Dreams in Crimson
“I’m the princess. Now let go of her before I rip you limb from limb, enjoying the taste of your blood as I do so.” I smile, but my eyes are as cold as the winter night. I notice him swallow and step away. She sighs, and gratefully (as well as gracefully) curtsies.
“Mistress, I’m sorry if my Italian is rusty. I wasn’t sure if you know English. I know your father doesn’t, and your mother does but chooses Italian, so I was unsure about how I should present myself. I didn’t know you had company,” She risks a glance at Alex but continues on. “My name is Liliana, and I’m glad I have the privilege of serving you.”
“Well, I’m just glad I have such a respectful maid. I apologize for his rude behavior. He doesn’t understand our ways yet.” I chuckle lightly. “But have no fear toward him, or me, for that matter. I swear on my life, no harm will come to you. As for your request, can you bring me a bottle of red wine and a wine goblet? The buttery is on the first floor near the kitchen.” I clarify, just in case she didn’t know. She nods and leaves to retrieve what I have asked for.
Moments later she returns. I thank her and relieve her for the rest of the night. I have a few glasses of wine in peace. Alex is surprisingly quiet for the rest of the evening. He even goes to lay down, but before he does I make him drink enough of my blood so it will stay in his system until tomorrow night. After the few glasses, I pull off my robe and slip into bed.
Just before I fell asleep, I hear a voice speak out from the darkness. “I’m sorry Princess. I didn’t mean to offend anyone.” For the first time, I think I hear a genuinely apologetic voice come from his lips. Something stirs within me. Something warm. It feels refreshing, and I welcome it. “Call me Lilja. It will be a long day tomorrow if you have to keep referring to me as princess.” I could have sworn I could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “Thank you, Lilja,” but I am too sleepy to comprehend it. I drift off to sleep with the warm feeling buried deep in my chest.
* * *
I wake up to the strangest sight. I am in a field, wearing a different nightgown than what I fell asleep in. I have different coloured hair as well. It is a light auburn color, and my skin is a light tan. I am warm. For the first time in ages, I’m not so cold. I look around at my surroundings. It is bright and sunny. It is definitely more of a soft warm glow though, as opposed to the overly bright days. I turn around and come face to face with a woman I’ve never met. She has soft brown eyes and light brown hair that reaches her shoulders. She looks younger than me but somehow older.
I stand there for what feels like hours, watching her. I am just about to walk away when a tiny voice escapes her lips.
“They’re coming.”
“What? Who’s coming,” I ask, suddenly afraid, but unsure why.
“You’ll all die.” Her eyes are wide and full of terror.
“They’re coming.”
She looks over my shoulder, her face contorted with fear. She screams, and I see the blood stain her dress, as a man pulls out a dagger from her chest. He turns to look at me and smiles a wicked grin.
“You’ll all pay for what you did to me.” He lunges at me, I scream and everything fades to darkness.
* * *
I wake up, for real this time, screaming, and drenched in sweat. Alex had moved to sit next to me at some point. That’s when I also notice Lilianna sitting in a chair in the middle of my room. Panic written on her features as she looks at me.
“Lilja! What’s wrong? I heard you whimpering in your sleep. You were screaming. Is everything alright?” Alex looks worried.
Unsure how to feel about the way Alex is looking at me, I look down. Immediately, I notice my clothes are drenched in blood, but there is no wound. If someone had been in my room Alex would have heard them, unless he is the one who did this.
“Are you okay? Lilja, what happened? You’re bleeding, it looks really bad. I’m going to take you to the infirmary, you need to have that checked out.” I turn to meet his worried gaze.
“I’m fine, it was just a bad dream. I’m not injured, I guess I forgot to wash it the last time I had a midnight snack. You have no reason to worry.” I smile.
“I promise you I’m fine, and for the record, what I said last night, should never be repeated. I wasn’t myself, so do not ever call me Lilja again. Understood? Now, Lili, please inform His Majesty that I will be in later to see him.” Lili smiles at the mention of her new nickname and nods. She leaves the room, and I sigh.
“Alex please leave, so I may get dressed for today.” He leaves, his head hung low. I dress in my brown leather tunic and pants, what I normally wear for training. Then leave my room to find Alex leaning against the wall. I begin walking away, but of course, he follows.
We reach the complex a few minutes later, and I already see my trainer. He is fairly tall, has brown cropped hair and blue/green eyes. He knows English, which is good because he’ll be helping me teach Alex. I also see my sparring partner. He is as good looking as Alex, but with sandy brown hair, and hazel eyes. He is snarky though, and that’s how he got his name, Snark. He hates when I call him that, so I continuously do it just to make him mad.
As we get closer I yell out, “Hey Snark.” He snarls in response and I laugh. My trainer looks at me; his name is actually Simon.
“Morning Simon. What are we learning today?” I ask.
“Well,” he replies. “Since you brought a guest, you and Ash will be sparring and I’ll be teaching him what you two already know.” He juts a finger in Alex’s direction.
“Oh yeah, his name is Alex; he’s a foreigner. Father said I had to teach him our ways. I’m pretty much his guard. That’s how he’s able to walk around without being imprisoned.”
Simon nods, and I walk over to Snark.
He smirks, “So is that your boyfriend or whatever?”
“No, it’s not,” I strike out at him and hit him in the chin.
“Pay attention. Keep your guard up.”
He rubs his chin, while I glance over at Alex. He is good, really good actually. I could now beat Simon, Snark still couldn’t, but Alex looks like he is holding his own. Snark moves to hit my left side, but I dodge it easily. He curses under his breath.
Moments later Simon tells us to stop and Snark lashes out once more but I dodge with ease. I quickly leave to take a bath and tell Alex I’ll meet him in my room. I wash quickly and set off toward my room wrapped in a towel. When I arrive at my room, a scent wafts out of my cracked door.
“I thought I closed the door when we left.” Speaking to no one in particular.
I push the door open and step inside. I find Lili standing near my desk with a plate full of warm cookies, and Alex laying on my bed. He immediately stands up when I enter.
“I’m sorry about this morning, and just a few moments ago. I had no right. I found Lilianna here when I came in, and asked her to make your favorite cookies.” He looks down at his clasped hands.
“Well thank you, Alex. I appreciate it.” He looks up at me and the words my mother said early come rushing back, so suddenly it makes me blush. He smiles, but doesn’t say anything and I am grateful.
“Lili, could you help me get dressed. Turn around and face the door Alex. No peeking.” He laughs and faces the door.
Lili helps me pick out a dress that will be best suited for visiting with my father, and helps me put it on. It is low cut front and back, and dark mahogany. It is long sleeved but shows my shoulders off a bit, and is designed with a heart shaped v-neck in the front. As well as a regular v-neck going down the back, with a string of cloth connecting the two sides. The dress hugs my hips, then flows out around my legs.
“Alright you can turn around now, she’s all ready,” Lili calls out smiling. He turns around only to gape at me.
“Close your mouth before you attract flies.” I say, but laugh. He smiles, and shakes his head.
“I’m sorry Princess. It’s just that you look so beautiful.”
I reply with, “Wait until my birthday. I’m forced to dress nicer than this.”
I enter my father’s study, he looks up at me when I do. “Sì Lija? Sono molto occupato , e non ho tempo per le vostre farneticazioni. (Yes Lija? I’m quite busy, and don’t have time for your rantings.)” I curtsy. “Padre, ho fatto un sogno. Uno di quei sogni sì. Nel sogno mi sembrava la versione più giovane di madre. Ho visto questa ragazza , lei ha detto “Loro” stavano arrivando. Dopo un uomo la accoltellato, e ha detto che abbiamo pagato per quello che abbiamo fatto, poi si lanciò verso di me. Mi sono svegliato coperto di sangue, ma nessun danno.(Father, I had a dream. One of those dreams yes. In the dream I looked like the younger version of mother. I saw this girl, she said “They” were coming. After a man stabbed her, and said that we would pay for what we did, then lunged at me. I woke up covered in blood but no injury.” He looks at me worried for a brief moment, then quickly waves me off.
That night Alex and I once again snuck out of the castle and went into town. Though we figure it would be to see the shoppe closed and no one inside, to our surprise that is not the case. We stand in an alley across the street from the supply shoppe and stare at the couple of women who stand near the front desk inside. One of the girls, a blonde who looks to be in her late teens early twenties was crying on the shoulder of what I assume is her mother. I tune my ears to listen in on their conversation.
“Katherine, honey, I’m sorry about your father. With your mother gone and your father, now recently deceased, I’m sure this is a hard time for you. I know what it was like when you lost your mother, she was my sister after all.” The older woman says, her voice laced in sadness. Her aunt then, that is interesting.
“You really don’t understand anything do you Jacqueline? You only have to deal with the loss of mother, not of father. You hated my father with every ounce of your soul. Just leave. I suppose I’ll have to take over the shoppe, since no one else seems fit to do the job.” Katherine steps away from her aunt and stands behind the desk. Her aunt scowls, but leaves the shoppe.
“Well look, you killed that poor girl’s father.” I say turning towards Alex.
He looks up, a mournful expression plastered on his face. I could see it was genuine. I walk over towards him and wrap my arms around his waist laying my head on his chest. He buries his head in my shoulder and wraps his arms tightly around me.
“I’m sorry princess. I’m so sorry.” He says, his voice sounding as though it had cracked.
I sigh and only say, “I know.” We stand there for a moment and then I finally step back.
“Come on, let’s go back, we have an early day tomorrow.” I grab his sleeve and tug him back towards the castle. Wishing I could get how good it felt to be in his arms out of my head.
The next day we spar, he fights Simon and I fight Snark. Not really much different from yesterday. Actually days passed like this, Alex would spar with Simon, I would spar with Snark. Afterwards we’d go to the library. Alex ended up staying in my room. Why? I don’t know, but after a month I was getting tired of telling him to get out and go to his own room.
We had become great friends, though he still called me princess, but even Lili and I were on great terms. I talked to her about everything, which made her happy. Though every time I saw Alex reading or sparring it made my heart beat faster, and my cheeks turn red. Why this is, I don’t know, but I hope to find out soon. He still had yet to meet my parents, which I guess was a good thing.