The slow, steady rhythm of water falling against stone was all that her numbed mind could focus upon. She stared at it, letting the motion lazily captivate her full attention, willing the sounds of the water to lull away the searing-cold lump of steel that had settled in her soul. If the sound could not lull it away, at least it might dampen the agony of its presence, distracting her mind from focusing on the reason it plagued her in the first place. It was to no avail, she knew, but trying was, at least, something to pass the hours with as she waited for the heavy iron door to groan free of its latch and beckon whatever existed behind its frame to enter the small enclosure she now sat helplessly in. Strange memories grazed against her numbed mind as she sat motionless within the dungeon. The stone walls that presently enclosed her reminded her of similar walls that had become her home so many years ago. The memory of her own childish laughter echoed faintly in her ears and she clung to the sound, following it back though the years and drifting hazily to that happier day when she was just 6 years old.
"Drasia.." She could hear her name being called by a beautiful woman's voice. It was light and playful, as if she was being sought after in a game of hide and seek. "Draaasia... Oh where has my little Drasia gone to?"
She giggled with delight as she ran down the old stone corridor, running to escape the Lady's voice and find a good hiding spot to elude her pursuer. Running in her silk white nightgown floating about her body, she darted around the corner and the corridor opened into an open walkway with grey arched pillars on either side of the stone slabs under her bare feet. Flowering bushes graced either side of the walkway beneath the arches and a cool morning breeze rustled gently through them. The scent of the yellow freesia rose petals was strong on the wind as her light childish laughter played off the pillars of ancient stone. Finally and with much care, she made her decision on which was the best place to conceal herself and she dove into one of the freesia bushes with a grand smile, thinking she'd never be found here. The little thorns amidst the bush, however, pricked at her young delicate skin and tears instantly watered her eyes as she tried to find the source of the assault upon her. She frowned and held back tears as she pulled one of the little brown thorns out of her skin and she stumbled out the back of the bush, seeking freedom from its brambles she had so recently considered a momentary haven.
As she stumbled back, it slowly occurred to her that she wasn't standing in the corridor any longer. She faintly heard the sound of water flowing, as if from a fountain that was spilling its clear crystal liquid over the side of it's bowl, and she slowly turned herself around from facing the freesia to see just where exactly she had blindly stumbled off to. The little pinpricks of blood on her arm were soon forgotten as were all thoughts of a fountain, for when she raised her little blue eyes to the courtyard she had fallen into, she found herself staring at a god in the making.