Author's Note: Now, back to Alexa.
Welcome to My Side of the River
Sonya
Alexa's POV
I woke up, gasping for breath. I had just had a horrible nightmare…
But one look at Iggy's face told me that this was no nightmare. It had been reality.
"Alexa." He whispered. "You're safe now. We fixed your wings when you were asleep. I had to ask Fang to re-break your wings, because I couldn't do it. They should be fine now."
I flexed my wings involuntarily. They were fine, as Iggy had promised. A little sore, but otherwise fine.
Then I remembered what had been done to me by the hands of the whiterobe. I bolted out of bed, barely making it to the toilet before throwing up.
Iggy held my long hair back from my face. When I had finished, I slumped against the wall, exhausted.
"Come on." He said, picking me up easily, as though I was an infant. "Let's get some food into you."
I had not been properly fed for the last week. The whiterobe had wanted me to break down, to give in. Never. I would never give in.
I pretty much stuffed myself after that. Let me just give you one piece of advice: Never, EVER, under any circumstances, get in between a starving bird-kid and her food.
Later, after all of the palace staff and residents had visited me, to ensure my well being, I was left alone with Iggy.
"Iggy." I whispered. "I'm so sorry. I should have been able to stop him." Now, Iggy wouldn't be the first to touch me that way, as I had intended. The whiterobe had been.
He reached over, and cupped my face between his hands. "What could you have done? You were chained, exhausted, starving…. How could you have stopped him?"
He made sense, but I didn't want to believe him. It was my fault… it was all my fault. "I… I wanted you to be the first to touch me that way." I kept my head bowed as I admitted this.
"Then I will be the first where you are touched voluntarily. But not now. I won't… not so soon after what happened."
His words cheered me up immensely. "Thank you. Thank you for rescuing me from being used as a toy. Thank you for standing by my side." He put his arms around me, and I snuggled into his chest. "Thank you for loving me."
I fell asleep like that, in his arms once more.