“You brought her here?!”

“What was I supposed to do? Leave her with that monster?”

“N-No, however, bringing her here was not the wisest choice. Your father will not approve of this.”

“My father isn’t too interested in my affairs, as long as I follow his orders and don’t get in his way, he will leave me be.”

I hear voices just as I slip back into consciousness. My entire body aches and I have a pounding headache. I try to open my eyes but I’m blinded by the sunlight piercing my eyes.

“Hush! She’s waking up.”

I feel a hand on my cheek, instantly making me flinch and causing me to slam my head to the headboard.

“Hey. It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” The voice sounds familiar but my torn apart head doesn’t register it. I try to open my eyes again only to be hurt by the sun again.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Gloria, close the curtains.” I hear the sound of fabric rustling and I can feel the warmth of the sun being taken away. “It’s okay now. You can open your eyes.”

Once I again I try to open them and this time I prevail. Although my sight is still a bit blurry, I can make out my surroundings. The bed I’m in is the size of my old kitchen. The room itself is bigger than my old house. I have never seen such a big room. The curtains look like they are made of gold, the floor is so shiny and clean that you can even see your reflection. I’m in such awe of the room that it takes a cough to pull me back to reality. I turn towards the direction from which the cough came. My eyes immediately lock with a familiar set of eyes. Those eyes that normally have amusement in them, now have worry and a hint of anger in them. He reaches down and offers me his hand so that I can sit on the bed. I hesitate at first, but I’m too tired to overthink and I accept his help. His hand is warm and rough. He has scars and calluses on them. I look up at him and he’s looking at me, as if he’s trying to connect to my soul.

A cough makes me pull back from him and I see him smirk from the corner of my eye. I look to the direction from which it came from. Standing there, is a small elder woman, wearing a maid uniform, grey hair and a line of worry on her forehead. She comes towards us and places her hand on my forehead.

“Well it seems like you don’t have a fever, but you should rest. The bruises won’t heal themselves if you don’t rest.” I’m confused for a moment and her eyes motion down to my arms. I look at them and I gasp. My arms have bruises from being grabbed so forcefully. Tears start to well up in my eyes and a single drop falls. The man cleans the trail that it left behind. “Now don’t cry young girl, you’ve shed enough tears. I will be taking care of you in the meantime. My name is Ms. Gloria.” Ms. Gloria turn back to the man. “It’s time for you to go and let this lovely lady get settled in. She has been through a lot.”

“If I could kill that bastard I would.” His voice sounds angry and his eyes reflect the emotion. He seems like he’s holding back his emotions. The maid pats his back.

“Yes, yes, but he’s already in custody, therefore, any other action would not be ideal.” I release a sigh knowing that the man who assaulted me is behind bars. I would not feel safe in the streets if he was free. I just hope his group won’t come looking for me. As much as I love the comfort of this bed, I can’t stay. I start the process of getting up only to me interrupted by Ms. Gloria. “Now where do you think you’re going young lady? You have to rest.”

“I don’t want to intrude.” My voice comes out weak and raspy. She gives me water and it instantly soothes my throat.

“You are not intruding one bit. You are a guest and you shall stay here until you have fully recovered.” Said the man.

“I don’t even know where I am or your name.” Ms. Gloria glares at him and places her hands on her hips.

“My! What kind of manners are these? Introduce yourself and explain to the young lady where she is. In the meantime, I will bring you something to eat, honey.” She promptly leaves, leaving me and him alone.

“I apologize for not introducing myself. My name is Leonard, but you can call me Leo. After what happened last night, I couldn’t leave you alone in the shape that you were, so I brought you here.”

“Where is here?” I ask because I feel like he’s avoiding telling me the location.

“The Palace.” My mind draws a blank. I could’ve sworn I heard him say palace.

“You are very funny but please tell me the truth.” I stare at him hoping he’ll say that it is in fact a joke, but he doesn’t. I take a double take on the room again. I slowly get out of bed and he helps me go towards the window. I open it, flinching because of the sunlight but as soon as my eyes adapt to it, I gasp. I can see the huge courtyard, the city, the market and the ruins. My knees give out and I collapse on the floor.

“Are you okay?!” Leo comes to my aid and helps me up and sits me on the nearest chair.

“Why am I here? Who are you? Am I going to die and this is my last taste of heaven before they kill me?!” I don’t know what’s going on and it’s making me extremely nervous. How can a person like me be in this Palace?

“Okay, just calm down first and I will give you all the answers.” I take a deep breath and look at him and when he sees that I’ve calmed down, he sits on the chair next to me. “Let me starts off by saying that no one is going to die. You are here as my guest and this was the only place I could take you to. As for who I am…” Leo gets up and takes a couple of steps before turning towards me again. “I’m a guard here at the Palace and the reason I was able to have you as my guest is because I called in a favor with the Prince and technically, you are his guest.”

“How can I be the Prince’s guest?! I’m just a nobody!” I get up and start pacing. This is too much for my head to process. Why is my life always so complicated?

“Hey, look at me.” Leo grabs my shoulders, halting me. “It’s okay. No one will bother you while you are here. If it makes you feel better, I’ll accompany you whenever you want to get some fresh air.” He flashes a smile at me. As much as I want to protest, I’m in no condition to go anywhere. My muscles are already starting to hurt from the pacing. “Here. Let me help you get back in bed.” He holds out his hand for me and I take it. He leads me back to the bed and helps me settle into it.

“I know that you have a lot of questions, but for now, you should rest, darling.” He tucks me in as he says that.

“I told you before not to call me darling.” He smirks. It seems that now that he’s verified that I’m okay, his behavior is going back to the one I first got to know.

“Oh. Would you prefer me calling you Iris or Evanna?” I freeze. How could he possibly know my real name? Did he follow me? Did he ask people for my name?

“Relax. I’m not a creep.” He pulls out something from his pocket and it takes me a while to recognize my mother’s amulet. “While I was collecting your things, I happened to come across this amulet and when I opened it, engraved it said To my daughter Evanna.” When I grabbed my mother’s amulet, I didn’t inspect it. She had gotten it a week before she had died. Maybe she was planning on giving it to me at one point but never got to. Leo hands me the amulet and I hold it close to me.

“Now, which name should I use when I need to call upon you, darling?” Here I was hoping for a nostalgic moment alone, but of course, he wouldn’t be so easy to get rid of.

“You may call me Evanna.” I mumble. For a split second, his gaze softens and then goes right back to its original state.

“Then Ms. Evanna, I shall leave you to rest and I will come back later in the day to check on you.” He pats my head, smiles and leaves.

I sigh. It’s been one thing after the other. I have not been able to get some much-needed rest, so I should take advantage of this amazing bed. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I fall asleep.

“Hello there, little kitten. Did you think you could get away from me so easily?” Yvan’s face is right in front of me and I try to run away. He grabs my arm and pulls me back and we’re face to face. “You’re not getting away this time kitten.” I kick and scream and I try to get free but I can’t.

“Evanna!”

Someone calls out to me but I can’t see who it is.

“No one is coming kitten.” Yvan starts to shake me.

“Evanna! Wake up!”

I open my eyes and I see Leo standing over with a worried face.

“I’m sorry. Shaking you up was the only way I could think of to wake you up since calling your name wasn’t working.” He wipes my face and only then I notice that I’ve been crying. “I though you were being attacked because you were screaming. Are you okay?”

“No.” I answer honestly, because I am not okay. I am scared, I am alone and I don’t have a clue on what to do. More tears start to fall out and Leo pulls me closer to him. I know we just met, but there’s something about him that makes me at ease.

“I’m right here and you’re safe. No one is going to hurt you.” Those are the last words I hear before falling back asleep.