The Shadows

04 | The Unknown

"Prince, huh?" Deep in thought.

He laughs. Noticing my distraction. "I-I meant to say that in my head..." My eyes widen and my cheeks flush. He laughs again. Nodding at me. "Yes. Does this surprise you?" "N-no Damien said I would be meeting the prince." I bow my head to him. "It's lovely to meet you, your grace." He smirks. "You as well Aryah, my name is Cain." I think. "Your name, it sounds familiar."

...

"Really?Do you know of the battle?" His crosses his arms. Placing one hand underneath his chin. A flash of knowledge comes to the front of my mind. "The rebels... are fighting the supremicists?One for power, the other for freedom." My head pains. My hand automatically slaps my forehead as a reaction to the sharp stab. "You are educated. Yes. What else do you remember?"

"T-that's it..." I look down at the floor in defeat. Cain ponders for a moment. "I can't let you go aimlessly into the wilderness looking for a home you don't know the location of." My eyes meet his. "You will stay with us until your memories return."

"Oh! no... I-I can't inconvenience you-" He places his hands on his hips and shines his bright smile. "I insist. I will instruct Damien to lookout for you. For safety purposes." No. No. No. "Damien!?" No. No. "He already hates me. I think I annoy him." He chuckles "Well now he will be annoyed with me. He does not have a choice in this matter."

"I'm sorry Prince Cain but I just can't." He crosses his arms. "I'm sorry Aryah. But I'm afraid you don't have a choice in this either. I can't have you alone in such a place. We are a target in the war. He shrugs. "I guess..."

"You guess, but I know." He raises an eyebrow at me. I bow to him again, nodding. "Please Aryah, no need for formalities. You are my guest now." He takes a few steps towards me reaching out, caressing my cheek. "I will send in the doctor. Please rest and feel better soon. Illness does not suit such a beautiful face." I blush instantly. He smiles, removing his hand from my face. The feeling of his hand on my face lingers. Tingling my cheek. He walks casually out of the room. I take a moment to take in what just happened. I look down and realize I am no longer wearing my normal clothing. Who's clothes are these?They were oversized, comfy and smelled amazing. Black baggy long sleeve with black knee length shorts. I skim the room for answers. Nothing. I let it go for the time being.

Knock, knock, knock

I shift towards the door. "Uh...Come in?" The door creeks open. A middle aged man in scrubs enters the room. "Good to see you are awake Aryah!" An awkward smile forms on my face. "You must be the one who gave me all of these bandages."

"That is correct! I'm Doctor Chase. Why are you up and about?"

"Uhm...I-uh"

"No worries. I understand. I have brought some medication that will help your ankle significantly. You should be able to walk in no time." I throw my legs up onto the bed as he begins to examine my ankle. He slowly unravels the bandage and takes out an almond coloured cream. He takes a scoop out and begins massaging it into my ankle. "That honestly feels amazing. Thank you!" It was the best feeling. The cream left a cool residual feeling. "It's what I do!" He smiled at me. He continues applying it to all of my wounds. I didn't realize how injured I was until he took off all of the bandages. "I'm not sure what happened to you but you're seriously one lucky lady." The medication works quickly. You could almost physically see the swelling in my ankle go down throughout time.

----------------------------------------------———

Damien walks into a dimmed study. The walls covered in books, surrounding a mahogony wood fireplace. Cain stands in front of the fire. Glancing over his shoulder as Damien enters. He turns to face him as Damien stops beside him. "So tell me..." Cain crosses his arms, smirking at Damien. He tells Cain the entire story. "She's sketched out by this whole situation" Damien shrugs. "I don't blame her." Cain says plainly. "I dunno. I don't trust she'll want to stay willingly." Damien looks into the fire, almost concerned. "That's where you come in." Cain smirks. Damien's face twists. "I'm sorry, what?"