The King's Obsession

A horrid, foul smell rouses me.

For a long moment, it's like I'm submerged, fighting desperately to reach the surface. And then consciousness knocks me square in the chest, and I'm sitting up, gasping for air.

Violently coughing, I lean over, overwhelmed by the smell shrouding me, by the bitter taste rising up from the back of my throat. My body aches, muscles weak as I finally allow my eyes to crack open, bracing my arm up against the shadowy light.

Looking up, I realise I'm in some kind of shallow hole. Trees surround it, roots creeping down through the dirt and into the hole I'm in, protruding unnaturally from the ground...Wait, are those really roots?

Glancing down around myself, I realise with horror they are bodies. Dead bodies.

Scrambling back, I skate over soft limbs and rotten flesh, the jagged edges of sharp bones jabbing into me as I press back against the base of the hole. With each alarmed breath I drag in, the horrid smell of decaying bodies consumes my senses, my stomach heavy as a result.

Leaning over, I throw up profusely, gagging at the disturbing taste burning in my throat. Everything I've thrown up is thick and black, pooling on the dirt in such a way I have to turn, squeezing my eyes shut.

My mind is swimming, trying to grasp what is going on. I'm in a hole, filled with bodies in all different states of composition. On some of their bodies, the familiar colours of Tai's old guard are visible.

What is going on?

Turning, I scramble through the damp dirt, sprawling out the forest floor. My entire body shudders as I breathe in the earthy scents cutting through the decay. Yet I'm covered in death, fluids and debris clinging to my clothing pressing into my skin.

Resting my cheek against the ground, I close my eyes, my vision swirling with bright colours. I'm fading, I can feel it, my conscious slipping away...ever...so...slowly.

***

Waking up is suddenly much harder.

Pain rolls over me in waves, mainly isolated to my head. First I allow my fingers to twitch, feeling slowly seeping back into my limbs. It's silent around me, aside what might be the crackling of the fire. I've been sweating. I can feel it all over my body, clinging to the surface of my skin.

My eyes flutter open.

I'm staring at a ceiling, painted yellow. Frowning, I lift my arm, running the back of my hand over my eyes. My head feels like a foggy mess. No matter where in my mind I retreat to, I'm met with a thick haze, revealing no evidence of where I am, and where I've been.

A creaking sound echo's beside me, and when I turn my head, I realise it's a door opening, and unfamiliar woman steps in.

"What's going on?" I question, coughing past the scratchiness in my throat.

The woman approaches, pulling a chair from the corner of the room to the bed, sitting on it. I'm sitting up now, pressed back against the wall, staring at her warily. This room, her, this feeling in my body...It's all unfamiliar, and I hate it. I want out of this place, even if I don't know where I should go.

"Oh you're awake...I'm so glad," she exclaims softly, chewing her nail as she looks over me.

I don't feel injured, and yet at the same time I do. Looking down at my arms, I'm bruised all over, my skin littered with scratches. Even under soft sheets, each movement makes me keenly aware that this isn't isolated to just my arms.

"Where am I?" I question, looking around. This is some kind of bedroom, in what I imagine is a cottage. The furniture, the walls and even the ceiling have been hand painted, and there is a hand knitted quilt draped over the bed. The woman even looks like she has made her own clothing, her dress swinging loosely from her body.

"I know you're probably confused," she soothes. Her accent is strange, not from the Jade Province. "We found you, on the verge of death in the Azure Province."

Burying my face in my hands, I rake back through my mind.

My last memory was at home, with my family. Father has been at war, so I've been at home with my mother, studying about the Beast, my Tani...Her smile is the last thing I remember.

So how did I end up at the Azure Province, where I've never been in my life?

"How did I get there?" I question, pressing my fingers between my brows. It seems there are memories missing, like there's something large I should be remembering, and yet I no matter how far I delve back, I can't seem to scramble anything together.

"Well, I was hoping you could tell us," she says, almost sounding nervous. "You were quite battered when we found you. My husband and I immediately brought you back here, to our home."

A gauzy curtain covers the one window in the place, which is a blessing for my sensitive eyes, but a curse for my bearings.

"Where am I now?"

"Emerald Province." The woman offers up the information so kindly, and yet I'm struck back, a sour taste gathering on my tongue. Emerald Province. I've never been to the Emerald Province before, but at least it's not too far from my home, in the Jade Province.

Or maybe I have been to the Emerald Province. Something about it seems familiar, right on the tip of my tongue, that I can't quite grasp...I need to be here, to get to someone who needs me.

My parents.

A hollow pit opens up in my stomach, as I consume that fresh information. My parents don't live in the Jade Province, they live here, in this Province. But why? I don't remember them moving, or me, for that matter. And yet I know they are here. It's the first certain feeling that I've been able to grasp since coming back to consciousness.

"My head is killing me," I mutter, palms pressed against my temples.

"Chew on this, it will take the edge off," the woman offers, grabbing a box sitting atop the dresser. When she opens it, she reveals some kind of green stalk, which I take warily. "My husband is a healer. He's out right now getting supplies, but he will be back soon."

The stalk tastes sweet when I bite into it, a welcome relief from the bitter taste in my throat.

"How long have I been unconscious?" I ask softly, unsure of how I came to be unconscious in the first place...

The woman's gaze turns soft, sad. "About two weeks since we found you..."

My chewing ceases, as I just stare at her blankly. Two weeks? How long was I unconscious before they found me?

I realise, with a chilling coldness, that I'm alone. I've lost my memories, my bearings...everything.

I'm truly alone.

~Akara

Staring blankly at the unfamiliar face in front of me, I try not to panic that I've spent two weeks unconscious under their roof.

"So you're telling me you don't remember anything about the Azure Province?" I'm asked. I shake my head, squeezing my eyes shut as I rake back through the fog that's concealing my memories. Each time I do so, I come back with nothing more than an ache between my temples.

"No, I'm from the Jade Province," I tell the man. He's Meredith, the woman who woke me earlier's husband. He's a healer, named Alex, having walked in moments ago with a wicker basket full of a variety of produce and herbs.

"What happened before you went unconscious," Meredith asks, twisting a loose strand of hair around her finger as she examines me apprehensively.

"I can hardly remember," I admit. "I just know I need to get back to my family."

Family. Mother and father. They are here, I know that much. I can picture their home in my mind, as fuzzy as it may appear. I'm not sure why they are in the Emerald Province, but it means a lot has transpired since my last memory. And for some unknown reason, something took my memories away.

"Maybe you should wait a day or two, until your strength comes back," Alex says kindly. Meredith and Alex are salt of the earth people, who clearly live a simple, humble life. I feel guilty stumbling into it, albeit unintentionally.

"I don't have much time," I say. I have no evidence of that, but everything feels as though it's inclosing in on me.

"Do you have a name? Do you remember it, I mean?" Meredith asks.

At least there is one thing I'm certain of. "Yes. I'm Akara."

"We are glad we found you, Akara," Alex exclaims. Both him and Meredith seem to wince at the memory of discovering me, causing me to shiver. "You were badly battered when we found you."

Did someone do that to me, or did I do it to myself? So much is dark in my mind...Perhaps someone hit me hard enough in the head to give me memory loss, leaving me with no way of finding out who did it, or who exactly I am forgetting. I can tell there is something I've missed, perhaps even years worth of memories, due to the dark, chasm-like feeling that has opened up in my chest.

"I don't remember being beaten," I admit, looking down at my open palms. They are stained dark green, like I've been crawling across grass, or maybe a forest floor. Deep bruises litter my arms, along with a myriad of small cuts. A large cut must be underneath the bandage wrapped around my bicep, a bite of pain accompanying any movement of that arm.

"Where are you family? In the Jade Province?" Meredith asks. I look toward the window, through the gap in the curtain. All I can see is a verdant green meadow that rolls for miles.

I shake my head. "No, actually I think I remember being told they are here, in the Emerald Province."

"Wonderful. We will track them down for you," Alex assures me.

For the next hour, I recall as much information about their whereabouts that I can. I have brief glimpses of walking toward their home, accompanied by someone. Eventually Alex is able to tell me the town, and that it isn't too far from here, before both him and Alex leave me to rest.

Not that I can find much...Nightmares haunt me.

Nightmares of being kidnapped, meeting an enigmatic hunter with unspoken abilities. A King, a rebellion. These nightmares assault me so viciously, so vividly, I wake in the night in a sweat, gasping in panic.

These aren't nightmares, they are memories.

Marek, Tai and Vaia...I drank from the river, watched Evolet die while I survived. I remember dead bodies, having been discarded like I was one of them. And yet nothing about the weeks past that time where I made it from the Jade Province to the Azure Province comes back to me.

I don't sleep for the rest of the night, staring blankly at the ceiling while I let each memory slide into it's relevant place, until I can recite everything and it makes sense.

I have a lot to figure out.

There is a chance I'm become a Tani, considering I drank from the river and survived. Tai is likely dead, or still in Vaia's clutches. Marek could be dead too, or who knows where.

And none of them will know I'm alive.

The moment I could glimpse the sun peeking over the horizon, I started to dress, ignoring the protest of my sore limbs and injured skin. I need to get back to my family, let them know I'm alive. And then I need to find Marek, and Tai...

Even if Tai is a monster. That is, if Evolet's reaction on our deathbeds were to be believed.

"Akara...We have a carriage to take you to your parents," Alex exclaims as I emerge from my room, already having breakfast prepared for me. I waste no time digging in. As much as I appreciate this couple, I need to get out of here. No more time can be wasted.

"Thank you for being so kind to me," I say, swallowing the thick oatmeal.

Meredith opens the curtains, letting in the mellow morning light. "Come back any time you need us, okay?"

The carriage of theirs is small, but it suffices fine as I make my way out from their rural property out toward my parents town. My eyes are glued out the window as we pass through it, until the entrance to their driveway becomes apparent. Had Marek not brought me here all those weeks ago, I would have no chance in this Province.

Thanking the carriage driver, I hop out, rushing to their door. I don't bother knocking, barging straight into their living area, to see father reading on the couch, mother beside him.

Father's book falls discarded to the floor as he gets to his feet. "Akara, what happened to you?"

I realise I probably look insane. I'm bandaged in areas, wearing Meredith's clothing, which is a little too big on me after I spent weeks walking through the forest, likely not eating very much. I didn't even bother brushing my hair when I woke up.

"I drank from the river and I survived," I blurt out.

"You're not dead...How is that possible?" Mother gasps. Father approaches me, reaching out to touch my skin, as if he's convinced he's dreaming. When he realises I'm here, he envelops me in a hug that nearly crushes my ribs.

"I don't know, but I need to find Marek," I exclaim, passing from father's arms to mothers. She clutches me, her entire body shaking beneath my hands.

"We haven't heard from either Tai or Marek," father admits.

I sit, finally able to relax being around familiar faces. If Marek is alive, he isn't going to think I am. And considering he's a prolific hunter, and presuming he has gone back to that lifestyle, tracking him down isn't going to be easy.

"They think I'm dead," I whisper. I should be, in reality. Evolet must be, unless she managed an escape like I did. I must have fallen unconscious after drinking from the river, and Vaia assumed I was dead, and dumped me with the rest of her failed trial subjects.

"You need to rest," mother insists, biting her nails as she looks over at me. "If you survived, you may be transitioning in a Tani."

"No, that's not possible. Vaia was making a potion so people could survive drinking from the river, so maybe it just happened to work," I say with a shrug, although I'm not sure how true that is.

The only difference I feel is in the horrid taste in the back of my throat, the slight throbbing between my temples that still hasn't gone away, and the ache in my bones.

Father sits beside me. "You will need to be monitored."

"Dad, I'm okay," I assure him, although I can't force much confidence into my tone.

"Should you be trying to contact Tai?" Mother asks uncomfortably. I can tell they aren't fond of Tai, considering that the only reason I'm in this mess is because of him. I'm not sure if I'm fond of him either...At least not for now.

"No...I need to find Marek first," I dismiss. He will have the skills to help me with whatever is going on inside me, considering he's a Tani himself.

"That might be hard," father mutters, glancing up at my mother. "I think he returned to the Azure Province."

I sigh through my nose. "Then that's where I'm going...To find him."

~Akara

Shivering, I push the front door open with my shoulder, struggling not to make any noise and I move my stuff out to the carriage outside.

I said my goodbyes to my family last night, who seemed reluctant at my idea to go to the Azure Province by myself, considering the last time I was there I got kidnapped. But I know I need to go, even if this early hour in the morning is somewhat painful. Marek doesn't know I'm alive, and I have a digging need within me to find him, and let him know what happened to me.

Even if I'm still not exactly sure what's going on myself...

"Akara..."

I jump, looking out toward the entrance of the driveway, where a figure approaches, a hood pulled over their head. I don't need to see their face to know exactly who is approaching.

"Nakoa! What are you doing here?" I question, rushing over to her. She pulled her hood away, revealing her bright red hair and wary eyes. I thought perhaps that she would have been imprisoned, or even killed by her. So seeing her standing here in front of me, alive, is an immense relief.

She stumbles forward, grasping either side of my arms. "You're alive...How is that possible?"

Breathing in deeply, I start to explain the story, right from when Marek saved me from Vaia's clutches, till now, now that my memory has returned.

Nakoa stays silently through the entire story, chewing on her nails incessantly. I even tell her about Evolet, and what her final words to me were. Strangely, Nakoa doesn't seem surprised at my admission, and doesn't even question it. I wouldn't be surprised if her and Evolet have had the same experience, and witnessed the same things.

"Is Tai okay?" I ask softly, bracing myself for the answer.

"He's alive. Marek got him out, but he has fled, Vaia having ransacked his father's estate," she explains, breath hitched. I can't blame her for being so anxious. She clearly was forced out of her home, and barely escaped, by the sounds of it.

Relief has me wavering in my spot. Tai is alive...And saved my Marek, no less.

I wrap my coat around myself more, wishing the sun would hurry and come up. "Is Evolet..."

"Yes, she is dead," Nakoa says in a rushed voice, tensing. My heart falters, seeing the sadness that flood Nakoa's eyes, even as she tries to compose herself like she is not. "I went looking for her body to bury it."

Nakoa and I have never had a close relationship in the manor, and yet I can't help myself, reaching out to embrace her. She let's me, resting her chin on my shoulder as he breath's become uneven. She's cold beneath my touch, having walked through the early hours of morning for a while to get here.

"She was like a sister to you, I can't imagine what you're going through," I murmur quietly. Focusing on her grief makes it easier to push mine away. I hardly knew Evolet...I shouldn't be as sad as I am.

"Me? You're the one who may be transitioning to a Tani," Nakoa exclaims, seeming to remember what she is doing her as she pulls away, brushing a stray tear away with her gloved fingers. "You should be resting, not...what are you doing?"

She looks toward the carriage, and the few belongings to scrounge up from my family's home that are stuffed into it.

"I'm going to the Azure Province, to find Marek," I tell her, popping the door open. "He was always trying to help me, Nakoa. He was never my enemy."

I expect her to be betrayed, but she merely nods.

"I believe you." She shudders, clearly freezing standing out here with no sun. "I was coming to see your family, to inform them of your death. It felt like the right thing to do."

I can't help but be grateful she didn't come a few days ago...

"Come with me, to the Azure Province," I exclaim suddenly.

Nakoa's eyes widen. I'm not sure why that came out, but suddenly going to the Azure Province by myself seems awfully daunting. And Nakoa is the only piece of my past that I can hold onto which may give me a chance of reconnecting with everyone I've lost touch with...Mainly Tai and Zavian.

"Are you certain?" she asks softly. She seems so willing, when for a moment, it seemed like she might turn me down, because it seems like such a big ask. But maybe she is as empty as I am right now, considering she came all the way to the Emerald Province for the purpose of telling my parents I was gone...

"Yes. I'm going to need all the help I can get to find Marek."

"You should be concentrating on yourself before anyone else..." She looks over me with a cautious eye, as if I'm about to transform into a mindless beast right in front of her.

From the little I know about the river, it's a slow process.

"I feel fine," I say, brushing my palm up against the side of my head. "My memory is still fuzzy, but you can fill me in once on the way."

She nods grimly. "Alright. Let's go then."

She clambers into the carriage, and I follow, closing the small door behind us. It's going to be an entire day's journey, and I'm already exhausted. My energy levels have depleted since drinking from the river.

"Do you know where we are going to stay?" Nakoa asks as we get onto the road.

"I know a place. It's a little inn," I murmur, resting my head against the window.

It might be unreasonable for me to think there would be a chance for me to run into Marek at the Blue Glass Inn, but the nostalgia might be helpful. Not to mention I would like to see Fran, even if there is a chance she isn't working there anymore. Although, it is where I first met Jessa...

We ride in silence for a while, Nakoa not speaking under the sun has risen, dousing the floor of our carriage with watery sunlight.

"Tai will want to see you, to know you're okay," she says tentatively.

"I'll see him eventually," I respond curtly. "But I need to see Marek first, he will know what to do, how to go forward from this."

I do intend on seeing Tai again. I know I still love him, even if my suspicions about what he is hiding in the basement are making me doubt the integrity of my feelings.

"So you're trusting him again?"

"I owe him one," I sigh. For my parents, for saving me. He even saved Tai.

We don't speak for another few hours, Nakoa dozing off at some point until midday. I can't sleep, too much on my mind. What am I going to say when I see Marek again? Is he going to act like Nakoa is right now, thinking I'm about to transform into a Tani?

I focus on her as she stifles a yawn. "If I start turning into some crazed Tani creature, promise me you'll kill me."

She just nods tightly. " I will."

"How do you feel about Tai?" I can't help myself in asking. Nakoa was a Noble for his father for years, she must know something I don't.

"I like him," she affirms, although it takes her a moment to admit it. There has to be some moments in the past that have made her doubt her "Evolet never did, but she doesn't...Didn't like anyone. Why?"

I decide I shouldn't bring it up. Tai needs to be the one to explain what's happening in the basement to me, or I need to see for myself, if that part of the estate hasn't been trashed by Vaia.

"No reason. I'm going to get some sleep." I nestle into the corner of the carriage, wishing the carriage wasn't undulating like this, my stomach churning.

"I'm not going to push you back to him, if you're not ready," Nakoa assures me. "I'm not even going to ask what happened between you two."

I smile, my eyes fluttering closed. "Thank you, Nakoa."

Soon, I will see Marek again, and everything will slot into place.