Shelves of memory.

Dayrin hushed my sobs and untied me. “Let’s get you some clothing,” he said. The way he spoke, it was the tone one might use to get a frightened child moving. “Then, you can have something to eat, right?”

He helped me to my feet and guided me to a room. It was small, but it had all I’d need. I stood in front of a mirror, as he moved to get the promised clothing. The longer I was there, the less about myself I seemed to know. It was as though something were sweeping through my mind and wiping out the shelves where every memory was stored.

Like a star in chains

“You always have to remember, Dayrin,” his master had told him once, “binding elementals was like trying to chain flames. You might hold them for a little while, but eventually they will break free.”

Dayrin glanced over at Rose. That was the name his master had given her, but they knew it wasn’t her name. That name, like the form she wore, was part of the prison meant to hold her there. If either part failed, she’d be free.

Rose was quiet at the moment. She was sitting still in the room his master had given to her. There was a strange expression on her face, as if she were straining against something that Dayrin couldn’t see. “What are you thinking about Rose?” he asked.

“My name,” Rose said. Her brows furrowed, forming deep creases across her forehead. “My name isn’t Rose. It’s nothing like that. I know that but… I can’t remember it.”

Dayrin nodded. She was straining against the bonds that held her prisoner. How long, Dayrin wondered, would his master be able to keep her contained?

this weakness and brokenness

Rose, he’d called me. I didn’t remember anything. For all I knew, I was Rose. Somehow, though, that felt wrong. I looked over at my reflection in the mirror and scowled. The long dark hair, the soft brown eyes, the light tan… they all seemed as wrong as the name Rose. It was as if I were looking at a stranger.

I shivered and spun away from the mirror. “It’s not right,” I said, my voice cracking. I brought my hands up to my chest and bumped them against the soft mounds of my breasts. A sob broke free and then I stifled it. These felt wrong too. My breasts shouldn’t be so full.

“Rose,” a soft voice said. “Are you all right?”

I spun again, this time to face the doorway. It was my master’s apprentice, Dayrin. I shook my head and blinked away tears. “It feels wrong here,” I said. I sniffled and rubbed away the tears. “It’s too heavy and I… I don’t feel like I look this way or – or sound this way!”

Dayrin frowned. “It’s all right,” he said, taking a step towards me. I began sobbing in earnest then. As he folded his arms around, I remembered someone else doing the same thing and I fisted my hands into his tunic. “Rune,” I sobbed. “I wanna go home!”