|
I woke up with a stick poking in my back and a rock under my head.
Immediately I struggled to push myself up to a sitting position. Where was my bed? My room? My clothes? What the hell was going on? I felt groggy, sick, confused. I put my hands to my face and pressed against my temples, trying to ward off the small, swelling headache I knew would grow.
My nightclothes were gone. I was now dressed in silver silk hose and a powder blue camisole that barely covered my body. I shivered even though the air was quite warm, and I instinctively tried to cover my near nudity. I felt exposed and vulnerable even though I was alone in the forest.
Everything was wrong. Princesses didn't suddenly disappear from their beds to appear somewhere else in different clothing. I tried to remember what happened. I had gone to bed, but not slept well. Dreams I couldn't remember woke me repeatedly, leaving me in a panic stricken sweat. I couldn't lie still, my muscled were aching. But I hadn't left my bed. And with such restlessness I would have woken if someone had come to take me.
I could only imagine I had been drugged with some potion, but to what purpose I couldn't work out. I was a member of the royal family. We had enemies to be sure, but if I were kidnapped I would be ransomed, or some demand made to my father the king. If it were revenge or war, I would be killed. Taking me from my bed and leaving me in a strange forest didn't make sense.
But it was no less real, or frightening.
I leaned against a tree -- a massive oak, with a trunk bigger around than two of me could reach around. I leaned against it and looked around. I didn't recognize the location, which meant I wasn't near the castle, and in turn that any search parties wouldn't find me. I had to figure out where I was. I had to find someone, anyone. I needed a way to send a message home.
I forced myself to stand and start moving. There was no path, but the trees were spaced, and the undergrowth was sparse, so it was not difficult to walk through the forest. Still I stumbled, weak and sore and tired. I bumped into a tree and leaned against it, resting after only a few steps. Then I pushed off and carried on, though my pace remained unsteady. It seemed to take forever to go a hundred yards.
I suddenly tripped on a root and fell down, throwing my arms out to stop my fall. I hit heavily and groaned as the pain shot through my arms and into my shoulders. I had fallen down an embankment. Near to my side was a pool formed by a bend in a small brook. I felt thirsty, and I crawled to the edge of the placid pool to drink.
That's when the strangest thing of that morning came to my attention, in my reflection.
At first I thought it was a trick of the light and the leaves behind me, but as I stared I realized that what I was seeing was real. Protruding from my red locks were feathers, above and behind the ears. I reached up slowly, carefully, and touched them. The were soft, and as I stroked them, I could feel them pushing against my skin. They were attached to me. I slowly parted the hair. They weren't just feathers… they were wings. Small wings, possibly eight inches long. I flexed, experimentally, and the wings moved with my muscles.
I had wings.
I stared at my reflection more, testing my control. After a moment, I noticed that the shadows behind me moved strangely. I turned my head quickly, expecting to see someone there. I got a glimpse of more feathers quickly passing out of my sight. I whirled the other way, the same thing. I felt something at my back. It wasn't someone… it was something. I looked into my reflection, closely. I could just make it out. I had more wings. Two sets on my back. I stared wide-eyed for a moment more than stretched them. The were stiff, but obediently spread apart. They reached far, several feet, maybe three or four to each side. I looked to my sides. The upper, larger pair were steely gray. They looked powerful. The lower pair were slightly smaller, shining white.
Then I asked myself aloud something I would ask again and again. "What has happened to me?"
|
Community Member