Crown of Thorns

Chapter Two

"You never answered my question," I reminded, crossing my arms. I would have left if I'd known where I was. I didn't understand why my patience was so thin. Yes, Matthew was irritating, but I was typically slow to anger. I felt strangely agitated by Matthew's presence.

"I know Ayesha," Matthew answered. "Know her well. I know her then, now, and again."

"Fine," I grunted, although Matthew did seem hauntingly familiar. From where, I couldn't place. I decided to try another question. "Where are we?"

"Here," he replied, tapping his foot on the grassy earth a few paces away.

"Not helpful." Still, I didn't feel particularly concerned with being in such a strange place. That made it even stranger. "If you really were my friend, you'd help me get home."

"Ayesha is my friend!" Matthew cheered, clapping his hands together in his merriment. "I will help."

"Good," I sighed. Finally I'd get an answer from this boy. "Where do I need to go?"

"Where should be who. Who should you become? Empress is my friend."

So much for a answer, or at least one that made any semblance of sense.

"Where are you from?" I rubbed my forehead in exasperation. I couldn't fathom where this boy had originated. His crypticness was frustrating and unnerving.

"From?" Matthew tilted his head as if he didn't understand the question. "Everywhere."

"That's not possible," I protested.

"Lots of things are possible," he countered. "Different futures. Waves and eddies. You will learn. Soon."

"Soon? What's soon? My sister said--"

"Tarasova." He nodded with understanding. "She will help you learn."

"Tara...what?" I frowned.

"Tarasova." Matthew rolled his eyes, mirroring my exasperation. He looked disappointed that I didn't understand him, just like Lalita often did. Unlike Lalita, his cryptically came in his coded speech rather than arbitrary hand gestures.

"I don't have time for this," I grumbled. "I need to get home."

"You are home," Matthew stated. "And here."

I ignored the strange boy, turning on my heel and marching towards a row of trees that seemed to beckon me forward like trees had for as long as I could recall.

"Ayesha must prepare!" Matthew called desperately, but as far as I could hear he made no attempt to follow me. "Find the Cards! The caged lion. The chained fury. Find them, friend!"

            ~~~~~~~~~~•~~~~~~~~~~

I opened my eyes. The darkness that cloaked the my minimal furniture, art supplies, and potted plants was beginning to lighten. I couldn't distinguish between my chair and desk. Shadows crept from the window and climbed the wall like the ivy plant I kept in my room.

When I lifted my head, agony washed over me. I pressed my hands to my aching temples and collapsed back into my pillow with a groan. Warm stickiness trickled from my nose.

I recalled my dream with a shudder and searched for something to hold against my bleeding nose. It had to be a dream. But it seemed so real... I assumed I was developing a fever of some sort. That would explain the head pain and the hallucinations. Maybe even the nosebleed.

Still, even when I was bedridden for weeks at a time with fever at eleven years old, I'd never experienced such vivid dreams.

Matthew Matt Zero Matto.

This cryptic boy from my imagination... What had he meant by soon? What had Lalita meant by it?

Perhaps Lita referred to my marriage to Amire, and Matthew was a figment of my apprehension?

Maybe.

My headache swelled to a greater intensity, causing me to cry out as blood dripped down my face. My vision felt blurred and nausea churned in my stomach. Fearing I might be sick I desperately reached over the side of the bed  and grasped the cold rim of a ceramic pot, pulling it closer. I leaned over the pot, and the thriving ivy plant inside it, expecting to lose my supper.

I gripped the edge of my mattress tightly, nails digging in.

The smell of roses tickled my nose.

The pain blurred my vision again, but this time it didn't clear. I saw only darkness, and fell into a dreamless sleep to the sound of blood softly dripping onto the leaves of ivy.

((Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments on the prologue and first chapter! It makes my day!
Any thoughts as to what Matthew means? Or is it really just a figment of Ayesha's over stressed imagination?
Thank you so much for reading! I'd love to hear what you thought.))