ooc: sorry if this is a little disjointed O_o It took me a good 2 hours to write because the phone kept on ringing. "Music at Gretna this is Katie speaking!" "Music at Gretna, how can I help you?" "Music at Gretna I hate you all!"
ic:
Nothing could have prepared her for the two other guards, and she could feel herself blanche at their words. Never in her life had she felt so...so what? She couldn't even find the word...but she had never had anyone fight over who would accompany her where.
Silently she hoped that Rizzen would win. Or Malik...she wasn't quite sure which to call him, if ever she would have the need...Unlike those other two, he seemed to legitimately want to help her. After all, he was hiding the biggest secret she had ever held in her entire life. What would happen once they found out that this scrawny girl feared that she might have magic? Shoot her on the spot? Or perhaps they wouldn't even let her see the matron, but drag her off for questioning and then kill her?
She shuddered at the thought.
Death at the hand of the Matron was one thing, but death simply by speculation was something else.
Her head jerked when Rizzen lied about gangs. She prayed that the other guards were focused on him enough that they missed the sudden movement, and set her mind to do some quick thinking.
The best thing to do would be tell as much as the truth as possible....add small details when she needed, and keep things simple. Anything outlandish would not only draw unneeded attention, but it would be a clear indicator that she was lying to them. Best say little and make it sound convincing than say a lot and play the fool. Things were turning out in a way she would never have predicted. Now all she needed was her brother to come prancing around the corner to see his younger sister, disheveled and tear stained, being escorted by two soldier's towards the Matron. He wasn't stupid. He'd figure it out. She just prayed he wouldn't show up.
The gang....she'd best start somewhere in the middle. Rizzen made it sound as if she had already told him some of the story...it would be obvious if she started at the beginning....
Reluctant she told herself silently. Be reluctant to say a word. Say little, be quiet...act as intimidated as you feel.
They started walking, and with a glance up at Rizzen, began her story.
"After I tried to get away....they came back." she made her voice small, aided by the weakness her illness presented. It had been weeks...months...since she had last taken the medication to keep it steady. Now, she wished that she had thought to keep some with her at all times as her heart ached fiercely in her chest. Was this what her mother had felt her entire life before she died in childbirth? Leaving her only daughter with her curse and her two sons to help their younger sister survive.
"I ran into the woods...I....I had hoped that they wouldn't find me..." truth enough. She had run into the woods, but Kacy had been too fast and caught up with her new friend the instant she disappeared. They had sat there until the bear-man appeared...her heart had sent her head spinning then, and she awoke on a flying platform....the shock caused her to lose her balance...falling off and fainting in mid fall....only to wake and find the very air around her smothering....
"I...climbed a tree." close enough. Adding a flying platform into this story definitely would not help the situation. She paused, looked down at her hands in what she hoped was shy apprehension.
"...they found me...I lost my balance and..." her voice was a whisper, a note of terror echoing in her voice that she had not purposefully included. The very thought of that fall, of waking to find she was flying...it turned her blood cold and added a depth to the story she was telling. Half-truths though they were, she was still lying through her teeth.
"...the next thing I remember, I was alone. I didn't know where I was..." Her heart lurched painfully in her chest causing her to sway, all color draining out of her face as her eyes went in and out of focus. She couldn't let the pain control her...not now....not when the Matron might be only two steps away. She needed to keep her eyes focused, awake...she needed to stay awake. Her body was screaming for her to let go, pleading that she had pushed it too far and she needed to let everything shut down in order to catch up.
Breathe Eirene....Breathe! her brother's voice echoed in her head as her vision dimmed, and she fought against the pain, pushing it away until the lights came back into focus and her mind stopped spinning enough for her to remember where she was.
"Please." she begged, looking at both Rizzen and the new woman, "Please, I need to see the Matron now." She didn't know how much longer she would be able to fight the threatening darkness, and she wanted to tell the Matron everything before letting it consume her. If she didn't do it now, today, she would surely lose her nerve...