The Quality of Sound

Chapter 4

I wake up in the bed I was in before not sure how much time had passed from the last time I was awake.
I sit up and at first look around, the tray once full of medical supplies now gone as well as the cart. I then realize the pain in my arm was gone, my arm now in a simple sling.
It almost made me smile, no pain, no bulky wrapping.
But as I process what had happened before I had passed out, I then remembered Astor. His warm bright smile. His welcoming eyes.
I shake my head slightly to make the memory go away. It was a nice memory, but one I didn't want to see everyday.
I look out the window and see the bright sun, the animals and the trees. It seemed so peaceful, this whole place seeming to take all the worry off my shoulders.
No, that couldn't happen. I needed worry to keep me going. I needed to find out where I was, what I was doing here, if Raven was alright.
My senses seemed to stop at that last thought. Raven, my sister that had told me not to do silly things. Why couldn't we have just walked to school? Why couldn't I have not been an idiot and listened to her?
Tears well up in my eyes as I think of never seeing her again. Her first boyfriend would never get to meet me, and her wedding would have one less bridesmaid, and at her funeral I won't be there to give out my three page speech I had already written in case Raven decided to pass on at any moment.
I take a calming breath and wipe my silly tears, not sure why I was acting like this. I was never that emotional to cry. Even when I was alone, I always scolded myself for trying to let a sob or cry escape me.
As I pull the covers back to make my way to the door, not taking my chances on running and collapsing again, I freeze as voices seem to echo from outside the door, their yelling clear as can be.
"...I don't care what you said, she has to go!"
"Just listen, she can't leave. She's the new heir to her relm. We have to keep her here or else all hell will break loose like it did before!"
I suck in a breath, were they talking about me? And that voice, Astor.
"No, she isn't! She's way too young, and way too weak. Didn't you say you broke at least two of her bones in her arm? And her legs..."
"What about her legs?" Astor snaps back.
"Well, you said she couldn't walk when she tried to make a bolt for the door, I just thought maybe-"
He never finished as Astor interrupted him with a cold, drawing voice that made my skin tingle.
"She was in panic, her legs are still too weak to walk but it was only from the power surge, those limbs were the ones that got it. Now leave this post or I swear by darkness' s name..."
"Yeah, whatever." Is all the other man said, his voice gruff as he adds, "Just don't get too attached to her."
He then walks away, from the sound of his footprints, before Astor could reply.
My eyes seemed to grow as I look at my legs, still uncovered from the blanket. They were messed up? Weak is how they said? A power surge? What the hell was that?
I look at the door and lean against the bed rest taking a few deep breaths.
What was I really doing here. Like the other man said, I don't belong here. I need to go back. But how?

Astor comes in a few moments later, a bright smile on his lips, his mood totally different from when he was outside the door.
"Lovely to see you again Lexia." He greets me, his hands holding a glass of gold liquid, just like the one he had injected in me the last time we had met.
"Don't tell me you're going to make me drink that too." I say sitting up carelessly now with no pain.
His chuckle seemed to fill the room as he says simply, "I'm not forcing you."
"Well, when you haven't given me anything to drink or eat for the past few days I would figure you would force me to drink that." I state looking down at the drink trying to remember what he had called it. Solid Gold or something like that?
His eyebrows were furrowed as he sets the drink down on a small table I hadn't noticed before. He takes his hand and presses it to my forehead again as he did the last time I met him.
"Hm," Is all he says as he sits down on the edge of the bed looking at the ground, his expression reminding me vaguely of a father who was about to give their child 'the talk'.
"Lexia, I need to tell you something that's important." He starts looking up at me.
I gulp and shake my head keeping his gaze. "No, I don't want to know. My brain is filled with so many questions that need answered and I don't need anymore information-"
He stops me by taking both his hands and holding my face, his touch tender, but the look in his eyes almost frightening. "Listen to me, please."
I simply nod and he let's go looking away and letting out a sigh, rubbing his face carelessly. I didn't realize how tired he looked.
"There's actually a lot of things I need to tell you."
I hold my breath knowing he might freak out on me if I said anything.
"Well, I'll be happy to tell you, if you were thinking this that your not dead," Astor starts standing and pacing the room like he was giving me a long talk. This couldn't be good.
"Well, I kind of figured that one out already." I say hoping he would figure.
He nods and continues, "But, you're not really alive. Your body can still take shape of a human form, like I am in right now and as are you, but your kinda. . ." He trails off like he didn't know how to put it.
I was in fact terrified. I wasn't alive? So it was true I would never see my sister again.
"I don't understand." I say quickly. "If I'm not dead, then how am I not alive? Am I ghost?" She quickly pulls the covers up to her face afraid that if she looked at her body, she'd be a floating figure.
Astor chuckles only slightly. "No your not a ghost or a spirit." He stops pacing and turns to look at me, his expression I couldn't read.
"I don't want to go into full detail since the council will go over this with you, but I figured you may not want a lot of shock."
I continue to stare at him and he says, "Your the new princess."
"What?" Was all I could say still not processing what he was talking about. I thought princesses died off with knights and castles?
"Look Lexia, have you ever looked at the sun or looked at a light source and wanted it to be dimmer or darker and the light seemed to grow darker just for you?"
I slowly shook my head not able to believe this was true? "How do you know-"
"Have you ever heard a sound that you thought was annoying or obnoxious and suddenly that sound seemed to quiet down, just for you?" "No, stop it!" I scream. How could he know, she had never told anyone, not even Raven, about her weird hallucinations. Were they hallucinations though, or was it actually true?
I seemed to have a confused face for Astor walks back over to me and sits on the edge of the bed.
"You were different right from the start. You had powers you didn't even know you possessed. You're the new princess of light and sound. The new ruler of your domain."
My lip seemed to tremble as I looked up at him feeling as if I had shrunk.
"Am I a monster?" I whisper. Was I a freak?
"No of course your not a monster don't say that." He says calmly.
"How do you know?" I say before I could contain myself.
"Now, I know it's hard to think about it but I'm sure you'll understand sooner or later Lexia-"
"Don't call me by my name!" I yell.
Emotions seemed to bubble up inside of me. I was a freak. I am what people cower at or look away from.
"Listen to me!" He yelled and my fear increased rapidly, like someone had pressed the 'on' button to my adrenaline. Astor's structure seemed to tower over me, the room seeming to get darker, all the sounds seeming to quiet just for him.
He takes a deep breath before calmly saying, "It's very hard but please, don't freak out too much. Your powers can go out of control by your lack of controlling your emotions." Astor was back to his normal size, the lights back to bright, the sounds of distant things floating in the silent room as I looked at his gentle eyes. So gentle compared to the rest of him
"I didn't want this to happen to me." I admit looking down and suddenly feeling guilty, like it was all my fault all these things were happening to me, but it probably was.
"No, don't say that." He says sternly taking my cheek and caressing it with his hands, so delicate yet strong.
I look away, tears forming in my eyes. This wasn't like her. She wasn't one to cry. She wasn't even the girl to tear up.
"Lexia," Astor says softly bringing me back to the real world, my true self, a new princess of a new domain. Powers I knew I had for a while.
I don't look at him as I wipe at my eyes with my uninjured arm mopping up the tears quickly. There was no way I would look at him in this condition.
I hear him sigh and the sound was so different, so deep and rustic.
"Please, this is something you'll have to get used to, but I know you can accept this. Like I said, I've been watching you, and the way you are, you're perfect for this post, for this special job. I know a princess when I see one Lexia."
His words seemed to catch me, like someone drifting off into sleep, his words seeming to sink in my mind, to be kept there forever. I wanted to appreciate his help, say thank you or tell him I needed to go home. But all I could say was, "Don't call me my name."
I made a mistake as my voice sounded shaky and cracked slightly, my lower lip trembling slightly.
Astor touches my face softly and I turn to look at him, my eyes wide and filled to the rim with tears.
His eyes were bright and wonderful and he made me feel something inside. Something I had not felt in a long time.
"Listen, there's no reason to be this way. You will get through this."
"No you don't understand Astor. I'm not like everyone else. I'm different. I'm someone I shouldn't be, I'm something that shouldn't exist." I pull away from his touch and bury my face into my hands, the pain in my arm nothing like the pain in my chest. The pain in my heart.
My voice cracks as I say quietly, "I don't know what I am."
Astor kept quiet, his breathing the only thing audible from him.
His voice was about to say something until the doors to the bedroom open up, my head looking up at the people standing in the entrance, all their eyes seeming to be trained on me.
The man who was in front had his dark green eyes pierced at mine, my body seeming to grow rigid as his voice was deep and gruff, like the one I heard from outside the door with Astor.
"The concil has begun. We are to escort the princess to her location to determine her destiny."
My eyes widen as I shake my head laying back on the bed and covering my eyes. "No, I want sleep I want to stay here."
"Ms your required to attend, we either take you by force or you come willingly."
I open my eyes and the two men behind the first wheel in an ordinary wheelchair, my thoughts lingering that my legs still couldn't keep up with my weight. I huff and cross my arms. They were not going to take me from this bed. They would have to take me by force if that's how they wanted to play.