Mad Dog

Chapter 8 - Let's Move

There's nothing like the silence of a dream. The endless echo of nothingness calling you into its slumber. As you fall it strips you of yourself laying you bare before all. As I drift down into that endless abyss I see things someone should never see. It claws at me tears at my skin telling me to let it in. To remember. The pixelated fragments of another life. I desperately run from. To dream is a wonder. And a nightmare. I wake a piercing thrum knocking in my head as a reminder of all I experienced yesterday. My hands twitch as I try to get my bearings and realize I'd somehow made it into a bed. Gingerly I rise looking around blearily for his parasitic presence but find he's no where to be found. Disappeared in my madness. Glancing down I realize my clothes had changed. Whoever had put me to bed had made sure I was clean.

I lay back on the pillows and wonder if I should just leave this place. Climb out the window into the woods where I'd never be seen again. But I knew that'd never satisfy me. I could never let this man live in peace. His life was mine. To do with as I pleased. He'd regret the day he gave it to me. I roll over and realise by the way the light gleamed along the floor that it must be midday. How strange I hadn't been called yet. To be riding this late is torture for a knight. Sitting up again, I debate about getting dressed. To be so close to him was vile but to stay in this room another minute seemed worse.

I swing my legs over the side, willing myself to get up and call for an attendant when I hear the rattle of the door. I tense, wondering if it was him. Coming to drag me back into that prison. But instead a small thin girl came in. She startled, as if surprised to see me there, then gathered her composure and dropped into a hasty curtsy.

"Pardon me m'lady, I was told you were still sleepin'." She said nervously. When I didn't answer, she carried on her anxiety, showing as she pulled at her dress. "I've been told you need to be ready to ride out." I just stared at her. She waited a minute then, taking that as her cue, she began bustling about the room, clearing the mess I'd made, packing my things neatly while sat there and watched. Finally, with the room in order, she turns back to me. "Is there a particular one you'd like?" She asked, gesturing to the dresses that had previously been spilled onto the floor. Her question gave me pause. Dresses were like armour. A way to get one's mind across in the most simple and fastest way. As I gazed at the dresses laid at my feet, I knew which I'd don today. I point "That one."

"Are you sure, miss?" She had a right to question it. With its deep purples and dark blacks, it was more for a funeral. As I stared at the lace and taffeta, I almost laughed. What a perfect statement. The girl didn't know it, but she was dressing me for a funeral. Strapping me in, I stare as I slowly transform from a creature of madness to one haunted. I touch the cold glass and wonder what I'd looked like before. Finally, I was ready. I pull the veil down, needing some kind of barrier for what was yet to come. However, as I ascend the stairs to the carriage that had previously held us, no hand came to hold mine steady. I sit and feel myself relax even though I know I'd only have a moment before that mad broke what little peace I had. I wanted to close my eyes and drink in the emptiness, but the thought of what lay in the dark kept them wide open. Suddenly, I feel a lurch that signalled we were moving. Confused, I pull the window down. "You." I bark at the nearest knight. He turned as I demanded, "where are we going?" He kept a wide berth as he answered "to the castle. For the hunt." "And what of my husband? Has he decided to abandon his wife now that he's realised how inconvenient I am for travel?" I said angrily. I didn't understand why I asked. Or why I was angry at the thought of it. I didn't want him with me, but to think he'd leave me when he insisted I come along left a sour taste in my mouth. "No. Of course not malady. The duke wanted to rise with men this morning. He said sitting left him restless." I push the window closed again. He hadn't abandoned me. Everything could still come to pass. I close my eyes. Drifting in and out before slipping soundly into unconsciousness.