Belia- Nightmares

Belia is beyond overwhelmed. The Voynan palace is at least three times the size of theirs and more open to the public, which the thought of makes her queasy. She is also sharing a room with Timur, which means neither Kya nor Rin will be able to stay with her. Most of Belia's belongings are still packed, which gives her an excuse to be alone for a while. She finds the bag with her personal items in it and pulls out the holoframe of her family. Belia sits on the bed. Normally looking at the image calmed her, but it only made her homesick. In hopes of getting her mind off of her current emotional state, Belia goes to work unpacking, something the servants or Kya would normally handle. However, it's just a short distraction. She finishes, and with nothing else to do, Belia sits down on the bed. Her stomach is in knots, and her chest feels tight; all she wants to do is go home. Belia starts to cry. Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. Belia wipes her eyes and tells Rin he can come in.

"You okay?" Rin asks, more like an old family friend than her guard. Belia shakes her head, and Rin sits down next to her. Belia leans her head on Rin's shoulder. "Feeling homesick?" Belia nods. "Hareph used to get homesick too while we were in school," Rin shares, a rare occasion. "He'd try to hide it, like to pretend nothing bothered him. He felt that as the Crown Prince, he couldn't show weakness."

"What did he do?" Belia asks with a sniff.

"At first, he just bottled it all in, but after almost killing me in my sleep, he opened up about what was bothering him." Rin pauses, seemingly reminiscing. "After that, we both slept better. So, if something's bothering you, you could tell me; it's not like I'm going to tell anyone." Rin's comment makes Belia smile, but it quickly fades away as Belia stews.

"What's it like?" Belia asks after a moment.

"What's, what like?"

"Being married," Belia clarifies. Rin runs a hand through his hair, not sure how to answer.

"It's both horrible and wonderful at the same time. Although I love  Kya, you and the Prince barely know each other, let alone seemingly like each other."

"He's warming up to me," Belia says, having sensed it when he was giving his speech.

"And you are to him?" Rin asks, looking at Belia. Belia's not quite sure of her answer.

"I still have a little ways to go, Rin." She looks down at her hands. "I already know his mother dislikes me."

"Why don't you focus on one problem at a time. You should get to know Timur first, then worry about his parents. Believe me, when Timur warms up to you, his parents will have to as well." Belia nods. "Now, if you will excuse me, M'Lady, I need to run a security check and help Kya finish unpacking our things." Rin stands and salutes Belia, turning back into her guard; he leaves. Feeling tired and a little depressed, Belia lies down. She picks up the holoframe again. Everyone was so happy in the image, the last time her family would ever be whole again. Belia closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep…

Her parents refuse to answer her, not even an I'll-tell-you-later. Her brothers were supposed to be back by now, but no one had returned. Her father had received a message from the head of the royal guard. He pulled her mother aside, and by their expressions, Belia knew it wasn't good news. She had asked her father what he was told, but both parents were ignoring her. Miffed, Belia leaves the throne room, and while walking back to her room, she notices the staff and other servants have the same expression as her parents. She caught her twin's guard and older brother's best friend, Rin, crying.

"Rin, what's going on? Why is everyone so sad? Where are my brothers?"

"Have you not been informed?" he says, trying to compose himself. "Your brothers, they… they're… they're dead, M'Lady." Belia doesn't believe Rin at first, but she's never seen him this upset before. The room begins to spin around her, and everything fades to black.

Her brothers appear around her, smiling at first, but blood starts to pour out of her eldest two brothers from injuries that just seemed to pop up.

"It should have been you," Hareph says as he's decapitated.

"You should have been the one, not us. You should have been with us," Edur tells Belia as he's stabbed through the heart and gut. Bela approaches her, blood coming out of his eyes and nostrils.

"You abandoned me. You left me to rot." He takes a step closer to Belia. "You're the reason Hareph and Edur are dead. You are the reason I'm insane…" Bela attacks her.