Shadow's Rose [Slow updates]

Chapter 12

Caia's POV

I woke to the smell of Nightshade mixed with a hint of Dragon's Tongue, the sweet yet tangy aroma nearly bringing a smile to my lips when I realized what it pertained to. A sense of dread clasped my heart as I forcibly tried to open my eyes, memories of the night before a complete blur. I vaguely remembered LaChance ordering me to come back to the fort but I could not recall how I'd gotten there and I had the distinct feeling I must've fallen asleep on the back of my horse. Yet, I should have remembered coming into the fort, finding out what Lucien wanted and then setting off on my next contract or even stopping at the Sanctuary for a rest. Any of it. But the details were gone, a mystery hidden behind a black wall. And why in Oblivion could I still smell the Speaker so strongly? It was disorientating. I had a sneaky suspicion if I opened my eyes at least some of my questions would be answered so, daringly, I snuck one open. Thankfully I wasn't greeted by blinding light but it still took my vision a moment or two to sharpen, the colors blurring into one another. From what I could tell; the room I was in was large and dimly lit by several torches mounted against the rough stone walls and several tattered tapestries decorated the enclosure at spaced intervals., reminding me of the sleeping quarters in the Sanctuary yet different at the same time. If I wasn't in the Sanctuary, which I was sure I wasn't, then I had to be in an inn..but which one?...Certain I wasn't in danger, I opened my other eye and waited for my vision to clear properly so I could accurately gauge my situation.

"Ah shit," were the first words to leave my mouth when I finally was able to decipher my location. I was in Lucien's fort but that was not the worst of it. No, not only was I in his fort, I was also in his damned bed! Tentatively, almost scared, I let my hands roam my body to see if I was still robed. Which I apparently was, even if my clothing was tattered worse than numerous the tapestries around the room. "What in Oblivion happened?" My skin felt strangely tingly and my limbs were stiff as if I hadn't used them in a while. Or I'd over used them. Which I probably had from the ride the night before. I scanned the room again and only when I was certain I was alone did I push the blanket off me. Swinging my legs off the side of the bed, I stood and watched, enraptured, as the floor tilted upward then sideways and back again only to repeat the pattern. I'd experienced something similar only once before and dread boiled in the pit of my stomach at the thought. "Sithis, am I drunk?" I ran a hand down my face in a weak attempt to clear my head and regain my balance. Of course it didn't work. What did Lucien and I get up to last night? Or rather, what did Lucien do to make me drink myself into Oblivion? Again.

"No," a familiar voice said from the right, tearing me from my mental ramblings. My head snapped in the direction of the archway that led deep into the fort and I narrowed my eyes. There were two silhouettes there, both male and both scarily familiar even in my doped up state.

"Vicente?" my eyes bulged when recognition finally registered in my brain, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you remember about last night?" my brother responded, stepping into the light. Annoyance spiked in my chest, I hated it when he answered my question with one of his own. Especially when I was as confused as I was currently.

Before I could voice my displeasure, Lucien did it for me, "You are cruel, interrogating her when she's just woken up. Answer her question."

"Or you could do me the favor and answer it yourself," I said, unwilling to thank him from understanding. No, not until I'd found out why I felt hungover and why I was in his bed robed the way I was.

Vicente raised a brow at Lucien, a look I couldn't decipher, before responding to me, "I am here because Lucien fetched me."

"Huh?" It wasn't the most elegant exclamation on my part but it was all my poor befuddled brain could handle. I turned my gaze to Lucien, hoping for clearer answers from him. "Explain?" I tried again, seeing as my brother had it set in his mind to confuse me even more. With a completely expressionless look on his face, LaChance slowly re-accounted what had happened from the minute he was sure I was delayed, up until the point where they'd found me lying next to my horse. It was like a bucket of ice water had been poured over my brain, the memories from the night before returning with a striking clarity that I could almost feel the fire eating away at my flesh. Sub-consciously I started shaking, my entire body vibrating violently as the pictures flashed through my head, disorientating me even more. I didn't even feel when Vicente lifted me off my feet and took me back to the bed, his lips moving wordlessly to my dumb ears. I could hear and feel nothing but what I was reliving; the unbearable sting, the smell of my flesh burning and those final words the traitor had said to me when he'd set me alight. Those words, beyond everything, haunted me worse than the pain and the putrid reek ever could. Luckily I did not have long to suffer before the garish images and sounds faded into an incomprehensible muddle and I fell into a darkness so deep I doubted even Sithis could pull me back.