Our Curse Breaker (GirlxGirlxGirl)

13. Behind backs

"Good morning, My Lady."

Ensi wakes up in cold sweat, her eyes snapping open. She gasps, feeling a hundred different things at once, her brain unable to pinpoint any of one of them. Her mind is spinning, she feels like puking, and for some reason it's much harder to hold back on her nausea than usual.

What was that dream?

She was spinning around, faster and faster, her mind once again feeling dislocated from her body. Just like last night, she felt the presence of the goddess around her. But this time it felt so much more real. So much more intense. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't do anything. All she could do, all her soul could do- was spin around in circles, up and down and left and right until she eventually, violently, landed somewhere entirely different from where she began.

"Why do I feel so light?"

She hears herself mumble, as she rubs her eyes to try and get rid of the weird feeling in her body. Her life is already stressful as it is. Holding the entire empire on her shoulders isn't easy. She doesn't need to be plagued by nightmares and guilt every time she tries to rest after a long day, that's how crazy tyrants who lose their thrones and their heads, are created. Maybe she should send her new concubine back. Maybe it would finally stop these weird nightmares.

Ensi frowns.

Wait a minute.

"Why does my voice sound like this?"

She forces her eyes open again, looking around the room in bewilderment. Everything is blurry and the light coming from outside is much dimmer than usual. She has to squint and rub at her eyes again, until her vision makes something clear.

A woman, standing by the doorway into her bedchamber. But it's not her doorway, it's not her bedchamber, and it's definitely not her handmaiden.

"What is going on? Where am I?" She quickly resorts to demanding an answer from the handmaiden, who looks at her with a sense of worry and confusion on her face. But her words come out much weaker than usual. They are held back by fears and hesitance, by obedience and a need to please those around herself. Ensi breathes in, trying to get rid of the weird lump in her throat. But nothing goes away. To her horror, tears push at her waterline, threatening to spill over her cheeks.

Is she... going to cry?

Tears roll down her face and Ensi doesn't understand why. She feels an overwhelming sensation of fear wash over her. It's so powerful it forces her to cry, in desperation and in confusion. Ensi doesn't understand a thing. Even as tears spill from her eyes, she doesn't understand a thing. This isn't how she normally handles her emotions? She sniffs and pushes the covers off her body, running toward a mirror in the room. What is going on?

She finds herself much weaker and shorter than she did when she went to bed. Ensi nearly stumbles over her own legs and chokes on her tears, all the way up to her mirror. This isn't her room. This isn't her life. This isn't her body. Ensi recognises it immediately, from the strange pains in her body that are different from her own, to the weird overwhelming emotions that push at her from all sides. This isn't her usual self and she doesn't know how to control it.

The room around her feels somewhat familiar, but in her panic she doesn't recognise it. It's smaller than her own, much smaller. It doesn't take long before she reaches the mirror. Her hands grasp at it, pulling it toward herself. But she needs to use a lot more strength than usual to do so, and that forces more tears out of her. Just as she locks eyes with herself in the mirror, she angrily swipes away at her tears and stares at her reflection.