Even though she prayed, she couldn't bring herself to open the book so easily. She still remembered some things vividly, like the day that she'd saved Aaron from a nasty fall from one of the trees. She'd cried so hard when she saw her little brother laying still on the ground after a sickening thud, his leg bent in an unnatural angle. She hadn't thought anything beyond wanting him to be alright, for his leg not to be broken, for him to still be breathing. Her hands had touched the broken leg and immediately warmth began to flow out of her, replaced by cold and pain. Her own leg had hurt so much that she'd been sure it had snapped in two, but it appeared fine when she'd grabbed at it and looked. But the pain only increased, and soon, she'd blacked out.
It was in that darkness that the visions had come. They had been fresh and vivid, as if she'd lived every minute of them. The shock had left her bedridden for several days, and when she finally began to accept that those visions were not her current reality, she decided to write them all down to get them out of her mind and try to forget them. They felt so real that she couldn't just forget them completely, so writing them into the book was the best solution. The shadow they had cast on her had completely overtaken the relief and awe she should have felt at realizing that her brother had been found underneath the tree safe and sound with no sign his leg was ever broken.
It was a miracle according to their nanny, but Lianna knew it had been something she had done. The memory of that pain was still clear to her. But she would not find out the details on how she had done it until over a year later.
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Thankfully, most of the memories had faded, some even being fully forgotten, but a few remained, like the ones where her favorite horse sickened and died, being sent to Duke Brendwald's estate, the neglect and abuse she received from the duke and his wife only to be expected to warm his bed when he wished, and when she had found out that her father had died and her brother had been killed in a rather convenient accident. The very last memory she still saw vividly was that of hearing Duke Brendwald mention that it wasn't truly an accident that killed her brother, and his tone being that of someone talking about the weather. And in the next breath he had revealed that he had always aimed to swallow up their county.
Those were the memories that haunted her nightmares, especially when tiny recollections kept shocking her with dejavu moments, reminding her that these visions were slowly coming true, that time was moving her towards her nightmare, and there might be nothing she could do to stop it.
These things have yet to happen. She reminded herself of this before opening the book. She was greeted with her more childish handwriting, but the words on the page were not descriptions a normal child would have made. As she read, she had to fight the urge to close the book. The images that had faded from her memory now came back to her in sharp contrast.
It was past midnight when Lianna realized the next page was blank. She had read through them all.
Her head and jaw ached from where she'd clenched it, and her eyes stung, but her feeling of horror couldn't completely drown out the sense of accomplishment she felt. She had found mention of Duke Rithan just as she'd thought, and her current situation did not seem as hopeless as it was before. Daunting still, yes, but not hopeless.
Resting her head on the desk, she closed her eyes, intending only to still her mind for a moment. However, a blessedly dreamless sleep claimed her instead.