House of Dreamers | book 1

𝐱𝐢𝐯

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒

𓆱

Ophelia made her way through the halls, feet slipping against the ground as she worked through the interaction with her mother. A crease formed in between her eyebrows, and she worried her lips as she turned the corner. Ophelia ignored the burn of the dying light as it slanted through the window. She carefully pulled herself down the stairs, unseeing or uncaring of the people speaking in low, hushed tones at the bottom of the staircase.

A hand grazed against the elbow, pulling Ophelia from her thoughts. She blinked rapidly. She watched Caspian, eyes shifting to the man standing behind him, arms crossed as he watched they're exchange.

Ophelia stepped around Caspian, sizing the man up. He had a dagger strapped around his thigh, in easy distance from his hand in case he'd need to grab it. Ophelia glanced up, taking in the hilt of the long sword strapped across his back. The worn brown leather of his clothes shifted as he took a step towards her, deep set brown eyes looking her up and down.

"Sebastian, stop." Caspian ground out. The man only hummed, cupping his elbow over his chest. He rubbed at the stubble on his chin, squinting. "So, you're she. The girl everyone's so worked up about."

Ophelia frowned, glaring at him. A triumphant smirk appeared on his face. "Ah. That's interesting." He looked back towards Caspian, throwing him a tight lipped smile. He looked over his shoulder at Ophelia, giving her a quick wink before walking away.

Ophelia turned towards Caspian, crossing her arms. "Who was that?" Her voice sounded hollow, even to herself.

"Sebastian Basilius." Caspian breathed out, staring after the man. "I don't know what's gotten him to act like..." Caspian trailed off, staring at Ophelia.

She looked at him, eyebrows lowered. "What?"

"Nothing." He looked away, clearly startled.

Ophelia scoffed, turning away from him. "Is he the one who took Selah to train with him?"

Caspian nodded. He grabbed her elbow as she tried to walk away. Ophelia turned towards him, glaring. "What are you doing? Let me go." Caspian held her elbow tighter. "Let's talk."

Ophelia looked between his hand and face. "We'll talk later." Caspian pursed his lips. He looked as if he were going to argue, but thought better of it. He let her go, fingers sliding along her skin as he dropped his hand. "We'll talk later." He repeated. Ophelia turned away from him, rushing around the corner, pressing her back against the wall. She closed her eyes, pressing her head firmly against the wood.

This was it.

This was what they wanted. Caspian, her father.

They'd been waiting for her break so completely that they would have no choice but to send her away, hide her from Keolia as a whole while she recovered from whatever mental break she was going through. There were no ghosts, there can't be. Her mother never visited her, she was dead. The dead can never rise to haunt the living, not like this. Not completely unbound enough to hold her and speak to her.

No, Ophelia summed. Her mother had not visited. She'd only been hallucinating.

Ophelia squeezed her eyes shut, breathing shallowly until she had forced every feeling into a small box, buried deep inside herself.

Ophelia felt her hands shake. She opened her eyes and looked down towards the pale pink of her fingertips. They slowly grew more translucent, and her breathing waivered.