Her slender hands patted her partly bare back but Belladonna remained stiff in her overpowering, calming embrace.
Was this still an illusion?
The door pushed open but with her face being buried into Lady Kestra's shoulder, she couldn't see anything. Belladonna wondered if the person stepping out was a bride and she struggled out of the embrace, pulling away only to see that it was Collin, leading Raquel out of the room.
Was this still a dream?
Why were there so many strange things happening?
There was an unusual aura she could sense in the air though, it felt suspiciously calming.
Too calming.
"Raquel." Her voice was breathy as she called out for her. Her legs taking stumbling desperate steps to quickly reach for the only person that felt a little close to home in this whole situation.
"You were screaming." Her hands reached out for her but hung in the air, then dropped to her sides, because of Collin who stood partly in the way with his back abruptly turned to her.
Why was he doing that?
"Are you alright?"
"I will never be insane again." Her voice was low as her hand brushed over her shoulder, her eyes filled with fatigue and her lips stretched into a tired smile. Her gaze moved up to her Mistress and her eyebrows shot up with horror, before her hands started pulling at her blue uniform. "You are uncovered."
Uncovered?
Before Belladonna could process that word, Raquel was breathing heavily as she tried to pull off her uniform, already tangled in the fabric, as a result of her clumsy hands.
"You can't put yourself through that stress, Raquel." Kestra tried to push forward but Belladonna was faster, helping her untangle herself, catching the light purple glow the tattoo on her shoulder was emitting.
That was strange.
Was this in any way connected to the gem? Now that she was thinking about it, where was the gem?
WAS SHE STILL DREAMING?!
She hated this, hated this so much. Not knowing if any of this was real, not knowing what state of mind she was in right now, not being sure of who these people in front of her really were.
It felt so troubling.
Lady Kestra's hand slipped into her hair, trying to fix it from whatever horrific state it must be in, while she tried to guide her away from the hallway, saying something about getting her some clothes to put on.
But Belladonna wasn't bothered about any of that right now, or what it even meant, she reached forward to Raquel instead.
"Are you alright, Raquel?"
"I---" Raquel paused and her smile dwindled before her gaze became more intense and she asked in a quiet tone.
"Are you alright, My Lady?"
Belladonna frowned, a chill passing over her for a reason she couldn't justify. "Why did you ask?"
"I---" Raquel blinked, her eyebrows fluttering from how fast she was blinking, her forehead creased into a deep frown and her eyes filled with conflict. "I can't remember."
"Alright. That is enough. Stress her any further and we might have a crazy bunch of that to deal with. Trust me, Bell sweetheart, we don't want that." Lady Kestra flashed her a quick smile, before tapping Collin on his back, dismissing him. "Take her away, Collin."
Collin, still with his back turned to them, picked Raquel up and started moving down the hall. Raquel's gaze was still fixed on her Mistress, blank eyes looking at her across the hallway, till they took a turn down the stairs and disappeared.
Kestra's hand flew to the doorknob as she pulled Belladonna along with her to the room, she had come out from earlier.
"We need to get you something to wear, I won't have you running around like you are insane. Why did you even do this? The King will not like this."
The King.
Yes, the King!
She wanted to see him, wanted to talk to him. She was looking for him for a reason.
Belladonna pulled away, heading back the way she had intended to go to first before Raquel's screams had distracted her.
"I need to see the King." The words stumbled out of her mouth, while she fruitlessly attempted to yank her hand away from Kestra. "I need--," her eyebrows shot up with questioning urgency. "Now!"
Kestra paused, observing her through narrowed gaze before asking, her voice laced with worry.
"What happened?"
Belladonna gulped.
"You want to kill me." The words blurted out of her mouth. Her thoughts were all over the place, her mind a mess. "You want to use me as a sacrifice, as some power something."
Kestra's grip around her wrist tightened.
"I would never hurt you." Her eyes glimmered with sharp anger, her lower lips giving away a little tremble. "Who is feeding you these lies?"
Then her gaze softened.
"Is it the Bride Thief? Is he getting into your head?" Her gaze moved to the necklace and Belladonna's hand moved over it in instinctive protection.
"Of course, it can't be him. What is going on?"
"It was you!" She snapped, her body trembling with fear, tears running down her cheeks.
"Me? I only just arrived this afternoon. Belladonna," she reached for her head but she stood back quickly.
"It get it now." Kestra's face fell, sympathy sipping into her eyes. "You poor thing. You had a nightmare." She let out a sigh of relief. "You had me so worry there for a second, I thought you were becoming like Raquel."
Then she turned, heading to the room once again, her grip still tight around Belladonna's wrist.
Belladonna's gaze widened with a little horror. Something in her made her wary of entering that room, so she pulled back in resistance, using all the strength she could muster. Sadly, they were weak against Kestra's grip.
With how far Kestra and her and gone in their friendship, Belladonna knew that she should be comfortable with telling her what she had seen, but with what had just happened some moments ago, and Raquel looking like a numbed version of herself, Belladonna couldn't trust the Lady Kestra standing in front of her.
"What did you do to Raquel?"
"I healed her. Completely." Kestra flashed her a smile. "And honestly I should rest already because of the journey and how stressful everything has been before my arrival, the healing too, but..." she paused, giving her a one over. "You look insane, Bell, let me fix you."
Fix her?
She didn't have time for that.
"No, fix me later." She said with an appreciative smile. "I want to see the King now."
"Whatever horrific sight you saw in your dream, that is not me. It was only a dream and it wasn't real."
Belladonna let out groan from the sharp pain that crossed through her brain.
"Ah, you are hurti--"
"Let go of my Bride at once, Kestra!"