by KingOfDoma » Wed Oct 03, 2007 11:02 pm
Goren said, coldly, "You wouldn't."
Goren opened his eyes. That immediately felt wrong. The last thing he remembered... the last thing he remembered... he was in the castle kitchen, with Augusta... He slipped... then...
Black.
Looking around, he knew this was not the castle kitchen. Though, sadly, it also was not the castle infirmary, the castle courtyard, the castle barracks... the castle anything. He was... in a house. A small house. He was covered in a blanket, there was a warm fire in the room, and.. "AUGUSTA!"
It was her. She was cooking up something... ... that he couldn't smell. That was weird. Usually her cooking hit his nose like a rampaging elephant (good or bad), but today... nothing. And another thing... his body felt numb. Not tingly and sensitive like he'd slept on his arm, but like... his skin wasn't connected to his brain anymore. Not even the hardness of his armor on him could be detected. It was beyond odd.
It occured to him, when she responded with a gentle, loving, "Goren...? Oh, it's so good to see you up," that he had said her name audibly. "I know you weren't sleeping, but I hope you rested well."
Rested... He wasn't... "I guess you must feel different now. Detached. I know. But I'll help you feel again... I'll start by never letting you go..." Her voice was so lyrical, but she sounded ... there was something so off about her.
His mouth was dry. "What... what happened, Augusta? I... don't remember what happened... was I hurt?" At this, Augusta stopped stirring her pot of food, and sat down with Goren, patting his hand. Even if he couldn't feel it, when Augusta was near him, he could always relax. Focus on her...
"You were killed, Goren. You were... are... dead." Immediately, Goren withdrew his hand.
"What? No... that can't... I don't remember... I don't remember DYING..."
"It would have been hilarious, Goren," she reassured. "There was a bunch of things slipping, and I started to laugh... but then I saw... the fork in your chest..." She pressed his hand against him, and he looked down to see three reddened holes in his armor, ringed with his own blood. He shoved himself backwards, to the wall, in horror. It was true. He was... he was dead.
"Why? Why... why me, Augusta? Why... bring me back?" A thousand other questions were racing through his mind. How did she do this? How'd she get his body out of the castle? What would his mother, his brother say?
"You're the first, Goren... my cooking, it... was practice. I've always had trouble with proportions... and I still may have added too much paprika... but you're here. You're you. And... you can be my king." She smiled, but like everything he experienced since he... woke, there was something subtly, but deeply off about it.
And then it happened. His mouth was still dry. And as he stared into Augusta's eyes, he wondered... at their taste. In his mind, there was a brief vision of dashing the girl's skull against the wall, again and again, until... that beautiful bounty in her head was laid open, her dark mauve hair pulled apart for all to see...
Goren freaked out. He slid to the floor, and did a half-crabwalk away from the off-balance girl. "Goren?" Augusta said, confused. "What's wrong, darling? Don't... don't you want to live forever?"
That was all he needed to hear. Goren got to his feet as fast as he could, and scrambled for the door, into the inky black night.
It would be one of the first times he would run...
Goren's jaw set. "We'll get you through this, Michael. You're freaked out, I know, but you're around nice, sane people. You should do just fine."
You're sure gonna do better than I did, that's for sure...