Hearts and Chess

Nightmares

"No!", she cried out, holding a hand out. But what was done couldn't be undone. He was dead. She would never see his yellow eyes again, never laugh again, never smile, never be....happy. The maid was looking at her with sympathetic looks, as was the bird and the madman. She looked around, panicking, as if looking for something that could rewind time. Cath woke up, panting. She bolted up, and sighed. She hated this. Cath needed fresh air. She looked down. She was wearing a red nightgown with the king, still asleep next to her. She scowled at him and picked up a lantern. She got into red flats with a black bow and left the room, silently.

She tiptoed down the hallway to the gardens at the back of the castle. She took a deep breath, and sighed. She stroked the blood red roses with thorns. Her fingers were pricked but she didn't care. Blood ran down her palm, onto her wrist, onto her arm. Then she spotted a white rose. Over at the far end of the garden.

'One of the gardeners must have made a mistake,' she thought, and hurried over there. It was beautiful. Sad. Scary. She was afraid the flashbacks would come again. She lowered her right hand to the rose and it was stained with blood. She looked back to the garden, and saw that every one of the roses were red. She smiled to herself and went back to the castle, to her room. She crawled back in bed and slept.