Ad Maiora Semper

Stressed Out

"You've got something about you, dear." Lady Lanuan continued without batting an eyelash. Her red eyes lulled Merry in, asking questions in a language completely unknown to the girl. Merry lost sight of all the others around her. It was just her and those eyes, intriguing as they were. The whole scene fell away and she found herself seeing a table strewn with odd objects. Paper, ink, wax but what caught her attention was the long sword that lay bare on it. It was bigger than anything she had ever seen, in pictures, of course. With a large handle placed over the enormous hilt, the blade spread ahead with markings on it. A deep red stain marked its edge.

The scene shifted and she was in a lady's room, filled with flowers everywhere. A woman sat on the floor, holding something in her hand. The image was hazy but her shoulders were shaking violently.

Another image took its hold and Merry found herself strapped and bound to the seat of a car. Unintelligible words were being thrown back at her from the front seat and then someone was shaking her up. She felt a slap on her face but the scene changed and she was facing an ugly thing that pranced on the floor, baring its teeth occasionally. It moved towards her in a leisurely grace and talked to her.

Merry screamed, so loud and pitched that her throat hurt. A burn sped up her spine and she wriggled away. She shut her eyes and shrieked. There was yelling around her. She felt another stinging pain in her cheek.

Suddenly she was awake, drenched in sweat but alive and in the same grotesque room of Lady Lanuan. She was lying on the floor with the others looking down at her. Fallon straddled her, bounding her thighs and holding her shoulders with his strong arms. She launched at him, throwing him away from her. She wanted to get away from all of them. Whatever they were doing to her, she couldn't let them continue. She got up and ran towards the door, banging at it. She screamed and cried and pumped her fists on the massive door that wouldn't open.

"Let me go!" she yelled and tried to claw her way out. Fallon and Rus came up behind her, trying to hold her down. She punched Rus square on the face and tried to push Fallon who held onto her waist. "LET ME GO!" She screamed again, trying to free herself from the deathly grip. Fallon held her close to him, refusing to let go. Several long minutes passed till she finally gave up and hung loosely in his arms. "You're okay. You're safe." He kept murmuring in her ear.

Her brother's arms were the only thing holding her straight. He loosened his grip on her and let her slide to the floor. Merry felt exhausted. Her clothes were wet and she had spent all her energy screaming and thrashing wildly. Fallon cradled her in his arms and laid her head on his chest. Tears fell loosely from her eyes, cascading down her flushed cheek and vanishing in her disarrayed dark hair.

"You're safe with me. You're safe. I'm here. Hush, baby," Fallon cooed in her ear. She lay there for some time while he rocked her back and forth. He began singing, first just humming and then strewing words to his music. She didn't recognize the song but it was in Gaelic, soft and harsh at the same time, flowing easily through his lips. It felt familiar to her and she eased against him.

"Here, give this to her," Lady Lanuan said in her honey-like voice. Something pressed against her lips. Fallon said," Drink this baby. Come on. Just a sip."

Merry took a sip. It was cool and sweet, like rose-flavored water. Merry felt it flow inside her and took another sip. She felt like someone had pushed a switch inside her. Her vision cleared and her breathing returned to normal. The burn-in her throat also subsided. Slowly, she raised herself from Fallon's arms and looked around her.

Lady Lanuan was hunched in front of her while she sat between Fallon's legs. His eyes were weary and a fresh bruise marked his upper cheek. Zelda and Rus were in another corner of the red room, the former rubbing a cloth on his face. Reality dawned on her and she remembered punching Rus' face. Her own hands had several bruises from banging at the door. She looked down at her chipped knuckles, trying to remove the blood that had started drying on them.