Heirs of the Gods

Ch 22: Distinctly otherwordly

  Golden sunlight poured through the windows as Ella pried open her eyes. She briefly wondered why she'd left the curtains open the night before and just how much she'd slept in, if the sun was already out, and then she remembered. She promptly bolted upright, with much more force than she'd anticipated, causing her body to lurch.

She let out a groan and cradled her head, rubbing her temples.

"Oh, good, you're up." She parted her fingers enough to stare at Aedion, who she noticed had come through, carrying a small vial and a cup. "Sulimona said you'd probably wake up around this time."

"My head hurts," she muttered, pressing her cold fingertips to her eyes.

"Easy darling, you'll break something and Sulimona's a bit busy right now," he handed her the vial, swirling with a grainy, murky green liquid. "She sent this over for you."

Not even stopping to consider the questionable colour and texture, she downed the potion and licked the herbal, slightly spicy taste off her lips. The spidery handwriting on the glass container read Energy replenishing and ache relief.

Ella closed her eyes and clutched the empty vial to her chest, waiting for the spinning in her head to stop.

Everything was sharper, more than it had ever been. Every sound was jarring to her ears, it seemed to her that she could hear even the drop of a pin. The brownie gardeners tending to the vegetable gardens outside, Katram humming down the hallway, the throaty squawk of the gannets circling the castle and down below at the beachy coves. Her eyes could pick up on every single thread in the cotton blankets, the fine lines on the palms of her hands, the soapy scent of the pillowcases and the salty air coming from the open windows permeated her senses.

It was a cacophony of stimulus.

"It's all too... intense," she mumbled.

"It'll take a while to get used to. You'll eventually learn to drown out all the sensations that aren't relevant."

Aedion was standing next to her bed now. Ella peeked at him through a slant in her fingers. He nudged a cup into her hands and she took it gratefully, mumbling an appreciation.

"What happened? What time is it?" Hot coffee warmed her throat and she clutched at the cup like an anchor to her senses. Had it always tasted so strong? Had sugar always been so sweet?

"You fainted, and I had to catch you," he said matter of factly. "We really need to stop making a habit of this dashing saviour dynamic where I swoop in and rescue you, it's ruining my roguish reputation". Ella gave him an unamused glare. "It's about nine in the morning."

Her eyes widened, "I was out the whole damn day! I slept an entire day," she groaned. It had been eight in the morning the day before, she'd been knocked out cold.

"Reminds me of your thirty-hour nap on your first day here."

Ella took a moment to note that Aedion had a nice voice. It was deep-toned and smooth like fine brandy, almost soothingly slow with its sophisticated, silken drawl. It really was too bad he only used it to spout complete rubbish.

"Don't remind me of that day, you absolute--" Ella stopped mid-sentence as she went to tuck her hair behind her ears, only to find them different.

Her eyes widened as her fingers prodded over the shape—longer and sharper.

Shoving off the bedding, she bolted to the vanity's mirror and peered into her reflection.

On the surface, it was still her face. Pointed chin, high-arched brows, short, slightly upturned nose, her widow's peak and heart-shaped mouth. But in many ways, the features that stared back at her were changed.