The Nightmares

Denisa stood by the window, staring at the birds chirping around the trees and flying freely in the sky while she was locked in these chambers, for as long as she remembered.

"My lady, did you have another nightmare last night?" Olivia inquires, walking closer and tugging the sheets neatly on the bed.

Denisa glances back at Olivia and nods her head, walking towards the chair, settling down in front of the mirror, and staring at her reflection.

"Yes, I hardly got any sleep," She said, gazing at her dull face, black bags under her eyes, and dehydrated lips begging for sleep.

Olivia crouched before her, tracing her finger against her cheek and tugging the strands of her hair behind her ears.

"My lady, I think you should seek help." She says, holding Denisa's hands in hers, "You just have one week left to get married, and no groom would want to marry a bride who looks like a ghost." She adds, glazing at her dull face.

Denisa caressed Olivia's hands and looked at her with a warm smile. Olivia is in her early thirties and served Denisa's mother, Esme, before she died. Olivia was to get married, but after witnessing Denisa lose her parents, she couldn't bring herself to tie the knot and move on.

The King passed the decree to repay them for the sacrifice and decided to marry the crown prince Aurous to Denisa, and at the age of four, she was bound with Aurous by the decree and was raised to be the crown princess and be the Queen of the Kingdom. Denisa is almost eighteen, and the kingdom is stable with no sign of war, so there is no reason to delay the wedding.

"You're right, Olivia; I will go to the palace later and cancel the wedding," Denisa says, staring at Olivia, enjoying the fear covering her face. Olivia couldn't say a word; she stared blankly for a few seconds, thinking about the consequences.

Denisa glances at her, biting her lips, trying not to laugh as she looks at her perplexed, but she fails to keep it up and lets out a chuckle. Olivia couldn't understand for a second what just happened, but soon heaved a sigh of relief watching Denisa laugh.

"My lady! You shouldn't say things like that! If someone hears it, every single person here will die, including me!" The marriage was decreed by the king himself and cannot be reversed until either party is dead.

"Okay, okay, I won't," Denisa says, raising her hands in surrender.

The day went by quickly, trying and altering the dresses for the wedding, and for a while, Denisa was able to forget about the nightmares. She walked up to her room and stood by the stairs as the fear of the nightmares covered her face. She thought of asking Olivia to sleep with her, but she was already in bed, tired from working on the dresses all day.

'Nothing will happen, Nes, Denisa assured herself, trying not to let the dreams get to her because they looked very real.

"What happened?" A voice from behind made Denisa jump; she felt as if her heart came right up to her throat. She glared back at the person behind her and grinded her teeth, staring at him. Aurous looked at her, confused by her stares, but couldn't help but think about how petite she looked in front of him; his broad shoulders covered her fully.

Aurous stood by the stairs, gawking at her, his golden eyes shimmering as he gazed at her full body and luxurious pink lips. He could not stop staring at her without noticing the anger in her eyes. She glared at Aurous while calming her heart down and trying her best not to say something that might make the people around her suffer.

"How many times do I have to remind you, prince?" She yelled, controlling her tone, questioning him, trying to find one good reason for his arrival.

"This isn't your palace, prince. These are my chambers," she reminds him, not scared of telling him what she feels is right.

Aurous is a decade older than Denisa, and being the royal prince, he could have taken any number of concubines until she came of age; it was common for royal and wealthy men to have more women, but he never got any women and waited for her, thinking it had to be her as he felt she was meant to be his. He tried everything to make her fall in love with him, but he couldn't succeed; she felt nothing for him. If given a choice, she would discard the marriage and leave the palace with Olivia; for her, it is an order just to keep her loved ones alive.

"Only you in this whole kingdom are daring enough to yell at me!" Aurous said, moving closer to her, and his golden, captivating eyes bore Denisa's amber-brown eyes. Even those eyes didn't work on Denisa, nor did his achievements. He is the only Prince who never lost a single war and came home with a victory.

"And?" Denisa asks, raising her eyebrows, tilting her head a little, staring at him, and waiting for him to speak.

"Get some sleep, Nes! You won't be getting any tomorrow," he reminds her, his eyes trailing down to her lips. He took a sharp breath and moved back, walking away from her before he lost control.

Denisa watches Aurous walk out of the chambers, then turns back to the stairs and walks up to her room. His visit wasn't that bad; it helped her take her mind off the fear of the nightmare, and soon she went into a deep slumber. The temperature in the room went down, making her shiver. She tried to pull the quilt over her but couldn't, and she forced her eyes open to look around. She noticed she was not in her room, and there was smoke all around with nothing but darkness. She shakes her head for a clearer version and rubs her arms with her palms, trying to keep herself warm.

"Not again!" She spoke in a frustrated tone, tired of getting pulled into the same dungeon every night, and tried to look around to see if someone was there, the dream felt real as if she were actually walking and breathing here.

"What exactly is this place?" Denisa murmured as she walked inside the dungeon. There was no trace of a human or an animal; everything was covered with smoke. She moved further, trying to find something or anything. She had never walked further in her dreams; this was the first time she had come this far; she wanted to go to the end and see what exactly these dreams were about, as she was tired of having the same nightmare every day and losing sleep, and she looked around for anything that could explain the nightmares and bumped into a huge box.

The loud thud echoed in the dark dungeon, startling her. She moved closer and saw a box—a huge box, and moved closer to get a clear view and remove the nets from it.

Denisa held one hand to her mouth and, with the other hand, moved the nets off the box. Her heart was pounding faster inside her chest, worried about what might be in there, but it did not stop her. She sniffled, rubbing her stomach as it ached, and saw a coffin. A coffin.

Denisa stood there perplexed, looking at the coffin, but quickly came back to her senses, as she was expecting something similar too.

"Coffin?" she says, touching the coffin and seeing the lock to open it.

'Why would there be a coffin here?' She thought about looking for something to break, but it made her scared, but having the same nightmare every day scared her more.

Denisa clears her throat "Let's just open it." She spoke to herself; she already took care of the spider nets and looked for the lock to open the coffin, but there was no lock, so she quickly scanned around for something to break the coffin, but the dungeon had nothing but smoke and fog. She keeps searching around and finds a stone on the ground. She grabs it to break the coffin. Smashing the coffin did not work; instead, she ended up hurting her hand, and the blood started dripping from her palm. started bleeding, and the warm blood spilled on the coffin.

"I can't believe how real this dream feels; I can bleed and feel the pain," she says, pressing her palm to stop the bleeding. and turns around to look for something to open, but the coffin unlocked with a loud sound and opened wide.

Denisa froze for a few seconds but managed to turn around to see what was inside the coffin. Every part of her body protested, asking her not to go any further, but her feet did not stop as she walked closer to see who was sleeping inside the coffin. She takes baby steps, wondering if this is right, but soon her eyes calm down, seeing there is nothing; the coffin is empty.

"I knew it! There was no possibility that someone would have been here!" Denisa heaves a sign of relief and walks back to tend her wounded palm, but before she could walk any further, her feet refused to move.

A big black figure hovered in front of her, stopping her from leaving, tilting his head, and staring at her with fire-flaming red eyes.