Elena awoke to the chirping of birds on the windowsill. She turned her head towards the lovely sound, her injured cheek brushing the pillow, eliciting from her a sharp intake of breath. She reached up to touch the smarting area, gently running her fingertips over the stitches. Her cheek felt tight and oddly warm in comparison with the other.
"You should try not to touch it," Henry's voice called out from across the room.
Starting slightly, Elena turned towards the source of his voice, instinctively pulling the sheets over her body as she caught sight of him. Henry extricated himself from the chair near the fire, looking extremely stiff and haggard.
Henry sat down on the edge of the bed and smoothed out the bedcovers before him. "How do you feel?" he asked Elena, not looking her in the eye.
Elena's lip trembled and tears welled in her eyes. How did she feel? She wished she could stop feeling! So many things going through her mind, to pick even one emotion seemed an incredible task, she didn't even know what she was feeling. And why wouldn't Henry look at her? Was she that disfigured?
"I.. I.." she began to say, her voice cracking slightly. She couldn't continue, it was too much to think, let alone talk about her feelings.
Henry reached out to rub her foot through the sheets but Elena flinched at his touch and drew her knees up against her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Henry turned pink and withdrew his hand quickly. He stood up slowly, running his hand through his hair - in frustration? Bewilderment? Elena couldn't say.
"I'll send Catherine in with some breakfast - you should eat something."
Henry crossed the room quickly and was gone before Elena could blink. Was she really that disfigured? Or could Henry not look at her because of how he came upon her and Caspian? Elena lay back against the soft pillows, wondering what lay ahead - the future that seemed so clear now lay hidden behind a veil of dense fog.
*
Henry sat alone, the table before him heaped with scrolls all awaiting his attention, but his mind was elsewhere.
A soft knock on the large doors of his study broke into his thoughts. "Enter," he called, sitting up straighter.
Catherine walked in, bowing her head before the king. "We have done as you asked King Henry - all the mirrors have been removed, there is no chance that the Princess will see her injured reflection anywhere in the castle."
"Good."
There was an uncomfortable silence. "My lord, is there anything else you wish of me?"
"No," Henry replied. "Yes - wait, I forgot to ask - has the Princess eaten anything? Has she said anything?"
"No my lord. She has left the food I left for breakfast and lunch untouched, in fact she barely acknowledges my presence at all. She has yet to say a word to me King Henry."
"Very well, you may leave now."
"Yes my King," Catherine answered, bowing once more and exiting quickly, closing the door softly behind her.
Henry stood up, his stiff joints cracking in protest. He rounded his desk and pulled a heavy leather-bound book off a nearby shelf and looked at the cover- in slightly faded golden lettering it read "The Desideratum of a Kravaolian Royal". He blew a thick layer of dust of the top of it, coughing slightly as he inhaled some of it by accident. He sat down at his desk, the heavy tomb on his lap. He opened the book, rifling through the pages until he found what he was looking for. Henry sat hunched over the pages, reading with great intensity. When he began reading, he had a slight frown, however as he continued, his eyes narrowed considerably, the colour rising in his face. Suddenly, Henry had read enough, he snapped the book shut and slammed it down on the desk with such force that the goblet of wine that was standing untouched for several hours, full to the brim, fell over and spilled it's contents everywhere.
Henry couldn't wait any longer, he needed to speak to Elena.
*
Elena had spent the whole day buried beneath the bedsheets. It was not only that she didn't want or care to get out of bed, but she was still quite sore- even a small movement caused her pain, so she just lay still, staring ahead, trying not to think of anything.
Elena lay awake, not because she couldn't fall asleep, but because she was afraid of the shadows that lurked in her dreams. The few times she did doze off, she awoke drenched in sweat and her heart pounding with some vague recollection of a domineering, violent figure. She didn't really need to see the figure's face to know who he was - in fact, she preferred that the face remain hidden.
On the few occasions that Catherine came in, usually bearing a plate of food, she feigned sleep. She couldn't stomach the thought of engaging in mindless banter just to put the young maiden at ease. So she pretended to sleep instead.
There was a soft knock on the door again. Elena sighed heavily and closed her eyes, feigning sleep once more. She heard the door close softly followed closely by the creaking of the chair by the fire. Great, Elena thought - now she's going to watch me sleep? Elena rolled over so her face was hidden from Catherine, allowing her to keep her eyes open but presenting the appearance of sleep.
"I know you're not sleeping Princess," said a deep voice.
Elena's heart pounded against her ribcage. Henry.
"Once, not so long ago, I could tell that you weren't sleeping by the lightest touch -now though, the way you breathe Princess, i'm familiar with the sound as I am with my own breathing."
Elena hugged the sheets a little closer, closing her eyes, wishing he would leave her be.
"Please, look at me." Henry asked softly.
Elena sighed and rolled back over, lifting her face slightly to meet Henry's gaze.
Henry looked at Elena's pale face, marred by the small cut on her cheek. Her eyes, full of pain and something Henry couldn't quite put his finger on, caused him to look away and lower his own head in embarrassment and shame.
Elena's lip trembled and tears pooled in her eyes. So, this is the way it was going to be between them? Henry couldn't look at her anymore?
Elena sobbed softly, pulled the bedsheets tighter around her and rolled back over.
"Elena, please - I'm sorry, I-" Henry started to stammer, but Elena cut him short.
"Please leave," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly.