I immediately woke up, taking deep breaths. The extreme pressures left me in a dizzy state, and I wasn’t even sure if I was thinking correctly. It suddenly struck me that I was in a rather soft bed, in a room I’ve never seen.
I quietly observed the room and saw that it was simple, yet beautiful. Sunlight shimmered in through the windows, and I saw that I was deep inside a forest near waterfalls. It almost seemed like paradise, until the thoughts of being kidnapped enter my memory.
I immediately felt my anger rise within me, and the sudden emotion made my body jerk and I fell back into the bed, breathing hard.
“Young lady, don’t you dare hurt yourself!” I heard a female voice shout.
I wearily turned towards the sound of the voice, and saw an old elf walking towards me at an abnormal pace for anyone that’s old.
“My, my, what has Aellon done to you?” The old elf fussed over me, looking to see that I was fine, and I simply gave an irritated glare. To my dismay, she merely ignored it, and continued to talk to herself.
“Umm… who are you?” I asked weakly. “And will you please stop fussing over me?”
“I’m currently getting you ready for His Majesty,” the old elf said, ignoring both questions. “Now, get out of bed and let’s get you washed up.”
“Who is ‘His Majesty’ and why do I have to get ready for him?” I asked, ignoring the elf’s commands.
“His Majesty is the king of our realm, and you need to get ready for him because he ordered that you appear before him!” Her pitch went up as she talked, and I looked at her, amazed that someone so old could have so much energy.
To my utter surprise, the elf grabbed my arm and pulled me out of bed with remarkable strength, and continued pulling me to an open room that had to my amazement, a natural spring.
“I’ll assume that you won’t attempt to run away if I gave you privacy?” she asked with a steely glare.
I rubbed my arm, still able to feel her grasp, but merely nodded. I was too weak anyway to try and attempt escape.
“Good. I left clothes that His Majesty would like you to wear on your bed, and I expect you to be wearing that by the time I come back,” she said. With a curt nod, she left, and in a matter of seconds, the sound of a door closing echoed in the room.
The water was crystal clear, and steam rose from it. It wasn’t that I was dirty, but my body felt so sore, the water just seemed to heavenly. I immediately stripped off the clothes that I had, but carefully placed my underwear and bra away so that it wouldn’t get wet. I slipped into the water and sighed with relief as the water embraced me. I felt all my muscles loosen up, and felt my brain clearing up slowly.
“This feels so amazing,” I said with a satisfied sigh.
After several minutes of tranquility and refreshment, I reluctantly got out of the water and quickly ran towards the bed, embarrassed by the fact that I wasn’t wearing anything. To my surprise, I found a clean bra and underwear next to the outfit, and I quietly thanked the old elf.
As soon as I put them on, I looked at the outfit with curiosity. It was a beautiful teal-colored sleeveless dress. It was simple, but just from looking at the fabric I could tell that it was fine quality. I carefully took it and slipped into it, feeling the fabric—silk perhaps—glide across my skin. I walked to the natural spring to see my reflection, only to see that the water evaporated.
Ifrowned, but ignored it. I grabbed my clothes that I was previously wearing and placed them on the bed. And sat quietly, waiting for the return of the old elf.
It was strange, how one elf ordered me to be taken away to another elf known as Aellon. Then a fierce old elf comes to somewhat aid me. And now the king of elves is asking for me. It didn’t click. I still didn’t understand what the first two elves meant when I was “perfect” or “fit his standards”.
The door suddenly opened, and the same old elf briskly walked in, and nodded with satisfaction. “That dress brings out your lovely emerald eyes, little girl.”
I raised my eyebrows when she said “little girl”, but quickly ignored it, realizing that I probably did seem little compared to what her age may be.
“If I may ask, what’s your name?” I asked.
It gave me the chance to take a quick look at her. I first looked at her eyes, curious to see if all elves had gray eyes, but to my surprise, her eyes were a fierce azure color. Her hair was slightly gray, but it was long and put into a neat braid. I wasn’t sure how, but it looked pretty cool on her, despite her age.
“My name would be Eilira,” she answered, and curiously looked at me. “And yours?”
“Kylie,” I said. My name sounded… chunky compared to the elves’ names, which even had a graceful air to it. “I’m afraid my name isn’t Elvish.”
“Wouldn’t expect one from a mortal though,” she said, with a chuckle. “Come now, His Majesty is getting rather impatient.”
I nodded and quickly got up to follow her. As I did, I realized that I had my energy back, if not, more, and wondered if there was magic in the springs. Nevertheless, I felt light and free from all worries and nearly skipped down the vast hallways that Eilira led me through.
We finally reached a large double door, and Eilira gave a nod. “I assume you know how to act around royalty?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, where I live, we have a thing called a democracy.”
Eilira looked at me with a blank look.
“Never mind,” I muttered. “I think I have enough knowledge though, on how to act around royalty.”
The old elf gave a nod of approval and opened the door. I cautiously entered, and walked into a huge room. A blood red carpet led all the way up to the throne, where a figure sat.
I slowly began walking down the carpet, and thoughts immediately flooded my mind. But one thought that stuck out the most was the way Aellon or whatever his name was called the first elf that made the strange comments. “Sire” and respectful terms were used…
My eyes widened. It can’t be…
“How beautiful you look, love,” I heard the familiar voice said an amused tone. I looked up with fear and anger and stared straight into the elf that ordered my capture. He smiled as he got up. “I knew I chose the right one.”
I glared at him. “You’re the king of this place?”
He shrugged. “Did I not mention that?”
“You didn’t say anything,” I growled.
“Ah, well, now you know,” he said with a bored expression. It quickly changed when he started a new topic though. “Elves become easily bored, you know this?”
I glared at him, but nodded. I didn’t like where this was heading.
“Well, it’s common for elves of the aristocracy to go into your realm to find a mortal to play games with,” he explained.
I raised my eyebrows. “You’re telling me that you kidnapped me because you grew bored and needed someone for entertainment. You’re ridiculous.”
“No, there’s more to it than just that,” he said. With a small smile, he continued: “You’re almost like… a pet. You’re kept in well condition and you’re here to entertain me.”
I looked at him stupidly. “You’re referring to me as a dog?”
“Not at all!” he said with an appalled look. “Humans are far more interesting, especially if they are intelligent.”
“I’m not going to be your pet,” I spat. “You do realize that’s almost like a pampered slave?”
“Well, you’re not asked to do anything but come when I call you for entertainment,” he said with an amused smile.
“Forget this,” I growled. “You’re taking me home now, and if you don’t, you’re going to live to regret the day you decided to even kidnap me.”
“Afraid I won’t be able to, as I’ve already put the bracelet on you,” he said with a shrug. I looked up at him and down at my slender wrist, and saw that indeed, a bracelet was clasped firmly.
“What the hell is this?” I shouted. “And when did you do this?”
“It’s really not hard when you can perform magic,” he said with a smirk. “And the bracelet is a mark that you’re mine.”
I couldn’t take it any longer. I glared at him furiously and immediately ran up towards him, ready to hurt him in any way possible, but I was immediately stopped and I froze in the air. I looked at him with a tinge of fear, and saw him walk towards me.
“Hmm… there’s something about you that lets me know that I will be enjoying your company,” he said coolly, as he released the spell. I felt my arms drop down and looked at the dark-haired elf, irritated.
Before I could insult him anymore than I did, he quickly placed two fingers on my lips and gently grabbed the wrist with the bracelet.
“I suggest you get comfortable here, because there’s no chance of you ever going back to your own world, and we made sure that even if you did made it back, there would be no traces of your existence,” he said quietly.
The last words disturbed me greatly, and I looked at him with newfound fear. He was definitely not kind, but I could tell that he wasn’t cruel… hopefully.
“Then I have no choice but to stay here,” I said quietly. I gently pulled my arm away and bowed before him. “I’ll do my best to serve you until you’re satisfactions are fulfilled.” I almost choked saying this, but my bleak destiny kept me in control, especially after the comment about my past disappearing… becoming non-existent.
He gave a nod of satisfaction from my words, and called for Eilira to take me to my new room. Immediately, the old elf briskly walked in and shuffled me out of the room.
“Sire, do you truly believe the words she said?” Aellon asked with concern.
“Aellon, even if she didn’t mean them, she knows as well as I do that she has no choice,” the king said with a smirk. “Besides, something tells me that this one is going to be far more interesting to watch. There’s something about her that makes her different from the others.”
“Perhaps it’s that she has common sense,” Aellon muttered under his breath.
“Hmm?”
“It’s nothing, sire, I’m simply talking to myself yet again.”
“Well then Aellon, I suppose we should prepare for my brother’s arrival from his hunting expedition?”
“I believe so,” Aellon said with a nod. “The prince may actually smile for once if he saw the new girl.”
“I do hope so, because the previous one did such a poor job,” the dark-haired king said with a sigh. “It was a shame that her beauty covered her stupidity.”
“Hence the reason why I felt uncomfortable about this one,” Aellon said with a small smile. “Quite attractive, with her raven hair and emerald eyes…”
“Indeed, but I can tell through those eyes that she is more than just beautiful. And I’m quite sure that with the appearance of my brother, she will start opening up.”
“Why your brother, sire?”
“This girl seems to know more than she should, and I plan on getting my younger brother to try and get her to reveal that knowledge…”
“Sire, though I’m in no place to ask, but aren’t you expecting too much out of this one?”
The king looked at his general calmly and said, “I merely have high expectations out of this one.”
