Desperate to stop the events of a recurring nightmare, Leora is forced into a world that wants nothing more than to see her dead.
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After being plagued with nightmares of the murders taking place in t...
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AETOS MANOR
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WE STOOD AT THE ENTRANCE to my mother's office. Althea didn't speak one word to me as we walked, not even when she stopped in front of the door, I stared at the silver nameplate on the door written 'Queen Rosalia Aetos'.
The word 'Queen' echoed in my head.
Suddenly the robe felt heavy, why am I wearing so many layers? The stamp on the back of my neck tickled it, making it hard to ignore. I could feel the fabric of the robe against my skin, touching it. My throat felt dry, it felt like it was caving in on itself, I couldn't swallow my spit, it was choking me and the air around was thick, too thick to breathe.
My tongue was in the wrong place, has it always touched the roof of my mouth? Now I didn't know where to put it. I was blinking, how many times have I blinked? Do I need to blink now? Now I couldn't stop blinking.
I could feel sweat pooling up under my armpits. Do I smell? I discreetly sniffed my armpit before tapping Althea on the shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"I asked her, to distract myself.
Her mind was elsewhere, wherever Maeve was, she jumped when she heard my voice. "Y-Yes, I'm sorry, Saints, I just spaced out. Are you okay? I can feel your unease. Would you like to me to give you something to calm you down?"She reached into her pocket and pulled out dried herbs. "Here. "
I arched an eyebrow. "I didn't make you out to be a dealer. "I commented, inspecting the bag
Her face turned pink. "N-No! It is not drugs! It's herbs with relaxing properties, I promise. "She opened the ziplock bag and threw some into her mouth. "See!"
I chuckled. Watching her fall over her words was enough to calm my nerves. "Okay so drugs then. Thank you Thea but you look like you need them more than I do right now. "I turned to the door. "So what do I do?"
"You recite a Latin poem and promise your first born child to a short man in exchange for entering the door, "A voice replied, I didn't need to turn around to know it was Maeve. "Or I don't know, knock?"
She was dressed in a baggy black t-shirt and baggy black pants, her hair was tied back into a bun, her smile did nothing to hide her sunken in eyes. Why does she look so tired when it's been less than a few hourssince I saw her?
"Maeve! Are you okay?"Althea ran to her, arms open.
Maeve avoided her hands. "Aw, look how attached you are Sprout. Take a little bit more of your herbs and relax, I'm fine. "
She walked past Althea to me. She grabbed one side of my robe and pinned something to it, I looked like to find a silver pin of an animal that was half horse with the lower body of a fish – it reminded me of the stories Aunt Edna read to me, the animal looked like a hippocampus in Greek mythology. "This should protect your ass while the Elders plan your proper introduction to our people. "
