When Aeryn opened her eyes, the familiar lines of the tent ceiling were obscured by the soft, deep shadows of evening. The silence was absolute. The noise and frantic energy of the day were gone, replaced by the profound yet uncommon quiet of the camp.
Sakina was sitting beside her, her posture rigid even in stillness, her sword, Aeryn's own spare blade, in one hand, her other hand tightly holding Aeryn's.
"Sakina…" Aeryn said weakly, trying to push herself up.
"Your Highness!" Sakina stood instantly, the speed of her reaction revealing the depth of her vigilance. "you are up!"
"Of course I am up," Aeryn said, rubbing her temples and pushing the hair back from her face with a hand that felt curiously heavy.
Sakina's gaze was fixed on her, filled with a deep, motherly tenderness and a terrifying anxiety. Unconsciously, Sakina lifted her free hand and began gently stroking Aeryn's head, smoothing the hair at her temple. Aeryn, confused by the gesture, was about to pull away, but seeing the intense, vulnerable need in Sakina's eyes, the desperate urge to simply hold her, she stopped.
"Sakina… are you well?"
"Yes? Yes… yes, Your Majesty, I am good." Sakina moved back quickly, standing upright and assuming a professional distance, but her hands were trembling. "Are you alright, My lady? Are you feeling any discomfort anywhere?" sakina asked eagerly, looking around her.
Aeryn managed a tired smile and looked around the empty tent. "Yeah! What could happen to me! It's quiet time, I see. I said we would set off at noon… We've wasted too much daylight."
Sakina stunned and only stared at her, the worry in her eyes darkening. "Your Highness…"
"Where are the girls, Sakina? Have they decided if they want to stay?"
"Your Highness…"
"How many girls are staying behind? The one who want to go with me, I mean?"
"Your Highness…"
"How about we set off in the morning? It's getting dark already, and I'm too weak to break down camp."
"MY LADY!" Sakina finally cried, the name a desperate, choking sound as Aeryn didn't let her complete a single sentence. "There are no girls!" she finished, the words laced with anxious finality.
"What do you mean?" Aeryn asked. Trying to stand up, she felt weakness and fell back heavily onto the cot. "No girl?"
"No one wanted to stay?" she said to herself.
Then, without letting Sakina answer, she replied herself, a dark laugh bubbling up. "Right. Of course. After all, who wants to stay with an insane Queen."
Sakina knelt quickly in front of her, clutching her hands again. "I sent the girls away, my lady." She bowed her head.
Aeryn snapped her head towards her, the last vestiges of humor gone. "You did what?"
"I sent them away," Sakina repeated, the words muffled.
"Why? With whose command? With whose permission?" Aeryn's voice was raising with every word, now laced with fury.
"My lady, I sent them to the palace, except the ones you expelled. And I urge you to return! You are not well!"
"Sakina, I am asking you, with whose permission did you dare take command into your own hands? And the ones I kicked out? When did I kick anyone out?"
Sakina looked up, anxiety etched deeply into her face. "You… you… you expelled three girls for losing their decorum! Just before you fell unconscious!"
"I did?" Aeryn looked utterly ghastly, her mind racing, scrambling for a memory that wasn't there.
Sakina, worried sick now, immediately rushed to her side. "My Queen…"
"what should I do?" She whispered this to herself, before looking back at Aeryn. "My Lady, what is the last thing you remember clearly?"
Aeryn closed her eyes, concentrating hard. When she opened them, her pale face was etched with deep, chilling confusion. "I… after I announced we will set off at noon, I came to my tent and maybe I slept away… before the day's heat began."
Sakina's hand flew to her mouth in utter horror. "No, no, no, no, this cannot be. This cannot be!" she was whining.
"My lady, we cannot stay here! Please listen to me! You are getting sick!"
"Sakina, for God's sake! Don't play games with me! I am not sick! And for sending my girls without my permission, you will face the consequences!"
"My Queen, I am willing to face any retribution, any pain, but please, listen to me! You know I have never gone against you, but please, I cannot now! Send me to the dungeons, or kill me, but please listen!"
Aeryn pushed Sakina away, trying to stand up again. "Stop this non-sense."
As she pushed herself upright, her eyes involuntarily caught sight of her reflection in the small, polished mirror resting on a packing crate near the bed. A cold shiver, far deeper than any fear, shot down her spine.
Sakina saw Aeryn's focus and immediately tried to snatch the mirror away, but Aeryn was faster. She pulled it from Sakina's grasp and stared at herself.
There were clear, shocking white streaks slicing through the dark, blood-red hair. The streaks were stark and unnatural, starting at her temples and fading halfway back, a permanent, physical scar of the trinity's final blow. First they were turning blood red, now it was white.
Aeryn pointed to the mirror, her eyes wide with a surreal, surprised smile. "What is this, Sakina?! Who is this? What? Why? How…" She looked wildly between the mirror and Sakina. Her head spinning.
Sakina could only collapse, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.
Through sobs, she stated the whole terrifying situation. She told Aeryn about their disagreement, Aeryn's rage and subsequent ride away, her return, the debacle with the girls, the terrifying blood-binding demonstration, and the three girls Aeryn had expelled. Then she described Aeryn's sudden collapse after spurting blood from her mouth, detailing how she had been unconscious for the past two full days.
"And the hair…" Sakina choked out. "The white… it appeared shortly after you fell unconscious. The power… it's consuming you, My Lady. It is eating the life from your body and the memory from your very soul."
Aeryn was silent and numb, staring into the blank space in front of her. She was mummified, her hands straight by her side, the mirror clutched so tightly her knuckles were white. The silence was the silence of a mind that had shattered and was trying to piece itself back together from nothing.
"Please, Your Highness… please. I beg you. Let us return. Before there is nothing left to save. Please…"
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