The Falling Of Day

III

The princess was used to a feeling of security, but the morning exactly one week before her party.

That feeling died.

Saskia was never prone to feeling anxious however in the days leading up to her birthday she was a nervous wreck.

She had awoken the day that feeling was gone, the sun no were to be seen and wobbled to her bathroom and retching her stomach.

She heaved and sobbed.

Saskia felt as though her body was not her own, her skin feeling like a thousand pounds of sweat had built up.

She wanted out.

Saskia leaped out of her nightgown, throwing it somewhere in her quarters welcoming the night's cold breeze onto her pale skin.

Saskia would never tell anyone this, but she liked the nighttime, just a bit more then the day.

She started having again,

Saskia wanted it out of her.

She wanted her skin to feel like it was her own.

"Somebody get me out," she sobbed, in between heaves as she moved her hands away from her golden hair to rub her skin.

Doing anything she could to get the feeling off of her.

Saskia sat on the floor for what she felt like eons before she felt the warmth of her blanket covering her.

She looked up to see who had brought her the blanket.

The princess was supposed to see that it was not who it was what.

Two birds sat perched on the porcelain she had just spent what felt like an eternity heaving it to.

A dove and a raven, bothing looking at the princess as if they were her most loyal subject.

"Get me out," she cried repeatedly, the young guard was startled, before him laid the princess, naked, shivering, and yet sweating.

"Your Highness, out of where?" Jayack the young guard asked, speaking loudly over her groans of pain and discomfort.

Suddenly her body eases as she looked at the birds they seemed normal, however she knew that no normal birds would fly into her room and wrap her in a blanket as she vomited and called out for help and as she studied them closer she notice that the dove and raven both had an emerald green eye staring back at her.

Keeping the blanket on her she reached with her free hand to caress each bird at their beck.

"Thank pretty birds," she gently spoke as a wave of calmness rushed over her.

The green eyed birds seemed to have nodded in response before leaping off their place next to the princess and out the window they came.

I should be afraid right now, Saskia thought to herself, but she was not. She thought that maybe it had to be due to the fact that when she waa a child it seemed animals always had her best interest, from a flock of crows outside her window to let her know she was sick, or when she had used her bare hands to pick up a snake that had gotten into her chambers one day, she walked it the entire way out to the garden without a scratch.

She watched them fly off into their own directions, "Goodbye pretty birds" she whispered out to them.

Saskia knew that sleep would not find her easily so she did not bother, she simply found her nightgown from the ground, grabbing a rob from the wardrobe and made her way to the door.

Saskia roamed the place aimlessly as she did on her many sleepless nights.

Being the Day Kingdom meant that almost all of the palace was sleeping.

But for her entire life no matter how hard she tried Saskia always seemed to find herself awake during the night, and then drowning herself in caffeinated teas during the day to keep up the energy of her city.

She had found a small corner in the Old Wing of the palace, where she was drawn too. She had once heard that it was where royals used to practice their magic.

Queen Ambirel had never spoken about it, and so Saskia deemed that she would keep this place to herself, even if that meant never telling Naok.

The large room was more of a foyer with seven door around it, she knew that three doors led to old rooms riddled with cobwebs and dust, two doors had words written in Baybroch-the old Norian language- she had never been taught the ancient language and so she never explored the rooms, the last final two where the ones she most desired to get into, the doors that seemed to whisper to her 'come open us' whenever she drew near.

She stood in the center of the room, she had stuffed matches into the pockets of her robe.

It took her nearly half an hour to light all of the lamps in the room, and once she did she stared at the whispering doors.

'Open me princess.' The door to her right called out to her.

Saskia never heard the door speak so clearly.

So loudly.

And yet so softly.

She could feel the voice, as it's words tickled her ears, the same way the smell of the old wood used to make the door had caressed her nose.

She walked up to it, never once bothering to question the voice. Saskia simply blamed it on the old magic that must still be in the palace walls.

However she wondered why it seemed that no one had been in the room for centuries.

Was I the only person this door calls to? She thought.

'No' The door answered back and Saskia audibly gasped.