i have questions

Rayni slowly opened her eyes, 'what happened?'

Next to her Rexander was resting upright against the headboard his eyes closed. 

"My lord?" She called him. He immediately opened his eyes and turned to her. 

"Rayni," Once he assured himself that she was awake and conscious, not dazed like she was when he found her he sighed and got off the bed. "Rayni, answer me honestly."

"What happened? I do not remember getting here," Rayni muttered confused as she propped herself up against the headboard. Rexander stood cross-armed by the window, with a serious expression. 

"I found you in the river, I called after you but it was like you could not hear me. You just kept walking deeper into the river. I had to grab you in the river and carry you back to land. You fought me all the while, but your eyes...your eyes, they were lifeless Rayni." He breathed out.

That was one such sight he wished never to see again. "You didn't answer to your name, or had any reaction when I shook you." It still gave him chills when he thought of how she looked then. "What happened Rayni?" He asked after giving her a few moments to comprehend what he was saying, the worry in his eyes blaringly obvious. 

"I, I... I was at the library and I found a story about darkness and when I was coming to give it to you I felt something push me and then I wake up here," Rayni started to think about what happened but she could not understand how she ended up in the river. 

"Rayni, what is this?" Rexander asked suddenly, the bottle he held in his hand burning into his skin with the weight of what it meant.

He raised the bottle of Ursula in his hand, that he found on Rayni's bedside drawer. It was a herb used primarily to poison people but small doses of it could help the user go to sleep, which is what Rayni used it for. It was also a useful drug that muted her powers when they got overwhelming. 

"I use it to help me sleep,"

"This is a dangerous drug that can kill monsters ten times your size...and you are telling me you use it to help you sleep?" Rexander roared, beyond shocked by Rayni's confession.

Had she lost her mind?

"Small, controlled doses are okay," She defended.

"This will eventually kill you!" He yelled, annoyed at her not grasping the seriousness of the situation. "It also causes hallucinations and psychotic break downs amongst many other adverse side effects when used long term, even if in small doses,"

"Are you saying that yesterday happened because of this?" Rayni asked. When Rexander said nothing she knew his answer

Rayni had a strange power, one that the Temple would call demonic magic - the ability to hear peoples dark thoughts and memories. It intensified when she touched the person or was in close proximity to people. Sometimes she could even see how the person would die or other tragic events they would later face. The problem was that she had no control over those powers and so without Ursula she would inevitably go crazy from hearing so many thoughts and seeing so many tragedies. Hence why she gladly risked going insane from taking Ursula over the daily torture she would face without it. 

"This bottle looks well used to me," Rexander pointed out, his frustration seeping in. How could Rayni be so reckless as to harm herself like this? Why had she not come to him? How long was she using it? 

"I do not take it often, only when it is necessary" Rayni tried to explain, though Rexander did not look convinced one bit. She began to panic thinking of what would happen if he took away the Ursula, she would be subject to those horrible conditions once more.

She could tell him, but no - he would turn on her then. He would think like them and she would suffer once more.

No, she could not tell anyone.

"Rayni! You have to calm down," She could feel her breathing escalate rapidly. Rexander was already beside her trying to calm her down, but it was too late. She would not be able to evade the incoming panic attack, and that caused her to spiral even more. 

All of a sudden Rexander hugged her tight, pushing her head into his neck, "You're okay Rayni, I have you," he assured her. The pressure combined with his firm voice unexpectedly soothed her, all she could focus on then was him. "Calm down, I'm right here." He continued, seeing as it was working and Rayni seemed to have stopped whatever downward trail her mind was taking her on. 

"Rayni, I worry for you. Please tell me what is wrong so that I can help you. I cannot see you like this," Rexander admitted whilst Rayni was still in his tight embrace. She could his strong heart beat and that like a beacon of light guided her away from her dark thoughts. 

"You cannot help me Rexander. I must take Ursula, so do not ask me to stop," She told him, denying the comfort she felt from being held by him. And, if Rexander felt like the worlds biggest loser from hearing her words then that was his issue to deal with. 

"If I ask you why you will not tell me, will you?" He asked her, she only looked away from him in response. "Rayni, my mysterious lady, who really are you?" he asked her after a long silence, the question weighing heavy on his mind. She smiled into his arm. 

"No one you have to worry about, leave me be. I will be fine on my own," She told him as if stating a common fact, just as the sun would rise the next morning so would Rayni Rose. No matter what odds were stacked against her. 

"You tied yourself to me the day you signed our contract, my lady. You are not a person that I can just leave be," Rexander reminded her whilst gently stroking her arm, his touch feeling foreign on her goosebump covered skin. 

"By the time we restore the Core our time to part will have come," She stated coldly.

"And so? Does that render the time we spent together as nothing?" He asked her, stiffening ever so slightly at her cold tone. "Does the way I hold you have no meaning?" It was Rayni's turn to stiffen, hardening like a rock under his embrace - her soft skin loosing its warmth. 

"You are speaking nonsense."

"You must have felt the feelings I have for you too,"

"You do not understand, your feelings will fade with time." 

"What makes you so sure?" He asked her with a quiet huff. 

"You are destined to meet her again, and when you do your feelings for me will be forgotten,"

"Who?" Rexander asked, genuinely wondering who Rayni could be talking about.

"Your angel." Rexander took a sharp breath, it had been so long he last thought of her. All his thoughts had somehow become consumed by Rayni, as if he had been enchanted by her. 

"She is no more," He told Rayni, not denying her statement. She hardened her softening heart, this story had played out so many times yet she still fell for him like a fool. Love was not destined for her, she was forever doomed to be the one longing and watching from the side.

"She lives Rexander, and you will meet her again," She told him, and removed herself from him even though every fibre in her body begged her not to. Rexander missed her warmth instantly, even though she was only an arms length away. Why was it that she always felt so far away to him, even when she was right there next to him? 

Pathetic, was the way she fell for him despite knowing he loved another and cruel was destiny for bringing them together like this.

Save yourself the pain for when he leaves, she scolded herself as she started openly at his necklace. A thin black rope crafted with magical fibre, the strongest of its kind - one that would never break, with a red crystal attached. It glowed faintly in the dark unbeknownst to Rexander whose 

"She's alive." Rayni repeated, causing Rexander to still completely. " She calls for you my Lord, as you do her." If Rayni were an evil woman perhaps she would have hidden that, even told Rexander his angel was dead, but that wouldn't make her evil only a fool. Who could come between love and destiny? 

"How do you know?" And just like that he had forgotten all about Rayni. Typical. 

"Your necklace glows, there is strong magic inside it but it's become weakened somehow."

"It's never done that before,"

"The necklace is connected to her, when she calls for you the necklace glows and the closer you are to her the stronger it becomes. She must be nearby for it to have lit after all these years, or she must have been thinking of you strongly."

"Can it help me find her?"

The childhood lovers reunite, where does that leave the unfortunate side character?

"If you were able to awaken the magic inside, yes."

"Rayni-" He began but Rayni stopped him sharply. 

"It is okay, you do not choose who you love."

Oh, how Rayni had come to hate those words. She forced a small smile but her heart ached as she did. She fell for a man she knew loved another, that was her fault.  As it always is. What had she hoped for? That he would forget his angel, the whole reason he had become a mighty warlord, and love her instead. What delusion had she been under to think that would have been anywhere near possible?

Rayni laid down after and promptly turned around, leaving Rexander to contemplate her words. 

---

(Rayni's POV)

"You are nothing but a disgrace, it would have been better if you were never born,"

Rayni's head felt heavy, the lights were spinning in her head, where was she?

"Go, and never return. You are not wanted here."

"What did you think, that I would stop you? A burden is all that you are, it is better for our family if you leave,"

The voice was getting louder, it was familiar too. Who was this?

"Do one thing right, never tell them you are a child from House Valaria. Deny to them that you are my daughter and that a commoner like you was ever a Princess of the Eastern Valleys."

Father. 

The air feels cold, my heart beats faster and I feel as though I'm running. I can hear leaves crunching below me and distant howls. My cheeks feel wet and I think I must have been running for a while as my feet are throbbing painfully.

I can't see anything, it's too dark. I feel so scared but that only pushes me to run faster. Maybe if I run far enough, I can get away from them.

"Rayni!" A voice calls me, this one is familiar too. "Rayni!" It calls me again.

"Don't call me that!" I scream finally getting some control over myself.

"Don't say that. That is your name, she is you,"

"That's why I hate it," I've stopped running now, and a strange yet also familiar warm feeling washes over me. My scattered thoughts have finally calmed down. There's a steady heartbeat lulling me to sleep softly.

"Names are powerful, they give us belonging and meaning," 

"Then mine must mean misery and misfortune," I muttered, losing awareness of everything around me. 

"You were a gift from the heavens, my dear." I do not believe her words yet hearing her sincerity touched something deep inside of me. 

---

"You don't know?" Rexander asked once more for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"Asking me again and again won't change my answer," Myra huffed.

"You are the best mage in all of the lands and yet you don't know!" Rexander barked, he had explained the situation he found Rayni in to Myra hoping she'd shed some light. Unfortunately to his disappointment she did not know what kind of creature could be trying to harm Rayni, or hex she had been put under.

"And you're the King of Warlords, the best monster hunter in all the lands, and yet, you yourself don't know either," Myra bit back. Rexander felt the urge to break something, he was incredibly frustrated with his inability to help Rayni. She had all the solutions to his problems whereas he had none for any of hers.

"Have you considered that it may not have been a monster attack or a kind of hex, but rather her own mind playing a cruel game with her?" Gareth, who had walked in on their conversation midway, suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes when people experience high levels of emotions or stress they can ... act strangely, " Gareth clarified for Rexander. " Whatever the cause or reason her poor mental health could have manifested into hallucination and strange dreams. Think about it Rex, theres no way a monster could have entered Jumjum with all the defences we've just set up. Even if it did, with all the mages and Knights here, surely one of us would have realised," 

"Agreed, if it was Hex I would know and like Bear said there are no monsters here,"

"I can defeat any monster, but how do I battle the ones in someone's head?" He asked, finally taking a seat on the hard sofa.

"You can't, you can only be there for them." Myra answered, her dainty white arms crossed strictly.

"How? She won't tell me anything,"

"Wait then." Gareth said as he passed an ale to him. "She may not tell you now but if you stay by her side long enough, she will tell you one day.

"Or wait till Eduardo comes back to us. We should be hearing from him soon," Myra reminded them as a messenger bird flew in. She took the paper from the birds leg and announced, "Exactly two days from now he will come meet you,"

"Finally, some answers." Rexander sighed.