Chapter 2, Page 3
I rattled off this information to her more to keep myself from spiraling than anything else. I was already dreading the dark secrets that were hidden in the palace’s past. A sardonic smile adorned the princess’s face and she said “People never really remember what actually happened at a place do they?”. It was this that I feared above all else, the vengeful spirit of a royal princess intent on extracting revenge on the wrongs committed to her. I smiled rather weakly I think, as she spoke this, and tried to chew through the dryness in my mouth. I soon gave up and once we were done and I paid the cheque we were on our way not before I used the washroom to collect myself (well I used it quite a few times really, I have a natural predisposition to using restrooms more than most, given the current circumstances, I’m sure you wouldn’t begrudge my increased frequency).
As we stepped outside, the princess reminded me that it was already late and we should get back soon; it was about half past eight at this point, which for Yb and I was when the evening commenced. I followed her as she walked a few paces ahead, with the same royal walk, upright, proud; the weight of every step she took was felt in the crowded evening streets. We soon reached our car, which she almost missed as she walked ahead, and got in. I drove on once more and I realised the force with which the heart pounded against my chest; I swear that I could hear my heart beat through all the din in the streets. I was to now head back to the hotel/palace with the angry spirit of the princess in Yb’s body and was unsure of what was to follow. I tried to make small talk with the princess, but my mouth and throat refused to comply. Only with great will power did I manage to navigate the crowded streets. Just as it seemed that all hope was lost, I heard the princess cry in agony as she clutched her stomach; she appeared to be experiencing a sharp pain, and I heard the voice I thought I'd never hear again. “What’s up baab? Where are we going? Can we have ice cream? Why is my tongue burning? What did I eat?”, the questions kept pouring in, my beloved Yb was back ; and the princess seemed to have disappeared. Ah, the voice that I so longed to hear, music to my ears.
We drove on and I asked Yb how she was, “I’m finnnee.” she said, in her usual playful way. There are no words to describe the relief I felt, and eager to establish normalcy in my mind, I made some light banter, the kind that we usually do. While I was relieved; I still felt the same dread as before, like a calm before the storm. “Where did we eat? Do you remember? Do you not know what you ordered?” I asked her; I had heard of incidents where the person possessed by a spirit has no recollection of the activities that were performed during the period of possession, perhaps this was that?. “You know?, I actually can’t and why is my tongue burning?.”, she responded and that confirmed my suspicion. So I filled her in on most of what transpired since we left the hotel, withholding some details such as the princess taking over her; I didn’t want to stir the hornet’s nest; at least not yet. She said of her own accord “I feel like someone sat on me. All my joints ache.”. I said nothing; there was a slight ripple in the peace that followed, almost reminding me to stay vigilant. She continued chattering away, asking why her tongue felt like it was burnt; quite rich, I thought, considering that she had consumed piping hot food faster than I could blink; but of course she didn’t know that. “Well you did have steaming sizzlers and then washed it down with boiling water.” “Did I? Why did I do that?” she said. While I was now convinced that she had no recollection of what she did in the last hour and a half, it was still quite disconcerting to hear her say it repeatedly. “I feel like having ice cream. Can we go get ice cream?” so saying she looked at the time on her phone and continued; “It’s only 845? Wow, we did have quite an early dinner”. “Yeah we did” I responded with as much cheeriness that I could muster, “let’s go for ice cream”, I added quickly; partly because I didn’t want her to recall too much, but mostly because, the sooner we finished our evening’s outings, the sooner we’d have to face the castle and it’s imposing walls, something I wasn’t quite ready for yet. I wanted this period of peace, albeit from the denial in my mind, to last a little while longer, before we had to probe the difficult questions.