Princess Rosella of Daventry (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
primrosella) wrote2008-11-08 10:14 pm
primrosella) wrote2008-11-08 10:14 pm
Quest 027
[Failed Private//Viewable to Network]
Ugh, I hate being sick. It's bad enough that I have to sit around feeling unwell, but then there's the boredom of being too tired and weary to do anything but lie in bed. I've been spending most of the time either sleeping, reading, or looking around on the Network; hopefully tomorrow I'll feel good enough to get up and on my feet again. But today I'm in bed, and everyone seems to be talking about death today...so now I can't stop thinking about it, either.
How many times have I looked my own death in the face--or could have died, but didn't dare to think of it until it was all over? First, the dragon, and that one was my own choice to face. I wasn't afraid--well, no, that's a lie, I was afraid. I was terrified, in fact. But I did it because it was the right thing to do. It wanted me and if it meant sacrificing myself to save the kingdom...oh, but I was so scared! A dragon as tall as a house with three heads and jets of flame and those huge, glistening teeth...and that was just the beginning of the danger, wasn't it?
I wonder if I would've been more afraid in Tamir if I hadn't been so determined to get the fruit to save Daddy. I don't think I had time to be afraid then; I didn't have time to do much of anything, not with two lives ticking down and everyone counting on me. All the things I saw...
There was the troll in the cave, oh, those caves were so dark! The lantern was barely any good and I could hardly see my feet--and as if the troll wasn't danger enough, then there was the chasm that I nearly fell down. Goodness, it's a good thing I had that light! If I hadn't seen the edge...ugh!
Oh, or if I'd missed a step in the swamp, that would've meant certain death. I'm certain that anything that might've fallen in there would never get back out again. And then the cobra on the island--what if the charm had worn off while I was still within reach of its bite? I'm not fast enough to outrun a snake! And then the return trip back across the chasm, still within reach of the troll, and a single touch could've killed me...hideous old troll!
I suppose I could've drowned or been swept away by an undertow while swimming out to Genesta's island. I was awfully tired, especially near the end. And that's not even considering the sharks I had to avoid--or the whale! Ugh, swallowed by a whale! And then having to hurry and find a way to climb out before it digested me--it's a good thing I took that feather!--and getting sneezed out is certainly not an experience I'd care to repeat anytime soon. Especially not onto a desert island, where I could've died of exposure or starvation or any number of things.
The ogre could've caught me and ground my bones into bread to eat. And if not the ogre, then the ogre's wife, or that hideous dog...it's a good thing I had a head start before the hen squawked, or else I might not have been able to outrun the ogre when he chased me. And if I hadn't taken that axe, the trees would've gotten me for sure. Imagine, trees that reach and snare and kill! I'd never heard of such horrible things before.
I think the worst, though, was the witches--no, no, the worst was the graveyard. If I hadn't been faster than the witches, and gotten my scarab before nightfall...oh, I thought the nightmares would never stop after that graveyard. Those rotting, bony hands reaching up from the ground, grabbing my ankles, tearing my dress, pulling at me--and...the mummy, too, I don't even want to think of what would've happened to me if it had grabbed me...
And that's not even beginning to discuss Lolotte, that horrible old witch. If I hadn't fooled her, she surely would've killed me the first time she laid eyes on me. And even though I did fool her, the things she did--throwing me in the torture chamber, having her henchmen haul me around like--like a sack of grain...and all those stone steps I had to climb in her castle were slick and narrow and my dress was always tangling in my ankles, and any misstep could've--
She swore her revenge on me when she died. But if she'd had the strength to use the powers of the Talisman before she did...it wasn't as though I was hidden. She knew it was me. She swore to get me for what I'd done. That was terror enough.
Strange how looking back on it now, it all seems so terrifying. That graveyard still gives me the shakes, just thinking about it. But it was for Daddy, and terror or not, I think...I think I'd do it all again if I had to.
Ugh, I hate being sick. It's bad enough that I have to sit around feeling unwell, but then there's the boredom of being too tired and weary to do anything but lie in bed. I've been spending most of the time either sleeping, reading, or looking around on the Network; hopefully tomorrow I'll feel good enough to get up and on my feet again. But today I'm in bed, and everyone seems to be talking about death today...so now I can't stop thinking about it, either.
How many times have I looked my own death in the face--or could have died, but didn't dare to think of it until it was all over? First, the dragon, and that one was my own choice to face. I wasn't afraid--well, no, that's a lie, I was afraid. I was terrified, in fact. But I did it because it was the right thing to do. It wanted me and if it meant sacrificing myself to save the kingdom...oh, but I was so scared! A dragon as tall as a house with three heads and jets of flame and those huge, glistening teeth...and that was just the beginning of the danger, wasn't it?
I wonder if I would've been more afraid in Tamir if I hadn't been so determined to get the fruit to save Daddy. I don't think I had time to be afraid then; I didn't have time to do much of anything, not with two lives ticking down and everyone counting on me. All the things I saw...
There was the troll in the cave, oh, those caves were so dark! The lantern was barely any good and I could hardly see my feet--and as if the troll wasn't danger enough, then there was the chasm that I nearly fell down. Goodness, it's a good thing I had that light! If I hadn't seen the edge...ugh!
Oh, or if I'd missed a step in the swamp, that would've meant certain death. I'm certain that anything that might've fallen in there would never get back out again. And then the cobra on the island--what if the charm had worn off while I was still within reach of its bite? I'm not fast enough to outrun a snake! And then the return trip back across the chasm, still within reach of the troll, and a single touch could've killed me...hideous old troll!
I suppose I could've drowned or been swept away by an undertow while swimming out to Genesta's island. I was awfully tired, especially near the end. And that's not even considering the sharks I had to avoid--or the whale! Ugh, swallowed by a whale! And then having to hurry and find a way to climb out before it digested me--it's a good thing I took that feather!--and getting sneezed out is certainly not an experience I'd care to repeat anytime soon. Especially not onto a desert island, where I could've died of exposure or starvation or any number of things.
The ogre could've caught me and ground my bones into bread to eat. And if not the ogre, then the ogre's wife, or that hideous dog...it's a good thing I had a head start before the hen squawked, or else I might not have been able to outrun the ogre when he chased me. And if I hadn't taken that axe, the trees would've gotten me for sure. Imagine, trees that reach and snare and kill! I'd never heard of such horrible things before.
I think the worst, though, was the witches--no, no, the worst was the graveyard. If I hadn't been faster than the witches, and gotten my scarab before nightfall...oh, I thought the nightmares would never stop after that graveyard. Those rotting, bony hands reaching up from the ground, grabbing my ankles, tearing my dress, pulling at me--and...the mummy, too, I don't even want to think of what would've happened to me if it had grabbed me...
And that's not even beginning to discuss Lolotte, that horrible old witch. If I hadn't fooled her, she surely would've killed me the first time she laid eyes on me. And even though I did fool her, the things she did--throwing me in the torture chamber, having her henchmen haul me around like--like a sack of grain...and all those stone steps I had to climb in her castle were slick and narrow and my dress was always tangling in my ankles, and any misstep could've--
She swore her revenge on me when she died. But if she'd had the strength to use the powers of the Talisman before she did...it wasn't as though I was hidden. She knew it was me. She swore to get me for what I'd done. That was terror enough.
Strange how looking back on it now, it all seems so terrifying. That graveyard still gives me the shakes, just thinking about it. But it was for Daddy, and terror or not, I think...I think I'd do it all again if I had to.