I can't see but the floor feels colder, the air smells sharper, and I can hear the heartbeat of every beast in the forest.

They are all trying to keep me alive, this is what my mind is telling me. All the sounds around me become lounder, the cacophony coalescing into a singular sound and I can see it. There is nothing else around me but the source.

It's a long and winding whisp, a red breeze. It wraps around my finger, gently, crawling up my arm, breathing into my heart, filling up my head. It tightens on my ring finger, and I reach out to grab it. It pulls me, hard, and I cry out, shocked that the pain is real and not imagined.

Bright colors rush back to me and I grab onto the first thing I see, and it is Imperator Seth.

I know it is him before I see him by the smell of his sweet cologne, and when my eyes flit up from the floor, to see his mouth pierce my skin.

He looks me in the eyes when he does it, with his orange-ember iris, burning into me.

It's happening, and a strange sound, quiet and slow comes out, from somewhere starts out, but then I realize it's me.

It's me.

I'm crying because he's here to kill me.

He's here to kill me and he...spits out my life honey.

Seth stops when he sees my tears, wet face, and he smiles so hard he's squinting and mumbles softly.

"You gave me quite a fright, screaming and falling to the floor."

"Stop...whatever this is," I reply.

"No, I need to get this out. Drink more."

I'm hot even though I'm barely covered, only in a towel, but for some reason, he doesn't seem phased by any of it.

Carefully, methodically, he takes a bite, spits blood out onto the cold wooden floor, repeatedly, only to stop and give me a new cup of red honey but I refuse to take it. I want to get dressed, and we're still on the floor, covered in glass and bits of blood.

This is clearly a trap.

"I know you're thinking this is a trap," Seth says.

"No," I lie.

"Why would I poison you to rescue you and poison you again?"

"How do you know I'm poisoned!?"

"Because you were mumbling it to yourself when I barged into the room."

"I'm not drinking it!"

He takes my hand, and I tense up, expecting another hard jerk as before, from the mysterious red whisp, but no, his handle is gentle yet rough. Seth coaxes me, moving closer, and I look away.

"Stop doing that," I quietly say.

"Take your medicine or else," he warns.

His hand goes up my naked arm to my shoulder, still wet from hair, sticking to my face. He's slick, his thumb going up my collarbone, his fingers rubbing the back of my neck, and continuously looking straight at me.

It makes me feel weird, and I notice something is wet.

It's my face.

"I don't want to keep force-feeding you," Seth cautioned me.

There is red honey all over my face, and neck, and he has been feeding me, while I was unconscious, nursing me back to health. My towel has red handprints, and it's clear he wrapped it around me when it came loose.

Seth has been taking the red honey, putting it into my mouth from his, all this time, I've decided.

He's telling the truth but I don't want to admit it because I don't like the way he's looking at me. Everyone fears me, my name, my curse, but he, Seth looks at me without an ounce of fear and it's so strange for me to look at someone and have them look back.

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"I don't want it," I bait him.

He takes the bait.

It is not what I hoped it would be.

He pushes on the bottom of my throat with his thumb, forcing me to open my mouth, and then pours the red honey in against my will. I cough, choke, and push his face away, getting more blood all over him.

He pushes me down, and now we're barking at each other.

"Get off of me," I shout.

"Take your medicine, you impudent child!"

"I am not a child!"

I'm kicking and screaming, surrounded by glass and blood, underneath the tree of a man that calls himself Seth when the door to my chambers opens. It creaks, slowly, announcing the person behind it before they are seen.

It is Dante, no longer in his armor, but in relaxed garments.

He is wearing a fine, black silk shirt, suede shoes, and dark pants to match. His long black hair is up and I can see his expression, from my upside-down view on the floor.

He's registering what he's seeing while I've already understood what position it looks like I'm in.

"Ah."

That is all he says, and he shuts the door.

I take my medicine and I do not argue with Seth for the remainder of the day.

----------------------------------------

For the first time, someone is not looking me in the eyes and I do not like it.

I have worn nice clothes, a long sleeve white shirt, with little frills on the end of the sleeves, a nice long pale blue skirt, and donned little boots as well. I have a necklace with a singular sapphire in the center, and it all comes together quite nicely.

Dante usually compliments me on my choice of wear, but now he cannot even face my general direction.

He walks beside me, his trusty sword, Macbeth, slung over his back, in the torch-lit halls. We're in the older part of the estate where electricity does not run, and one can feel the wind pass through some of the gaps of the stone walls.

"Dante?"

One can see his skin flush and he mutters a quick yes.

At first, I was embarrassed, but now I'm quite entertained by his reactions.

As he escorts me to Lady Selene's Court, I pester him.

"How can the man who jokes about Lady Dyteria and her love-making feel embarrassed about this?"

"This is different," Dante protested. "Much different."

"How is it? It all goes into the same place, Dante."

Again he turns a new shade, and I make many allusions to meat on our way to Lady Selene's court for dinner. Dante is not amused, he's aware that I am now purposefully twisting his tail, but he lets me, and that is why I love him so.

When we enter Queen Selene's court, I am anxious as one when their life was almost ended an hour prior.

The ceiling is as high as the sky, with large and pale yellow pillars holding it up. A glossy, shiny floor is there to greet all the guests of the court, and they all go quiet once I enter. They stare, I grin, flash my fangs, trying to be brave.

There are goblets of honey left out for everyone to drink, but no one is drinking. Everyone is waiting for me to take a drink first, I assume. I'm not going to take a drink, I'm not daft, and everyone is standing around, waiting for nothing.

Any man in that room could have tried to kill me and now we are all congregating early to debate who had attempted it, the worst game of chicken I've ever played.

We might as well let the poisoner into our storage of red honey.

The first person to bite is Queen Selene herself.

I hate it.

She's bold and unwavering, resolute in her actions as she enters her court. Still, in her lovely sweater dress from earlier, she trapezes across the glittering floor, her hair trailing behind her, shoes clacking on the floor.

No one breathes as she takes her time, chooses her goblet, and drinks red honey, slowly, not spilling a drop.

The bees buzz, watching the queen because we want our pick of the garden.

When she's done, she acts very unladylike, smacking her lips, making a show of it, mocking death itself.

"It seems the poison is quite delicious this evening," she announces. "My compliments to the chef."

Giggles and murmurs come out from the crowd and it's now fine to eat. The gentle-folk are no longer gentle as they push past each other, nails and teeth bared to eat first. Dante brings me in close, protecting me from the stampede, while a shadow looms over us.

It is Seth's mother, Queen Selene herself.

When did she get here?

How did she move so fast?

I have heard the tales of the ancient ones, the power one gains as they age, and Queen Selene is rumored to be an ancient one herself. I believe it when I look up at her, and her eyes burn just as her son's, not looking at me, but into me.

I glare back with my own intensity, ready for a fight, but just like her son, she surprises me.

"I'm so sorry that I've failed you," Selene tells me.

"W-what?"

"This is my home, and someone hurt you. What I did was a show to keep those...idiots...quiet, but you, I want you to forgive me," Selene says.

"I don't understand...I thought you said you were surprised to see that I was alive."

"Yes, because it's dangerous outside the walls! You are soon to be my daughter-in-law. I can't have people hurting you!"

I am distraught.

I'm still clinging onto Dante and his smooth silk shirt. I let go and nothing makes sense.

I cam prepared, ready to fight, but there is not fight, at least, not one that I can see in front of me. No mother-in-law from hell, no cruel husband, and at worst, maybe a jealous ex-lover that attempted to kill me and failed.

Selene gently takes my hand and I understand that Seth is right.

I'm a child.

I've been wrong all along.

"If you need anything, let me guide you," Selene offers.

I nod and blush, and now it is I that cannot look anyone in the eyes at this new court.

No longer am I Dawn, the young and proud whom those feared, the Cursed Child, but now I am Simply Dawn.

Simply Dawn is not feared nor hated, back at home, where she is the Cursed Child, and mayeb that is a good thing.

But can Simply Dawn reclaim her land?

I am not so sure.