I was floating uselessly behind the sickening pair. My body was latched onto Rajaka as if he was the last man on Earth, and even worse…Rajaka loved it. He was cradling her in his arms, carrying her as if she weighed no more than a feather. I wanted to jump back into the body and smack him upside the face, but I was afraid of the power that I had escaped from this morning. I didn’t want it again.
Seeing her with him made me think of Hiram. What would he think if saw my body now, I wondered. Oh well, not like I’ll ever know, he had probably gone on with his life, found someone else to stalk.
I shook my ghostly head. I couldn’t be thinking like that. I love Hiram, and I am pretty sure that he loves me, not that he ever said so in so many words. His name and memory had helped me break though the influence of Rajaka’s power, that couldn’t be for nothing. That had to be real.
For the hundredth time I wondered where he was. He was probably in the forest somewhere, hopefully looking for me. I sighed, not like it would do me any good if he found me now. I would have to reenter the body, and feel the weight of all the power pushing down on me again.
I needed to know how to escape the power, I had to get out of it, but who can tell me how?
I knew the answer before I had even thought the question. But the answer scared me so much that I didn’t want to face it, but there was no way around it.
I had to talk to the chair of Gwydyr.
That meant that I had to reenter the body.
I shuttered one long, ghostly shutter.
Luckily we were headed for the throne room. I was worried that my body might try to convince Rajaka to let them take a detour to go to the garden again, where I, no doubt, would have to sit through them making out for hours and hours.
At least this new thing inside my body was drawn the power, and therefore the throne room.
As they opened the door, my body’s appearance caused a commotion. Guards openly stared and gawked, while Cyrena froze. Rajaka set her down lightly on her feet and sat down in his chair.
I closed my eyes, steeling myself mentally for reentering my body. When I opened my eyes she wasn’t in my chair! I quickly scanned the exit to see if she had made a break for it after all.
Nope.
But I did notice that the guard’s eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets. I turned back around to see where all of them had their eyes locked.
She was sitting in Rajaka’s lap! As comfy as can be, she snuggled up close to him and closed her eyes.
Luckily Rajaka hadn’t expected the power to go this far and at least he had more dignity than that. He shook her awake.
“Honey, you need to sit in your own chair right now,” his voice calm and soothing, “later,” he promised her quietly in her ear. I trembled at the thought of what he might do to her later.
She quietly went back to her seat and sit down.
“Here we go,” I said to no one in particular, bracing myself all the while.
I floated next to my body and raised my hands as if I was going to dive into a pool.
I took the plunge.
Pressure surrounded me, engulfing me in its force. I gasped finally breaking the surface. I could feel it coming back even now growing stronger and pulling me under. I didn’t have much time.
What is happening to me, I asked the chair. It seemed to know that I had no time and answered with as short answers as possible.
Exactly what you saw in your dream, it seemed to whisper back. I nodded, knowing that was going to be the answer, but knowing that I had to ask it anyway.
How can I get rid of it?
You can’t by yourself.
How, I demanded?
Only your true love knows.
I mentally sighed, knowing who my true love was, knowing that he will never come to me.
You don’t know that, the chair offered. I sighed again, knowing that I would have to ask another question, one that I didn’t know if I wanted to know the answer to. I could feel the pressure rising, knowing I would only have time for this one last question.
Where is Hiram?
A picture flashed into my mind. It was Hiram, strapped to a chair in a dark, lonesome room. He was staring intently at a video that was being displayed on the wall. It took me a few seconds to realize that the video was of the present. I was sitting in the throne room, in my stripper outfit. I would twitch every now and then in an uncontrollable reaction to the strain of trying to stay above the pressure. Tears were streaking down his face.
He is in the dungeons, watching every move you make, the chair told me lightly as if knowing that the fact would shred me apart.
I lost control.
The pressure was taking hold and I couldn’t fight it anymore.
This time I didn’t step out of the body; I was pushed out.
Right before it had gotten rid of me completely I had time to turn my head to the side, knowing where he would be because of the angle of the video he had been watching.
I had milliseconds to search every nook and cranny of the corner of the room. Right as I was being pushed out, I swear that I saw a flash of gold.