Aisling -
I started upright in my bed, my hair spilling around my face in sweaty locks. My chest rose and fell with such ferocity, I worried my heart meant to jump from behind my ribs. It wasn't until a guard burst into my room that I realized that I'd woken up screaming.
The guard was an old one, his silver hair catching the moonlight peeking through my bedroom window. He watched me with gentle eyes as my hands clutched the front of my nightdress and my sheets.
"The nightmares again, Miss?" he mutters from the doorway.
He always showed up when my nightmares plagued my sleep. I remembered him from when I was a child and mother would take me on walks through the garden. He always guarded the doors to the outside and mother would always thank him when she passed. He was a gentle old man, and sadly, I'd heard rumors that he was soon to leave the King's Guard.
"Always, Sir Genri," I gasp at him, my heartrate finally slowing enough that my chest didn't hurt when I took a breath.
"It was the garden again, wasn't it, Miss?" he asks in his gentle voice.
I answer him with just a nod, swallowing in hopes of wetting my scream-worn throat.
"I thought so, Miss. It sounded truly terrible. Will you be alright?"
I pushed the sheets from on top of my legs and stood up. The floor was freezing against the soles of my feet, but I welcomed it as I walked to the braided cord hanging in the corner next to my wardrobe. I tugged it once and turned to the knight still standing in my doorway.
"Would you join me for tea, Sir Genri?" I ask him as I walk back to my bed where a dressing down was hung on the post.
I was tying the ribbon around my waist when he said, "I don't think that would be wise, Miss."
In the doorway behind him, a servant girl with hair that looked gray in the dim light from the sconces in the hall.
"You rang, My Princess?" she sings with a curtsy.
I smile at her and hope she can't see how heavy my eyes are with fatigue.
"Could you please bring me some tea, miss? My throat is parched."
The girl gives another neat curtsy and leaves.
"If you won't join me for tea, sir knight, would you please stay with me for a little while? I wish not to be alone right now."
Genri sighs, just standing in the doorway, before he finally steps foot inside. The door remains open behind him.
I walk over to the chairs next to my window and sink into the cushions, tucking my feet beneath me.
I glance over to the knight standing in the corner of my room and give him a weak smile.
"Forgive me for acting out of turn, sir knight."
He folds his hands on the hilt of the sword at his side and shakes his head: "Think nothing of it, Miss."
I melt into my chair and give a gentle sigh.
Genri is watching me from the corner of the room, but occasionally, he would allow his gaze to wander around at the little things on my shelves or walls.
I forced myself to focus on him and his apparent curiosity as the last remaining wisps of my nightmare kissed the edges of my mind. Goosebumps rose on my skin as I was swept away again.
