? I need something to protect myself in this wilderness, no?" Sakina looked wary, but she placed the saber down beside the cot and gave a hasty bow. "I'll be back, My Lady, in minutes."
Sakina went out. Aeryn could hear her giving sharp commands to the remaining guards outside to triple the security perimeter and guard her tent strictly. It was obvious that Sakina was issuing orders to effectively trap her, intending to drug her and transport her back to the palace by force.
And that was exactly what Aeryn was planning to prevent.
She snatched the saber, rapidly bundled her armor and a few changes of clothes, quickly belted her fur-lined coat over her dress, and rapidly gathered a few necessities, gold, coins, a knife, a few ornaments and anything of use that came into her hand . Her eyes caught sight of the small, polished mirror; she picked it up, glancing at her reflection, her heart giving a painful lurch at the sight of the white streaks, but time was ticking to remorse the sight, so shaking her head, she just threw it into her bundle.
She quickly packed the things in her cloak. Hearing hurried footsteps approaching her tent, she instantly slipped herself through a loose base opening of the tent canvas, at the back, that she had been eyeing for a while now and started to run in one direction, away from the camp.
Earlier, she could hear the sudden panic erupting in the campsite, Sakina screaming her name, shouting orders here and there, but instead of stopping, Aeryn just closed her eyes and kept running until she could hear the commotion no more.
She ran, unsure how long or how far. She was simply putting distance between herself and the confinement she feared. She had slowed down, her physical weakness from the two-day coma catching up, when she heard the unmistakable sound of horses closing in behind her. This new threat jolted her, making her race faster. Her mind, though blank of the past two days, raced with instinct. Who might it be? Sakina and the guards? Only Sakina? But there is more than 1 horse! Guards? Sakina with a Guard?
Her energy ran thin, and her desperate flight finally ceased as a cold, electric shock of pure realization, a solid, immutable truth, cut through the immediate terror and the persistent fog of her amnesia. The primal instinct of a fugitive was instantly overridden by the memory of absolute power.
I am the Queen! I am the inheritor of the Trinity! I am the strongest person in the realm!
She stopped with a sudden jerk, pivoting to face the direction of the horses, raising her hands.
The horses stood still instantly, their riders checking their reins at her abrupt halt.
"Who is it? Come out!" Aeryn roared, the sound strong and commanding, entirely worthy of the Queen she was.
She leveled the borrowed saber, gripping it tight. "I COMMAND IT! PRESENT YOURSELF!"
"…Your Majesty…" a scared, hesitant voice said from the dark of the forest, as the figure came near her slowly, holding the reins of two horses.
"You?" Aeryn whispered, recognizing the voice, surprised, her hands still up.
"Why are you here?"
.
.
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Her head was spinning with an electric-shock-like sensation, the type of searing pain that happens when pressure rushes to the skull. It wasn't the familiar agony of the Blood Discipline; it was the pain of a mind being rewritten and it was painful.
Then, after a minute or so of catatonia, she suddenly came back to her surroundings. Sakina, still clinging to her, shifted her weight, and the cold metal of her saber, resting nearby, mistakenly brushed against Aeryn's hand. The physical shock was instant and jolting.
"Huh? What did you say?" Aeryn suddenly asked, coming back to harsh reality and focusing on Sakina's face.
"My Lady!" Sakina, startled, stood up. She stared at the Queen for a good ten seconds, ensuring Aeryn was truly conscious. Then, with renewed, desperate energy, she took Aeryn's hand. "My Lady! Get up! We must go back! It is dangerous to stay here! I cannot spare any more minute! As the head of your security council, I cannot allow this! I cannot, at any cost, allow any risk to your Royal Highness's health and well-being! And this journey is nothing less than disastrously dangerous!"
Aeryn was already up, pulled to her feet by Sakina's frantic grip. She was too numb to resist. She was just so surprised, why is she calling me her Royal Highness? What journey? What is dangerous? She looked around the deserted tent, then back at Sakina. Without pulling her hand away, she said, "I am not understanding, Sakina… what are you saying?"
Sakina's head started spinning. She was shocked out of her wits. She put both hands on Aeryn's shoulders, staring into the Queen's wide, confused eyes. "Your Royal Highness, do you remember why you wanted to go on this journey? Why you wanted to gather the girls?"
"What journey? What girls?" Aeryn was looking at her with a terrifyingly absent gaze.
Sakina raised her brows, a ghastly smile of disbelief stretching her lips. "Don't do this to me, My Lady! You said you wanted to go on this journey! You wanted to gather girls as your army!"
"Ah… I did. Hmm… why?"
"Why! Why?!" Sakina pointed at herself, consumed by regret that she hadn't just taken her Queen back while she was still unconscious. "You are asking me, My Lady, the reason for your own most urgent command!"
"Yes, I must have told you… didn't I?"
Sakina was silent here. She was looking at Aeryn as if she was not Aeryn, but someone else possessing her body, using her voice and her face.
"Okay, My Lady, for now, we have to go back," Sakina said, regaining control of her voice, deciding to bypass the forgotten memories for the sake of survival. "Your things are already packed, just awaiting your command."
"It's already getting dark… we can…"
"My Lady, day or night is of no importance to me! But your safety is! And my utmost duty is to take you back to the palace as soon as possible, regardless of the phases of the hours. Be it day or night."
"Hmm… I am thirsty. I want to drink some water."
Sakina started heading towards the water pitcher. "Yes, my lady, I will bring you fresh spring water."
"Not this," Aeryn said from behind her. "I want fresh water. The stream."
"Yes, my lady." Sakina was suspicious now, but a Queen's command for fresh water was a command after all. She picked up the empty pitcher and started to go out.
"Leave the saber behind," Aeryn said.
"My Lady? I need something to protect myself in this wilderness, no?" Sakina looked wary, but she placed the saber down beside the cot and gave a hasty bow. "I'll be back, My Lady, in minutes."
Sakina went out. Aeryn could hear her giving sharp commands to the remaining guards outside to triple the security perimeter and guard her tent strictly. It was obvious that Sakina was issuing orders to effectively trap her, intending to drug her and transport her back to the palace by force.
And that was exactly what Aeryn was planning to prevent.
She snatched the saber, rapidly bundled her armor and a few changes of clothes, quickly belted her fur-lined coat over her dress, and rapidly gathered a few necessities, gold, coins, a knife, a few ornaments and anything of use that came into her hand . Her eyes caught sight of the small, polished mirror; she picked it up, glancing at her reflection, her heart giving a painful lurch at the sight of the white streaks, but time was ticking to remorse the sight, so shaking her head, she just threw it into her bundle.
She quickly packed the things in her cloak. Hearing hurried footsteps approaching her tent, she instantly slipped herself through a loose base opening of the tent canvas, at the back, that she had been eyeing for a while now and started to run in one direction, away from the camp.
Earlier, she could hear the sudden panic erupting in the campsite, Sakina screaming her name, shouting orders here and there, but instead of stopping, Aeryn just closed her eyes and kept running until she could hear the commotion no more.
She ran, unsure how long or how far. She was simply putting distance between herself and the confinement she feared. She had slowed down, her physical weakness from the two-day coma catching up, when she heard the unmistakable sound of horses closing in behind her. This new threat jolted her, making her race faster. Her mind, though blank of the past two days, raced with instinct. Who might it be? Sakina and the guards? Only Sakina? But there is more than 1 horse! Guards? Sakina with a Guard?
Her energy ran thin, and her desperate flight finally ceased as a cold, electric shock of pure realization, a solid, immutable truth, cut through the immediate terror and the persistent fog of her amnesia. The primal instinct of a fugitive was instantly overridden by the memory of absolute power.
I am the Queen! I am the inheritor of the Trinity! I am the strongest person in the realm!
She stopped with a sudden jerk, pivoting to face the direction of the horses, raising her hands.
The horses stood still instantly, their riders checking their reins at her abrupt halt.
"Who is it? Come out!" Aeryn roared, the sound strong and commanding, entirely worthy of the Queen she was.
She leveled the borrowed saber, gripping it tight. "I COMMAND IT! PRESENT YOURSELF!"
"…Your Majesty…" a scared, hesitant voice said from the dark of the forest, as the figure came near her slowly, holding the reins of two horses.
"You?" Aeryn whispered, recognizing the voice, surprised, her hands still up.
"Why are you here?"
.
.
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