Chapter 2: A Rude Awakening
I was awoken by my eldest sister, Nova, shaking me gently.
It was not uncommon for me to be woken up by her. But that morning there was a hidden panic in her actions that wasn't normally there. Her amber eyes were wide, and her face was pale. Her long brown hair with three chestnut streaks hung in front of her face, still mussed from the night's rest.
(Nova was, at the time, thirteen. Nila was twelve, I was five, and Aria was three).
For the fifth time this month Nila, Aria, and I had taken up Nova's bed at various points in the night, causing her much dismay.
We all had our own separate chambers, but we didn't often sleep in them.
We would alternate whose room we slept in by playing a game similar to what you; in this world call, "rock, paper, scissors", as a deciding factor. We would also use taking turns as another way of deciding whose room we would sleep in.
I was constantly plagued by nightmares and night terrors when I was little. Normally it wasn't a problem, if I had a nightmare or a night terror, I would sleep with Nova in her bed, or, depending on how bad it was, I would crawl into bed with our father.
But on the nights when my sisters and I agreed that we would sleep in our own chambers. I couldn't go into Nova's chambers because no matter how much I cried, she wouldn't respond. She wasn't being cruel; she was just exhausted. I would have to brave the dark corridors that were filled with so many things that made my skin crawl at night, the portraits of the dead kings and the flickering shadows of the guards cast in candlelight scared me senseless. When I finally reached Father's chambers, I was shaking so horribly that walking was damn near impossible. When I knocked on his door; if I could knock on his door. He would be standing there wearing only a comfortable pair of sleeping trousers with a sword in his hand. He would growl 'Who's there?' and I would burst into tears and throw my arms around his legs. His voice would soften as he asked what was wrong. Most of the time he already knew that I had either a nightmare or night terror, but would ask if Nova was alright because knew that I normally took up her bed and not his when I had a problem in the night. He also knew how much the corridors frightened me. I would say something like 'We are sleeping in our own chambers tonight.' my words would be broken up by sobs. Then he'd grumble something about us never telling him when we were going to be sleeping in our own chambers so he could come to get me before I started crying.
After grumbling, he'd pick me up and bring me into his room where he would do various things to comfort me, like make me a warm drink or tell me a story, and sometimes if nothing else worked he would be begrudging sing, and that always worked.
It would be nice if this were one of those rare occasions when we all slept and woke up in our own rooms and were now congregating in Nova's chambers, but this was not the case that morning.
Our chambers were located in the Main Palace right down the hall from the king. There were a variety of guest rooms that were always cleaned but hardly ever used.
King Andrews was not one to waste the commoners' taxes for his own entertainment, unlike some of the other royal families who throw elaborate parties every other week using tax money to fund them. Each chamber had at least one secret door that was hidden either in the stone floor or behind a tapestry, which lead to an underground cavern that functioned as an escape route should there be a rebellion.
The guest chamber's secret doors lead to a different cavern than the ones that were in our chambers and the king's chambers. They were connected so we wouldn't be separated in the event of an attack. My sisters' chambers and mine, were the only ones that had a door that connected the rooms together. That was often how we would get from one room to the other in the middle of the night as not to be seen by the guards. That was also how I would get to Nova's chamber when I had a nightmare.
The Main Palace also held all of the chambers in which all of the official business was taken care of in. The king had multiple studies; in each he would take care of a different type of business. In one he took care of taxes. In another, foreign affairs. He had a third, but I was never able to find it, nor figure out what "business" he took care of in it. I think whatever was in that study may have had something to do with the Morrigan's.
The Senate's Chambers, as well as the Audience Chambers, were also in The Main Palace.
In a separate building, were the stables and the armory. Near there, was the Knights Chambers and Training Hall shared a building, but were separated from The Main Place, as well as the building which housed the stables and armory. I'll explain more about the castle later when it.
"Kia, Kia, wake up. It was just a dream. Do you want to talk about it?" Nova said softly, her breathing was heavy as though she too, had just woken up from a nightmare.
"About what?" I asked, gently rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"About your dream." She smiled as her anxiety drifted away, I found her words encouraging, but I wasn't sure how she would react if I told her I had a dream about the king killing me.
"Um, not really," I replied sheepishly.
"Errrrrm, Kia go back to bed." Nila groaned, as she covered her ears with her pillow and threw the blanket over her head. Her golden blond hair leaked out from under it.
"Hey? What's with all the yelling so early in the morning?" Aria asked with a yawn. Her curly red locks had formed into a terribly matted poof during the course of the night. Her emerald, green eyes squinting in the sunlight of Nova's window as she opened it. Which earned more grumbling and muffled cursing from Nila.
"Um. . .Aria? We aren't yelling." I said apologetically.
"Kia, Aria's right. It's way too early for you to be this loud in the morning." Nila's complaint was muffled by her pillow.
"Nila and Aria are right, it's too early to be so loud." Nova agreed, sitting down on the bed next to me. The four of us would often vote on various topics, such as who's room we were going to hide- I mean "socialize" in. No matter the topic, Nova always got the final say, especially if there was a tie. With my bruised pride, I changed the subject.
"Aria, how long have you been awake?"
"Long enough," She said proudly. Where she gets her confidence from, I still haven't got a clue, but she's always had it, and for that I'm grateful.
I was getting bored sitting around, waiting for someone to propose some sort of an idea as to what our day would consist of. "So, now what do we do?" I asked with a hint of impatience.
Nova's voice said, "Why I think it's about time you learn how to shoot a bow and arrow; don't you Kia?" She smiled. I had been bugging Nova for the past month about archery lessons, and completely annoying Nila to the point of contemplating murdering me.
"Really Nova! I'm so excited!" I was jumping up and down on the bed with the biggest grin on my face. "When do we start?! Can we start today?!?!" Nova laughed; Nila was pissed. She didn't like mornings all that much to begin with, but I think that she was more worried about what would have happened if someone heard what we were planning.
"Kia!" Nila snapped as bolted upright. Her sapphire blue eyes were cold as ice as she stared me down. After her shout, she immediately lowered her voice to an irritated whisper. "Keep your voice down."
Nova sighed, "Nila, let her have her moment." Then turned to me "We'll start the lessons two days from today. Early in the morning just before sunrise, okay?"
"Okay!" I ecstatically shouted, Nila threw her face back into her pillow and let out a cry of desperation, as her last hope of being able to go back to sleep that morning left before she could cherish it.
"Good," Nova smiled while casting a worried glance in Nila's direction.
"Can we get breakfast now?" Aria asked eagerly, we all laughed, except for Nila who groaned at the thought of having to leave bed so soon, and headed to the kitchens for our morning meal after getting dressed in our own chambers.