CHAPTER NINETEEN
1243 Words
JELENA
“My lady, my lady, please wake up!”
The voice reaches me through a thick haze, distant and muffled, as though I am submerged beneath deep water like something shaking my shoulder insistently, dragging me toward consciousness.
“My lady!”
I jolt awake with a gasp and the first thing that assaults me is sunlight.
A brilliant golden beam streams through enormous windows, striking directly across my face, I squint immediately, raising a hand to shield my eyes, my head pounds faintly, and for a moment everything feels wrong.
The bed beneath me is far too soft, the room is far too warm and the scent in the air is definitely not mine.
“What's going on?” I croak, my voice rough and barely audible.
“My lady, we need to get you ready. It is almost time for the wedding.”
Wedding?
The unfamiliar woman standing beside the bed looks close to tears, her hands are clasped nervously in front of her apron as she stares at me with obvious panic, I blink repeatedly, trying to gather my thoughts.
The last thing I remember is—
Mom.
My heart immediately skips a beat,
Where is she?
The memory rushes back all at once, the strange big hallroom, the judges, the fall and pain from the impact, then mom's voice, she said she would be with me.
Didn't she?
I sit up abruptly, ignoring the dizziness that follows, myeyes sweep across the room, it is definitely not my bedroom, not even remotely close.
The room is enormous, larger than my entire apartment back home. Pale pink curtains cascade from a ceiling so high I can barely make it out, gold decorations cover nearly every surface and crystal chandeliers hang overhead, catching the sunlight and scattering tiny rainbows across the walls.
The furniture looks expensive enough to feed an entire village, a large vanity sits against one wall, surrounded by bottles of perfume and cosmetics.
Fresh flowers fill crystal vases positioned around the room and everything is beautiful, strange but feels wrong or maybe I was rescued somehow.
Maybe I survived the fall, maybe this is a hospital.
No.
Hospitals don't look like this, my gaze drifts to the walls again.
Who would paint an entire room pink?
I certainly wouldn't, maybe this is all a dream, the judges had spoken about a second chance, maybe none of that was realand I'm still unconscious.
“My lady, the fitting will begin in a minute and my lord ordered us to bring you downstairs immediately.”
The woman sounds even more frantic now, I stare at her, she looks real enough and my thoughts continue racing, but another problem quickly demands my attention.
My bladder.
At the moment, it seems far more urgent than solving the mystery of my existence, I swing my legs over the side of the bed.
The moment my feet touch the floor, I freeze, no pain or weakness.
Nothing.
My legs support my weight perfectly, lowly, I stand and still nothing, I glance down at myself in confusion, I should be injured cause I fell from a place so high, I remember falling and even if I somehow survived, there should be broken bones, bruises or something.
My wolf has never been strong enough to heal normal injuries this quickly.
Yet here I am standing perfectly fine.
“I'm sorry,” I say carefully. “What's today's date?”
The woman stares, her eyes widen slightly, the panic on her face is briefly replaced by confusion.
“It is the sixth month of the year, my lady.”
I blink.
“The sixth month?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“The sixth month?” I repeat.
She nods cautiously, .y mouth falls open.
Two months?
I have been unconscious for two entire months?
That can't be right, surely not, the room with the judges had felt real and the conversation with Mom had felt real, everything about it felt real ans yet two months would explain why my body seems healed.
Though it still feels impossible, I rub my temples nothing about this situation makes sense.
“Please,” I say, softening my tone. “What's your name?”
The reaction is immediate, the woman's entire expression changes.
Pure shock.
She looks as though I have just announced that the sky is green and for several seconds she simply stares at me, I stare right back, the silence becomes uncomfortable.
Apparently I have said something very wrong and the look on her face suggests I should already know who she is, maybe I hit my head harder than I thought and my memory is damaged.
That would explain some things though not enough things, far from enough.
Deciding I need a moment away from her increasingly bewildered stare, I turn and search for the bathroom and it takes only a few seconds to find it, the door alone is larger than my apartment's front entrance, I push it open and stop.
The bathroom is absurd.
White marble stretches across the floor and walls, gold fixtures gleam beneath the sunlight pouring through another massive window.
The bathtub could easily fit six people, there is a chandelier in the bathroom.
Who needs a chandelier in a bathroom?
I step inside slowly and the more I see, the stranger everything becomes, this place feels like something out of a royal fantasy.
Nothing resembles the life I remember or feels familiar and the unsettling sensation in my chest grows stronger.
As though every instinct is screaming that I do not belong here, I quickly relieve myself before moving toward the sink and the habits of a lifetime take over.
I reach for a toothbrush and to my surprise, there are several arranged neatly beside the basin.
One of them appears untouched and without thinking too much about it, I pick it up and begin brushing my teeth.
The familiar routine calms me slightly, the repetitive motion helps steady my racing thoughts, everything feels normal until i then I lift my head and look directly into the mirror.
The toothbrush slips from my fingers, my breath catches, the woman staring back at me is a stranger.
I completely freeze
The face in the mirror is not mine, the eyes are different, the nose is different and even the shape of the jaw is wrong.
Long hair cascades down her shoulders in soft waves, her skin is flawless, her features are delicate and elegant in a way mine never were.
Terrifyingly unfamiliar but beautiful, I take a step back and the reflection does the same.
"No."
The word escapes as a whisper, my heart begins pounding violently, I move closer ans the stranger moves closer, I raise a trembling hand toward my face and the woman in the mirror does the same.
Cold dread spreads through my entire body, this isn't a dream that woman is me or at least she is supposed to be but she isn't.
She can't be because I have never seen her before in my life and the room begins spinning, the walls seem to close in around me.
My pulse roars in my ears, I blink rapidly, hoping the reflection will change.
Hoping my face will return, this nightmare will end but it doesn't.
The stranger continues staring back at me and I think I'm beginning to see things.
So I scream loudly in shock.
- Writer
