Page 22 of Monsters In Her Head

Chapter 13

Ira

The scent of the princess filled Ira’s senses long before she appeared in his secret hiding place. The sharp smell of tears surrounded her and the heavy stink of despair lingered in the air.

Georgia didn’t seem to notice me at first. Her chest heaving. Her fingers curled into fists at her sides.

Her long skirt had been replaced with a shorter skirt, though covering much more like those of the female drakes. Her breasts were bound with a strip of fabric covering her from her breastbone to touch the fabric at her waist.

Ira's eyes skimmed over the princess, noticing the way that every inch of her that was marked had been covered with fabric. Ira hadn’t seen the marks himself. Though, Ryu had told Desmond and Ira about them. Not in much detail but enough to know that they were there hidden beneath fabric and a fiery temperament.

Something had shook the princess up.

In the time she had been with them, Ira had not seen her lose her stony exterior and any tears had been well calculated from Ryu's point of view.

Suddenly, Ira felt as if he were intruding on a private moment. A quiet moment of desperation where the past clung to her mind, clouding the present with what she had experienced.

Ira knew of such moments well. Usually they were followed by a long binge of ale and women while he wallowed in his self loathing until one or both of his brothers had to come drag him out of it with a fight that ended up with all of them in the infirmary.

Ira stepped from where he’d been hiding behind the entrance to the mountain intent on leaving the princess in peace. Unfortunately, it seemed she was more intoned with her other senses and noticed him immediately.

Putting on a mask of indifference, Ira offered the princess a smile. “You’ve found my hiding spot it seems.”

It almost seems as if the princess couldn’t see him. As if she were looking straight through him. Then after a moment that fog in her eyes dissipated and the shadows in her gaze only lingered in the background.

Georgia didn’t answer him though he knew she had read his lips. Those pale chestnut orbs turned back to the skyline.

Ira took it as a dismissal and moved to leave. Her voice stopped him.

“How do you handle it?”

Pausing, Ira processed her words unsure how to respond. There were many things the princess could be referring to. However the expression on her face could mean only one thing.

Ira stepped back to her side. His good eye on the land below them as he prodded at her mind.There are days when it all seems too much. Those days the memories overcome every thought and moment of my days.

What do you do on those days?

Ira gave her a lopsided grin.Get black out drunk or beat up.

Georgia arched a brow.And that helps?

For a time.Ira crossed his arms over his chest.More than it used to.

Georgia didn’t say anything back. Her face pinched in concentration. Ira was tempted to let her go about her suffering alone as she seemed determined to do.

Something stopped him.

Instead, Ira found himself asking.What happened?

Georgia's head swiveled toward him, her brows furrowed.How do you know something happened?

The trigger.

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