Chapter One

Danica’s head was still pounding when she came to her senses. “What happened?” Her voice cracked and when she tried to sit up, she felt the blood rush in her head making her ease back down on a pillow. Her eyes closed wearily.

“Good to see that you’re awake?” The voice was unfamiliar but near by and a welcome presence.

“What happened?” Danica repeated the question.

“Shush, you’ll have quite an effort on you’re body. You’ll need to stay in bed for a day or two more.”

Danica opened her eyes and locked gazes with a pair of green eyes. They were standing over the bed and out the window. But as her eyes skimmed over the walls around her, shock sent in.

She wasn’t in any hospital room she had ever seen. In fact this was unlike any room she had ever seen. The walls were made of an odd blue rock like…

“Sapphire City!” Danica screamed in distress.

“So you have heard of us. By the way you dressed, we suspected you were not from here.” It was obvious that she didn’t hear the fear in her voice.

“I’m…I’m not.” She was whispering but the new thought that flowed to her head made her relax. It had to be a dream, right. The accident must have knocked me out, that’s all.

Danica was doing a great job at convincing herself.

The woman was looking at her questioningly. “Then how?”

“It’s a long story.” When the woman looked away, Danica smiled to wryly at her own personal joke. Soon she would wake up in a real hospital bed surrounded by her family.

“I’ll let you keep that two you’re self then. I have other charges to attend to.” Without another word, the woman disappeared out the door, a head of brown hair bobbing behind her.

Danica closed her eyes and let sleep wash through her subconscious. The vision in her dream made her shutter within.

“Mama, what happened to Danny?” Mile, the youngest Holden was tugging on Mrs. Holden’s shirt.

“She’s just asleep and she may be for a long time.” The tired looking woman was running her hand through six-year-old Mile’s hair.

Danica was lying in a sterile hospital bed with her head just escaping over the blankets. Her hair was messy and untamed tied back with a little rubber band. Monitors of all types beeped and buzzed around her in a terrifyingly hypnotic rhythm.

She saw her oldest brother Troy leaning in the corner with concern plastered on his face. Her other four brothers were scattered throughout the room. Even the college-goers were there to show concern.

But her own still, bruised face was planted in her memory.

Her head shot up and got dizzy but she didn’t lie back down. The first rays of sunlight were being cast into the window by the sun just peeking over the horizon.

“Careful now. Hanna said you can walk around but you’re to be careful.” A girl no older than herself was perched at the foot of the bed watching her.

“How long was I asleep?” Danica asked.

“Three days.” The girl moved gracefully across the room to a set of clothing on the back of a chair. “I believe these will be more to your suiting. The clothing you were found in will greatly stand out in the city.”

She held up a pale yellow dress with fringed sleeves and a square neck. “Thank you.” It was the only thing she could really say for a second but then remember the line from Gems of the North. “Blessings be to you.”

“So you do know our traditions. Good. We were not sure if were one of us or not. I only hope people will not recognize you. Girls falling out of the sky and into a public hanging are not so usual though they did release the man. He insists on meeting you and even sent a small gift.” The girl lifted a small box off the floor only to place it on the chair with the dress.

Danica’s face was plastered with questions. “I don’t remember anything really. When did I arrive?” She used the word “arrive” lightly.

“Twelve days ago.”

She was about to turn and leave but Danica stopped her.

“What’s your name?”

“Katie.” Katie was small with a mess of red hair pulled into a bun on her head. Freckles dotted her pale skin and showed off a pair of gorgeous blue eyes. “Hanna would wish to know your name. The Queen has been asking about you.”

“Danica Holden,” she answered.

“Good-bye, Danica Holden.” Katie curtsied and disappeared out the door.

Danica had almost forgotten that she was allowed to walk and eased her way out of bed. At first, her legs were shaky but she made a couple of loops around the room before sitting down on the chair, careful of the dress and box. They had left her in only her neon pink panties and matching bra.

Chilled and nervous that someone would catch her half naked, she threw the long dress over her head and let the graceful satin cloth fall over every curve–or not curve–of her body.

After admiring her reflection in a small mirror, she turned her attention to the box that had tottered to the floor. It was wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine. Playfully, she stiffened her back and attempted to act “civilized” as her mother had always pressed her to be.

When the paper was pulled away, she revealed a long stretch of pink ribbon and a note folded in fourths at the bottom of the little wooden box.

To my nameless savior,

I would like to thank you more personally another time but for now, I’ll give you this ribbon. I have little to offer you except for what was left by my mother and my loyalty to you. You have saved me from death and I am forever grateful.

Angelo

Danica tucked the note away carefully within her bra and before fingering the ribbon in the box. It was soft with wear but did not fringe or stretch with use. The fact that this man, Angelo, had been sentenced to death did not make her any less unappreciative of the gift. In fact, she cared even more for the little trinket now that she would have had it come from anyone else.

As she began to stand, Hanna, the compelling green-eyed woman, walked into the room. “So, you’re doing well?”

“Yes. I’m feeling much better,” Danica replied and nodded.

“Good because Queen Isa has been rather preoccupied with bombarding me about your health.” Queen Isa had only been a princess during Gems of the North. Perhaps this is farther in the future of the Sapphire City. “She wishes to see you. But first I must ask you brush your hair or something. It’s quite a mess and the Queen would not approve.”

“Of course.” Danica hadn’t even noticed the major case of bed head she had now. “Do you have a comb?”

Hanna reached into the little pouch at her waist and handed her an ivory comb. “Be careful will you. It was a gift from my mother.”

Rather than answer, Danica took the comb to her hair and began to untangle the knots in her long black mane. When she was finished, Danica revealed the pink lace from her balled up fist and in the rooms awkward silence, she pulled her hair to a pony tale at the nape of her neck, letting every bit of excess material hang down her back.

“I must admit. You are quite beautiful to not be from here. I’ve never seen a foreigner whose hair runs blue. It runs in the royal family,” Hanna remarked taking the comb back from Danica. Of course, Danica knew most of this from the book but she liked being called beautiful.

“Thank you,” she replied and took another look in the little hand mirror. For the first time, wit her hair bunched together, she realized how heavily the blue ran through her hair. Perhaps it was just her wild imagination.

“You’re welcome. Now, we must hurry or keep the Queen waiting.” Hanna began to scuffle out of the room. Even in her own dream, Danica didn’t know what to expect.

The street was just beginning to rustle to life and shops were opening their doors. People began to stumble out of their homes and set to work. Several people looked at her with curiosity but with the curiosity that came from seeing someone new at school or at work. They didn’t recognize her. Danica grin silently at the complex world she had trapped herself in.

Hanna led her down the twisting, turning streets of Sapphire City. It was everything she had imagined, read, and more. The stone pathways glistened and glowed just like the walls of her room. Even the most down trodden shop had that blue tinge Danica had read about with great expectation.

But as they turned the corner, a whole new spectrum of sound wrapped around her. Subtle at first, the wild voices sang in a whole other language, so fast that even if she had known what was being said, their rapid tongues moved so listlessly that they could barely be understood.

Soon, the troupe she had been expecting came into view. Carmen was so distinct among the other gypsies. Her voice was high and fast, the soprano sound dancing around her spinning feet. Locks of blond hair spun around her like exotic wings. That was why she was known through out the city as the Earthbound Goddess. She was Carmen. She was the Carmen who was beautiful and talented beyond all expectations for a girl born an orphan.

At least this proved that Carmen didn’t die in the story and Danica was glad.

Hanna however, looked disapprovingly at the troupe and sucked in air between her teeth. Shaking her head, she led Danica down a different street. But Danica couldn’t help letting her eyes and her ears wander until she became blind to the dancers and deaf to the music.

That was when the magnificent gates of the castle came into view. Delicate blue veins ran through the crystal door and formed ever-changing images like the clouds overhead, just as whimsical and beautiful.

She almost didn’t realize that a soldier had approached and lead them though the small door that had appeared somehow or another at the base of the door. And she almost didn’t realize that she was walking closer to the archway and into the deep shadow of the door. But she did realize that her heartbeat had sped up and she sighed.

“Welcome to Sapphire City.” The voice boomed an echoed with dignity and magnificent. Danica could only grin. After all, this was just some twisted dream.

That's all I've got but I'll add if I feel inspired.