Alright, this is going to be another slow chapter. I'm using smaller chapters like this one here to fill in a few details. The plot line will probably pick up in a few chapters and get intense again. Also, I rated this story as mature, but really the only "mature" scene has been the first chapter. I think I need to start adding more intensity to it. Maybe some more Edmundy goodness. ;) Let me know what you think.
BTW, pixie dust, this is for you! I got your review via email on my phone the other day and it just made me so happy that I was determined to update with you in mind.
Rebel Angel, much love beau! I'm so glad you found my story! Welcome! I know the last chapter was slow, and this one will be too. But, if you stick around, I'll make it worth your while! lol.
Love you guys!
P.S. I've already mentioned it, but this is a slow chapter. I'm sorry! :'(
"Are you sure you are alright, Lady Ashlynn?" Merie asked me calmly. While her voice was soft and even, her eyes held worry. I looked up at her without moving my head.
"I'll be fine, Merie. I'm just feeling unwell." I responded quietly, rubbing my burning fingers against one another to relieve the itch. I was laying on my bed, facing my balcony. Earlier that morning, when Merie had come in to wake me, I had her open the balcony so I could look outside as I lay in bed. I felt weak, as though I had been through an incredible ordeal. My chest hurt and I didn't have the energy to move from my bed.
"Would you like me to fetch the doctor, Miss?" Merie offered again. She was fretting. Her petals were ruffled slightly and the vibrant pink color that usually encompassed them was slightly duller. My state was fazing her greatly.
"If that would bring you peace, then yes." I whispered, closing my eyes.
"I'll be right back, Ash." Merie whispered before disappearing with the wind coming from my window. She had recently taken to calling me Ash. She claimed I had the wisdom and vivacity of an Ash Dryad and that since my name was Ashlynn, the nickname was perfect. I was so glad to hear something other than "lady" or "miss" come out of her mouth that I was willing to overlook the horrible nickname my parents had often used.
I can't even explain now what had come over me that morning to make me feel so ill. Edmund and I had gone for a short ride the previous day, but the only thing that could have possibly expended any of my energy was the ever-present "visions" that attacked me several times during the ride. I would find myself experiencing a feeling of deja vu, and then suddenly an image of myself or Storm in different situations would attack me. I became so exhausted with these visions that I ended mine and Edmund's ride quite rudely.
My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on my door. I barely found the energy to shout a "come in," but managed to do so. Lucy entered with a worried look on her face.
"Merie said you were ill." She stated as she neared my bed. I couldn't help but notice that she looked rather pretty that day. She was wearing a purple dress that really brought out her features.
"You look pretty, Lucy. Purple is a good color on you." I mumbled, closing my eyes again. I felt a cold hand against my forehead.
"Oh dear. You are burning."
"More like freezing." I replied, snuggling further into my blankets.
"Hylonome will be here soon to check up on you." I heard Lucy tell me as I felt myself fading into blackness.
"She has a fever." I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes and saw a blurry image of a centaur and Lucy speaking.
"Will she be okay?" Lucy asked. I closed my eyes.
"We will see, Your Majesty. The fever is in it's infant stages. We cannot tell yet if it will be serious or not."
"Can the queen use her Fire Flower juice?" I heard Merie ask in a small voice.
"I'm afraid not, young dryad. The Fire Flower cures only injuries, not illnesses." Hylonome responded. I drifted further into my dark state.
I dreamed of war. Terrifying images flew past my eyes and I was helpless to prevent it. Creatures around me died and and bodies littered the only ground I could see. Dark skies covered the sun and diminished all the hopes and joys of whoever bare witness to the treachery of the clouds. Black and red were the only colors I could see.
"Why didn't you tell me she was ill?" I heard Edmund exclaim angrily exclaim through the darkness. I attempted to open my eyes, but found I couldn't.
"Edmund, please try to be rational. Hylonome doesn't want too many visitors disturbing her rest." I heard Susan say.
"Bullshit. She's been in bed for five days and all three of you knew without telling me?" Edmund nearly shouted.
"We didn't want to worry you. You have a lot to deal with, considering the new threats from Ettinsmoor." Peter states calmly.
"You didn't want to worry me? But I have been worried. I didn't know where she was or if she was avoiding me or not. I've been fretting the past few days thinking Ashlynn has decided to hate me. And now I find out she's ill and you all are keeping it from me?"
"Ed, nothing you can do will make her any better. Only Susan and I were supposed to know. Hylonome ordered us to make sure she didn't have many visitors. We knew you would suffocate this room until she was better." Lucy said rationally. "Peter only found out because the oaf barged in here without permission."
"Hey!" Peter exclaimed.
"Ssh. Get out! The four of you! She'll not get better with you in here making a racket!" Hylonome exclaimed, shooing the monarchs from my room.
I dreamed of Edmund. We were sitting crossed legged on the cliff below the castle looking out at the eastern sea. The sun was slowly setting. We weren't speaking and it didn't appear as though we had spoken at all to one another since we had sat down. All I could focus on was the east and all he could focus on was me.
I was crying and I didn't know why. Something bad had happened and I couldn't figure out what it was. Edmund's dark eyes looked upset over my anguish.
"Ashlynn, it wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself." He whispered softly. I turned to look at him and found I couldn't focus on his image. This didn't surprise me as I knew it was a dream. Tears added to the blur of my vision and I found the image of Edmund fading away into something else.
I came to, but only barely. It was quieter than it usually was, but I couldn't open my eyes to see if anyone was in the room. A whisper alerted me of a presence; his presence.
"Please," He whispered, his voice thick and desperate. "Aslan, don't take her from me. I can't do it again. Please." I felt a cold hand brush across my face. I tried to whisper his name, tell him I'd be okay, but found I didn't have the energy to open my mouth.
"Please, Aslan. I love her." My consciousness floated away, helpless like the leaves of fall.
I dreamt I was eating breakfast with the Pevensie's. They were all laughing at something I had said. Lucy's purple dress caught my eye and I thought she looked fabulous in it.
"You know, Luce, purple really is your color."
The image of Lucy's bright smile faded and I found myself standing on the balcony overlooking the ocean. It was the same balcony I had argued with Edmund on. It was raining and my beautiful blue dress was ruining. Edmund was staring at me with the most helpless look on his face.
"Ash, I love you." He whispered. My vision faded.
I was running along side a black horse with blue eyes. We were racing through the fields. We stopped running and I found myself looking into her crystalline eyes.
"What shall I do Stormie?"
"You shall follow that stubborn heart of yours, Ashlynn. What else?"
The darkness around me seemed to fade slightly and I found myself gaining minimum amounts of consciousness.
"Why isn't she getting better?" Edmund shouted.
"Edmund, be quiet!" Lucy whispered harshly.
"Your Majesty, there is no indicator as to why she is progressively getting worse. I don't know why her fever is so high. A fever such as this suggests an infection, but we have searched her body and found no wounds."
I heard pacing feet. I tried to open my eyes, but it was to no avail.
"What is going to happen, Hylonome?" I heard Susan ask weakly. There was a very pregnant pause.
"If the fever progresses as it is doing, Your Majesties, she will die." Hylonome said cautiously.
I heard a stifled sob, an outraged cry, and a gasp.
"Is there nothing else you can do?" Lucy whispered. Hylonome didn't verbally answer.
"Hylonome, did you say you checked her entire body for wounds?" Peter asked.
"Yes, Your Highness. We checked every inch of her body."
"What about her fingers?"
I was dancing with a bear in the ball room. We were surrounded by other dancing creatures and laughing and singing along to the music we danced to. I let go of the bear's paws and twirled around and found myself standing in the middle of a clearing in the forest. I stopped dancing and looked around the clearing. Contrary to all the other dreams I had been having, this dream was the clearest by far. The trees seemed to be dancing and the grass was tall and green and swayed along with the trees. The sun shone through the trees with such a majestic air that I felt as though I should be walking with bare feet through the clearing. I looked down and noticed I didn't have shoes on, but I did have on a simple white gown that fell around my knees.
I looked up and saw a marble table in the center of the clearing. Behind the table was a small marble arch with inscriptions on it. The sun that was shining down through the trees was hitting the table and sending sparkling diamonds of light throughout the clearing. It was so astonishing in beauty that I gasped upon looking at it. I approached the table and allowed myself to run my fingers along the surface of it. It was smooth and cool to the touch. I looked up at the arch above the table. In the middle of the arch was an engraving of a lion's head. Immediately my thoughts went to Aslan. Around the engraving was an inscription. I read, Aslan created the Light and she, the Light, will shine for all.
I woke up.
Blearily, I blinked open my eyes. The brightness of my room caused me to shut my eyes in protest of the sun. When I finally did reopen them, I found myself looking at a sleeping Lucy. She was draped across a chair looking highly uncomfortable. Her hair and dress were a complete mess.
I turned onto to my back and stretched out my sore body. My muscles were tense as hell and I felt as though I hadn't moved in weeks. I struggled to sit up and found myself out of breath when I finally did so. A ripping pain of hunger tore through my stomach and I looked down in complete astonishment. I was completely skin and bones. It looked like I hadn't eaten in weeks. All of my muscle was gone and my ribs were protruding grossly through my skin. My arms and legs looked like bone and even my chest seemed flattened.
I started crying in agony at what I saw. I had never been one who was obsessed with her looks, but I had always known I was pretty. I looked down at the empty shell I had become and couldn't help but sob. My cries woke up Lucy who was at my side in a moment, holding back a yawn.
"It's okay, Ashlynn. It's okay. You've been in bed for a few weeks. You haven't moved save for turning in bed and you haven't eaten. We've been forcing a formula down your throat to try to feed and water you, but it didn't give you enough food to sustain your body. Once you start eating and moving around again, your body will return." Lucy soothed me, knowing why I was crying without having to ask.
Her comforting words still did not soothe my remorse and I cried for what seemed like hours before calming down.
"What happened?" I croaked, turning to Lucy. I was finally dry of tears.
"You were sick with fever. We figured the fever would go away in a few days so we let you rest. After a week, you were only getting worse. Hylonome figured infection and so she and a fellow surgeon searched your body for wounds but found none. We started using experimental medicines to try and cure you, but after nearly three weeks, we had all but given up."
I looked at Lucy with horror on my face. "You all thought I was going to die?"
Lucy nodded sadly "But then Peter asked us if we had looked at your fingers. It was a silly notion, really. One doesn't usually think of fingers when they think of areas prone to wounds. But, then he told us about your instrument. When we looked at your fingers, we were appalled to say the least. They were very swollen and very infected. I gave you some of the Fire Flower juice and they healed up real quick. But you're fever didn't go away and you didn't wake up. You were no longer getting worse, but your progress to health was incredibly slow. You came out of your fever a few days ago and have been trying to gain consciousness since." She explained.
"Lucy," I started. I paused for a moment, trying to take everything in. "How long was I sick?"
She looked at me with sad eyes. "Today is November 25. You fell ill a month ago."
I was a little bit shocked, to be honest. I had been unconscious and fighting for my life for a month. And all this was over a few wounds on my fingers! I looked down at my fingers and saw them completely healed. Not even a scar to remind me of my near death.
"I'm going to summon Hylonome to check on your wounds and Merie to bring you some food. I'll be right back." Lucy said as she got up to leave the room for a moment.
"Lucy!" I called. "Where are the others? I remember hearing them speaking not too long ago."
Lucy gave me an odd look. "Well, that's funny. They left for Ettinsmoor about a week ago."
"Ettinsmoor? The land of the giants?"
"Yes. We've been having troubles with them since before you arrived. The trouble escalated while you were ill. They went to see if they could sort things out with the giants."
"Oh." I replied. Lucy must have seen my crestfallen face.
"Edmund was really reluctant to leave you. But you were on the way to getting better and he knew there was nothing he could do. His country needed him."
I nodded in understanding. Lucy smiled at me.
"They will be back before you know it. In the mean time, we need to start feeding you and getting you healthy!"
I smiled at her. "Thank you, Lucy."
Her smile seemed to sadden slightly. "Of course, Ashlynn." She responded before leaving. I sighed and leaned back against my pillows. I turned my head to the side and looked out the open door to my balcony.
No worries! Ashlynn will recover quickly. Not too quickly, or I'd have to make her Superman. Also, the Ettinsmoor subplot will progress in a few later chapters, this is only an introduction. Edmund will return! Not yet, and not for long, but he will! I love him too much to just let him disappear, but Ashlynn needs to figure a few things out before she can get smoochy again. Let me know what you think. It'll be a few days before the next update again, just FYI.
Happy day after turkey day! Eat some yummy left-overs and shop some great BF deals!