Curse Of The Pendant

"Who exactly am I?" I asked the three maids assigned to me.

They didn't even falter in their movements as one brushed my hair, the other picked out my clothes, and the third making my bed.

"My lady," Bridgette said, almost as if she had heard this many times before. "You are Zoey Rochfield, the youngest daughter of the emperor of the Thrace Empire, Emperor Maximus Rochfield, and the princess of the great empire."

Me? Princess? That was obviously a joke.

"Okay, I think that's enough with the jokes. Where's Axel? And where the heck am I?"

They exchanged worried glances.

"My Lady, are you alright? Maybe your coma has caused you to lose a few memories...?" Alice said worriedly.

"Stop calling me that!" I said. "I'm no princess, my parents died a long time ago, and my name is not Zoey! It's Rose. Ophelia Rose."

"My Lady," Cathy said. "You are Zoey."

These people weren't getting it.

"Okay, pinch me," I said. I was determined to wake up.

They looked at me like I'd grown three heads.

"Just pinch me," I pleaded. "Please."

"We will not hurt you," Bridgette said sternly.

"You won't. This will help me."

Bridgette, who was the closest to me, dropped the brush. She took in a deep breath, then lifted my arm and took a patch of skin between her thumb and index finger, then pressed them together.

I flinched at the sharp sting, then closed my eyes.

I counted to three, then opened my eyes again.

I wasn't dreaming.