With a silent scream that ended in a low, choked moan, Janessa bolted upright in bed. Perspiration matted her mahogany hair, gluing it to her forehead in damp curls, and she raised a trembling hand to rake the dark locks from her face. As she caught her breath, willing her pounding heart to slow and steady, she stared wide-eyed into the darkness that surrounded her as realization slowly dawned. She was in her bedroom, not the maze - and she was alone.
Shuddering, the petite young woman threw back her twisted bedclothes and leapt from the bed to pad barefoot to the window. It was cool outside, and mist covered the ground below with writhing tendrils that seemed to have a life of their own. It obscured the gardens, distorted reality, and for that very reason it seemed alive.
She needed sleep, sound sleep, and Janessa sighed as she pondered her options to achieve that goal. She could hardly wake the castle healer to prepare her a potion, and she wasn't about to let anyone know that there was something amiss. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she knew that she would have to resort to the foul, disgusting trick that her father had always used to bring on sleep. Drinking warmed milk. Just the thought of it was enough to make her retch.
Not bothering to toss on the warm nightrobe she'd kicked to the floor in her tumultuous sleep, Janessa pulled open her door and stepped into the hallway. Clad in only a long white silk nightshift, the monarch of the Isles looked like a small china doll come to life as she yawned and stretched, the nightmare that had awakened her beginning to fade into the haze of forgetfulness. She took care not to let the door squeak behind her, not wanting to awaken her ladies in waiting that slept down the hall, and then she hurried across the cold stone floor to the massive staircase that led downstairs.
Just as she was about to descend, the sound of a door opening and closing quietly behind her slowed Janessa in her tracks. Oh, bloody hell - who had she woken now? Hoping against hope that it wasn't her lady in waiting Soleil, who'd been known to literally talk others to tears, Janessa cocked her head to the side, listening intently, and then she turned to glance behind her. Letting out a soft laugh of relief when she saw that no one was there, she gave her dark head a shake at the musings of her imagination and lifted one foot to begin her dash down the stairs.
Icy hands flattened against Janessa's delicate shoulder blades and shoved hard, catching her completely off guard. She didn't have time to scream or even flail her arms as she lost her balance, and in one dark, terrible moment of clarity - Janessa knew what the significance of the empty hallway had been.
It was the last thing she remembered as she pitched down the stone stairway, tumbling over and over until mercifully the floor rushed up to meet her. Glittering sapphire eyes in an angelic face of cold beauty stared down at the small, crumpled form that lay silent at the foot of the stairs, shimmering hazel eyes closed. Charlena let out a delicate snort before she turned and began to walk back up the hallway, fading from view by the time she'd reached the end.
In her mind, Janessa still
looked like a china doll - but this time, the doll was shattered.
