iii

Dreams took up Ophelia's consciousness. She saw familiar faces, smiling towards her. Voices rang through her ears, calling her name. Everything seemed to be trying to get her attention. Her eardrums felt like they were about to explode. Her headache grew worse with each passing second. She felt as if she were going to scream, but couldn't.

Everything hurt too bad.

"Ophelia!"

Ophelia wanted to open her eyes. She wanted to see who was calling her name. His voice stood out more than the others. It was as if he were standing right beside her.

"Ophelia, please be okay."

Why wouldn't I be okay? Ophelia thought. I just want to stay here. It's so comforting. Ophelia went to fall deeper into the dark parts of her mind when she felt someone sit her up.

That's when everything came back to her.

Ophelia's eyes flew open and she lurched forward. Her head landed onto Caspian's lap. "I remember everything," Ophelia croaked out while Caspian helped her sit up. "I want to go back. I want to see my dad."

"I don't know about all of that, Ophelia. You've just gotten your memory back. Wouldn't it be an overload?" Caspian moved some strands of hair out of her face. Ophelia felt herself start getting worked up.

"I haven't seen him for years, I want to see him. I can't wait." Ophelia knew she was acting rashly, but she's just found out everything. She wanted to go home.

"I'll see what I can do, okay? I'll give you an answer within a week. Continue to work and do your normal routine." Caspian said after a few moments.

Ophelia smiled and wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you." She whispered against his shoulder. I'm going home. Finally.

---

A week passed with no word from Caspian. Ophelia was getting more and more anxious with each passing day. Where was he? What was taking him so long? Ophelia worked hard to keep her head level, but it proved difficult when she got home. Her mind wandered through the possibilities.

Maybe her father didn't want her to come back.

That hurt to think about. Ophelia sighed through her nose and closed the textbook she had been reading through. She pushed herself away from her desk and made her way to the kitchen to make herself some dinner. When she got in there, Caspian was leaning against the bar.

"Ah, shit" Ophelia yelled, pulling back from the entrance to the kitchen.

"Are you ready to go?" Caspian looked at his nails before looking up at Ophelia, who had her eyebrows knit together.

"How'd you get in here?" Ophelia walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge and grabbed an apple.

"Out of all the things you ask me, you ask how I got into your house? I am a demon, you know." Caspian chuckled and watched as Ophelia slowly bit into her apple. "What took so long?" She asked, causing Caspian to smile.

"That's the question you should be asking. Your father yelled at me for a while." Caspian rubbed the back of his neck. Ophelia looked at Caspian, confused. "I wasn't supposed to break that barrier until he told me it was okay." Caspian clarified.

"Oh." Ophelia reached into a cabinet and pulled out a sandwich bag and wrapped the apple up and set it back into the fridge.

"I'm ready." Ophelia said after sliding on some converse.

Caspian looked at her and smiled. "You realize the minute you are in the castle, you'll have handmaidens all around you, right? You don't technically need shoes."

Ophelia cocked her head. "I don't like walking outside without shoes on. There's so many germs. It's bad enough that I breathe it everyday."

Caspian held out his hand, not responding to what Ophelia had said. "Take my hand, and don't let go." Ophelia walked forward and gripped his hand tightly. She stepped closer to Caspian.

"Scared?" Caspian teased. "I've never done this before, so yes." Ophelia replies sassily. Caspian chuckled.

One moment, they were standing in the middle of the living room, the next the world was draped in darkness. It was cold, too cold.

Gooseflesh rose on Ophelia's arms and she gripped Caspian's hand tighter. She closed her eyes and hoped that it would end soon.

"You can open your eyes now, Darling." Caspian gently poked Ophelia's cheek. She opened her eyes and looked at Caspian before looking around over his shoulder. "Oh my god." Ophelia's eyes were wide with wonder.

"Are you ready to go meet your dad...again?" Caspian shrugged his shoulders. Ophelia nodded. "Yea, totally." She answered breathlessly.

Caspian grabbed Ophelia's hand and led her towards the entrance of the castle. The guards standing in front of the door took two steps back and bowed towards them. Ophelia looked at them and cocked her head to the side. "They do that when royalty walk through." Caspian whispered in her ear. Ophelia looked up at him. "But I'm not... am I?" Ophelia looked down at her hands, curious about the new information.

"Why didn't I remember that?" Ophelia asked herself. "Because it takes a while for the barrier to completely break after it's unlocked."

The sound of another voice caused Ophelia to jump. "I didn't mean to scare you." Ophelia turned around and saw the face that she'd seen a million times in her dreams.

"Dad?"

Ophelia smiled widely as Abraxas stepped off of the last step of the grand marble staircase. She rushed forward and wrapped him into a tight hug. "I missed you." Ophelia whispered into the crook of his neck.

"I missed you, too, Eli." Abraxas hugged her tighter. Although he knew where she was every time she moved, Abraxas missed having her around. Ophelia's going to have to be taught a lot about the ways of the kingdom, for she didn't grow up in it.

Ophelia pulled away and Abraxas held her at arm's length. He was examining how she looked. "Eli, you need to change out of these clothes. I don't know how the citizens will react to the "human wear"." Abraxas chuckled.

Ophelia smiled sheepishly. "I don't have anything." Caspian stepped around to get into Ophelia's line of vision. "Don't worry about that. We have it all taken care of."

Abraxas let go of her biceps and called out to a few handmaidens, who quickly rushed forward and led Ophelia to a room that was homely. She looked around and noticed that it was as big as her apartment. The room had multiple accents of silver throughout the room.

"Who's room is this?" Ophelia asked in awe, turning and looking at the oldest handmaiden. "Yours, your majesty." She bowed slightly and turned to walk into a room off to the side of the entryway. Ophelia walked through the doorway and stifled a gasp. The bathroom could fit her apartment's bedroom in it.

"Your majesty, the bath has been drawn and is ready for you." The eldest handmaiden walked towards her. "We will get your dress ready for you. Would you like someone to stay and help you?" Ophelia looked at the handmaiden. "Oh, no need. I can do it. Uh, may I ask your name?"

The eldest handmaiden released a small laugh. "My name is Anaieese." Anaieese smiled and bowed, turning and walking out of the bathroom and shut the door.

Ophelia undressed and slowly climbed into the large bathtub, feeling the hot water flood over her body. This was something she could get used to.