A flick on the head was all it took. I woke up in a bed that was way too big for one person, in a room that was way too bright, beige, and gold for any reasonable person. A kid who looked no more than a few months younger than me was the one who had rudely awakened me from whatever sleep I managed to get. When did I fall asleep? The last thing I remember was that bastard trying to choke me.


    "Hey, are you alright?"


    "Well, I think so."


    I tried to get up from the bed, but my elbows gave out from under me. Even the slightest movement incited excruciating pain. My voice didn''t hurt, but it was raspy. It must''ve given out after screaming at them for so long. I tried to position myself against the pillows behind me. If I just laid down flat I would sink into this mattress that was way too smooth. This room was a combination of things that no normal person would be used to. Why would a noble pick me up off the ground? That''s where I assume I was, at least, though I could''ve been sent across the city by the explosion. Maybe it was some sort of anti-building bomb. Did it just not hurt people? That sounds ridiculous.


    "My sister brought you here, she said that she met you a few days ago."


    Who had I met a few days ago? I''d been holed up in the Base of Operations for the last two weeks, and if I wasn''t there I was out underneath the roads. There''s no way I could''ve run into a noble.


    "It wasn''t a few days, it was a couple of weeks!"


    A scream in the form of a whisper rang out from behind the door, a girl with silky black hair that stretched just above her shoulders with bangs that rested on her eyebrows. She had a timid figure, her head was noticeably shaking while she peeked into the room, how was she managing to stay upright? She snuck into the room, either that or she was just moving oddly as if she were invisible. Awkward stares from me and her brother made her dash over to the side of the bed and stand behind one of the poles. Why the hell did this bed have a pole? Why did this bed have a roof? A little curtain draped atop whoever is sleeping in it? Is the room itself not enough, with every other surface coated with gold and other bullion?


    "Yeah, I recognize her, her carriage almost ran into me a couple of weeks ago."


    "She told me that. She actually was very worried about you because she thought you looked very cu-"


    The girl screamed unintelligible noises to interrupt whatever her brother was about to say. She had come out from behind the pole to say this and was posed weirdly. She immediately stood up straight and held her hands behind her back while looking away from me.


    "Sorry about that, he likes to tell lies to strangers who we bring to our house."


    "You bring strangers into your house often?"


    "No-"


    "Yes! We like to help people who are hurt."


    The brother looked like he was prepared to speak again, but she glared at him and he shrunk away, leaving us in the room alone.


    "Well, that''s very kind of you. Where am I? Am I still in the city?"


    "Yes, you''re in the Royal Palace. Me and my family are staying here for a few weeks."


    "What time is it? How long was I asleep for?"


    "It''s the night of Drenadora. A big explosion happened last night right in the middle of the royal pathway between here and the gates, it destroyed a few of the buildings nearby. My family was coming back from our night at the Stargazer Inn in the morning and when we got back here I saw that you were in a cell being watched over by the guards."


    I wonder if that bastard protected me. Maybe because he was on top of me he shielded me from the explosion. They seemed powerful, so if he was durable enough he could''ve taken the entire explosion leaving me unharmed. I hoped that was the case.


    "Do you know if they found anyone else near the explosion?"


    "No, just you."


    Maybe he was reduced to ash. If that bomb was truly as powerful as they were talking about I don''t think anybody could survive. The other two must have run as fast as they possibly could before the weapon hit the floor of the sewer. By this point, the girl had been inching closer to me for a few minutes and was now sitting on the bed right next to me. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Listen, I''m very thankful that you allowed me to rest here but I need to get back to my house, I''m sure my caretaker is very worried about me right now."


    "''Caretaker''?"


    "Like my mother. Sort of."


    She reached for my right hand and clasped it in between her palms.


    "I''ll get you back there as soon as possible!"


    She immediately backed away. She actually backed away so quickly that she fell backward onto the floor. I immediately got up from the bed myself to help her up but I had forgotten that I was still immobile. I fell face-first onto the floor and the rest of my body slithered across the bedsheets down to where I was. I tried to reposition myself but my arms wouldn''t listen. I heard faint sobs near me that broke into the sound of someone crying like they were at a funeral.


    "Why did you do that?"


    I opened my eyes to see the same girl wiping her tears with her sleeves, for the short moment I was able to see her face I noticed that her eyes were bloodshot. I struggled to reach my hand out to comfort her and ended up settling with placing it on her knee. What should I say? I''ve never had to comfort a crying kid before. No, this is good practice. When I''m famous I''ll have to comfort a lot of children, so I need to learn basic things to say.


    "Hey, stop crying."


    She continued wailing.


    "Listen, it may be your fault but it''s alright. People make mistakes all the time."


    None of my lines were working, were children always this difficult? Is there some candy around here that I can promise her if she''ll just sit me upright?


    "Listen, I''m not mad. I am kind of in pain right now so if I promise that you''re forgiven can you please sit me up?"


    She stopped crying shortly and positioned me against the side of the bed. She rushed over to the front of the bed and I could still hear her crying softly.


    "It''s alright. I''m fine. I''m not hurt because of you, whatever happened in that explosion ruined my entire body. Listen, I''ll probably be resting here for the night since I can''t move an inch, and then I''ll leave in the morning. I''ll have to think of a good explanation for why I was gone for a day and a half but I''ll find a working one eventually."


    She broke through tears to give me a response.


    "Where do you live?"


    "In East Prymdor."


    She didn''t continue crying, instead she crawled back so I could see her. Her eyes were still red and the area around her eyes swelled, but she looked worried.


    "East Prymdor? I heard about something bad that happened there."


    "What happened?"


    "Apparently some house got set on fire, but it''s this really strong fire, and the guards haven''t been able to put it out. It''s been raining for most of the day and I heard that it''s still going."


    I rushed for the door. My muscles would have to cooperate, my limbs would have to move. I slammed the doors open with my shoulder and started sprinting down the hallway.


    It couldn''t be them. There''s no way it could be them. Fires happened all the time in Prymdor. Did they? No, they didn''t. If they did, we''d have better ways of putting them out. The fire could''ve been caused by lightning, and there''s no way that lightning just randomly hit Ms. Rayner''s house. There''s no way it was them.


    I heard guards screaming at me from behind me, and the same girl''s voice seemed to be screaming too but it wasn''t at me. It felt like I was running for way too long, how big was this palace? How far did this hallway go? I finally made it to a banquet hall and saw another family sitting down at a table. They all stood up and looked at me as I dashed through the big double doors and out of the palace itself.


    It was pouring outside, I could barely see more than a few feet ahead of me, and the rain was so thick that it was close to bruising me. I tripped over myself several times, nearly planting on the ground again. My entire body was screaming at me, but I couldn''t give in now. Whatever ounce of energy was left, whatever I could bear to move without breaking I needed to move. The guards at the gate initially rushed towards me, but I heard the same girl''s voice behind me and they instead ran to the side of the gates. They spun the cranks on both sides of the gate and the gate itself rose so that I could pass through it.


    I had been near the royal palace many times before so I knew the quickest way to get back to the house. First right and up the hill. I slipped on the floor and fell into a puddle of mud and gravel. When I got back up I heard several things crack, and the mud stuck to my skin and clothes. It was cold to the touch, and it spread down my cheek. It didn''t matter. I didn''t have the time to wipe it off. I sped through alleys and slammed into unsuspecting delinquents, but luckily they didn''t chase after me. Right before I got out of the final alley that led me to my home I tripped and fell one final time. I couldn''t move my legs anymore, so I dragged myself across the ground. Mud and rain ruined whatever clothes I was wearing, and I could barely manage to keep my head up so I was looking ahead of me.


    I barely managed to get out of the alley, and I raised my head to look at what I hoped would be a house drenched with rain, maybe some of the tiles would be falling off of the roof. Instead, I was greeted with that inescapable bad omen. Ms. Rayner''s house was burning down in front of me. Guards were running up and down the hill next to the house carrying pails of water, throwing them all over the house. They did nothing, the thing that the girl had described was true. That fire just wouldn''t pass. I couldn''t think straight. I couldn''t see straight. I felt like I would die on the spot, crushed underneath the rain. All I could do was pray that she went to heaven. Usually, whenever I''d call for her she''d get really angry. She''d come storming up to my room and tell me to not do that again, that she wasn''t my maid. She always acted angry but she would come every time. How angry would she be now? Maybe more than before, but I think she''d be happy to see that I''m okay.


    She must''ve escaped. She was smart. She was fast. She wouldn''t just sit by as someone set the house on fire, she wouldn''t just wait inside. She must be helping the guards put the fire out, she''s probably about to come up the hill with a pail of water herself. Maybe she''s behind me, watching the guards try to put out the fire, hoping that they''ll succeed, wondering where I am, if I''m safe. She has to be alive, I know that she''s alive.


    I screamed her name into the overwhelming sound of flames before me.


    She didn''t respond.