Crown of Thorns

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Hanged Man
A Torture Chamber in Aprodisia, Day Unknown A.F

"I don't know, Cyp..." Circe fretted, pacing frantically across the white marble floors of her room. "It's so much to do... There's not enough time."

I watched her, reclining comfortably on her bed. I sunk into the thick mattress as if it were the ocean. Circe's plush quilt rippled like waves each time I shifted. "You'll be okay," I repeated for what must have been the fortieth time within the last twenty minutes.

"How can you keep saying that?" she demanded. Her pacing ceased as she fixed me with her piercing turquoise gaze. Although Circe's eyes were the same color as any true Atlantian, sometimes I could swear the shade shifted with her moods. The colors churned when she was nervous, grew stormy when she was angered, and sparkled when she was pleased. It was as if the very surface of the sea was captured in her irises.

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My head swirled violently. All I was aware of was a loud hacking, and a blinding whiteness. As icy water passed my numb lips, my vision cleared. Groaning, my cheek met the hard rim of a large tub. I panted as water dripped down my nose, trickling from my hair. Blinking deliriously, I struggled to regain my jagged breaths.   

"That's it," Myra giggled from behind me. "Catch your breath before you go back in the tub."

"What do you want from me?" I growled, voice hoarse. I glared up at the twins murderously.

Melville smiled. "Exactly this. For you to fear, and suffer, and fight, and finally, break."

"Back in you go!" Myra squealed gleefully as she pushed sharply on the back of my head, forcing my face towards the water.

I strained against her, thrusting my neck backwards. I bucked furiously, but my arms were bound behind my back with the rope from the hilt of my sword. After Shehm, my scraggly-bearded false brother, had confiscated the blade, I'd snatched the bit of cord in hopes of using it as a weapon. I didn't want to be marched towards the unknown completely empty handed. Now the twins I had hoped to use the rope against were using it against me, binding me in place while they shoved my head below water.

Freezing water stung my eyes as I thrashed below the surface. I clenched my jaw, trying to keep a hold of any oxygen I had. I heard only the water rushing around my ears. Moments passed like eternities. My chest burned and my vision swirled. My lips quivered, then parted, water rushing down my throat like the darkness pouring into my eyes.

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"How can you keep saying everything will be okay? The coronation is in one month!" Circe exclaimed, resuming her pacing. "I have to visit Mister Tabolmon about the feast afterwards. Lyolla offered to do it, but with so much food being requested, I wanted to do it in person. Plus, Lyolla is so busy preparing my gown, I couldn't ask anything else of her. I want to apologize to the guards forced to patrol during the festivities. I need to approve the decorations with Madame Angelique, and Captain Lucille wants me to meet with her to check the progress of the stained glass window. I need to insure that preparations are made so that all shopkeepers and laborers can have that day off, and I want to verify the capacity of the Main Hall again. I know I already checked last week, but I got more confirmations and I don't want the people over crowded. Oh, and I haven't even started planning my speech!" 

I chuckled lightly, reaching over Circe's favorite pillow. It was a pink and orange cushion in the shape of a starfish. It was the only object on her bed that wasn't a shade of blue. A different jewel in a sea of similarity. A pearl hidden in an oyster's shell. "Come here, Pearl." I leaned over the edge of the bed, wrapping my arms around her waist.