Away with the Faeries

Chapter Twenty-five

 Warm water lapped at my skin as I roughly scrubbed the dirt out from under my fingernails. A chill ran its cold claws up my spine as Jinny's words paraded around in my mind, again and again. We buried you. Was the dirt that lay thick on my skin from that burial? Grinding my jaw I scrubbed harder until my skin turned raw and the water became murky. I was dead and buried. Gone. Yet here I was, rubbing myself clean of my own deathbed like some living miracle. If Anima couldn't raise me then who had, and why?

Maybe I raised myself.

I shook myself free of the thought, not liking the way it felt sitting in my stomach, my head, my heart. Sinking deeper into the water I let myself think only of the calmness of the warm water, the quietness of the room. But the thoughts came again as if I had no real control over them. We can not continue to clean up after you. Anima wrote the words, yet they weren't the ones who saved me. Perhaps it was them who had magically cleaned up the vines.

My jaw ticked, the gears in my head shifting. Would that suggest I was the one who put them there, to begin with? I didn't know. My mind grew dizzy as I sank fully into the water, letting it pool above my head. I listened absently to the muffled sounds of the door clicking open from beneath the water. Likely Jinny back with an array of fresh gowns. The gentle patter of feet slowly made their way closer to the edge of the tub.

As the person stopped beside the large stone tub my heart leaped to my throat. Their large, dark, and towering figure blurring through the surface. That is not Jinny. As I made a break for the surface the person clamped their enormous hand against my throat, holding me back into the water. I'm going to die. Again. Grasping the man's hand I clawed at his arm, thrashing beneath the murky water. I choked against the water as it forced its way down my nose, and my throat. My lungs demanding air.

Everything burned, the strength slowly receding from me as my hands slipped from his arm. Head throbbing my eyes slowly flickered shut once more. Everything becoming dark. Again.

———

Gasping for breath I sprung from the tub, retching water and frantically pawing at my neck. Chest heaving I cradled my throat with shaky fingers but it didn't hurt, there was no pain. Glancing about I surveyed the room before me. Lush vines and wild flora spilled abundantly from the bathtub, wrapped around my body almost protectively. Running a hand down my face, my head fell tiredly back as a slight sigh escaped my trembling lips.

King Otis was trying to have me killed. Again. Bracing a hand on either side of the tub I strained to stand, the thick vines constricting to keep me in place. "Why," I cried down at the vegetation, "what do you want from me, money?" I didn't have any money.

The shrubbery grew in thick bunches all over the room. What was that my mother always used to say? You can't have flowers without a little rain. I've died twice now, that's a lot of rain. My eyes trailed across the room, not an inch of the wall remained. It was a lot of flowers too. If the circumstances weren't so terrible I may have found the sight pretty. Ribbons of flowers, each a different hue, danced along the wall in curling fingers. Thick vines, dark, strong stalks crept across the floor, lifting the flowers up the wall.

The door to the bathroom clicked open once more, sending my heart leaping. Wrestling with the vines I thrashed around in the water, willing the restraints to magically disappear once more.

"Rayne," Jinny called, announcing herself from around the corner, "I have new clothes for you, where would you like me to put them?"

"Jinny!" I nearly cried.

The rapid tapping of feet filled the room before Jinny appeared, her porcelain face flushed with horror as she clung to a bundle of dresses. Her golden eyes flew wide as they took in the sight before her. "What happened," she shrieked. But Jinny seemed to come upon the answer before the words could find my mouth; "This is all my fathers doing," she said, chin quivering, "I know it is. The poisoning too. He's trying to have you killed, you're of Erde. That's all that matters to him. He'd burn that kingdom to ashes if he could."

My jaw ticked at her words. I was warned of this before coming. Warned of the three Erde spies King Otis had assassinated. Only I lived. I looked at Jinny, how could I trust her? She was his daughter. How could I trust anyone?

When all else fails, start asking the stupid questions; "Did you know about this Jinny?"

With shaky hands she wiped at tear-sodden cheeks; "No," she shook her head, sandy locks bouncing, "I did not, I swear to you. You are one of the few people at court I hold as a friend. I could never do this to you."

Maybe I was soft, maybe I was stupid. Or maybe the reoccurring deaths had knocked something loose in my head. Whatever it was it didn't matter. I would trust Jinny. This young princess had no one in her corner, living surrounded by monsters. I would be her friend even if it lead me to an early death.

My gaze dropped to the vines that encased my body; "Can you find a satyr names Leary Wilts and bring him to me." Anima be damned but I didn't know who else could help. Without question Jinny quickly sprang from the side of the tub, running in search of Leary. Tugging again at the vines a sharp gasp rippled from my lips as they synched tighter around me; "Handsy much?"

"So I've been told," Lana said planting herself on a stalk of spewing grow of flora that flowed from the tub. She picked lazily at dark petals; "Can you for one-second attempt to not die?"

"Where did you come from?"

With both hands Lana tore a small rose-like bud from the stalk, curiously examining the dark substance that pooled from the stem; "We've had this conversation babe," she reminded with a cheeky smile.

"I'm not actively trying to die," I grumbled, head rolling back tiredly, "not yet at least."

"Can't say the same for that Faerie of yours," she poked at the ebony liquid, lips drawn in a frown; "at least that's what it seemed like, last I saw him."

A stillness settled on the air, every muscle in my body stiffening; "What do you mean by, last you saw him?"