Hemophobia- the fear of blood
Clarion stood staring at her red stained hands, she started crying as she began slowly taking steps back towards the wall. A sparrowman lied there on the floor of her study, covered in blood. She couldn't stand to see it and she wanted to scream, throw up, and cry all at once. Clarion just wanted it off her hands and out of sight. She kept trying to wipe it, but it only seemed to get worse.
There was a sudden knock at the door, "Queen Clarion, is everything all right?" There were guards at her door, they must have heard her crying, but she couldn't let them in and have them see a dead sparrowman at her feet! Plus, the blood on her hands would probably make them believe that she had killed him.
It was all a blur and she didn't really remember what had happened, it was all so quick. All Clarion knew was that there was crimson blood belonging to him on her hands. Had she actually been the one that killed him? She didn't even recognize him! Either it was because of it, or she just didn't know him. Which would have been odd considering she knows every fairy in Pixie Hollow. She tried to jerk back the tears when she spoke to them, "It's all right, I'm… fine." Clarion started choking on her words.
"Would you like us to request to Lord of Winter for you?" they could obviously tell that there was indeed something wrong.
"N-no!" her stutter finally gave it away. The guards burst inside to see Clarion shaking and staring at her hands. Her hands slowly pointed over to the sparrowman. Her face was pale and her eyes could only remain on the blood.
One of the guards went and examined him. He let out a gasp, "Captain, he's dead."
"Queen Clarion, what happened here?" When he turned around she was gone. "Queen Clarion?"
She was now running through the tree, crying. The fairies who passed by, watched in amazement. They could see the crimson liquid on her hands as she zipped by. Clarion was then running out of the tree and past Milori who suddenly caught her hand.
"Clarion? What's going on? Are you all right?" She was crying and trying to pull herself free from him.
"Queen Clarion!" Milori looked over to see a troop of guards flying towards them, "Guards find her!" In that moment she slip free and was running again. Guards rushed past him and after her once more. He was frozen as he suddenly lifted his hand to see it covered in blood. Clarion!
She was running with no where to go through the Winter Woods. She had managed to lose the guards, but now she was lost. "No, no ,no! Milori please! No!" she was mumbling to herself, out of breath. I didn't kill him! I didn't kill him! I didn't kill him! I didn't kill him! She just wanted to scream and cry!
Then suddenly she could hear the guards running through the trees. Oh no! Clarion picked up the pace on her running and she started getting even more lost. Now she couldn't tell which direction the guards were coming from. Clarion didn't know what to do, she thought she saw the shadows of figures running around. Everything was spinning and she was about to pass out when a hand covered her mouth.
Out of no where Clarion was staring at Milori and he was holding his finger close to her mouth. "Shh, it's okay." They both heard sudden footsteps nearby and he pulled her close. The footsteps came deathly close and Milori held in his breath, but then they disappeared further into the woods. He let out a sigh, "Clarion, are you okay?"
"I think so," she was still freaking out and clinging to him.
"Okay, why are you covered in blood?" She started crying. "Shh, calm down, it's okay. I know you can't stand blood and that it terrifies you, but I'm just making sure that you aren't hurt."
"I don't know. I don't remember anything," she was shaking as she stared at her hands.
He let out a sigh, "It's okay, we'll figure this out. Come on, let's clean you up." Milori hugged her close and she cried for a good while. The blood drying on her hands began to sting. So he took her to a clearing where there was a willow tree. He knew exactly how to make her feel better.
"Milori, what are we doing here?"
"Trust me, this will help. It's certainly helped me."
"With what?"
"Stress." He moved aside the leaves and they entered the tree. It was warm, and the air felt thick and humid. All around them were hot springs with steam wafting off of them. Milori used to come here after he broke his wing. He stumbled upon it one afternoon when he fell off his owl once. The heat got rid of the tension in his back. So occasionally he would come to relax after a long day.
A half hour later their hands were clean and Milori was dozing off in the warm water with his head leaned over the edge. Across from him Clarion sat there sleeping, leaned against the wall. She had fallen asleep almost instantly, but Milori tried to stay awake. Just so he could check on her to make sure she was really okay. At some point he got out and dried off, knowing that if he had stayed in there he would certainly fall asleep.
Then Clarion awoke freaking out again. When she got out Milori wrapped a towel around her to dry off and pulled her close. "Clarion, what's wrong?"
"I remember what happened," she started crying again.
"It's okay, I'm here. Don't be afraid."
"The sparrowman came into my study, he didn't look well and he was holding his hands to his side. He was screaming in pain, telling me that he needed my help. Then he move his hands and he was covered in blood. He fell to the floor, and I didn't know what to do and I couldn't stop the blood and and and," she shut her eyes tight and started shaking, "There was so much blood!"
Milori knew that she was in shock, she had tried to forget what had happened. All he could do was try and calm her down. But why was that sparrowman bleeding?
Next Chapter: Clarion goes back to her duties, but is haunted by the memory of the dead sparrowman. Meanwhile everyone is in a scramble to find out who this sparrowman is and why he was bleeding.