Cursed is the Crown

Help Me

{Melanie’s POV}

My legs ached as I ran, my chest heaving, my lungs burning in the crisp, cold, night air. The hood of my mother’s cloak was pulled up over my head, as I continued to race through the shadow filled forest. I had been rushing for an hour or more before I finally stopped, taking a moment to catch my breath, that seemed to be filtering out of my lungs at an alarming rate. I leaned against a tree, gasping for air, when I heard a twig snap somewhere in the distance. My body went rigid, as fear gripped me, I didn’t even bother to turn around, instead, I continued my sprint, delving further into the woods.

My mind was racing, even faster than my legs were, who or what was behind me, I couldn’t help but wonder. Then I heard him, his deep voice booming through the trees. “Stop running Melanie! You’re only making things worse for yourself!” Rowan, he’d followed me.

I shook my head, sprinting even faster, I wouldn’t give up, I wouldn’t let him win! I’d never run so fast in my entire life. I turned back, seeing his figure gaining on me in the distance. Suddenly, I lost my footing, falling towards the ground, I closed my eyes, bracing for impact, but instead of slamming against the dirt, I found myself floating, my body nearly weightless. As my eyes opened, I could see I was somehow levitating above a circle of mushrooms in the dirt below me. As if in a children’s cartoon, as soon as I noticed my hovering state, I fell onto the ground, slamming hard against it. My body felt like it weighed ten times its usual amount as I laid unmoving.

My head throbbed as it bounced off the ground. I groaned, trying to look around, but I was so dizzy that I couldn’t stand. A twig snapping caught my attention, and as I looked towards the sound, I froze, seeing a massive black wolf, with honey colored eyes glaring at me. It stalked closer, and closer, but no matter how afraid I was, I couldn’t keep my eyes open, or my head raised from the ground. My body slumped against the grass, as its massive paws stomped onto the grass right beside me. “Please..” was all I could manage. “Please.. help me..” the world around me went dark, as I lost consciousness, lying within the mushroom circle on the forest floor.

When I woke up, I found myself tucked up in a bed, I sat up quickly, my head throbbing as I did. I gripped it, trying to steady the pounding in my head before finally looking around, and taking in my surroundings. The room was something ripped right out of time itself, and placed in the present. Massive pillars of stone and gold stood from floor to ceiling around the room. A large fireplace, with a carving of crossed swords and a shield on the top of it, with two chairs of red velvet, and gold sat in front of it. The bed was four posters, with tulle fabric hanging from the top as a curtain. I slid carefully out of the bed, finding my feet on ice cold stone. My cloak still buttoned around me, my hair was in messy curls. I tiptoed carefully towards the massive wooden door, listening through it, I could hear two hushed voices in the hallway. Two men, whisper shouting in the hallway, the voices completely unfamiliar to me.

“Why would you bring her here?” One asked.

“I couldn’t just leave her out there!” The other voice scoffed. “She’d be killed by my brother and his army! You know it just as well as I do!”

“She could be working for your brother! Did you even think of that?” The other voice shot back.

I heard footsteps getting closer to my room and rushed back, finding a set of doors near the fireplace. I ran to them, carefully opening them and stepping inside, finding a bathroom. I leaned against the wall, and panted heavily, my head spinning.

“Coriealis, my love, you might as well get over it! He brought her here, now she’s here! Instead of getting all torn up over it, why don’t you try to at least look at the poor girl. She was completely disheveled when she came in, and in fits of hysterics! If she did come from Aldric’s corner of the world, she wasn’t a welcomed guest!” A female voice cut through the arguing. “Now drop it, what she needs is some help, and that’s what I’m going to do!”

“Lynovia.. you’re seven months pregnant.. you shouldn’t be running about!” The other voice cut back in.

“Stop coddling me! I’ve been a maid in this castle for over 100 years, I’m not going to stop now!” She sighed.

“A hundred years.. castle?” I whispered, shaking the thought from my head. I must’ve hit my head harder than I thought, either that.. or she’s exaggerating.

I heard the door begin to open, and quietly closed the bathroom door. “Well, where is she?” The first male voice asked.

I could hear footsteps getting closer to the bathroom door and began to panic. My heart nearly leaping from my chest. I looked around finding a window on the wall beside the bathtub. I quickly flung it open and looked outside, seeing a garden below, I was up at least one story maybe two, I knew I could make it.. but I might injure myself on the way down. As the footsteps grew closer, I looked between the ground and the door. It was my only option.. I had to jump.. I had to get away from here. I climbed into the windowsill, my body trembling. The door began to creek open behind me, and I knew that whether I was ready or not, I had to jump. Without even turning back to look, I dove from the window, falling to the ground with a thud. My ankle curling over as I hit the ground, and rolled.

“She’s jumped from the window, someone go help her!” The female voice shouted from upstairs. I stood up carefully, an aching flaring up in my ankle as I began to limp across the courtyard.

I heard footsteps approaching behind me and tried to keep my pace, finding a gate against a back wall. As I reached to open it I felt hands grab around my waist, lifting me up, tossing me into the air and catching me bridal style. My arms instinctively wrapped around the neck of this person, as I closed my eyes tightly. “P-Please.. don’t hurt me! I’m sorry.. I’m sorry I ran away!” I whimpered, my eyes clenched shut.

“You’ve hurt yourself..” a deep voice said, it was soft, but gravely in a way that soothed me.