Page 172 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

I go in and out of consciousness as she continues to work. Kieran is still talking to me, but I don’t have the strength to reply to him.

I don’t have the strength to do anything.

“We’re all done,” Mother says gently as she pulls the cloth out of my mouth. “I’ve managed to stitch you up and stop the bleeding.”

Her voice is shaky as she sits next to my head, running her bloody hands through my hair.

“What happened?” she whispers, but I stay silent.

Mother sighs and continues to run her hands through my hair as we sit in silence, processing everything that just happened.

“How about we go get you cleaned up,” Mother suggests. “It will make you feel a lot better, and then you can rest in the kitchen while I clean everything up.”

“How are you going to get that out of the sheets without people whispering?” I manage to ask as she helps me sit up.

“We are going to do it in the house where no one can see. No doubt people heard you scream, but they will just think it’s from your nightmares like before,” Mother explains. “And if they ask questions then we will come up with a lie. Everything is going to work out.”

Mother helps me out of the bed and stands on the side of my hurt leg, helping me hop all the way to the bathroom.

“You just sit here and relax while I take care of everything,” she says. “Don’t think about anything but happy thoughts.”

Easier said than done. My mind is whirling with so many questions and thoughts from everything that has happened so far. But the most important one keeps lingering in my mind.

How was Avira able to get to me through a dream and cut my thigh?

CHAPTER 22

Pale.

My face is pale as I stare at it through the mirror. Everything spins around me as I grip onto the counter, looking away from my pathetic image.

“Let’s get some food in your body,” Mother says. “I’ll help you to the table where you can rest.”

And she does exactly that, my whole world spinning even more as I sit down. I limp the whole way down, pain shooting up and down my leg with each step I take on it.

“You are going to need to be careful with your leg,” Mother reminds me. “You don’t want to pop the stitches.”

“Okay,” I mumble.

Sweets, talk to me. What happened back there? Did Avira visit you in the middle of the night? Kieran asks.

It was a dream. I manage to fight the black dots threatening to pull me under. I never thought she could do so much damage through a dream.

Fear courses through me, and a sense of calm washes over my body, but it does nothing to take the fear away.

Kieran is trying to comfort me.

I knew I should have never taken the herbs or fallen asleep to begin with. What I was so worried about actually came true.

What did she do to you in your dream? he asks. What did she say?

So many things, I whisper as I lean my head on the table, not having the energy to keep it up any longer.

I’m never going to be able to go back into my room and fall asleep again. I don’t think I ever want to step foot back in there when everything is replaying in my head so vividly.

“Come on, let’s get you fed and then you can go lie down,” Mother says.

“I don't know if I can stomach any food,” I manage to get out. “Everything is so weak and I don’t have the energy.”