“Perhaps….” Instead of letting myself fall into that pit of endlessness I shook my head, grumbling at my own foolishness as my head gave a loud protest. A ravenous hunger swept through me making my belly clench in pain but I placed the cooling bowl on the floor and turned over under the blankets. A hiss escaped my mouth when I placed too much weight on my hurt wrist. The skin was black underneath the bandages and I sighed again, this time out of remorse. I would’ve had trouble pulling my sword or knocking arrows, I would have struggled through the battle. Closing my eyes the visions flashed into place filling up the bright red of my inner-eyelids. I would have relied on someone, I would’ve had too. I couldn’t defend myself let alone anyone else. Everett would have aided me, and father, maybe even Maximus, and any one of them could have been killed because of it. “I forgive you, and I thank you. You saved the lives of those I hold dear.” I whispered into the empty room. And just like that the unease swept from my system and I found it easier to breathe. Shaking my head again, and again cursing my forgetfulness, I ignored what I did not understand. I pressed my aching face into the pillows and closed my eyes once more, this time pressing myself into a sleep to heal.
The sunlight was strong and I was woken with searing pain driving my thoughts into flashes of why it hurt so terribly. Groaning, I pushed myself up, trying to evade the sunlight. It followed me though and I dragged myself from the bed. The wood beneath my feet was chilled and smooth. Images flashed back and forth, many I recognized as myself in many of them. I held my head, leaning against the wall as my head throbbed and felt like it was pulsating. The image slowed upon one, I winced in pain as it slowly came into focus. It was me, and someone else, someone with dark eyes and pale skin, pressed against one another in ways only mates should be. I dropped to my knees, struggling to fight through the vision, to bring myself back to my body. It wasn’t working. My breath seemed to burst from my lungs like it was working to rid itself of me, and my head continued to spin. The pressure seemed to build in my mind, the images taking a physical weight. The floor beneath me began to darken in spots and I realized that tears spilled down my cheeks. In my fight for air and peace, I sobbed, begging for it to stop.
“Amelia?!” There was a banging at the door which only made the pain that worse. I crawled on my stomach, trying to reach the knob. Another wave of visions overcame me, images of myself on a battlefield, arrows whizzing past my face, an elderly man with blue stripes painted down his face, he was talking with me but I couldn’t understand any of what was said. When at last I thought my skull would split into smaller pieces in a violent explosion, the door to my room opened and the pain surged away in seconds leaving me feeling empty and exhausted. Hands were laid upon me as I lay face down, panting in shock. “Amelia!” I didn’t even have the energy to raise my head up or to make any words come from my raw throat. Soft small hands pushed me over on to my back. The room continued to spin swiftly. I couldn’t focus. I had been trying so hard to focus on everything I was seeing that now my eyes refused me this. Muscles spasm-ed and aches covered my body. “Move back, the three of you. Crowding around her won’t help a thing. Raith was kneeling down at my side, her swollen stomach not allowing her to go any further. She opened my mouth, took my pulse, and pulled my eyelids down. She frowned heavily. “She’s feverish.” Vaguely I could feel sweat dripping across my skin but my current battle was trying to open my mouth and say something. Slowly, their faces came into focus.
Raith, father, Everett and Maximus. I shook violently as I lurched up, cradling myself. My damaged wrist was bent at an awkward angle. Some of the images came back, pale on pale skin, black hair and eyes, unidentifiable which belonged to whom. It had to be him! These didn’t start till he came! Panic and fear bubbled over in my veins and I glared at him. “Get out of my head!” I was startled by the animalistic noise that erupted from my mouth but couldn’t bring myself to deny it as purely of the moment. They seemed unsure what to do, hesitant looks upon all of their faces. I tried to shove to me feet, my leg collapsing underneath me as the images continued to sweep through me. “GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GET OUT!” I screamed. I was able to finally keep my feet, but stumbled as I went at him. Everett stepped between us and I fell into him.
“GET OUT!” My knees gave out. My eyes fell back into my head and I gave a quiet sob. My muscles didn’t seem to work.
“Put on her on the bed, she’s fitting.” Raith’s voice was smooth and quiet. It slid around my skull like silk, pushing the images into a dark corner.
“Calm Amelia, it is not Maximus.” I felt the soft blankets against the back of my head, my hair tickling my neck. Something cool was placed on my head and I tried to sit up.
“Don’t.” The masculine voice seemed to chase the rest of the images away, leaving me vision free. I slouched onto the bed having lost my strength to fight.
“What’s come over her?” It was difficult to listen to them talk about me, over me, without being able to speak or move. My body was useless, it didn’t respond to anything I told it to do.
“She took fever, obviously.” Raith pressed a cloth hard to my face, and if I could I would have winced.
“We must let her sleep. If she is in the gods’ favor, she will live through the night.”