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Serena lies unmoving on the bed, her skin pale. Seeing her like this hurts. I quickly look away in favor of checking out the room, anything to distract myself.
It’s bland, only barebones. The bed takes up most of the space, with only one chair and a small table next to it. The queen sits in the chair, looking through bottles that line the table. She glances up at me when I stop and gives me a tight smile before her eyes move to the bed.
I follow her gaze. Sol sits on the edge of the bed wearing pants not unlike my own, but he doesn’t look up at me. It’s as if I’m not even here; he only has eyes for Serena, only ever has.
The rest of us have fucked around; well, I have, at least, and I know Storm has. I’ve heard a few girls talk about being with Lyle but never heard it from him, so who knows? And Blair…
Honestly, I don’t even know if he likes people in general, let alone enough to fuck someone, especially if it wasn’t one of us. I know he’s never been with Storm or me; as far as I know, Lyle and Sol aren’t into guys. I doubt if he were with Serena she would have been able to keep that to herself; she’s terrible with that kind of thing. Not to mention, he wouldn’t have been chasing away every guy who got close to her if that were the case.
But Sol, I know Sol’s never been with someone. For a while, I thought it was because he just wasn’t interested. He liked his books and enjoyed his time alone or with us, and that’s fine; not everyone is like me, needing attention like my life depends on it. About a year ago, he had asked me to help him find a date, and of course, I jumped at the chance, excited that he was finally coming out of his shell, but nothing ever came of it. He went on a few dates with a few girls, but he always said the same thing whenever I asked. ‘We didn’t hit it off.’ After a while, he stopped asking, and I stopped trying.
Looking back at it now, I know why. They weren’t Serena. Nobody would ever be good enough because he already loved her and knew it. It’s so painfully obvious that I feel like an ass. How can I call them my best friends and miss something like that?
I watch Sol for a minute, unable to look at Serena again, afraid of what I’ll see, but it’s almost just as bad. Seeing him like this hurts me. I never want my brothers to suffer, and there’s no question he’s suffering, and it will only get worse when the others return.
Slowly, I turn to look at her. I’m not sure what it is. To anyone else, it would probably just look like she’s sleeping, but I know better. I’ve seen her sleep—not in a weird way—so many times over the years, and it’s not like this. She’s too still, laying in one spot like that, her cheeks pale. If I couldn’t hear her breathing, I would think she was de—
Nope, I'm not going there.
I can hear her breathing, and as I look at her, I see the slight rise and fall of her chest.
She’s alive, and that’s the most important thing right now. We can figure out the rest later.
“Our mind is our strongest asset. It holds great power over us, but I’ve never met anyone as strong as Serena. If anyone will come out of this, it’s her, and I’ll bet she’ll be stronger for it.”
The queen’s voice is quiet, but I can hear the sincerity in her words all the same. It’s hard to think that this is Serena’s home, that people here might know her, but hearing the queen’s words, I know it’s true. Serena has a way of winning over the most unlikely people. Hell, look at us. We weren’t much more than spoiled brats before she came along. She gave us purpose and kept our heads on straight. We need to remember that for her.
Serena wouldn’t want us to worry, as impossible as it might be.
I know the queen’s right, though. Serena will get through this, and until she does, I’ll be right here waiting.
We all will because there’s nowhere else we’d rather be.
I finally move into the room, making a beeline for the bed. It looks big in this small room, but it’s not really. Carefully, I hop up onto the foot of the bed so as not to jolt her before I do a spin and sink down, laying my head across her legs.
Sol finally seems to notice me. He looks at me, and I see the emotions swirling in his eyes—the same ones I feel: worry, sadness, and even a bit of anger. I don’t look too deeply into them, uncaring about anything but being here for her. With a nod, he turns his attention back to Serena.
Most of her is covered in the blanket, pulled up to about her chin, but her one arm is out, laying between her and Sol, their fingers intertwined.
With a whimper, I rub my head against her leg, silently hoping she can feel us here, that maybe it will help her come back to us.
Dinner time comes and goes, and still, there’s no change. The queen, Rosalynn, as I’ve now learned her name, said she could wake up whenever. There’s nothing physically wrong with her, and while that’s a relief, it also means there’s nothing we can do but wait.
We suck at waiting.
When the others returned earlier, they filled me in on what I missed while daydreaming. Apparently, the castle's dungeons are spelled with magic that keeps us from shifting or using our elements. It’s something that the king did. According to Garrett, he put a lot of time into researching ways to keep them safer after a rather brutal attack some years ago.
I wonder if Serena was around for that, but I can’t bring myself to ask. Not only would that mean I’d have to shift back, which I have no desire to do, but the way he talks about it sounds serious. We have enough serious shit going on right now, and I don’t want to add more to it.
I’ll ask him later, or maybe even Serena.
With Storm unable to control himself, they decided it was best to take him down there until Serena woke up.
Nobody’s happy about it, but he’s a danger to Serena and himself like this. They did say it was clean and dry down there, though, and that the staff had been instructed to bring him meals throughout the day.
It’s not perfect, but it’s all we have for now.
“Why has there been no change?”
