The clearing came up before me, with the varnished wooden coffin in the middle of it. I gulped down my nerves and approached. This time, I'd keep my cool. I knew what I was going to find when I looked in the coffin. I was ready for Mother's pale face and weakened state.
It was just a dream.
Nothing could hurt us here. It was nothing more than stress causing me to dream of things I shouldn't. Mother was safe in her bedchamber with Father, not poisoned, and certainly not in a coffin.
I closed my eyes as I reached the edge of the coffin. I knew it was pointless, and that the dream wouldn't end until I saw what was waiting for me, but that didn't stop me from wanting to put it off.
"Come on, Kelis," I muttered to myself. "You can do this. One peek is all it's going to take."
My eyes snapped open. And that was when I started to scream, even if I'd promised myself I wasn't going to. It was Mother's body lying in the coffin, but her face had changed. Her face was wizened with deep wrinkles and grey hair that was falling out in clumps. She looked sick. Sicker than I'd ever imagined possible.
The dream started to throw me out, the images blurring in front of me and becoming far less tangible.
"Mother!" I screamed. "No, Mother, please, let me help!" I thrashed against the dream, but it didn't let me go. Of course, it wouldn't. This was exactly what had happened yesterday.
My eyes darted open, and I found myself tangled in my sheets. The dim light of dawn streamed through the window. Huh. Exactly the same time as yesterday. That had to mean something, right?
I took a few deep breaths, trying to steady the worry building inside me. It was just a dream. Nothing more than my subconscious worrying about things it didn't need to. If I stayed calm, it would disappear, and I wouldn't have to worry about it any longer.
I drifted back to sleep, though not very deeply, I was still full of the worry and distrust the dream had left me with. How had this happened?
The next time I opened my eyes, more light streamed through the windows. It was time to start the day, even if the echo of the dream still haunted me.
I crept along the corridor, not wanting to be spotted. I didn't want to go into my parents' room again. They might start thinking that I was going crazy. Not when they were so patient with me after yesterday morning. But I did want to check that Mother was alright. The dream was etched in my mind, and I knew it wouldn't go away until I reassured myself that she was alive.
I flattened myself against the wall as one of the servants walked past. This wasn't my best plan, and I'd certainly have a hard time explaining it if I was caught.
Mother's laugh filled the hallway as the servant slipped into my parents' room. I breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't sound hurt. Or sick. She was fine. I could get on with my day and stop worrying about her.
Before heading to bed the night before I’d asked one of the servants to find some pamplets on the various spell casting competitions currently being held around Azure, Enchantia’s capital city and to place them under his door with a note to meet me in the front hall after breakfast.
I walked down the corridors, nodding to the servants as I passed. It never hurt to be on good terms with them.
The moment I stepped into the entrance hall, I stopped in my tracks. In the middle of the marble floor, stood Adam's entire group of friends, including Jake. I swallowed my nerves. There was only one way I could save face in this situation, and that was to walk up to them as if nothing was wrong.
I held my head up high and put on my best princess face.
"Good morning," I said brightly. "Was there anywhere you had in mind that you wanted to go?" I directed my question at Topher as he was the one I'd arranged to meet.
"We were just deciding whether or not we wanted to go to one of the competitions that are on today," Topher said.
"Which one is it?"
"One on Queen's Row," Adam answered, eyeing me up and down.
"That one is supposed to be good," I said, though it was more to impress them all than anything, I'd never been to any of the spell competitions, so I didn't really have an opinion on them. I knew that was bad of me, but I couldn't help it.
Lyss glared at me, her eyes narrowed with displeasure. Clearly, she wasn't going to become my friend overnight then. "I think it's stupid." She crossed her arms under her chest, revealing a little too much for my tastes with her low cut top. "I don't want to go."
"You don't have to come," Topher cut in. "But I'd like to go, if Kelis is willing to show us where it is." He looked at me for confirmation.
I nodded at him. “Of course.”
Indecision warred over Lyss' face. Clearly, she didn't like the idea that I was going, but she couldn't backtrack and say she was interested now, or she'd look like an idiot.
"I'd like to go," Adam said. "We don't get much spell practice at the university. It'll be good to do some while we're here."
Jake nodded. "That's a good point. I'd like to go too."
Lyss' scowl deepened, but I chose to ignore her. It wasn't my fault that her boyfriend had decided to come with us instead of staying with her.
"What about you, Rhi?" Adam asked.
She jumped, clearly not having expected to be asked anything. "Yes, I'd like to come," she
