The Pain in My Heart [Completed]

Chapter Forty-Six

Part Three

Checkmate

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." - Psalm 23:4

~Crista

I open my eyes knowing that for the first time, none of it was a dream.

"Zaria!"

"Shhh," a voice says ever so soothingly. I look to my right and Lucy is there stroking my forehead and lightly pushing me back down to my bed. "What happened?" she asks. "Tyrian only told me so much. I think even he is a bit confused."

"Isn't he supposed to know everything?" I joke, somehow energized enough to joke.

"Everyone always thinks that. It's getting annoying, really," Tyrian says opening the door and closing it behind him. Only now can I really see his full size and glowy skin, how different he looks from everyone I've ever seen before. But there is a hint of familiarity I cannot snuff from my mind.

He crouches down next to my bed and I sit up. Seeing him this close, I never noticed the vibrance of his hair and how it almost sparkles in the sunshine.

"Would you mind telling us what happened? Why were you down in the dungeons in the first place?" he asks lowering his voice.

I hate the way I know I'm going to sound but I say it anyway. "That's none of your business. Zaria and I had some things to sort out. None of that applies to you." I already had a hard enough time explaining to Zaria why I needed to go down there. I shouldn't have to explain myself to anyone else.

"Where is Zaria?" I ask, curious. Is she that upset with me that she wouldn't come to see if I'm okay?

"She's still down there. She carried you up, called for help, and scurried back down like a madman. That's why I'm trying to get some insight from you, but it seems as though stubbornness runs through the whole palace."

I look to Lucy for support, but she for whatever strange reason seems to be holding back a smirk. She meets my eyes and it quickly fades. Looks like I'm not going to be getting any help from her.

I sigh. "We were down there to see John. We believe he could be the man with the answers."

Lucy looks to Tyrian. "I thought that was you," she whispers and he chuckles dryly.

"As did I." He looks back over to me and his pale eyes send shivers down my spine. "Why do you think that?"

There's no need for me to exploit John's hidden messages to me to a Fae I don't entirely trust, so instead I settle on, "What can I say? He's her son and we have him in our custody. Why wouldn't he be the man with the answers?"

Lucy shrugs her shoulders but continues to keep her lips shut.

"Okay... so what happened? Why did you collapse?" Tyrian asks growing more impatient.

I shake my head and no lie comes to mind. I run on instinct and tell him the truth. "I don't know," I say. "I've had dreams of it before, and it happened almost exactly the same. The only difference was Zaria was there with me."

"But the whole 'unconscious' thing still happened in your dreams or was that new?"

I shake my head again. "Nope. Like I said, everything was the same, except for Zaria."

Lucy finally opens her mouth, her voice very delicate and quiet. "I'm glad she was down there with you. I don't even want to think what would have happened if she wasn't." She wraps her arms around herself, hugging her chest. "Whenever she comes back up, I'm going to need to thank her," she says, but her words don't sound all that truthful.