The Blue Bird

Chapter Eleven

The flutter of wings roused me as I rested against the wall, facing the window.

"Hector." I whispered.

I tried to move, but the sun had risen and fallen a few times since the last time I had been fed, and my body seemed to refuse to sleep on an empty stomach. Beside me lay my dismantled harp, and a newly empty water pitcher. I felt like I was slowly becoming one with my stone wall.

The bird spread its wings, regarded me for a moment, then fluttered away.

I let out a heavy breath. Its ugly green wings betrayed it; it was not my Hector.

"No, my love," a voice murmured in my ear, "that's not me."

"Hector." I turned my head towards the voice, and there he sat - human once more - but just out of reach. "Why are you so far away?"

His eyebrows drew together. "Because I'm not really here."

"Where are you then?" I asked, reaching a heavy hand towards him, not wanting to believe his words.

He gave me a sad smile, and took hold of my hand. "I am at peace."

"But..." I frowned. "I can feel the touch of your hand, right now."

Her pressed his lips to the palm of my hand. "Then maybe I am here, after all. Maybe you are the one who is no longer here."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, as he started squeezing my hand. "Please stop it...I can't--"

"But you can." He interjected. He took hold of my other hand, prompting me to turn back towards him. He put his hands on my face, his eyes filled with pain and sincerity. "You can, and you must."

Sadness tightened its grip around my throat.

"Please don't go." I croaked.

"I would never leave you." A wry smile played on his lips. "I just can't be with you."

"Why would you say that?" I tried to ask, but the sounds I produced didn't sound like those words.

He moved his hands to my shoulders, and tightened his grip.

"Wake up." He said rather gruffly. "Princess Hana. Wake up."

Princess Hana? He never called me that!

"Wake up now, child." He started to shake me. "Your people need you."

Something hit me hard and fast, then a coldness soaked in to my very being. My whole body jerked into full consciousness.

"Rufus, you thoughtless child!" A woman scolded the young man who stood over me with a freshly emptied water bucket. "That was wholly unnecessary! The poor girl's been through enough. No need to go frightening what's left of her wits out of her!"

"The rumours ...." I cleared my throat, "The rumours of my witlessness have been greatly exaggerated."

"That really is very wonderful news," the old woman had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "because you have a lot of work to do."

"But..." It took a moment for the gravity of her words to sink in, and when it did, the threat of tears followed through. "....my father?"

"I'm sorry, dear." She said with obvious sympathy. "He passed about a month ago..."

I closed my eyes and nodded. "And Dina?"

"She tried to keep control of the throne, even claimed she carried the royal heir. But she was a terrible queen." The woman, whose name I could not pull from the deepest recesses of my memory, took my hand and gave me a reassuring smile as she continued to speak. "It didn't take long for the people to start crying out your name, and demanding an explanation for your disappearance. We thought we had her cornered when we stormed the castle, but she disappeared in a cloud of smoke with her horrible daughter. We can only hope we've seen the last of her."

"How are you still alive?" Rufus seemed to be bursting with the question. "We have occupied this castle for five days now. We thought it was deserted, and that you must have been long dead. You probably would have been, if it weren't for that pesky blue bird."

"You saw a blue bird?" I asked. A shot of adrenaline helped me sit up a little straighter. "Where is it now?"