Crown of Thorns

Chapter Three

Day 1 B.F

When I awoke from a peaceful, dreamless sleep, I thought I was dreaming. An utter tranquility filled me as I opened my eyes, but confusion pierced my foggy, tired mind. I was in my room, safe. But that didn't explain the ivy that covered my walls like a net, encasing me in a dome of leaves.

Awed, I sat up, my hair brushing the plants that surrounded me. No, the walls weren't covered. The ivy hadn't climbed them. That was too simple of an explanation.

Instead, the vines were suspended over my bed, forming a case around only me.

Despite being trapped by plants, I was oddly at ease. I felt secure and protected. My headache and nausea had disappeared.

I noticed the pot I'd pulled towards my bed in a desperate, exhausted haze. Thankfully I hadn't been sick in it, because the clay pot now lay broken on my floor, an ivy stalk thicker and stronger than any I'd ever seen protruding from the remains.

"Ayesha!" called Mother's voice from the sitting room. "Wake up! Your friends are here!"

"Coming!" I cried, though I had no idea how to escape my ivy cage. I blinked, trying to recall why I had guests. Then the realization set in like a weight upon my shoulders. My friends were coming today to help me commemorate and prepare for the wedding tomorrow.

I placed my hand tentatively on a leaf. The stems were thick and powerful. I didn't know how I'd break through. My now dried blood flaked away from some of the leaves like ash.

To my utter shock, the stalk began to tremble, unfurling itself and dropping to the floor by my bedside. I was free.

How was it possible? I chocked it up to the new fertilizer Mother had started using—cow dung instead of goat. It wasn't a particularly good explanation, but what other options were there? The ivy certainly wasn't magical. Despite the shocking sight, I felt positively relaxed, hardly even surprised so much as mildly confused.

I stared at the large plant once more before scampering out of my room, wiping away any crusted blood that clung to my face.

"Ayesha!" Paltic cried, rushing to embrace me as I entered the cozy sitting room. Her black hair blinded me as the curtain engulfed my face. "I can't believe you're marrying Amire Okrich! You're so lucky!"

Paltic's own husband, the far older butcher known as Jakai, wasn't here. Thankfully. He wouldn't be pleased to hear Paltic speak so highly of another man.

"I can't believe it either." I managed a weak smile as I reached the rest of the group, three other girls scattered around the sitting room. I couldn't fathom that in just one day, I'd be someone's wife. I simply couldn't wrap my mind around the idea. The change to my day-to -day life was daunting. What if I couldn't please Amire?

"Tell us everything!" exclaimed the petite Rilda, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Well..." I tried to think of a way to explain it that sounded romantic. That was all the fourteen year old Rilda dreamed of. She wanted a man to sweep her off her feet and dreaded being forced into a relationship like Paltic's. Still, I didn't find Amire's proposal particularly romantic. He never once spoke to me directly. I wouldn't see him before the wedding day because Amire insisted that all planning be done with my mother as a messenger. I didn't understand why, but I'd have liked to have spoken to my groom-to-be at least once before I became his forever.

"He's a very polite man," I began, "old fashioned, I'd say. He spoke directly to Mother about the union. And he sent gifts. Flowers, and a beautiful necklace."