Charlotte and the Kingdom of Starsha

Chapter 11

Charlotte woke up to the smell of lavender. She moved a bit and heard the rustle of something dry in the mattress. She opened her eyes and a piercing beam of light shot in her eye and she cringed. 

"Uhh," she mumbled. 

With all her might, she pictured her room: blue-grey walls covered with drawings of both her and her sister. She lost count of how many arguments her and her sister had over "whose wall is whose" but they had eventually come to an agreement. She pictured her bed, her books, her stuff, everything.

She opened her eyes once again and found...rotted wood above her.

The sun was coming from the front so Charlotte had to shield her eyes to look at the rest of the room. There were straw beds lined up along the walls and at the end of the room, far from where Charlotte's bed was, there was a door. There was also a few people scattered here and there in the room, laying in there sickness. Charlotte looked down and saw that she was covered in a raggedy piece of cloth that didn't even need to be considered a blanket (the smell was atrocious). Before she decided to even get out of bed, a lady rushed in with a tray of knick-knacks and medical stuff as far as Charlotte could tell.

"I see the wielder has awaken? Thank goodness! Queen Meradissa has been so strict of keeping you "magic wielders" alive." The lady breathed a sigh of relief and rushed over to Charlotte's bed. She was short with some age to her face and was pale as the moon. She was a plump little woman with her brown hair tied back. When she got to Charlotte's bed, she asked "How are you feeling, dear?"

"Been better, "Charlotte replied cringing from the throbbing in her head.

"Oh my, that'll be a nasty bump I'd say." The nurse looked at the right side of Charlotte's head. "Well, all in good time I say. Here, drink this. This should dull the pain. It'll be a bit before that goes away. It's good timing you landed the way you did. One man that was brought to me fell off as well, but he landed a bit unusual and he ended up with a stooped neck. My word, it wasn't broken, but he look like a hunchback no doubt."

Charlotte drank the liquid which had a sweet taste to it. It tasted like some sort of tea with a much stronger taste however. However, her head seemed to throb more as the nurse kept talking.

"We called him Humpty Dumpty for the longest time!" she cackled."Whew, well enough about that egg-head. I've got strict orders from the commander who brought you that you be released as soon as possible. SO drink up and well see about that bump on your head."

Before the nurse got up, Charlotte stammered. "Um, where am I going?"

The nurse replied, "To see the queen of course. Pfft, do you even know where you are?"

Charlotte couldn't think so she just stared.

"My word child! You are in the heart of Starsha!" The nurse walked away leaving Charlotte swaying with pain, confusion, and worst of all-- fear.