I looked about the room as so many people stared down at me. The feeling of sweat trickling down the side of my face and into my eyes caused someone to dab my forehead with a cool towel. My throat felt as though it were on fire. My body hurt. My mind hurt.
"Wh - what happened?" I squeaked.
"You, um, you died," James replied softly.
"Died?" I looked around at the concerned faces. "Then how am I alive?"
"The witch, she gave James a potion."
"She did?"
"Yes." He held up his hand which had a bandage wrapped around it. "Just a small price to pay for you to be alive."
"A small price? That's all she wanted?" Each word spoken felt like a dagger being rammed further into my neck.
He pursed his lips momentarily and closed his eyes. "Let's not worry of such things right now."
"What did she want?" I asked more incessantly.
He smiled down at me and brushed the hair that stuck to my face back. "Don't worry of such things. You're alive."
My eyes grew wide once I caught sight of the small cradles across the room. Their silhouettes danced on the wall as the fire flickered behind them. The small coos and cries that reached my ears created a yearning. A yearning to hold my children. My children. Those words resounded in my head as I stared at the small beds.
"They're fine," Charlene said, wiping at my forehead once again.
"Are they..." my voice drifted off as I tore my eyes away from them.
"They're perfect," mother said, kissing my forehead.
Father smiled down at me. "You did a marvelous job. Our kingdoms now have a beautiful princess and a handsome prince."
"Bring them to me. I need to see them."
The wet nurse, Lady Anne, reached into one of the small beds and produced a tiny, squirming babe. The cradle itself was beautifully adorned with white satin and lace. The tiny bundle let out a high-pitched cry as he was brought over.
"Majesty, your son, Connall."
The dark-haired boy stared up at me with the most amazing green eyes. His creamy complexion was smooth and just perfect. I reached up with trembling hands and grasped his tiny fingers. They were so soft and fragile. His skin so soft and new.
"Hello, my beautiful son."
Lady Anne returned my son to his cradle and brought out my daughter from her place of rest. Her cradle was adorned in pink satin and lace. The little bundle didn't squirm as much as the boy. She cooed and blinked up at me, almost as though she recognized me. She had hair. Shaggy hair that stuck up every which way and it was the most shocking shade of red and such clear blue eyes. She was indeed her father's daughter. As I continued to examine her I noticed a small mark on her shoulder. It was a jagged swirl in such a dark shade of red.
"What is that?" I asked, reaching up to touch it.
The spot was smooth.
"Simply a mark from birth, madam. Nothing to worry about."
"It's in such an odd shape."
"Most children are born with some kind of mark, they are all so very different just like every child."
"Perhaps." I pursed my lips and continued staring at the mark.
Something about it did not seem right though. The shape of it seemed so very familiar. I couldn't quite place my finger on why. I struggled to sit up, the room spinning more and more with each movement. My body felt as though it were on fire. I felt so hot from the top of my head to my toes.
"Evelyn, are you alright?" Charlene asked, reaching out to grab my arm.
The moment her hands touched me, she pulled away. "Oh!"
"What's wrong?" James asked.
"She's hot."
"What?" My mother also reached out, placing her hand on my arm. She pulled back, and the tips of her fingers had turned red.
I looked to where her hand was, my skin was red.
"What's going on?" I asked. "I'm so hot. Why am I so hot!"
"Get water! The sheets and blankets, they're smoking!" James yelled, ripping the blankets from the bed.
Everything around me was smoking and smoldering. I was on fire. The heat built up from the inside. It felt as though I were about to explode into fire. I leaped from the bed just as my body erupted into a ball of flames. They emanated from my arms, legs, my entire body really. I waited for the pain. I waited for the searing heat to reduce me to nothing but ashes. That never happened though. Nothing happened besides the floor beneath me and the ceiling above me scorching black. My heart pounded in my ears as I attempted to calm myself. The flames subsided. My body returned to normal. The nightgown I'd had on was the only thing turned to ash. Everyone in the room stood about staring at me. The wet nurses cowered near the cradles staring at me in horror. Charlene's mouth hung open. Nobody uttered a word. How could they? What was there to say? I was a ball of fire. My body was on fire and I didn't die.
I didn't know what to say.
"Evelyn!" A loud, roaring voice came up to us.
"Draco!" I stumbled to the window and threw open the glass panes. "Where are you?"
The world around me continued to spin and I lost my balance. In a fleeting moment, I reached around to grab onto something, anything, to save me. My eyes grew wide as my feet came off the floor and my body tumbled out of the window. James lunged from his spot, reaching for my hand. He tried to save me. He was too late. I plunged from the window head first. The ground quickly approached.
I never reached it though. A clawed hand reached out and caught me as I neared the hard dirt below.
"I have you." Draco held my weak body in his grasp his claws keeping me safe.
"I don't understand what's going on."
"Changes, Ellie. You're going through a lot of changes."
"Why?"
"You died. For a moment you, and I, died."
"So? Why does that mean I'm going through changes?"
"Once you died, you became a dragon."
"What?" I tried to lift my head to look at him. I couldn't though.
I flopped back in his scaly palms and watched the sky above.
"It's hard to understand and I'm not sure how it will happen since they brought you back."
"How did they bring me back?"
"The potion from the witch. She gave James something stronger than what he thought."
"The witch. This all started with her."
"It was destined to happen," Draco said, swooping down near the ocean as we flew further and further away from the castle.
"Where are we going?"
"To the elders."
I tried to speak again. My body was too weak. I was so tired. My eyes slid close as the wind blew through my hair.