Jessica felt like death.

Her body was heavy, as if she wore concreate. Her headache still graced her with its presents. But this time rather than being an overwhelming experience it just gently pulsed at her temples. Her breathing felt uneven, and as she took each ragged breath her throat burned and her tongue was thick in her mouth. If it wasn’t for her desperate need to pee and drink a gallon of water, Jessica would want to fall back to sleep for year.

Slowly, she dragged her eyelids up, regretting it instantly as stars danced across her vision. Sleep dust crusted her lashes and she begrudgingly lifted a sore and weak arm to rub her eyes. If it wasn’t for the ache in her wrist, the eye rub would’ve been the best feeling in the world. She closed her eyes again, deciding it wasn’t her time to wake up just yet and tried to get back to sleep.

But she realised she could hear an odd screech and caw outside. It was obviously a bird but she never heard that type before. She could smell salt in the air, rather than moss and dew. Her bed was moving. Or more like, swaying. Odd, her bed, or the tower does not normally sway. Considering how tired she was, Jessica was tempted to ignore the strange change in senses. But the swaying was causing her stomach to churn. With a groan she opened her eyes again and actually looked at her surroundings.

This was not her bedroom.

Jessica appeared to be in a small cabin, the bunk she slept on was made of straw as well as the accompanying pillow. A thin cotton throw was draped across her which was a murky cream colour. It smelt clean, but there were the telltale signs of aging; and an old wine stain in the bottom corner which made her second guess the cleanliness. Mahogany wooden panels lined the walls and the floors, and a small port hole provided her a view of water.

Not just water, the ocean. Ignoring the hiss of pain and the pang of nausea she jolted upright to get her first view of the ocean. Surprisingly her dreams were pretty accurate, but she was still left speechless. She let out a small gasp and lifted her hand out to touch the glass as she looked out toward the distance beach and golden sun as it danced against the turquoise waves.

Jessica looked at her hand and then frowned as she caught the spiraled bruises on her wrists. The purple has darkened to almost black, and it was ringed with blotches of yellow. Her brows rose in panic as she realised she wasn’t wearing her pretty lace shirt or leather trousers that hid her bruises. Someone had not only put her in a strange room, but they also changed her clothes. She now wore a thin sleeveless cotton nightgown that came to her calves. Her eyes widened as Jessica recalled the events at the tower. The strange surge in magic, the blinding white light and the earthquakes, the intruders...

A pointed cough sent her head swirling into the direction of the voice.

Behind Jessica a woman stood, leaning against the door. The room was tiny, next to her bunk was a nightstand with a glass and jug of water. A bucket sat in the corner, either for her sea sickness or other business, Jessica didn’t know.

“Nice view isn’t it?” Windy spoke softly, her sky-blue and seafoam grey eyes watching her intently. Taking all but one step into the tiny cabin, she pulled up a stall and perched on the seat, never dropping her gaze from Jessica. She watched her like a cat would watch a mouse, waiting for the slightest movement before she pounced. “How are you feeling?” Jessica couldn’t tell if she was being polite, or just asking to fill the void as she didn’t respond to her last comment. But Jessica decided to not respond. She was one of her captors; bad people had attacked her just like her Aunt had warned.

As pretty as the ocean was, Jessica was starting to regret ever wishing to leave the tower. For freedom.

Windy sighed, glanced at the window, and then back at Jessica. She looked tired, and bored. “You’ve been asleep for nearly four days. I need to know if you’re in pain anywhere. I patched up your external injuries you sustained when the tower fell. But unless you speak to me, I don’t know how else to help.”

“The tower fell?” Jessica squeaked; it came out like gravel. Noticing the pain in her voice, Windy poured her a glass of water from the jug and handed her the glass. Jessica slowly took it and drank her fill, ignoring her bladders plea for relief.

“Yes. It came tumbling down.” Windy let out a low whistle. “You have some mighty powerful magic, never seen anything like it in my life.”

Jessica’s brows knitted together “What do you mean? I didn’t use my magic.”

Windy’s light brown eyebrows shot up in disbelief “we’re not that stupid or gullible.”

“Unless I made a giant tree pulverise the tower, I did not do it. I just wield wood magic, healing magic mainly.” What was this woman talking about?

“Nope, no giant tree. But tell me, if you specialise in healing, why aren’t your bruises healed? You did not sustain those in the fall.” She smiled a half smile at Jessica as she leaned back and folded her arms. She believed she caught Jessica in a lie.

“I cannot heal myself; I’ve only been taught how to heal others or to encourage plants to grow. It’s not a lie, I’ve never had any other powers.” Jessica’s brows burrowed closer together as she remembered the weird power that sunk into her body. Even weirder was how it felt like her magic. Windy sighed again, this time much more irritated.

“Your injuries?”

“My body aches like I'm attached to lead. There’s a shooting pain in my back and right rib. I’ve had a headache since you attacked my home, but it’s not as severe as when we were at the tower.” Jessica gave up. This was not her idea of her first ever girls' chat.

“Aching and headaches are normal when you’ve over exerted your magic abilities. Let’s see your ribs” Jessica shyly rolled up her nightgown, careful to only expose the right rib and keep the left hidden. Windy gently poked and prodded at her, allowing Jessica to roll down the gown when she was satisfied. “Just some light bruising. It’ll go sooner than those bruises on your wrists and ankles.” Windy frowned as she looked at them, as if she could see the hand that was gripped against Jessica’s wrist. “What’s your name?”

“Jessica.” She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to tell her this, but the temptation to introduce herself for the first time –kidnapping and everything considered- was too strong.

“Nice to meet you Jessica, I’m Laryssa. Now can you tell me about that box?” Laryssa crooned, giving her a cold smile.

“I told you before, I don’t know. You found that it my Aunts private chambers, I’m not allowed down there.” She tried to come across as open and genuine as possible. It wasn’t a lie, but Jessica didn’t want them knowing of her birthmark or the fact Jessica wasn’t aware of the connection between herself and the box. Laryssa seemed to consider what she said before moving on to the next round of questioning.

“Tell me about your Aunts’ creepy apothecary and torture table.” The hackles on her arms and nape rose. Jessica didn’t want to talk about the room that haunts her nightmares.

“My Aunt dapples in potion making. I occasionally assist with my magic. It’s a treatment table.” Jessica obviously appeared too defensive, as Laryssa gave her an amused smile and started nodding her head.

“Right, and I’m the missing Princess Leanncia.” Laryssa rolled her eyes and leaned back again. “Your bruises appear to be hand prints, not the cuffs that were attached to the table. So, tell me, how do you assist.”

“I told you. I assist with my magic. I’m sickly occasionally and my Aunt chooses to hold me down rather than cuff me when I need to take medicine.” Lie and truth, lie and truth.

Laryssa continued to eye Jessica warily. She couldn’t tell if she was considering her statement, or if she could see through the half-truths and lies. “What was that white light that brought the tower down? It came from you. So did those earthquakes.”

Jessica’s jaw just dropped as she gaped at Laryssa. “Again, I only have wood magic. I have no clue where the light came from, and I assumed there were earth wielders nearby. They’re common in Chantia.” Jessica shook her head in disbelief.

With another sigh Laryssa rose from her stall and headed for the door. “This is going round in circles. I’ll be back later, there’s plenty of water and the bucket is there for your business. Food will be brought in shortly along with a wash basin. This door will be locked, don’t even think about leaving.” And with that warning, Laryssa closed the door behind her. Leaving Jessica to reel about the interrogation. Why did she appear so adamant that she had more powers?

She didn’t, did she?

Reluctantly, Jessica used the shoddy bucket as a chamber pot and drank more water before allowing herself the sleep that her body craved.