A Curse so Twisted And Cruel.

Excavation of Memories.

Daxon.

I fucking hugged her. Hugged. Her.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I run a hand through my hair.

She didn't even recognise me. I was quite miffed originally, but now, I'm grateful. She doesn't need to think that the king goes around hugging random girls in the middle of the night.

I sigh, the migraine crawling it's way back into my skull. It's the reason I was out there in the first place. It was her favourite place.
Which made it my favourite place too.

Not anymore. Now it just carries ghosts of memories that I never want to remember.

The place where we first kissed. My mind taunts me, taking me back to all the things I shut away, buried deep in my mind- under all the blood and bodies.

I shake my head, along with the thoughts that haunt me, and push open my balcony door. I step out into the fresh air, and the sweet scent of jasmine drifts up, taking me back to a warm body, a fluttering heart.

She smelt like jasmine. The woman who I don't even know the name of, yet I've held her in my arms. Twice.

I didn't know what to do when the tears sprung from her eyes. I panicked, but then she flashed into my mind. Anna. We used to spend many nights there, in that specific garden, under the stars. She used to call it the ebony garden, because of the huge, dark tree in the middle of it. And sometimes, when we were laying beneath the sky, separated by the glass wall of the room she had to stay in, she would cry, saying that we shouldn't be together, and that I deserved someone..whole. Healthier.

And I would look at her, her heart, so soft and kind and vulnerable, and think about how, even if I lived a thousand lifetimes, I would never deserve someone like her. Something like the love we shared.

I would place my hand against the glass, and she would too. I desperately wanted to hold her, comfort her, but she would be upset if I went inside, saying that I shouldn't waste any moment I could spend in the open air.

Maybe that's why I couldn't leave the nameless woman there, alone with her tears. Maybe that's why I remember what she smelt like. The way her body moulded against mine, her heartbeat a flutter against my chest. The weirdly cute hiccups while she cried.

Anna's why. She just reminded me of Anna. A woman who's out of my reach, yet the only one I want to spend eternity with.

•{§∆§}•

Jaslynn.

"Helloooo? Is Jass in there?"
Meredyl's voice penetrates my thoughts.

"Huh?" My head snaps up, and I wince against the ache in my neck. Bad posture. Add that to my ever growing list of skills.

"What is it that made you stare at a weed, glassy eyed, all morning?" She asks me, her gaze probing. I look up at her sheepishly, playing with my fingers.

"I- erm.." I stutter, my brain slow to come up with a viable explanation. "You what, decided that weeds are actually pretty, and rather than pull them out, we should let them thrive, and appreciate their wild beauty?" She asks, her voice skeptical.

A laugh bursts from my lips, and
she rolls her eyes, before joining in. "Well I really hope not, considering we still have only about six other gardens to de-weed." She says matter-of-factly, and I internally groan.

My hands are rough with pulling on weeds all day, my nails are almost permanently caked with mud, and my back is stiff from squatting on the ground. Still, it was bearable, until she decided we needed to do one garden a day, and each one is about the size of a house.

I actually don't think the guards are such a threat anymore. Not any more than the king's too young aunt, who's definitely going to kill me by weeding, if the Advisor doesn't beat her to it. (I'm beginning to think I'll take the Advisor.)

"Yes, I um, think that we should leave the poor weeds be." I say, not really meaning the weeds.
She smiles, as if knowing what I'm thinking, and pulls out a large, ugly orange one.

We make it back for lunch, the usual cinnamon tea and currant buns awaiting us. Afterwards, she has to go, and I'm left alone. It's usually when I take a stroll around the castle grounds, eavesdropping on the maids.

They know everything, and they take pride in gossiping about everyone's secrets, not bothering to lower their voices.

I spot two now, dressed in their usual blue dresses, white, lacy half-aprons tied around their waists.
I wait until they turn a corner, their skirts swishing, before stepping out of the shadows and trailing them.

"...ever find love again." One of them was saying. "No. I don't think he will. He's still too attached to Annalise." The other said, her accented voice matter-of-fact.

They're talking about the king. His lover was Annalise. Intrigued, I continue trailing them through the overgrown rose bushes, that have long ago dried, now just a mass of deadly spikes the size of fingers.

"But that village woman, the one he saved. There are rumours that..." The first girls voice trails off secretively. "What?" Asks the other, and I lean closer, determined not to miss a word.

"Oh, but I'm not sure they're true.." the first one says, clearly just wanting to make it more dramatic. I can almost sense the knowledge struggling to burst from her. The other girl doesn't seem to notice, however, and pushes her to spill.

"Oh, okay, okay." She gives in. "There are rumours that she's actually a secret lover of the king, and that he actually went off to see her, not because of the halflings in Leone, which is what they told everyone. But then somehow, she got wounded and he had to bring her back here, and that soon, he's going to propose to her, he's just waiting for her to heal." The ridiculous words gush from her lips like a river, and I snort audibly.

Both maids spin around at the sound, and I quickly stumble back, into the cover of the prickly bushes. I wince when they stab into my cloak, coming dangerously close to my skin.

The simple maids, noticing nothing, continue on their way, their voices and figures fading as they turn another corner.

I let out a relieved breath, stepping out of the thorny bushes, and plucking some out of my cloak.

"Miss Glaze?" A voice startles me, and I whirl around, to a short, stubby man holding a stopwatch.
"Yes, that's me." I say, my heart beating faster than usual in my chest. I clench my hands to stop the distinct, slippery feeling of sweat on them.

It's nothing. It's probably just Meredyl calling for me. But that does almost nothing to ease my racing heart.

"I was told by Healer Meredyl to inform you that the king is expecting you tonight at the evening banquet."