Kara released a breath as she took in the familiar feeling of where she was. It had been a while but she knew, as she would always know, that this was a dream. The same dream she always had.
"... fever but the herbs are working great as expected..." The woman beside her was saying.
Kara looked around the table, they all had white hair. A man, a woman and a younger girl. Their faces held affection as they spoke and there were unconscious touches from time to time.
This was a family. She knew. She'd seen it around whenever she left the orphanage. Parents smiling and complimenting their children, they all talking about their day. How had she forgotten her dreams?
It was always similar. As if she was living another life when she was asleep. If she didn't know better she would have thought the dreams were alternate universes. They were too serial to be ruled as just dream.
"... listening. You are still day dreaming. " The man on her left chuckled.
Kara cleared her throat and smiled. "Well, you know me."
She was used to herself replying without actually replying. Her body moved automatically as if she was just a bystander. No, she was actually a bystander.
"So, how is Loid?" The younger girl, the one she remembered was the sister, teased. Her sister.
Kara blushed although it was the first time she was hearing the name. The dreams always had time differences which varied. Months, sometimes years passed. It seemed some years had passed.
"Charming as ever." She said with her soft enchanting voice.
She'd always envied the voice. The kind that had people listening and yearning to hear more.
Her sister giggled. "I can't wait to see you in your white cloth on the big day."
Kara beamed. "You'll be gorgeous in your pink."
The parents laughed and they talk about the wedding arrangements. She was getting married.
Kara closed her eyes and found herself looking at a full length mirror when she opened them. Her white hair was long, reaching her waist and her blue eyes were like a deep ocean. It was her but wasn't. She was smiling and felt nervous.
"We are getting married, can you believe it!" She was saying to her reflection.
She felt genuine happiness in her chest as she dance around the room in her long white gown. It had a v-shaped back that went deep into her lower back. Net patterned long sleeves and lilies plaited into her hair. She looked like a fantasy princess.
A blink later, she found herself sitting on the floor in front of the mirror with tear stained cheeks. Her eyes were sad and her heart heavy. Her mother and sister hugged her and tried to comfort her.
"..I'm sure he has a good reason for not showing up. Maybe he went out of town and couldn't make it back early." Her mother was saying.
Kara shook her head. "He would have told me. He would have let me know. Maybe he actually doesn't want to marry me."
Her sister held her hand and squeezed it. "Loid loves you. Everyone knows that. They've seen the way he looks at you. Mother is right, he probably got caught up in something and couldn't make it. I'm sure we will hear from him soon."
Kara was curious about Loid, she hadn't seen him yet. She didn't like him either. Who ditches their wedding without a warning?!
"What if something bad happened to him? What if he died?" She heard herself cry.
Her mother shook her head. "Do not say that, you invite bad things by thinking and speaking them."
Kara wailed. "But it might be true. Can't we get a search party out? Loid wouldn't leave me hanging just like that."
The father walked him with a solemn look. She stood up and ran into his arms.
"Tell me someone has heard a word from him. Please. "She begged and he wrapped his arms around her.
Kara had never experienced heartbreak and this feeling made her hope not to. It felt like a huge weight on the left side of her chest or a spear through her heart. The tears wouldn't stop flowing and her lips wouldn't stop quivering. Her mind was racing and thinking of all the possibilities. It was tiring and her body felt like it was about to give up.
Hours turned into days and the pain became a dull ache. She floated through the house, never truly seeing, never truly hearing. No one heard from Loid, no one knew his whereabouts. The search party came back empty. Everyone who came to their house looked at her with pity. A jilted bride, they called her.
Loid Winterly had been a wounded soldier she had cared for. She came from a line of powerful healers. He had fallen in love with her and vowed never to leave her. Everyone had been wary of him but she had convinced them he was a good man.
Kara was tired of the overwhelming feeling. The dream felt longer than usual and most times she forgot she was still dreaming. She got caught up in the events taking place.
"Hey." Her sister peeked from the door and came to sit on her bed.
Out of habit, Kara began to do her braids.
"They are worried about you." The girl told her.
Hours after her sister had left her, Kara sat by her window and hummed to herself. The air was slightly tense, her skin had goosebumps. Something was wrong, she could feel it in the air. She could almost taste it. It was the same feeling she had had on the day of her wedding but worse.
"Hera."
It was a low whisper brought to her ears by the wind. It was a name her memories revealed to her was the person she was in the dream. Hera. How had she forgotten the name?
Kara leaned out the window and saw someone beckon to her. She almost shouted his name but he gestured for her to be silent. Loid. Her Loid. All caution flew with the wind. She hurried out of her door and met her father by the step.
"Where are you off to?" He asked her with wary eyes.
She understood him, she probably looked like a crazy woman. He probably thought she'd gone off the rails. But she couldn't tell him till she knew for herself. Did she see a ghost or had her Loid come back to her?
"It's a clear sky this night, a walk to clear the head will be nice. Do you want to come with?" She said to him.
He looked tired, the community meeting had probably ruined his mood. He would say no.
"Another time Love, be safe." He said and kissed her forehead. "Don't wander far."
She nodded and walked out of the house. She saw Loid at the mouth of the forest. 'Don't wander far', played in her head. She shivered at the cold she felt for an instant.
"It is Loid." She whispered to herself, her father would understand.
He knew love for he loved her mother. She had seen always seen it in his eyes. Even now, he would crawl into the comfort of her mother's arms. Hera wanted that, wanted to love and wanted to be loved.
"Loid." She beamed, tears glistening on her eyelids.
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. His body was stiff. After some minutes, he pulled her arms off himself and held her hand.
"I don't have much time. No one must see me." He said, a note of urgency in his voice.
"Are there people after you?" She asked with worry.
He shooked his head and began to retreat into the forest, making her follow him.
"It's complicated Hera."
"Take me with you. " She begged. "Explain to me on the way."
He stopped and brushed her hair behind her ears.
"You love me don't you?" He asked.
She nodded, leaning her cheek on his palm, and hoped he wouldn't leave her. "With all my heart. I've been broken without you."
He nodded. He didn't tell her he loved her.
"Do you know a way out? One no one else knows?" He asked.
She led him to a cave. They walked in silence with her assuming he had a lot on his mind. If he was on the run, it definitely wasn't easy pulling another person along. She would be a good help to him, she wouldn't bother him so much. She would do her best not to get in his way.
Kara stole glances at him, he looked rugged and gorgeous. Familiar. She couldn't place what it was. He reminded her of someone, who?
"You are sure no one knows this place, traces of us will never be found right?" He asked again, staring at her.
Something about him was different. Wrong.
"Yes, no one." She assured him.
Except her sister. But that should be fine, her sister rarely checked the cave. They had discovered it together as kids when they snuck out of the town.
She ran her hands on the wall, nostalgia coursing through her. A smile made it to her lips as she turned back to him but soon a gasp escaped. Her father hadn't found it weird that she was wearing her wedding down, it was a beautiful gown she wore from time to time since the wedding, but then and there, she thought, what a pity she wore her white.
Red. Red was pouring from her chest and staining the gown. A dagger had pierced her rib cage, barely far from her heart and she was losing a lot of blood. She stepped back but was pushed so she tripped and fell on a sharp spike that pierced through her back. It knocked the wind out of her.
Loid had stabbed her. Her Loid... Her should-have-been husband had stabbed her from the front and the back. Her blue eyes iced as she stared at him.
Kara remembered who he looked like.
Ashton Winterly...