The Goblin Princess

Chapter 9

The little princess stood next to the large central fountain in the Rose Garden. Not too far away her mother chatted with one of the gardeners, but little Veena paid little attention to that. No, she was watching an owl that sat in a nearby rose tree.

It surprised her that an owl was awake during the day. It was a pretty owl, with its golden white feathers. It seemed to change its attention between her mother and her. It seemed almost royally in its attitude, which seemed odd to her for a bird to have.

Her mother glanced back at her frowning, "Veena, what is it?"

Veena pointed towards the owl, "there's an owl, Mommy."

She looked to where her daughter pointed, "there's nothing there, Sweetheart."

The little princess turned and found the owl was gone. She frowned, "but it was right there."

Her mother walked over to her and knelt down beside her, "it more than likely got scared and flew away."

Little Veena frowned slightly. She didn't believe that. It hadn't seemed afraid. It had seemed interested, but why had it left?

Chapter 9

Adam leaned against the wall just inside the entrance into Grayskull with Cringer sitting beside him, looking up at him. Things weren't looking too good. Veena had been in and out of consciousness over the last week. The Sorceress kept telling him she was fine, but Adam wasn't sure. That wasn't fine, at least he though so. When she had opened her eyes after passing out on the way to Grayskull, they hadn't seemed quite right. They had been glazed over. Veena had acted normal, but she had been so weak. It had almost been like when they had first met.

What was the Sorceress hiding from him? Did it have something to do with her family or ….? What else could it be? He wasn't sure how Teela would react if he returned without any news. She still felt horrible about the accident.

Sighing, he tilted his head back against the stone wall. He didn't like this feeling of helplessness. It wasn't like he could just charge in with sword drawn to help her.

Cringer butted his head against his thigh. Adam looked down and gave him a slight smile, "thanks, Cring." He reached down and rubbed the tiger behind his ears. "I wish there was something I could do to help her."

XOXOX

Why was everyone whispering around her? She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she knew it had something to do with her. Why else would they be whispering? Every once in awhile she could hear the goblins laughing from the shadows, and it wasn't their happy laughter. Veena didn't like that laugh.

She could feel someone holding her hand and moving something from her forehead. She felt like she was on fire. Why hadn't her daddy done anything?

Her twin brother and her sat talking quietly into the night. They didn't wish to wake their parents nor their older brothers,

A soft feminine voice came through the haze. She wasn't sure if it was her mother or not, but it felt somewhat soothing.

The pain was just too much. She didn't want to wake. It felt like her head was split in two. The pressure felt almost too much.

"You need to wake up, Veena. I know it hurts, but you need to wake up."

She still tried to force herself back to sleep. The pain would go away if she was asleep.

"Veena, open your eyes. I need you to stay awake so I can see what I can do to help."

She would had moved her head, but the slightest movement seemed to cause her pain. Veena only wanted to lay still with her eyes close.

"It hurts."

"I would think so. Now open your eyes. I can lessen it some, I hope. Unfortunately, the only one who could really help you is your father."

Why wasn't she surprised? He was never around when she needed him. No, wait. He was when she really needed him, but when she wanted him. Not since the day...

Slowly, Veena opened her eyes to find herself in her room at Grayskull. She frowned slightly. The last thing she remembered was sparring with Teela.

"What happened?" She glanced around the room. No one stood or sat near her. Her head hurt slightly, but it didn't feel like anything to worry about. Slowly, she sat up, causing the pain to became worse.

Something had happened, but what? Gingerly, she lifted her hand to her head. This couldn't be good. Why couldn't she remember coming back to Grayskull?

The door opened slowly, and the Sorceress floated inside. She gave her a soft smile, "well, you are finally up I see."

"What happened?" Veena lowered her hand from her head.

The Sorceress moved over to her, " you were sparring with Teela when you misjudged an attack and did not react in time."

"And she hit me in the head."

The Sorceress nodded, "you have been unconscious for quite a while. Prince Adam has been here almost daily. He was here only a few hours ago actually."

Frowning, Veena had a feeling that being unconscious that long wasn't a good thing.

The Sorceress stood beside the bed. "I have done what I can for you. I fear the pain will not disappear for sometime."

Veena would have had nodded, if she hadn't already known it would hurt. "What now?"

"Well, you still need to recover, but once you are strong enough, I think it is time for you to return to your father."

Veena looked at her in shock, "what? But I can't be ready."

"You have learned all I can teach you. It is time for you to return to your father."