Ashen Rise

X X X I

ANDORRA WOKE to a rather nasty headache. She rubbed it, winced, then looked around the room. She was shocked to find herself in her own bedroom, sprawled out and tangled in her own sheets. Not in the dungeon, where she was a little bit afraid she was going to end up.

When she sat up, her eyes landed on the boy by the window. "Anders!" She said with a panicked rush. Her brain tried to piece together just what had actually happened. Drugged. He drugged me. She gripped the blankets and pulled them closer to her chest. "What are you doing here?"

He gave her a steady smile. "You took a spill in the dining room last night. I was just checking to make sure you were feeling alright."

She hadn't expected him to tell the truth, but the lie did sting. Was he testing her? Trying to coax out her anger? Andorra tightened her grip on the blanket. "I'm not decent. Can we continue this conversation once I've gotten dressed?"

"I was just very worried is all."

Then, with a sudden rush, Andorra realized she had him where she wanted him: in the bedroom. No one would know. No one would be able to watch it happen, or suspect it. Not with him there, in her confined space.

"As would I, if this happened to you." Before she could get anything else out of her mouth, there was a knock on the door, and it swung open without an invitation to enter. There, on the doorstep, was a member of the Royal Guard. Not someone Andorra knew, but the crest on his uniform told her enough.

"Prince and Princess." He bowed low at the waist. "I am here to fetch you both for breakfast."

Andorra opened her mouth to decline, but Anders answered first. "Wonderful. We'll both be there, as soon as the Princess changes from her sleeping gown."

The Royal Guard nodded and stepped away from the door, closing it. Andorra's heart thumped painfully in her chest as she knew what she had to do. She looked Anders in the eyes and pulled forth power that rested in her gut. She let it gather for a moment, just looking at her enemy.

Now. Do it now. She tried to pull more power, feeling it burn, trying to remember how much she had needed to control Callum. It had been a lot, not a little bit of power used on a hunch. And the moment she tried to control him, he would know. And he would immediately fight back.

It had to work the first time. Not the third, or the fourth. The first.

She felt the tips of her fingers tingle with power. "Anders-"

"I'll be waiting outside of the door," He said, interrupting her, and then he swept from the room in one fluid movement. It was so sudden, Andorra felt her mouth drop in shock and surprise. Had he felt her? Had he known what she was about to do?

The power in her fingertips died down as she sat there, still stunned.

Feeling anxious over the fact that perhaps he had known, Andorra pulled off her sleeping gown and tried to find something to wear. She didn't have anything to borrow, and the dress she wore before being drugged was mysteriously missing.

She had two choices: her school uniform, or the sleeping gown.

She pulled back on the sleeping gown, grumbling to herself about finding a new wardrobe, and then she pulled open the door with more force than necessary.

"I thought you were changing?" Anders said, leaning against the wall. The Royal Guard member stood a step or two below him, also waiting. His eyes were lowered to the ground, refusing to make eye contact.

"I forgot. I have no clothes. I'll need a seamstress, I think." She tried to sound light and airy, hoping and praying that Anders had no clue what she had been about to do. "Is there one here in the castle? Or maybe in town?"