Lady Thief [on hold]

~ Chapter Nine ~

(The technical difficulties have been fixed. :)  I now have full access to my stories, and to Wattpad, so I will be back to updating regularly.  Thank you all for your patience.)

“Lady Malakanorda! You’re awake!”

Key’s eyes flashed open, and she was blinded for a moment by the light that enveloped her. Light. She hadn’t seen light for so long. It felt like lifetimes ago, and for a moment she wondered if this was real life, or if it was just another illusion created by her diseased imagination.

The world around her came into focus, and she struggled in vain to remember where she was.  But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't.  The room around her was starkly unfamiliar, and some of the people around her were even more so.

As a reflex reaction, she jerked up into a sitting position, studying the people who surrounded her. There were three of them, the nearest of them being an elderly woman, with tanned, leathery skin and silver hair. The other was a happy looking Eren, his glasses sitting askew on his face. The last was Serenity, who was as pale as a ghost, her usual modest blush drained from her face.

When she opened her mouth to speak, she found her throat and mouth dray as cotton.  "Where am I?" she asked, her voice creaking like old floorboards.

The elderly woman raised her eyebrows.  "In my house." she rasped.

"And. . . how did I get here?" Key asked.

"You don't remember?" The woman released an exhale.  "I guess it's to be expected.  You had lethal doses of demon poison in your system.  Thank the spirits I was able to purge it from your blood.  If not you would have died."

"Thank you." Key said.  "But you still haven't answer my question."

She nodded her head.  "Right.  Right.  Actually, my grand daughter found you keeled over in the street.  She was the one who brought you to me.  You should thank her."

Key nodded.  "I will."

“Well, You’ve been healed.” said the old grandmotherly woman. “I see you’re recovering quite well. That’s good. You  could be healed up on the morrow, if you recover fast.”

Healed. Was she really? Key felt her body all over, her face, her torso, her legs. All of them had paper-thin scratches on them, but they were all scabbed over.  They weren't enflamed and swollen any more. There was no more oozing of blood or pus or any combination of the both of them, The pain was gone too, completely eliminated. That was when she realized the clothes were wearing weren’t her own. She was wearing an unfamiliar tunic and an unfamiliar pair of pants. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

“Where are my clothes?” Key asked.

The old woman pointed to a head sitting in a rocking chair near by. “It’s all over there. Your pants, though they’re pretty much destroyed, are over there, along with your shirt, which hasn’t fared much better. Your chain mail is relatively unscathed. Your sword is in its sheath, resting on top.” she said. “You needn’t worry. Your necklace is over there too.”

Necklace? Shit! Key reached up and felt her neck, just to make sure Yes, the chain was gone, along with the ring that was bound to it. She stifled her panic. The old woman had no way of knowing where it had come from. None of them did, really. If anything, they’d think it belonged to her: some family heirloom or maybe a gift from a lover. They’d certainly have no reason to think that she’d stolen it from one of the crown princes of Francea. Why would they have any reason to speculate that much?

“Malakanorda!” Eren said, smiling like a goon. “We all thought you were dead. Or as good as dead. The rest of us in the reconnaissance group didn’t get here until nearly a day after you left, and we’ve been here for four days now!”