Chapter Three
The first thing she noticed as she very slowly came to, was the distinctive smell of evergreen. She seemed to be back in the forest and out of the shrine of the Namigas. She also had a splitting headache that she couldn’t quite account for. She opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurred and she could just barely make out the outline of Mizunokierer, hovering over her.
Mizunokierer let out a sigh and relief made him almost weak. He sat down, looking up at the sky, and all the emotions that had overtook him minutes ago, fear, worry, anxiety and many others fled with the knowledge that Caprice was alright. He relaxed and looked back at her. She was sitting up and squinting at him, looking slightly grumpy and perturbed.
His eyebrows creased in worry. “Princess… what happened in there…” He stopped, not quite knowing how to word it correctly as so she would understand. He began to get angry. “You are very lucky to be alive. What you did in there not only broke your promise to me but it could have jeopardized the lives of hundreds! What if, by touching the staff and crystal, you awoke something? What would you have done then?”
She looked down and felt immensely ashamed of what had happened. “Don’t… Please don’t yell at me… I don’t know why I did it. I really don’t, I swear.” She looked up at him, remorse clearly showing on her face. “I didn’t mean to. I just had this feeling…” She cut herself off and a puzzled look crossed her face.
Silence filled the air around them for several heartbeats before she looked up and him and just simply said again, “I’m sorry.”
Looking at her he felt his anger seep away. He abruptly leaned down and hugged her the best he could. “It’s alright. Just don’t ever scare me like that again. Ever, or I’ll take your mothers advice and stop seeing you. It’s really my fault. I put you in danger and there is just no excuse good enough to make up for what I did.” He leaned back and picked her up and put her on his back. “Let’s go home.”
He took to the air once again with her riding his back. The sky grew a darker blue as the sun set. A sort of calm or peace came over them as they flew although they flew in complete silence. The wind whistled over their heads and ruffled her hair. She smirked.
Caprice shut her eyes and laid her head in the fur in between his shoulder blades as if she would fall asleep. She felt very safe with him, knowing that he wouldn’t let anything hurt or harm her if he could help it. Her torn dress long forgotten along with the dirt that was caked to the bottoms of her boots. He landed on the bridge that she had jumped off of hours earlier to escape the pressures of royal life, and laid down so she could climb off his back.
She slid down his side and jumped onto the bridge, her boots making distinct rapping sounds on the bridge. She turned to him and gave him a hug, squeezing tightly but playfully. The musky scent of his fur wrapped around her. But then the same overwhelming odor of Lavender and Juniper swirled over her once again. Something jumped in her throat. A vision unraveled in her mind.
She stood on the same bridge she was standing on now in some other time, wearing a bizarre outfit with a skirt. She was faced out towards some sort of angry mob of peasants and one or two Namigas. A bright moon that was outlined in a hazy red told her it was nighttime. Cold icy winds cut across the bridge nearly putting out the mobs flickering torches. One man came forward from the group and shouted something, Caprice couldn’t hear it because of the wind, and made a few angry gestures. He stopped as she sadistically smiled at him. She began to radiate evil. His eyes grew wide and panicked and his blood ran cold. He shook his head in horror and took several steps back. The tension level around them peaked.
She seemed to start glowing and the group panicked and tried to escape. She laughed joyously and maliciously and then she brought her staff down …
The scent faded. Caprice snapped out of it and blinked. She stepped back from Mizunokierer, worried and not quite sure of what to make of what she thought she had seen. He looked at her questioningly and she felt a smile appearing over her face like a mask to hide what she was really thinking and feeling. The one she so often used for her parents. It seemed he accepted it.
“Take care of yourself little princess. I’ll see you later.”
He gave a smile and a small bow then turned and flew away.
She watched him for a few minutes then turned on her heel and walked into the palace. In the doorway she stopped as she caught a glance of the Statue staring at her. For a second it felt as if her heart dropped to the floor, and she clutched at the side of the door, fearfully. Traces of the earlier scent remained in her hair. She took a deep breath and looked up. She stared up towards the statue and the fear slowly faded away. It seemed to be pointing straight at her. Its rubbed out face not giving anything away, just like her court face, the one she had just used, except only more so. She grinned up at it then gave a small but abrupt laugh. She let the door go and her arms fell to her sides as she walked slowly towards the statue. She stopped right in front of it with her hands on her hips, looking up at it.
“Caprice!!” Her mothers’ voice cut through her quiet reverie and startled her. She turned then smiled oddly at her mother. She felt very strange. A sense of calm fell over her and she knew that nothing that happened here could really hurt her. She felt powerful and completely in charge. A bored and slightly amused smile played over her lips. She took a few steps towards her mother who was standing there glowering at her.
At her daughter’s expression the angry expression around her face wilted slightly and slight unease showed through. “Where have you been? We were worried sick about you! How dare you take off on us like that!”
A foreign laughed came out of her mouth. It sounded almost nothing like her. She stepped close to her mother and looked up at her condescendingly. “Where I go, What I do, and Who I’m associated with are not of your concern. Running this kingdom and limiting fathers drinking supply are. Mind your duties and stay out of where you are not wanted you silly woman.”
Pure shock exploded across her mothers face then rage. She drew her hand back and slapped Caprice across the face, snapping Caprices head to one side. Caprice snapped out of it and her normal bewildered expression surfaced. Astonishment at what she had just done spread over her face and she quickly replaced it with her mask.
“What right do you have to tell me what my business is!” Her mother said bitingly, spitting the words out. “My own daughter! You will stay in the Palace for three weeks and will not be allowed to leave! I probably know where you were too! You were with that creature again weren’t you?”
The shock faded as if it had been wiped off her face, and was replaced with a scalding anger. Caprice glared at her mother. “Mizunokierer is not a creature! He’s my best friend! And I don’t care if you approve or not! You’re prejudiced against the Namigas! You just criticize him to try and needle me!” Caprice yelled that final sentence then pushed past her mother and ran for the staircase.
She knocked over one of the old Armors the knights used to wear in olden times down the stairs so her mother couldn’t catch up as quickly. She got to the top of the stairs and looked down the halls to make sure no one would see her. Coast clear. She ran over to a large family painting. She pushed aside the right cloth covering and ducked behind the picture. She blinked at the sudden light changes and searched with her hands for a specific brick while waiting for her eyes to adjust. She found it and pushed inward. The wall swung open and another staircase appeared before her. She ran up the stone stairs, the hidden door shutting behind her. The ceiling met the staircase with a wooden trapdoor. She lifted this trapdoor and moved the rug aside and climbed into her room. She then turned and shut the trapdoor with an audible click and replaced the rug. Standing there trying to catch her breath she eyed the trapdoor. She blinked and took two steps back to collapse onto her bed. Shock came over her then a warm feeling brought on by adrenaline from what had just happened. She analyzed the situation with a slight horror. Fear shot up her spine and made the back of her neck cold and numb.
“What’s happening to me?” She whispered.