-Bastian-
I never get much sleep at night. After the sun sets, and my body is overcome with the intensity and power of the curse, I never manage to sleep. The excruciating pain, the humiliation, I must bear all of it throughout the evening. The only night that I'm exempt from this terrifying curse is on the evening of my birthday, where I'm allowed a single evening of peace.
To be honest, I'd prefer it if I was never given a night off. That way, I'd never look forward to anything. I know that I am being sent a woman of royal blood as a way to create peace between Attinian and Roche. According to Pierre, she's supposed to help fight the curse's effects. Just like how holy water was supposed to help reduce the pain, or how sleeping in a coffin of ironwood was going to rid it from my body. All of those methods obviously failed.
And his final ditch attempt: the intimate touch of a woman possessing Roche royal blood. I don't know about the intimate part, but I told him that this was the last time that we'd look for a cure. I know how much Pierre wants to cure me, I know how hard he works every day deciphering ancient texts on witchcraft just for a single chance at finding a way to unbind me from this murderous curse.
"What brings you here, child?" asked the tree who has been my oldest friend. The tree that I affectionately dubbed Forrester back when I was only a young boy craving affection.
I jumped up and scaled his trunk before lying myself across a branch without creating a collapse of the snow that the tree was holding up. This is where I nap nowadays. No one dares come into this garden, it's an unspoken taboo.
"Sleep." I said, lounging myself across the perfect branch. I closed my eyes, and the tree said nothing more but watch over me as I slowly tried to have the minimum rest required to function. Then, the crunch of snow under someone's footsteps roused me from my state as I peered down only to see the woman who I had previously lifted inside walk right under the leaves and sit right on the stone slab bench I had made long ago.
She was strange, strange enough to talk to herself contently. She slipped her fingers into the bare soil, and even began conversing with Forrester. Perhaps that was what shocked me the most. Never before had the tree spoken to anyone but me. I didn't speak and pretended to go back to sleep.
"But... despite my dream to travel finally becoming true, I somehow still feel lost. I feel like I don't belong here. I feel like... I don't belong anywhere."
That statement somehow made me feel angry at her. Annoyed by how fortunate she was that she could enjoy the moon's shine without people screaming "monster" at her. She can belong anywhere that she wishes. She's not a monster bound to the hours of sunlight and forced to fall deep into the abyssal darkness once the sun sets. She could move anywhere and live a great life.
Suddenly, the bell tolled the 14th hour, and she stood up from her hard rock seat before brushing herself off.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Forrester."
At that moment, she looked up and I felt... moonlight.
That's what her eyes reminded me of. The clear, bright blue sky, the sun as usual being its centrepiece. Those eyes, crystalline and jewel-like, made me stop in my tracks. My core temperature rose as I dove into those eyes of hers even further until-
"I'm sorry. Did I bother you at all?"
Her voice reminded me of the fresh gusts of wind hunting in the early morning. The ones that swept you away before you even knew they were coming.
I rolled over and turned my back on her. She'll go away eventually, I don't even know why she's still here. I told Uriel to take care of her. Why does she keep on reappearing in front of-
"Are you asleep?"
I opened my eyes and saw nothing but her face. I jumped, catching myself on the branch before I fell backwards, my heart leaping up and down like a kettle boiling over. She was just on the ground a moment ago.
She giggled, putting out her hands as she sat herself in front of me.
"I didn't mean to startle you." she said softly, adjusting her position on the small branch.
She's pretty bold to assume that she startled me, of all people. Who is she, some soldier's little sister? Why didn't Uriel send her back? Unless...
"Are you Uriel's mate?" I asked. She didn't seem to take me seriously, since she burst out laughing.
"Mate? What do you think I am, an animal?" she said, her voice full of chuckles. "If you really want to know, no I am not his 'mate', nor am I his fiancée or his wife. I'm already engaged."
Engaged to one of my men, no doubt. Uriel seemed to recognise her, so perhaps he knows of her.
"You sure are asking a lot of questions. What about you? What are you doing, sleeping in a tree? Surely there are more comfortable places to rest."
For me, there isn't. The softness of a pillow, the bounciness of a mattress, I'd rather sleep on a bed of hot coals than a bed. Trees are the perfect place, since I'm sure that no one will disturb me... apart from you, of course. She probably thinks that it's weird-
"Well, we all have habits, don't we? Unconventional or not, if this is where you like to sleep, who I am I to judge?" she replied, leaning against the main trunk of the tree. "Hm, I can see the appeal, but doesn't it feel a little cold?"
I shrugged and leaned back, closing my eyes again. "I enjoy the cold."
It makes me feel alive. I'll keep that last statement from her.
"I've never truly enjoyed snow in abundance like this before. In Roche, where I used to live, snow fell but never stick. You could have seen the surprise in my face when I saw the snow having fallen in metres-"
Hold on... she's from Roche? Now, it makes sense. I've never seen her before, the fact that Uriel kept her in the castle instead of sending her back, and her mention of an engagement.
This little woman is my bride, and my supposed cure.
-End of Chapter 11-
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