Pained

⤜Chapter-8⤛

"No, Cassia. You have to feel it. You have to look inside my soul."

I try harder than ever, but I feel nothing, absolutely nothing.

I grunt and fall on the ground. This was the sixth time I had tried to feel Merida's aura, but in vain. I had already learnt how to teleport within a 25-meter range. I had also mastered performing spells with my hand in the last two days.

But this aura-feeling was really testing me. I punch the ground in frustration. We were in the forest right now and all I could hear was the cawing of crows every now and then, along with my disappointed sighs.

"Now now! We have many things to do. Stand up.", she commands.

I do as she says.

"Let's take a break from this. We will now learn telekinesis."

She points to a small rock on the ground. "You see that rock over there?" I nod.

"You have to seek it. Extend your hand towards it. Now visualise yourself holding the rock. Then, imagine pulling it."

I point my hand towards the rock and imagine my hand elongate. A translucent hand picks the rock. The rock seems way heavier than it looked. I pull it towards myself and place it on another hand.

"Very good, Cassia! You mastered the spell on the first try!"

After that, we practice with bigger rocks, get water from the nearby stream and lastly, I learn to make Merida move with my powers.

In the late evening when we are finally done, Merida lets me off.

"Tomorrow is a big day. Go and rest. I'll tell the servants to bring you dinner in your bed."

I was really tired, but I decided to go to Bette's room. I had hardly talked to her in the past few days. Her room was not very far from mine, but nonetheless, it took me ten minutes to reach there. I was greeted by a silk cloth hanging on her door with her name engraved on it.

I knock the door three times in a rhythm. She opens the door in a minute.

"Hi!", she smiles.

"Hey! Can I come in?"

She gestures to me to enter her room. Bette was a fan of mystery novels unlike my obsession with historical fictions. A book was sitting on her sofa, so I assumed that she was reading a book before my arrival.

She leads me to her bedroom and we sit on the bed.

"How did your practice go today?", she inquires.

"It went well. I think I'm ready for tomorrow. I just...um...how do I say it-"

"You're nervous?"

"Yes, exactly. I'm meeting Charlie after two years. What if he hands me over to the guards? I wasn't able to say goodbye to him before I left."

She nods her head, considering. "Why did you run away?", she asks suddenly.

I give her a double-take. I wasn't sure if I could tell her. I trusted her, definitely. And she was perhaps my closest friend. But I wasn't keen on going back to the past.

"My mother...she wasn't the kindest woman. She was always set on making me a better princess, that she never saw how... suffocating the castle had become for me. And suddenly, something happened that made me hopeful. So, as soon as I got the opportunity, I ran away."

"What was it?"

"Bette", I sign. "I don't want to talk about it. It's painful to think about the past."

Bette takes my hand. "It's alright, Cassia. I just want to be there for you. I see how you're hurting and I don't like it. I know that I've just come to know you, but it feels like we've been friends for eternity."

I smile at her and squeeze her hand. "I will tell you when I'm ready, I promise."

We talk for a while and catch up on all that we had missed talking about. I even show her a few magic tricks. In between our jokes, I realise that I had probably never felt this free before.

Had I really forgotten how to live like a teenager? Well, I had to make use of all the time I had now.

***

I come out of the shower in a bathing robe and change into my night suit. I then go to the dressing and take off Merida's invisibility ribbons from my antlers. I had started putting the ribbons frequently and I was finally feeling as if I had left my past behind. I really hated my antlers.

I grab a hold of one of my favourite books Tiddy on the full croon from the bookshelf and sit on the bed.

The story was about a little witch who had always dreamed of going to the Jaresee Forest and eating the forbidden fruit which was known to give magical powers. However, as soon as he convinced his parents to leave his home, he was kidnapped by an old blacksmith, who was keen on making the young witch his acquaintance. The blacksmith tells Tiddy awful lies about him in order to bring his morale down. However, in the end, Tiddy finally escapes the blacksmith by listening to the song of his heart, instead of pushing it deep within. Tiddy ventures to the forest, builds a hut in the Jaresee Forest and grows the forbidden fruit in his garden. And there was his happy ending.

The story was all about Tiddy embracing who he was and listening to the song of his heart.

Whenever I was tired or sad, I would always read the book and cheer up. It seemed strange. The fact that reading the story created a faint golden glow in my heart and filled me with warmth.

I keep the book on my bedside table and lie down. Everything is going to be fine tomorrow. Because I am like Tiddy. I'm following the song of my heart, and nothing can go wrong there.

★彡★彡★彡

Author's Note

Hi everyone!

I hope you all are happy and healthy✨

Have a wonderful day ahead💫