Chapter Text
A faint ringing filled Elain’s ears as she slowly blinked her eyes open, squinting at the bright light. Gradually the lights in her vision faded and a stark white room came into focus. A hospital room, she realized.
Goodness, what had happened?
The last thing she remembered was riding her horse through the woods behind Graysen’s parents’ country estate… It came back to her in a rush. There had been a rustle in the underbrush, the horse had shied, and then spooked when some small critter suddenly scampered across the path, startling the mare into a dead run. She’d clung to her mount with all her might, but was dislodged when the horse tried to jump a fallen log, sending Elain sprawling to the ground- where she’d cracked her head against a stone before blacking out.
Groaning softly at the slight pain she could now detect on the side of her head, she reached up to rub the tender spot. She wasn’t sure if it was her groan or the movement that garnered the others attention, but suddenly there were three concerned faces pointed in her direction.
Graysen, her fiance, and Celine, her best friend, rushed to her side while the third, their mutual friend Lucien who had been staying at the estate with them for the week, left the room, calling for a doctor.
“Elain!” Celine cried, helping her to sit up, while Graysen checked her over. “You’re awake!”
“What happened?” she asked automatically, though she had already recalled the accident that had put her here.
The pair exchanged a glance. “What do you remember?” Graysen asked.
She blinked at him, hit with a sudden, silly idea. “I’m sorry,” she said slowly, still blinking innocently at him. “Who are you?”
The pair exchanged another glance as Lucien returned with a slight frown. The doctor arrived just then, and everyone moved to give him space as he quickly examined Elain before declaring she was safe to go home as soon as the discharge papers were ready.
Graysen moved over to the doctor, speaking in an almost harsh tone. “You say she’s fine, but she claims not to know who we are.”
The poor doctor’s eyes widened, darting between Elain and Graysen before regaining his composure. “Er- well… Amnesia isn’t entirely unheard of with this sort of injury. Long term memories usually return on their own. If she shows signs of short term loss, we’ll want to reexamine her. But for now, I expect she’ll recover on her own.”
He turned to Elain with a polite smile. “Make sure you take it easy for the next few days. Get plenty of rest, eat well, the usual. I’ll perscribe you a mild pain reliever if you need it. Otherwise, just keep an eye on your symptoms. If anything worsens, or your short term memory begins slipping, as I said, come back in.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Elain smiled at the man who nodded and left.
Silence hovered between them all for another long moment as Graysen hovered near the bed, unsure what to do.
Deciding to prompt him along, she gave a pointed glance at the pearl ring on her left hand as though just noticing it then turned wide eyes on Graysen. “Are you- my fiance?”
She bit back a smile as he gaped at her, waiting for him to begin explaining what he assumed she had forgotten. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was pretending. Perhaps it was the novel her sister Nesta had been telling her about the other day where the heroine lost her memory and her devoted husband had gone to great lengths to remind her of the love they had shared.
Amnesia wasn’t totally unheard of with head injuries right? That’s what the doctor said. If nothing else, she’d pretend to remember again and they’d share a relieved laugh that her memory was not actually lost.
Before she could laugh it off as a joke, Graysen suddenly jumped away from the bed. “No! No, I’m not.” Elain blinked, not expecting such a response. She glanced briefly at their friends who seemed just as surprised. “Er- he is!”
A stunned Lucien was suddenly shoved at her, catching his balance against the side of her bed as he stumbled towards her. She shared a wide eyed look with the man before they both looked back at Graysen who was chuckling awkwardly and backing towards the opposite end of the room. Celine was suddenly by his side with a too wide smile.
“Of course,” she giggled. “Don’t you remember? Lucien, your fiance?”
All Elain could do was stare, mouth parted as her best friend and fiance wrapped an arm around each other, standing far too close, and smiled encouragingly at her. She glanced at Lucien, wondering if perhaps she really had lost her memory or this was some sort of dream. He was glaring at the pair with his jaw set, not uttering a word.
“He-he’s my fiance?” she asked, pointing at the man beside her to clarify. Graysen and Celine gave identical nods, sliding pointed looks at Lucien.
After a long moment, he cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him as, to her surprise, he took her hand in his and sat beside her with a small, strained smile. “Yes, Elain. I am.”
She stared at him in shock, not believing he was going along with this. Lucien had never been her biggest fan, ever since Graysen had introduced her to him three years ago at a party. He’d looked her up and down with those mismatched eyes, the signature Vanserra sneer curling the edge of his lips before declaring that she didn’t ‘deserve’ Graysen. She’d done her best to stay out of his way after that, and though she sometimes found him staring at her across the room, he rarely spoke to her and never seemed to warm to her, even after she and Graysen became engaged.
The fact he was sitting beside her now, willingly touching her and claiming to be her fiance was…
Before that thought could fully form, Graysen excused himself. “Well, now that we know you’re alright, we’ll go check on those discharge papers shall we? Lucien?” He gave his friend a look, nodding towards the door. Lucien sighed and followed, squeezing Elain’s hand slightly as he left.
Celine slowly made her way to the side of the bed, studying Elain who could only watch her in return, mind racing as she pieced together what had just happened. The only conclusion that made sense was the exact one she couldn’t bear to accept. That her fiance and her best friend were having an affair.
“So, you really don’t remember anything?” Celine asked carefully. “Do you- remember me?”
Elain paused, unsure how to answer. If she played along with the farce, pretending not to remember Graysen, perhaps she could learn more about just how far this affair went. Was it new? Had it been going on for longer? How deep was it? She couldn’t decide if it was better to pretend not to remember anyone else, or just Graysen. Which would make them more likely to share their truths…
Slowly, Elain shook her head. Celine’s eyes narrowed briefly, deciding wether to believe her before a slow smile curled her lips. There was something… smug about it that made Elain’s stomach dip unpleasantly. As discreetly as she could, she took a deep, bracing breath. If she wanted to survive this game, she’d have to put to practice all her mother’s training in hiding her true feelings and act her ass off, if they were to believe she was actually oblivious to what they were trying to pull.
She listened with a polite smile as her ‘dear friend’ sat beside her and began spinning a twisted version of their history to her and how Celine had met Graysen first and introduced her to Lucien. She was so caught up in her performance, she didn’t notice the glint in Elain’s eye as she fought the urge to claw the woman’s eyes out.