Princess of the Damned (13 page)

For a brief moment, Nala saw the reflection of another woman staring back. The woman’s hair was the color of ripe grains and her eyes were the color of the earth. The moonlight reflected off the water’s surface drew her further into the illusion. She saw an orchard in front of her. The trees were heavy with ripe fruits. The fragrance of ripe grains was in the air. Perhaps it was autumn.

She saw herself running over the hill and past the colorful meadow blooming with wildflowers. She stretched her arms out, running, giggling, and accidently tumbling onto the grass. When she opened her eyes, she saw the most content smile on the face of a young man, although she could not see his face clearly. It was shadowed by her incomplete memory. He brushed away the flower petals that clung onto her dress and gently stroked her hair.

The scenery melted into darkness and shattered when something caused a ripple on the water’s surface. Nala snapped back to herself and turned toward the rustling bushes. There were two men, soldiers, emerging from the bushes. Just when she thought Sayan had sent them to retrieve her, they jumped at her and held down.

“
Get off of me!” She screamed out at them. “Let go!”

She heard them laughed while one of them tried to remove his pants. Their breaths were repulsive and so were their touches. A man ripped off the top of her gown. The other man ripped apart the lower half of it. She felt a wave of anger rise to the back of her throat… an anger she couldn’t control and didn’t want to. She kicked the man who was coming at her and sent him flying at a tree trunk. The tree’s broken branch impaled him from back to belly. She had always known she was stronger than other people, but this was the first time she realized the difference in their strength. She snatched her wrists back and got back up on her feet. Her right hand slashed the neck of the man standing in front of her and opened his throat. He fell to his knees and then fall face first onto the grass.

It felt satisfying.

She stared at her razor sharp nails in bewilderment. Her eyes flew from one corpse to another and then she came to the full realization that she was the killer. She suddenly felt frightened of herself and what she had just done. The most frightening thing about it is that she felt a lack of remorse. She was glad that she had killed them.

They had deserved to die.

She was confused with herself and her emotions. What she felt and should have felt was completely different. She didn’t know what she could feel and could not feel anymore. It was as if her emotions weren’t her own. Her personality wasn’t her own. But if that is so, then who did they belong to?

The girl in her vision?’

“
Who am I if everything that I am doesn’t belong to me?” she asked in soft whisper. “What am I?”

Heavy droplets of tears slid down her cheeks and dripped down her chin. They landed like dewdrops on blades of the grass. She needed comfort and she needed reassurance. She wanted to be told that it doesn’t matter who or what she was. She needed the warmth of another.

She walked back to the camp barefoot. She had lost her sandals during the struggle, but it was not like she needed them to walk. All she felt was shame and humiliation as she walked past the soldiers in a torn gown with her breasts exposed. It was not hard to guess what had happened to her.

She brushed aside the fabric and entered the tent where she was expecting Sayan to be. He lay asleep with a naked woman by his side. The woman was a silver-eyed, raven-hair beauty with a scent similar to, but not that similar to her own. The woman’s head was lying on his bare chest and a triumphant smile grew on her face when she saw Nala.

Comfort was not here.

Nala left Sayan’s tent and wandered into the next tent. The general was sitting at his desk when she came in. He jumped to his feet when he saw her and immediately noticed the state she was in.

“
What happened? Who did this to you?” The General ran to her side and placed his cloak over her body.

“
May I borrow your bed tonight?” She asked in a soft and exhausted voice.

“
Yes, of course!” The general agreed immediately.

Nala calmly walked to the bed and slipped under the blanket. All she wanted to do was sleep. Maybe she can find comfort in her dreams.

Sayan descended
from his horse and strode into his tent. He was covered in the blood of his enemies and his own sweats. He needed to bathe. The hot water should melt the aches from his muscles and the stress from his mind. It wasn’t the worst battle he had ever been in, thanks to Lilan. She had proved herself to be a most powerful ally. The men under her control were fewer than a hundred, but they had helped him wipe out the enemies in a fraction of the time.

“
I need to bathe,” he said to the servant as he removed his cloak. Lilan wrapped her arms around him so suddenly that he almost struck her down by reflex.

“
I will help you,” Lilan slipped to the front and helped him removed his armor. “Have I ever seen a finer warrior?”

“
I like to bathe alone, thank you.”

“
You seem to have forgotten our deal.”

He detached himself from her. “I’m your lover, not your slave. I want my time alone.”

Instead of being angry, she seemed thrilled with his answer. “You sound like a king already. Fine then, I will come back another time.”

General Malin entered as she left. “We have minimal loss on our side, my prince. A thousand dead and a thousand more wounded. It was better than we had anticipated.”

“
Where is Nala, Malin? I haven’t seen her around in a couple of days.”

“
She’s sleeping, your highness.”

“
I have been asking the same question and you have been providing me with the same answer. Nala has never slept more than a few hours a day, if that.”

“
My answer is the same, because she never woke up. She has been sleeping for the past four days.”

“
Sleeping for the past four days? Why wasn’t I told of this? Have you summoned a physician?” Sayan rushed out of the tent. “Take me to her.”

“
I didn’t want to distract you with trivial things before you went into battle.”

“
Trivial?!” Sayan turned around, grabbed the general and then pushed him back. “I want everything about her reported, understand?”

The General took the lead and led Sayan into his tent. “The physician said there was nothing wrong with her.”

“
Would a perfectly healthy person sleep for four days straight?” Sayan came to Nala’s side and placed a hand on her forehead. There was no fever. “Nala, wake up. Nala!”

“
It’s no use. I have tried that.”

“
Nala!” Sayan gently shook her. She remained in her sleep. “Why is she like this? What happened before she went to sleep?”

The general lowered his eyes. “I don’t know. She asked to borrow my bed and has been sleeping since then.”

“
Nala!” He gently tapped on her cheek. “Get another physician! I want to know what is wrong with her.”

“
A physician already…”

“
Get another one!” Sayan shouted at his general. “Get as many here as you can. Could it be from that time I stabbed her?”

“
Right away,” the general obeyed and left.

Lilan appeared by his side as if from thin air.

“
I don’t see why you are so concerned about her. She can’t really die unless you severed her head from her neck.” Lilan pulled Sayan toward her. “Weren’t you going to take a bath?”

“
Not now.”

“
She wants to sleep, so just let her be.”

Sayan pulled his arm back. “Leave. I need to be alone right now.”

Lilan made a dissatisfying sound at the back of the throat and then disappeared.

The two physicians arrived as soon as they could and took turns examining her. They switched back and forth until Sayan impatiently slammed his fists on the table. They lowered their heads, frightened and speechless.

“
What is wrong with her?” Sayan asked impatiently.

“…
There is nothing wrong with her physically, your highness.” One physician replied. “From what we can tell, she is only sleeping.”

The other physician agreed.

“
How do I wake her up?”

“
W-we don’t know. It may be psychological. The only thing we could do right now is to wait for her to wake up on her own. As for her physical body, I will prepare a special tonic.”

All three physicians came to the same conclusion. Even if Sayan wanted to get angry with them, it would be unreasonable of him. The irritation has built up again.

“
You are dismissed.” He said to them.

The physicians bowed to him and left. They returned within the hour to deliver the tonic and were dismissed again.

Sayan slipped a hand under her back and lifted her up so that she was in a semi sitting position. It would be easier to feed her the medicine this way. He brought the cup to her mouth and slowly tilted the cup. The liquid spilled from the corner of her lips.

That left him with one other choice. He took the tonic in his mouth and lifted her up higher so their lips could meet. He feed her little by little until he emptied the cup. Just when he was about to place her down on the pillow again, he saw her mouth a word. He leaned in closer to hear what she had to say.

In a breathless whisper, he heard her call out the word ‘Trent’. He lifted his head up again. What does Trent mean? Is it an object? Is it a place? It almost sounded like the name of another male. He heard her call out the word ‘Trent’ again. Her tears seeped through her thick lashes and slid down the curves of her face. She repeated that word over and over as though she was caressing her lover’s name.

This person must be very important to her. Is she looking for him in her dream? If one day she finds this man, would she go with him wherever he went?

He would never allow that to happen.

“
That woman is
becoming an eyesore.”

Lilan gulped down the glass of wine in her hand and then threw it at a blond man’s head. It shattered and glided down the man’s face along with his blood. He stood up and wiped off the blood from his forehead. The wound closed on its own.

“
What would you like me to do about her, mistress?” The man asked. He came closer to her and kissed the back of her hand. “I cannot stand to see you in such a bad mood.”

“
If she is of our kind, then why haven’t I seen her before? If I ripped off her face, would it grow back again?”

“
It probably would.”

Lilan rolled to lay her back. “Do you think she is more beautiful than I am?”

“
No one is comparable to you, my queen.” He replied.

“
That is why you are my favorite, Rain. You always know what to say to please me.”

He arched over her and gently stroked her hair. “I can please you in other ways too, my queen.”

She pushed him back. “Don’t lay a finger on me without my permission, Rain.” She grinned. “My new lover might get jealous.”

“
You are quite taken with him.”

She sighed at the thought of him. “I like his cold gaze on me. He is the only man I’ve ever encounter that doesn’t grovel at my feet. I can almost see him as my equal. I will turn him into a true king, unlike the filths with a golden crown on their heads. I will make him into a man worthy of me.”

“
As you wish, my queen.”

“
Ah, that woman really is an eyesore! Just seeing him taking care of her makes me so angry!” She rolled onto her belly again. “Bring her to me, Rain. I think seeing her dead would make me feel a little better.”

“
If that is what you wish, my queen.”

“
Trent! Don’t go!
Please don’t leave me alone!”

Nala reached out to the silhouette walking away. She stared at the five fingers in front of her and realized that she had woken from her dream. She could barely remember what she dreamt about, but it felt as if she had just lived through a lifetime and maybe even longer. The man with the platinum hair appeared at the end of her dream. Was he the one she was calling to? Was Trent his name?

The severe pain in her chest returned.

Why is it that every time she thought of that man, her chest felt like it was being torn apart? Did he put a curse on her? Did he not want her to remember the past? Who was he to her?

She turned to the side when someone caught her hand.

“
So you’ve finally decided to wake up.”

A man with golden hair was smiling at her. “The mistress will find it more entertaining that way.”

“
Who are you?” She asked. She tried to pull her hand back, but was unsuccessful. He was stronger than an average man. She found herself losing in a tug-of-war with him.

“
I am Rain. You should be able to recognize your own kind when you see one.”

The scent on him was the same as that woman’s. “And what is my own kind?”

“
Are you playing dumb with me, little one?”