Parallel

Chapter XIV: Mad

Auralea

My hands immediately snapped up to my neck to pry it from Auden's grip. I began coughing and sputtering. All I felt was the necklace and my skin but my airways felt constricted only a moment ago. With every second that was passing, I was inhaling life back into my body. I felt as if I was taken to the brink of death and just barely managed not to topple over the edge. My head pounded as a headache began to form. Everything felt so surreal and grasping it was troubling.

"Auralea? Are you okay? Is it too tight?" His voice was the lifeline I didn't know I needed. Before he spoke, I had forgotten he was even there. I had forgotten where I was. My body was confused, my mind was racing, and I felt as if I was truly there in that room in the castle. A room I had never been in with people I had never met.

I felt such an attachment to those men. Ira and Auden. "Ira..." Leo stepped out from behind me and stood right in front of me, his hands firmly on my shoulders. His gaze was unwavering. "Where did you hear that name? There's no way that you can know that name." I look away, suddenly feeling shameful. I had no idea how I knew that name; it just appeared in my head along with the personal connection I felt with him.

Leopold lets go of my shoulders and takes a few steps back, putting distance between us. After minutes of silence, he begins to pace, wringing his hands. It seems as if his mind is running a mile a minute. I watch him, focusing on his movements to distract me from the horrifying scene replaying in my head. His stance suddenly goes rigid and I watch as he clenches and unclenches his fists at his sides.

"Auralea, if you don't talk to me...I won't know what to think. How do you know what my mother called my father?" His tone is as cold and rigid as his gaze and stance. He sees me as a threat and I know that at this moment, I have to choose my words very carefully.

"Your father is Ira? So your mother is Oriana. Who is Auden? I saw the three of them." His expression morphs from stoic to a look of sadness. He doesn't say anything at first, his mouth merely opens and closes once or twice. There is confusion swirling in his brown irises and I can understand why. There was so much to unpack and decipher. We both were at a loss for words.

"My parents passed when I was five years old. First, my mother from a stroke and then my father from a carriage ambush. There is no way that you could have seen them together unless you've been here before...but I distinctly remember you telling me that you have not." His voice seemed to drop an octave lower defensively.

"I know what I saw. Auden and Ira were fighting when I-...Oriana came in to calm them down. They were so loud. You were crying because you heard them too." I felt frustration bubbling up inside of me. He didn't trust or believe me and I knew that I had no proof. There was no convincing him. The pounding in my head was increasing in volume by the second and I felt as if every tiny sound wave or vibration was irritating my eardrums.

I placed my hands over my ears and shut my eyes tight. The pain was excruciating and it wasn't going anywhere. Collapsing onto my bottom with my knees tucked underneath me, I feel the vibration of footsteps. I feel calloused hands grip my arms, prying them away from my ears. I open my eyes long enough to see the deep red substance on my palms.

Everything moved in slow motion now. I was lifted, I was floating, I was in the clouds. My vision flooded with red and then dissipated. It was gone. In just an instant, my vision and my hearing were gone. With just three senses left, only two of them were of use to me. I screamed, or at least I tried. I couldn't hear my voice but I could feel my throat straining.

My body bounced around for several minutes until I smelled the strong scent of alcohol and felt cold sheets beneath me. Something soft covered my eyes and was pressed against my ears. I reached up and ran my fingers over the surfaces. Cloth. Once again, I was completely clueless to my surroundings. Panic struck me hard and chilled its way into my veins. I froze. No longer screaming. No longer moving. Barely breathing.

Leopold

As Auralea collapsed in my quarters again, I immediately knew the diagnosis. She was going mad. It would explain half of the symptoms she was displaying. She was bleeding from her orifices and creating stories about things she could not know about. I felt a pang of sadness and glancing over at her did nothing to cure my somber mood.

Her body was positioned almost lifelessly on the bed in the physician's hall. The dressings on her eyes and ears were tinged with a splash of color from the sudden bleeding and her skin was pale. Her screams had been ear piercing but seeing her in her current state almost made me wish she was still screaming. Any sign of her responsiveness would easily cure the dull ache in my heart.

I truly cared for Aura, as much as it distracted me from my duties, as weak as my uncle would say it made me, as unspeakable as it will seem to the nobles. She held my heart in her hands and I would do anything to protect her, even if it meant seeking treatment from physicians from all over the globe. I refuse to let her die under my care.

Knox shuffled into the room with his head down and a wrinkled scroll in one hand. He bowed and adjusted his spectacles before speaking, "Your highness, there is something you should know about the girl."

1035 words