I woke up in the softest sheets that I had ever laid on. Softer than my bed that I've grown used to, and that really is a feat. They are soft against my skin. They smell like citrus. I open my eyes slowly and take in the magnificent sight before me. The room I am in seems more like a small ballroom. The ceilings are far up above. Beautiful ceiling sculptures line up above giving the roman antique but ethereal feel. I have a gigantic, intricately designed chandelier with more light bulbs than I can count on it, giving off the softest glow of golden light to the rest of the room. The bed stretched a couple of feet away from the base off my feet. This bed is huge! I inhale deeply, soaking in the sweet citrus smell that I realize is coming from the candles on either side of the bed.
"You are awake", somebody speaks quietly. Glancing around the room, I lay eyes on a breathtaking woman with such angelic features. She is tall and lean. Her skin is as pale and white as mine. She has full round cheeks with a pinch of pink from her blush. Her eyes are purple…. A shade so close to mine. Looking at her, I felt like I am staring at my own reflection, a few decades from now. She holds in front of her a small book and pen. She must have been journaling while she waited for me.
"Arina, you look so much like your mother", she says. Who is she referring to as Arina? Am I the one? Hold on… where am I? The last thing I remember was that two angelic looking beings came to my room after my mother's death and took me somewhere. Oh mother, my grief came rushing back. "Where am i?" I ask. The woman's face softens as she looks at me sadly. "Poor child, you are in the land beyond the glaciers, Daryn. Your new home", she answers calmly.
I am in Daryn? This woman and the other two people who came to pick me up are Darynem? All throughout school I was taught so many subjects that centered around Darynem. Their powers, their histories, their leaders, everything there was to know about them and how evil they were, but not a single thing about their appearance. I had never seen them… until now. They are beautiful. Everything I heard about them back in Anoryl made it seem like they were ugly nasty little scrawny creatures. At least that is what I imagined.
Still. These are the people that killed my father. These are the people that invaded our kingdom and killed our kind. I despise them with all my soul. My gaze hardens at this woman before me. "I want to leave this place this instant. Take me back home!" I exclaim
"This is home Arina, you cannot go- ", I cut her short in her sentence "My name is Mildred Sinkette, and this horrid place can never be my home! Take me back this instant", I spit out
She takes in a deep breath and walks closer to the bed and takes a seat at the edge of it. She reaches out to take my hand but I snatch it awake from her before she can reach it. "I understand how you feel right now, but I promise, this will all make sense to you, my darling", she speaks so softly, that I almost want to run into her arms and sob out all my anguish that I feel inside, but I hold back.
"For now, the only thing that I can tell you is that Meredith trusted me, which is why she told you to look for me before she passed." She rises from the bed and straightens her gown before walking out of my room. The image of my mother's lifeless body in a pool of blood flashes in my mind and I hold back a cry as tears fill my eyes again. My mother asked me to look for her?
"Frieda Ruckstov", the silky voice whispered in my mind again. She must be Frieda then. She is the only one who can explain whatever is going on to me. I try to get out of these heavenly sheets to run after her, but my body aches in response. A loud grumble erupts from my stomach, and only then do I notice the full tray of food set upon the bed stand. Without hesitation, I scoot over to the edge of the bed and start wolfing down huge bites of this sweetbread with a milky jelly substance in the middle. I may have learned battle strategies of the Darynem but my homeland sure missed out on their impeccable cuisine. I took a bite of what looked like a chocolate cheesecake and moaned in pure delight as the flavor's bursts in my mouth.
An amused laughter fills the room and I turn sharply to see the beautiful doll woman leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. She had lean muscles and a beautiful curvy figure that told me that she definitely was a fighter.
"Nobody told me that the princess ate like an ogre" she says, with a hint of laughter still in her voice. I felt blood rush to my face. Maybe in another life we may have been good friends, but unfortunately not in this one. "Stay away from me Darynem", I spit with my mouth full. I am surprised at myself. I am not usually a person with malice and rage within me, but for some reason, I have this inexplicable hatred for Darynem. Maybe it was because of the rigorous syllabus back in Anoryl that teaches us to direct all our fury at these creatures. Even in the scary stories for children, the monsters are always Darynem