Soft crimson moonlight filtered through the parted curtains while morning birdsong lifted her from the pit of unconsciousness. Slowly her eyes opened to the familiar canopy of her bed, strung with dangling orbs that used to dash away her fears of the night—when she was distraught and homesick. A feeling that she couldn't quite dredge up. Her head was pounding with the light making the ache even worse. It felt like she'd been struck by a cast iron right on the top of her skull. She sat up, slowly letting her eyes travel around the room drinking in the familiarity and reveling in just how much she'd already missed home.
But how had she gotten there? Had she really even left? Thinking about it only made the pain worse, so she decided not to. It had probably just been a bad dream. When she first came to D'treroh, there were plenty to be had though they'd long since fell away. She had been skipping her mother's vitamins for a while in secret. Maybe they had really been helping.
Strelitzia slid out of bed eager to see her family. They hadn't been apart for years but she woke up missing something terrible. "Mother!" She called out, flinging her door open.
Charlotte nearly flew from her bed when Strelitzia burst through her door calling out her name. "Yes, yes, yes. What is wrong, what's going on?!" She clicked the light on and Rogan was startled awake too, this irritated look beaming upon his face.
After a long moment of realization he opened his mouth, brows dipped down In confusion. "Why is she still-"
Charlotte's hand clamped down over his mouth and she gave him a stern glare. "Go back to bed." Harshly, she released and slipped from the bed, ushering Strelitzia out into the hall and following behind her. "What's wrong my dear?"
Her arms wrapped around her mother and she buried her face in the woman's neck. For some reason she was feeling emotional and overwhelmed, throat tightening every time she tried to choke out the words to explain. "I'm sorry I just..I had a bad dream I think. I felt like I lost you and something terrible had happened and that I would be alone." Strelitzia hiccuped, tears brimming at the corner of her eyes.
"I know I wasn't gone but I missed you still. I'm sorry for waking you and father up. I just panicked." She was way too old to be running to her parents from night terrors and childish fears but having her mother there was comforting. Maybe she'd been too spoiled with affection.
"Do you want me to sleep in your room for the rest of the night? How was your visit with your aunt?" She asked while wrapping her arms around Strelitzia. A part of her felt bad because Rueborn had told her there would be a few nightmares and drawbacks that'd last a couple of days after the initial memory removal. But Aurelia wasn't a safe person for her to be around. "How about some warm tea before that, hm?" Her lips curled into a motherly smile.
"Yes please." She pulled away from their embrace though she still stayed close, distrustful of the lingering shadows in the corners where the light didn't quite reach. Something felt amiss despite the familiar settings. Her mind had been deeply unsettled from whatever horrors haunted her sleep. Strelitzia grabbed hold of the back of Charlotte's sleeve, something she often did when she felt shy as a child. For the moment all she wanted was reassurance that everything was okay and whatever fear dwelled in her heart could be banished by the love of her mother. "My aunt? The trip wasn't memorable. I don't care for her much. I was terribly homesick."
Charlotte smiled and patted the back of Strelitzia's hand which gripped onto her sleeve as she guided her down the stairs with a lit lantern in her opposite grasp. Their home was large in mallowmoor. Even from inside, someone could hear the soft lapping of the waves below. Sometimes even a seagull's occasional cry if it soared high above the clouds.
"Sit down love." She whispered, helping her into a chair before lighting a fire beneath a kettle. Charlotte didn't like the ones in the small tea bags pre made, she liked hers to be natural. The herbs were held in a ceramic container, and she took a few scoops as she watched the water bubble. "Tell me about your nightmares this time. I'm sure it's more than missing me." Her hand tightened around the silver spoon. It hurt sometimes knowing everything was switched. When she said she didn't really care for her aunt, those words were meant for herself. She did her best raising her when her true mother didn't.
Why did she have to be the one that was cherished less?
Her heart sank, and she hoped that the pain would leave and she would be able to forget she was just an aunt; now more of a mother.
Strelitzia knit her fingers together nervously in her lap at the request. Talking about the bad things only seemed to make them more real but with company maybe they would be banished back to watery images barely remembered. The two were alone in the tea room. The windows were shut tight and the curtains drawn. Her father and the maids were sleeping so she did her best to keep her voice down despite the shrill note of fear that kept creeping into her words.
"I was kidnapped by pirates and held for ransom. They dragged me all across the Onyx Sea. I was tortured," Her arms had slipped around herself in an attempt to stave off the chill running down her spine. "And poisoned. They made me watch as they killed everyone I loved even after I told them where the fortune was." Almond shaped eyes were fixed on the bubbling water, watching as drops slid down the curved sides to fizzle out in the flames. "At some point I was drowning. I couldn't breathe or see or even cry for help...It was terrifying."
Charlotte looked terrified when Strelitzia told her of the nightmares that Plagued her sleep. If she had known this would mess her up to this extent she would've just suffered in the end. And now her daughter was having gruesome images that dragged her awake . "I wish I could help ease them. Maybe I can send a letter to the doctor and have him come. They have medication that helps. You know I'd never let anyone take you away from me." She meant it. And she had kept her word which was the reason why Strelitzia was still here underneath her wings.
Not a vicious pirate, queen, or devil would take her.
Charlotte poured the tea in a cup, then some milk and a few cubes of sugar before stirring it. "Here, drink this." She slowly slid her the drink.
"I suppose a doctor might be of some help. I don't want to be a bother waking everyone. I can still feel father's glare." Strelitzia's smile was watery as she took the cup, grateful for something warm to ground her back in reality. She lifted it to take a sip and the smooth sweetness of chamomile greeted her. Similar to a cup she shared with a certain blonde gentleman that she didn't dare mention to her mother. Not all of her dreams had been unpleasant. "Just having you here helps. I know I'm too old for this but would you hold me until I sleep? I feel safer with you with me."
A pink blush colored her pale cheeks as she scooted closer to her mother. "I know you'll protect me."
Charlotte laughed at the comment she made about her father glaring. "Your father is always a grumpy man. I'm married to him and he still glares at me." Lips curled into a smile, she reached her hand across the table, open for her daughter to take. "We've got this. The nightmares will soon pass. I'm sure of it. If it's not, I owe you an extra allowance."
She took her mother's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Right. I'm sure they'll go away. They're nonsense." Strelitzia took another sip of tea. It helped to soothe her although she was still hesitant to go back to bed. "I'm sorry for waking you. You should get some rest, mother. I'll clean up and go back to bed."
"Alright. Go to sleep immediately so you can get some rest, okay?" Charlotte gave her daughter another bright and beaming smile, her hand slipping away from Strelitzia as she sat upright in the chair instead of being slouched forward to reach across. "You know I love you right?" She asked, but before Strelitzia could answer, a loud crack sounded out and Charlotte slunk against the table. Her head hit it hard.
Behind her was a burly man with red hair and thick rippling muscles. In his hand was a later holder. The long, thick wooden ones. It was coated in blood. "Well lass, I'm not particularly one to go about day complaining about smothering love, but I think I will today. I'm sure she's still alive." An Ogosian accent left his mouth. He threw it aside and leaped across the table for her.
Strelitzia jumped from the couch before his meaty hands could grab hold of her, putting the table between them. "Who are you and why are you here?" Her heart thudded in her throat. She was sure that her nightmares had come true. Pirates somehow found their way to Mallowmoor ready to pluck her from everything she'd known to make her beg for lives she couldn't save.
Not if she had anything to say about it.
The teapot still steamed away on the small flame that had warmed mother and daughter in their late night talk. She reached over and grabbed it by the handle, brandishing the still steaming ceramic like a weapon.
The burly man was quick like lightning. Someone would've thought because of how big he was, he'd move extremely slow. But one second he was standing behind her mother from across the table, the next he was running over it, using just the keen of his sword, he hit the hand and swung upwards. The kettle flew out her hand and shattered on the floor, his sword beneath her chin, lifting her head up. "Go wake your father lass, tell him I wish ta speak with em."
With that, he sheathed his weapon and squatted down atop the table like a barbarian, plucking a cooking from a plate her mother left out every night and crunching.
The girl watched the big burly man for a moment who burst into her home, hit her mother, then began eating their food after making demands at sword point. Her fingers clenched and unclenched at her sides. He was much faster than her and after glimpsing down at her mother whose blonde curls were now bloodied, she knew he had no reservations about hurting her. It was safer if she complied.
Though she kept casting wary glances behind her, Strelitzia marched back upstairs to her parent's bedroom. Honestly she was surprised the noise hadn't woken her father but he could have just thought they were being rambunctious in an attempt to make her feel better. She chewed at her bottom lip nervously, pushing the door open once more.
"Father. Father, you must get up at once. There is a strange man who speaks oddly here to see you." She flicked the lights on to rouse him further. "He hurt mother. You have to get up!"
Rogan rolled over and there was a dagger sticking right out of his chest. Eyes glazed over and staring wide at the ceiling—cold to the touch. Something flickered in the darkness of the room and daggers shone in a sliver of lights that seeped through the slightly cracked window. The curtains billowed, signifying someone had come through. The person dressed in all black launched at her. Spinning through the air like an arrow. They missed, stabbing the wall inches above her head and accidentally knocking her over. Clumsy they were, like an assassin freshly released into the playing fields.