What just happened? His mind had somehow melded together dream and reality. It was late, he had been awake for far too long and his sleep-deprived subconscious had created a bizarre vision of Oriana as the woman from the forest. Possibly a hallucination as the poison finished working its way through his body.
What he did know was that whatever vision his mind had conjured was a true recollection. He distinctly recalled the feel of the place, the sound of the babbling brook, and the scent of something sweet and floral. It had all been real; that much he was sure of. There was some kind of paradise hidden in that dark and gloomy forest.
A hand brushed against his arm, pulling him from his thoughts. “Are you sure you are alright?” Oriana’s soft voice drifted up beside him.
Garren stopped and turned, looking down into her sea blue eyes, a small ring of purple outlining the blue just like the eyes of the man who had sent him to this peculiar place. The question held within her gaze sobered his wandering mind. He offered her a small smile. “I am sorry, Oriana. I did not mean to…” He stopped searching for the right words. “I did not mean to break off our kiss in such a crude way. I–I think my mind is over tired and I keep seeing strange…visions.”
Her brow furrowed ever so slightly, and she nodded gently before she said, “Of course. These past few days have been hard for you. Perhaps you aren’t as fully healed as you thought.”
“Perhaps.” His head began to pound from the swarm of questions raging through it.
He held out an arm to her. “Come. Another good night's sleep should do the trick.”
Oriana stared at him a moment longer; he could see the cogs of her mind turning like the inner workings of a clock. Finally, she conceded and looped her hand in the crook of his arm.
Linked together, they walked in silence all the way back to Haldis’s, making it just as dawn had broken.
“I was beginning to think you had gone and gotten yourself lost in the forest.” Haldis sat in a worn, high-backed chair, book in hand, fire blazing in the hearth beside her. He peeked a glance at the book’s cover before she put it away, rising unsteadily from her chair. Remedies and Rituals: The Healers Handbook. She was no doubt still trying to piece together the miracle of his recovery. If he were being completely honest, he still didn’t understand it himself after all these years.
“Forgive me, Haldis, I had hoped to secure a room at the inn, but the day has passed me by without even a thought. I will gather my things. I don’t wish to intrude on your kindness any further.” He moved toward the rickety old steps that led up to the two rooms that were upstairs, both meant as sick rooms for Haldis’s patients.
“Nonsense.” She stood and waved a hand through the air. “You must stay as long as you wish. You are not intruding in the slightest.”
“I…I…thank you, Haldis,” Garren stumbled on his words. “Your kindness will not be forgotten.”
“Go on and get some rest. I want no more of your groveling,” she said dismissively. “Oriana, won’t you stay and keep me company by the fire?”
“Of course, Haldis,” came Oriana’s mild-mannered reply.
With that Garren took to the stairs, two steps at a time. He stepped into the room Haldis had so generously offered quickly, shutting the door behind him.
Garren leaned his back against the solid wood of the shut door, closing his eyes and releasing a weary sigh. He drifted back to the market square and to Oriana, her lips pressed against his, exploring and searching, desperate for more. It had felt…he had no words to explain it other than it had felt perfect, as if something extraordinary had fallen into place. What was she doing to him? Better yet, what was this place doing to him?
He had never, not once felt normal anywhere he had gone in Svakland, but Sardor was more mysterious than he was. It made him feel…normal for the first time in his life.
But the question was, why? What mystery was this town hiding? It was almost as if, with each new observation or piece of knowledge, he came across an entirely new puzzle that needed to be solved. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to solve it all on his own.
He needed to figure out the jumbled mess in his mind, to focus on what had happened to him in the Phantom Wood and how the woman had played a part. He forced himself to push the thoughts of Oriana aside. She was a distraction that he could –hopefully– focus his full attention on later.
Tomorrow, he needed to lay everything out in front of him and begin to piece it all together.
Maybe he would even venture into the Phantom Wood in search of the strange utopia he remembered so vividly and the white-haired woman within it.
14
Oriana
4th day of the Eleventh Month, 1774
“D earest child,” Haldis cooed, taking her seat once again by the fire. “What ails you?”
Oriana smiled softly. “Haldis, I have lived for many years before you were even a thought in your parents’ minds. You mustn’t call me child. I am technically your elder.” Her smile lingered as she took a seat on the floor beside Haldis, leaning her head on the armrest of Haldis’s chair.
The old woman stroked Oriana’s hair affectionately. “Yes, well, I don’t see you looking like a wrinkled piece of flesh steps away from death’s door. In that I best you, so I will call you whatever I like.”
Oriana laughed outright at that. “I suppose I have aged well.” She reached up and squeezed Haldis’s hand as the woman who had been Oriana’s constant companion these past years continued to stroke her hair.
“Yes, yes, now tell me, whatever is the matter? You look as if the weight of the cosmos is resting upon your shoulders.”
