Roses and Thorns

Chapter 18~Baradhyl

IIvelle woke up in a room. She didn't know where she was. At first, she thought she was in the Heavens, but she soon realised that it wasn't the case. Her whole body hurt and she was sure that if she had been in the Heavens she wouldn't felt pain. She forced herself to look around. It was a small room, with white walls and wooden furniture. The room was lit by candles and didn't have windows. On the other end of the room stood a woman with her back to her. Ivelle tried to sit up, but failed and fall back.

"You're awake!" turned the woman around. No, she wasn't a woman, she was a girl, not older than Ivelle. Maybe younger. She came closer and gave her a glass filled with strange, blue liquid. Ivelle stared at it suspiciously. "It's medicine. Helps to clear out the poison from your body." explained the girl.

Ivelle sniffed it and quickly drank it. It wasn't that bad. It was a bit bitter and salty.

"Thank you." she gave back the glass to the girl. She smiled and took it without a word. "I'm Ivelle."

"I know. I was told." she said, "I'm Poloma."

"It's nice to meet you." said Ivelle.

There was a loud knock on the door. Poloma hurried there and opened it. A tall man with pale skin, white hair and sky blue eyes came in. His long hair was in a low pigtail. He smiled at Ivelle and walked to her bed.

"Hello, Ivelle." he said in a kind voice.

"Who are you? Where am I? How did I get there? What happened?" asked Ivelle at once.

"Easy, easy!" he said with a kind smile "Poloma brought you clean clothes and food. Get dressed and eat something. After, we can speak." he smiled, turned around and walked out of the room with Poloma.

Ivelle stood up and walked to the table. There was a plate on its top with bread, honey, cream and fruits, and a jug filled with water and peppermint leaves, and a glass. Next to it on the wardrobe, there were clean clothes. She ate her food, then got dressed. She'd got a long light blue dress with long sleeves and decorated with small blue butterflies. She made a low bun too. She opened the door and left the room. She found herself in a long hallway. Different doors were opening from the hall, but no windows. There were flowers, plants and paintings everywhere. At the one end of the hall, there was a door, somewhat larger than the others. The other end of the hall departed in two different directions. Ivelle decided to walk up to the huge door. She knocked in but didn't get an answer. She slowly opened the door and looked in. It looked like a library.

She stepped in. It was a huge square-shaped room. The walls were covered by shelves, which were full of books. The ceiling was beautifully painted. The painting was showing the sky, with clouds, and a flying phoenix. In the middle of the room, there was a huge table with chairs. There was also another door opening from that room. She opened that door, once again slowly, first just looking in.

This room was very different. It was a round room and much smaller. There were shelves again, but there was only a small table with a book on its top in the middle. The ceiling was painted like the night sky, with stars, moons, planets everywhere and, of course, constellations. There were also lines like the lines of longitude and latitude on the earth maps, all meeting at one point.

"See, you've found the Astronomy room." said a voice behind her. Ivelle quickly turned around and faced the man. It was the same man who had come into her room earlier.

"I was just-"

"No need to explain yourself." said the man "On the contrary, I believe, I owe you with some." he smiled. "Now you can ask your questions?"

"What is this room?" she asked surprisingly not just the man, but herself too.

"Is this really the most important question?" he asked raising an eyebrow.