'Wake up', a voice, it echoed in my head like a cave 'wake up', louder grew the plea it was a woman for sure. She sounded distraught perhaps I had slept in? doubtful, 'oh please wake up' the woman took hold of my hand and pulled it towards something soft, fabric, a blouse? was she holding my hand to her chest? who was this strange woman? I urged my eyes open and found my tongue 'why must I wake at this hour' I managed, the woman who was clutching my hand to her heart didn't look familiar nor did she reply, in fact she was but a girl, she began to weep quite heavily I must say, why was this girl I had never seen crying by my side, and more so why didn't she reply? 'I'm awake, stop your crying girl' again there was no reply, nothing.. could she not see me? no she was holding my hand and begging me awake, she could not hear me. It didn't make sense, nothing made sense right now, I went back to sleep.
***
That man, the first thing I saw when I woke, was standing over my bed, I lie on my back enveloped by white silk, and take in my surroundings, the walls of dark sandstone seemed ancient and abandoned, whilst the roof was a soft fabric concave; no it was a canopy I realised, atop four posts cornering my bed. I was in the Wastelands again, although I had never seen this building the view past the decaying balcony was all the confirmation I needed. The golden haired boy looked like a soldier, body tanned and toned and covered with bruises, scars, burns, abrasions, although his face was untouched by harm, worry and exhaustion was burned into his expression, even when he smiled fatigue quickly stole the warmth from it.
'Would you like to rest with me?' I finally asked, gesturing to the free side of the bed he bowed his head and kindly declined, 'as your guard my duty is not to sleep it is to make sure you are protected with the utmost dedication' I nodded respectfully, I didn't know this man, nor did I know why I should need protection, but I wasn't going to argue, I knew the Wastelands were dangerous and the last thing I'd want is to be banished. 'assuming I cannot leave this room what am I to do whilst in here?' he glanced up and clapped his coarse palms together as if to acknowledge my question, 'assumptions will get you nowhere' he replied simply 'so I am permitted to leave?' 'you are permitted to whatever you wish, milady'.
I considered that information for a moment, wondering if I were perhaps of some importance to this place, then it hit me 'might I ask where the governess is?' 'of what importance is that to you?' he raised an eyebrow, this was the first time I'd seen him show any facial expressions 'none, although I wish to speak with her' my reply was simple, though suspicion was clearly present 'she does not wish to see you' he told me 'and why would that be?' slumping down in the quilts I contemplated to consequences of arguing with such a strong looking man, I had no idea what laws and regulations they had here, he could very well beat me for my attitude 'you are a traveler, correct? the governess despises travellers' he crossed his arms, expressionless and took a seat in the far corner of the room. 'I'm not a traveller, I just wake up here sometimes?' I tried to explain but he just looked confused and didn't understand what I meant. I wonder if I was asleep here when I was awake in the real world, just the same reversed, actually, I'd been back and fourth so often lately I'm struggling to differentiate reality from my dreams.
'What's your name?' I asked the soldier 'Rameil' he replied simply, thats such an unusual name 'and what of this world? what is it called?' dumbstruck he stared at me like I'd just asked what toast is, 'this world miss?' yes that's what I said, I nodded 'how could you not know, you must have hit your head harder than i first anticipated' i don't recall hitting my head? maybe i hit my head in the real world and thats why I'm here. Wait, am I in a coma?! I suddenly realised, maybe thats why that girl couldn't hear me, but that still doesn't explain who she was and how she knew me? 'you're in Maldris' he finally told me 'I've never heard of that in my life' I panicked 'are you feeling well miss?' Rameil questioned me, before i could reply an abnormally tall woman with paper skin burst into the room, she had a large blue sword held in a strap on her back and a black armoured dress, as if not even noticing me she turned to Rameil 'we need you in the courtyard immediately Olin' she ordered 'right away Duchess' as she was leaving she picked up a key and stuffed it into her pocket. 'Stay here until I return' Rameil said 'I thought you said I was permitted to leave' 'just stay here for the time being' he glanced me a sharp look 'immediately!' the woman yelled back into the room behind her, lovely woman isn't she, I thought to myself as he left closing the door behind him.
I decided to have a look around my room for the first time, noticing the rough ironwood door that stood between me and the hallway, throwing back the covers I attempted to stand only to fall to the floor, struggling to find my footing I tried to hoist myself up by gripping the bedside table, only to slip again, what was wrong with my legs? I couldn't stand up, how long had I been in that bed? I dragged myself to the door and used the handle to force myself onto my feet holding myself up purely with arm strength I urged my shaking legs to move, but seemed to be broken they wouldn't budge, in my attempt to reach the drawers I fell back to the floor and dragged myself the rest of the way accidentally pulling down the canopy of my bed and disfiguring the rug. The drawers were cracked, antique wood and impossibly hard to open from the floor after some serious yanking it eventually let up and tumbled out of its socket onto the floor in front of me. I grabbed a blue silk blouse from the first before attempting the next, when I finally got the second drawer open I reached up blindly and found it held a few different pairs of underclothes and a plain white dress skirt. Once I'd struggled to dress myself I made my way painfully to the balcony and climbed onto a chair that sit outside the bedrooms archway.
