I was running through a dark forest. I tripped and tumbled over my own foot, but I pushed myself up and started running again. My heart is thrumming hard against my chest, threatening to rip right out from the cage that encased it. My lungs burning as though the fires of hell were scorching every inch of it.
And yet, no matter how fast I ran, it was like I was moving at a snail's pace.
I heard voices behind me.
"Get the girl!" A deep voice resonated through the trees.
I could see the torches they carried, bouncing in the darkness like spirit flames floating after me.
They're coming for me. They're going to get me.
I jerk awake. Panting and sweating profusely, I glanced around the room. The ceiling was cobblestone, a lit fireplace sat across the room and a pail of water with a wet towel sat on the small nightstand next to the bed.
The door creaked open and a maid walked in.
"My lady!" Her eyelids raised to show the whites of her eyes filled with exhaustion as though she were up all night. She immediately turned out the door. "The lady is awake! Fetch the lord!" She swiftly approached my side and dabbed the sweat off my forehead.
"Where's Lady Syn?" My voice was soft and weak with my throat parched. The maid just looked at me like I spoke in elvish.
"My lady you shouldn't talk. You should rest."
"Where – is Lady-"
The door opened abruptly, Lord Ubo and Lady Dee marched straight to me with worried eyes.
"You're okay! Thank the gods." Lady Dee cried and proceeded to hug me. Which was weird, but I was too weak to care.
"Where is – Lady Syn?" I asked her, but she just gave me the same puzzled look the maid had done. They gazed at each other but didn't say a word.
"Where is Lady Syn?" I asked louder, my irritation clear in my tone. Lady Dee looked at me with teary eyes. "Tell me where her ladyship is. Where – is Lady Syn?" My voice now stern and a little threatening – or as threatening as I can make it with how hoarse it has gone, like I had been screaming.
"I think she needs some rest. She probably isn't feeling very well yet." Lord Ubo placed a hand on Lady Dee's shaking shoulders and they left the room.
My vision was so blurry, and I felt damned exhausted, cold and hot at the same time. The maid fed me spoonfuls of bitter herbs and I drifted back to sleep.
It was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. I only heard unintelligible mutters and whispers.
"– Royal – Kingdom –"
I woke up in bed and rubbed my head as a high pitch noise rang in my ear. I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. It was silkier than I remembered it to be.
Remembering that I had gotten stabbed in my leg, I threw off the blanket and pulled up the nightgown.
'Wait – nightgown? They put me in a nightgown?' I shrugged it off and continued to pull it above my thigh, but there was no laceration, no puncture, not even a scar. As if it never happened.
Although my body didn't ache, and there were no bruises or marks that would say it ever occurred, yet it felt so real, there was no way it was a dream. I remembered everything very clearly, I even remembered the smell of blood and even the strong taste of iron in my mouth.
"My Lady!" The maid had returned. Once again she turned out the door and called for Lord Ubo and Lady Dee.
"You're okay!" Lady Dee and Lord Ubo entered, it felt like I was having deja vu.
"Where's Lady Syn?" Once again – deja vu.
"You should get some rest."
"No! I'm fine!" I clenched my fists in anger. "Why won't anyone tell me where Lady Syn is?"
"I don't know what you want me to say." Lady Dee's lips quivered. "You're right here."
"I'm not talking about me! I'm talking about Lady Syn Sewell. She's roughly my height, long purple hair, purple eyes! Skinny!" I didn't know why I had to explain to them what she looked like. She is their daughter for goodness sake, and yet they acted like she didn't exist.
I received a baffled look again and rubbed my forehead growling in frustration. "Your daughter! Where is your daughter?!" The screaming rattled my throat and forced a cough out of me.
They glanced at each other and looked at me.
"Y – you're right here." Lady Dee's voice cracked, her chin quivering uncontrollably.
"What are you talking about? I'm not your daughter."
Her eyes got teary, "Are you alright Syn? What's the last thing you remember?"
"Why do you keep calling me Syn?" I proceeded to tell them about the ball and being attacked in the tall grass. "Someone tell me where Lady syn is!" I demanded. Someone was hiding something from me and I intended to find out what was going on.
"I don't know why you keep referring to yourself that way." Lord Ubo tried hard to hide his irritation.
"In what way?" I was getting more and more frustrated.
"Tell me what your name is." Lord Ubo managed to calm himself down.
"Charlix Harlow."
He shook his head. "When the carriage flipped over, you hit your head pretty hard. Your name is Charlix Syn Sewell."
"No, I'm not! My name is Charlie Harlow. I am Lady Syn's childhood friend and bodyguard! She has purple hair and purple eyes, I have hazel eyes and wavy brown hair!" I argued, grabbing at a lock of my hair to shake in their face.
But what dangled in front of my face wasn't brown. It was soft and silky with a beautiful shade of purple, like the sunset.
I shook, twisted and turned my hair, trying to shake the color out of it, but nothing changed. I looked over my arms but my skin was flawless, not a single scratch. I yanked up the night gown to the top of my thigh, but that hideous scar I had on my leg – wasn't there.
"Give me a mirror." I demanded. The maid quickly ran over and brought me a mirror. The eighteen year old girl staring back at me, was Lady Syn. I slowly reached up and grabbed at my face, pulled my skin, contorted my face, but the face in the mirror did exactly what I did.
'What the hell happened?' "I would like to be alone please." I muttered.
"Syn-"
"I said I would like to be alone!" I balled up the blanket in my fists, doing everything I can to not hit anyone. They all quietly walked out and shut the door. I held the mirror back up and stared at it. I just couldn't believe it. I ran through all the possibilities:
-I'm dreaming
-Someone is playing a cruel joke
-I've gone crazy
-I made everything up
-I'm seeing things
The thoughts kept going and going. I grabbed my hair and pulled at them.
"– Royal – Kingdom –"
The voice rang in my ear and I sat straight up.
'That's right! The Royal Kingdom has something to do with this. The hooded man! He definitely has something to do with this! I saw him scheming something at the ball and then he showed up at the field! It has to be him! That means I need to go back to the castle and find out what's going on!'
I jumped out of bed and ran out the door. I was still in the nightgown, but I didn't care. I needed answers.
"My Lady!" The maid ran after me.
"Where's Lord Ubo and Lady Dee?" I marched purposefully through the castle.
"They are in Lord Ubo's study my lady."
I approached the study and slammed the door open. Lord Ubo looked up from his desk, with a quill in his hand. Lady Dee was sitting on the velvet couch in the middle of the room with red teary eyes and a handkerchief held up to her face.
I strutted up to Lord Ubo's desk, placed a hand on my chest and bowed. "Lord Ubo, I need to go to the Royal Castle."
"I'm postponing your wedding."
"My – wedding?" I looked up at him in bewilderment.
"We met with the King and Prince after the ball and had set your wedding date to be one week from then. That was six days ago." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You are not yourself and obviously cannot marry the prince in this state, let alone go anywhere where anyone will see you."
"Why not?"
"Have you seen yourself?" He snapped, gripping the quill so hard it probably could break in half at any moment. "You are not acting like yourself."
"I told you, that's because I'm not Lady Syn! I am Charlix Harlow!"
"There is no Charlix Harlow!" He slammed his hand on his desk. "There was never a Charlix Harlow." He sighed. "Yes, Charlix is your name, but you didn't want us to call you Charli and threw a fit every time we did."
"Well, I like it now."
"This is exactly what I am talking about." He finished signing the letter and proceeded to roll it up. "Your behavior is completely different. Look at how you addressed me! You waltz in here, in a nightgown no less, and bow to me as if you are a knight!. We cannot let you be seen by anyone until you get better." He sighed and spoke in a softer tone. "Don't worry, I will hire the best healers to fix you."
"I don't need to be fixed! I already know that someone at the Royal Kingdom has something to do with this!"
"Listen to yourself!" He roared, his eyes flared with anger. "You are now accusing the Royal Kingdom? Do you have any idea what would happen if they found out? We will all be beheaded for treason! I don't want to hear another word! Now go back to your room! You are not to leave, until we can fix whatever it is that is wrong with you!
The wedding will be postponed until further notice. I will inform the King that you are under the weather and cannot be wed at the moment." He continued scribbling away on another piece of parchment.
"Sir Aeron!" He didn't remove his eyes from the parchment.
"Yes, my lord."
"Take Lady Syn back to her room, and make sure she doesn't leave."
"Yes, my lord." He approached me and bowed courtly. "My lady?" Lord Ubo ignored me and continued to scribble away. I turned and marched toward the door and down the hall.
"Sir Aeron." I said softly.
"Yes, my lady."
"Did you teach me how to use a sword?"
"Yes, my lady."
"Did you teach me or did you teach Charli?"
"My lady?"
I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him. Sir Aeron, his face muddled, a few years older, and slightly taller than me. His sky blue hair disheveled as though he too were up all night. His muscles lean and not as bulky as the other knights, but his swordsmanship could out do any other.
When I was Charlix Harlow, before this whole thing happened, he was my teacher – my mentor – my best friend. I looked up to him and he taught me everything I knew. He was the one person I was closest to – besides Lady Syn.
I felt a deep sadness rise from within me and my eyes filled with tears – he too didn't remember me.
Did Charlix Harlow really not exist? Maybe I made her up in my mind this whole time.
"Was I good with the sword Sir Aeron?"
"To be frank, your ladyship tried, but you struggled a lot."
"I see." I went to my room.
Maybe it really was all in my head. I probably created this person I wanted to be.
No! Someone did something to me and I am going to do whatever it takes to find out who it is and make them pay! I will be the most noble of all noble women and work my way into the castle.
I will find you Lady Syn!