Hall of Games [ REWRITE ] | The Varya Chronicles #1

Chapter Twenty

Media: Eli's character banner

Music: Always with Honor, Earthrise

"Cady, Cady, wake up!"

Someone was shaking her. She groaned, cracking open a bleary eye.

"Oh, thank the Orishas." Her brother let out a sigh of staggering relief. "I heard the others say you came in the common room and went straight to the bedroom.

"You shouldn't be here." Cadence sat up a bit too fast, causing a wave of dizziness to crash over her. The headache was still there, but it had receded into a dull throb. "It's the girls' dormitory."

"You look very pale." Her brother touched her forehead with the back of his hand. "And you're very cold. We should go to the infirmary."

"I just got out," Cadence said. "G-Give me a few minutes, I'll be fine."

Her brother gripped her wrist, stopping her from sliding off the bed.

"Tell me what's wrong. I want to the infirmary earlier to find you, but Kashimi told me you were discharged and you would be either at Ales' or the Varya quarters. He also said you hadn't been eating or sleeping well. You took drugs to help you sleep. Something is going on, I can feel it, just let me help you."

To tell you that I'm seeing the very creature that killed our father and destroyed the Orisha mansion because I was selfish for an instant? No. You'll hate me, and I can't afford that. I'm not accepted anywhere, not here, not outside. Losing you will break me. Cadence pressed circles around her eyes, massaging out the tension. "Nightmares," she said. "It must have something to do with the Energy fluctuation. I asked for something that would give me dreamless sleep."

Her brother sighed. "I'm very worried about you, shezinka."

"I'm sorry," Cadence said. "I didn't mean for all this to happen."

"No one can blame you for discovering your Affinity so late."

Cadence shook her head. This was not what she meant. It all started with her freeing the Polong, setting off a chain reaction of events that eventually landed her here in the Hall of Games, sitting on a bed feeling nauseous with her brother worrying his heart out in front of her eyes. Truly, if she had just blocked out the Polong's words, grabbed the required books off the shelves, she would still be a simple handmaiden. She would be abused, yes, but it was a stable and safe life where she would eventually save enough to pay for a Healer to save her father. If only she had held on a little longer instead of searching for an easy way out.

"Do you know what day today is?" Her brother asked.

"Er." Cadence had lost count of the days, being confined in the infirmary. "Khamis, I guess?"