• My eyes were closed, and me head felt groggy. My body seemed heavy, and I realized that I was laying on some hard surface, like a wooden flooring of some kind. It was very uncomfortable, and I became irritated with it. When I opened my eyes, my head swam. Images flashed through my brain, but they were too fleeting to determine what they meant to me.

    Me. Who was I? My mind tried to come up with something, anything, but I couldn’t remember. Memories tugged at my head, but they were too blurry and unfocused. The only thing I hadn’t forgotten was an image of a hand, extended toward me. That was all. Whatever reason I could not remember anything else, I was sure of only one thing. It wasn’t that I didn’t remember, it was that I couldn’t remember. Something blocked the flow of my memories from coming to me. It was like a wall had surrounded them and starved them until they existed no longer. The process made my head dizzy, and it spun the world around me.

    “Ugh.” I groaned, my hands covered my eyes. I waited until my head felt stable before lifting my fists and opening my eyelids. The floor was stone, not wood. The walls were a dull, fading, dark gray. With a jolt, I realized there were only two walls that seemed to stretch on forever. I sat up cautiously. I was in an alley, but where was this alley? Why was I here? Where did it lead?

    I got on my feet and hobbled around, my muscles sore. How long was I unconscious? It felt like too long to my aching legs. My feet carried me farther and farther down the alley, but I seemed to go nowhere. It was endless. I must have been traveling for hours, but I stayed in the alley. Words flowed around me and landed through my head. I could only hear the jagged conversations that were torn by the winds, which seemed to swirl around me. How odd, but the breeze seemed to wrap around me, caressing my form.

    I wiped perspiration from my forehead with my right wrist, and I felt something scrape me, not just skin. I stared at the silver bracelet around my hand. I inspected it closely, trying to determine what it was. It had a heart charm dangling from the chains, but it was no ordinary heart. It was engraved with swirling winds and water waves. Where had I got this? I fingered it with my left index finger, pressing it gently against the heart.

    Suddenly I heard a thump behind me. I swiveled around to locate the cause. A boy was leaning against the wall, a somber look in his silver eyes. How had he gotten there? He was not there when I had walked past, just two steps ago. His worn clothes seemed elegant, as if from a party that was long ago. The sharp, crimson cloth of his shirt was faded to an ordinary red. The beige trousers he wore were patched in one knee, but the material looked like it was expensive. His light gray cap was flopped on top of honey colored hair that tumbled around his ear and hid his forehead. He wore a scarf made of white silk that wrapped around his neck, folding behind him and falling on the front of his shirt. At least, I thought it had once been white. Now it looked like a creamy tan, but I was almost certain it was stained with dust. He had slits in his shirt that exulted bright blue wings. So he was a fairy? But he had pointy ears, like an elf. And his features seemed like a nymph of some kind…But I did not ponder what he was; I was worried about his reason he was here. His grave countenance startled me as much as it worried me. It was like he was going to punish me for something I did wrong, which I would not remember.

    “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that!” I scolded, narrowing my eyes.
    Something seemed familiar about the way he shrugged, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. I could not place the recognition I felt. A flicker of something sparked inside me, but I didn’t know what or why. I felt my forehead crumple in confusion as I shook my head, backing away. He realized immediately what I had meant. His eyes shimmered with some heavy emotion I could not relate to, but I heard the ancient sadness in his voice when he spoke.

    “Anna? Don’t you remember me? They said that you wouldn’t, but you must. Anna? Tell me my name. Please Anna.” His eyes were begging me to know him. His disparity was shocking, and I wondered who he was.

    My head hurt while I tried to concentrate, but I came up blank. “I don’t know you.” I whispered slowly. “I don’t know who you are and how you know me…I’m so sorry.” I averted my eyes from his horrorstruck gaze. His total disbelief and shock was plain on his face. But what made me feel guilty was the complete pain he seemed to suffer. I thought about my heart bracelet. Could he have been…the one who gave it to me? Was I in love with him, this unknown boy that knew me somehow? He called me something; what was it? It might be some sort of clue, if I only could grasp it.

    “What is my name?” I yelled, desperate for answers. “How do you know me? Who am I? What am I? Where did I come from? How come I can’t...can’t…. can’t…” I broke off, sobbing. I saw him reach for me, but then he pulled back, uncertainty and conflict in his eyes. “Why don’t I…I know these…things? I should…I should, but I…I don’t. I don’t know. And I don’t know why I don’t know! I don’t.” The tears streamed down my face, and he wiped them swiftly with the back of his hand. He seemed to struggle for words to answer my pleading.

    “I’m…I apologize for your lack of…lack of memory.” He hesitated before sighing. “I thought that when you saw me, you would know me. You would run into my arms, and we’d be reunited. I would take you back to the others…But I haven’t woken your memories, I guess. Oh, Anna, I’m so incredibly sorry. It was the only way to save you after you…you…after you died.” He choked on the word, as if it would hurt me to tell me the word. But that wasn’t it, I realized. It hurt him to be reminded of my…death. “We brought you back, but they stole you away from us. They drugged you, and Sava and Mill told me that you wouldn’t remember any of us after they were done, that you wouldn’t remember…me. I told them not to worry because you would know me the instant our eyes met. But…” He left the sentence hanging, as if it could change my memory loss and make me recall his face. There was something in his features that seemed so well known, but they were so lost to me now. Like a dream from the past, I could only know it was there, but I didn’t remember it at all. Who was he?

    “Well, Anna,” He grimaced, “you could go your own way, or you can come with me. I know you don’t know who I am right now, but you might remember along the way or remember the others. Whatever choice you pick, I won’t pressure you, since you truly have forgotten me. But I implore you to join me.” His eyes flashed with reassurance, and the sliver shimmered with something else, almost a tender glint. “Life can be almost the same as it was back then. We could tell you your past, and then you could choose your future. You could stay with us, with me. Or you could leave, but leave after we had sheltered you, fed you, and restored you to health. Just let me keep you alive one last time. Please Anna. You look like skin and bones. I have been looking for you for seven months.” He smiled softly, not showing his clenched teeth.

    “Alright.” I agreed. It was better than starving in an alley. What he mean about “one last time?” But I didn’t care enough to ask this. I only had to know one thing. “But who are you?”
    He grinned; his jaw had relaxed once I had told him yes. His eyes sparkled with joy. “You tell me, Anna. I don’t really know anymore. But my name is Kaiffe.” He quickly turned and started to walk away.

    I trotted behind him, baffled. I had heard enough talk from the wind to know that name. Although he had given the position up, I knew what he used to be, what he did not want to be. King.