by Zara Zenia
I edged along and continued to periodically glance over my shoulder for any clues as to my whereabouts. I didn’t recognize this house I was in, but I knew without question now that it was not a hotel. It might be a bed and breakfast, but it was exceptionally large if that were the case.
At the end of the long hallway, I saw a staircase landing. It was a magnificent staircase with elaborately winding spirals with a gorgeous antique iron railing. I peeked over the side. I didn’t see anything but an accent table in the center of the two story grand foyer.
My level of confusion was rising by the minute. How did I get off the plane? The fact that I couldn’t remember anything was sending my mental state down a path of self-destruction.
I began to climb down the stairs slowly as my eyes scanned the downstairs area of what I could only assume now was a mid-century castle given the fact that the architecture had carved columns and gray stone on the inside walls.
I didn’t want to panic. I was more curious than at a state of fear at this point. I was mainly disillusioned at how I got here in the first place.
When I stepped down the last step onto the marbled foyer, I took a moment to inspect the dress I was wearing. It was pearl colored and long. I had to pick up the sides of it to be able to walk without tripping over the edges of the garment.
I didn’t remember ever owning a gown or a dress that resembled this one. Where did it come from? Where were my other, regular clothes, and who dressed me in this outfit if I didn’t remember doing so myself?
“Is anyone here?” I cleared my throat and waited, craning my neck as I glanced into the heart of the castle.
I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to encounter another person or whatever else might live here. What would I do if someone popped out from behind the corner? My heart raced merely at the thought.
I rubbed my arms with my hands and draped them across my chest. Why was it so cold in here? There was also a musty, displeasing smell in the castle as if it had mildew behind the stone walls.
Surely Jinurak didn’t live here…did he?
I wrinkled my nose and began to walk down another hallway. I didn’t have a particular destination in mind. I wanted to see how big this castle actually was, and any clues which might lead me to a determination on how I got here in the first place.
I popped my head into a room that overlooked a front courtyard. It was a lovely sight outside. The sun was bright and radiant, glowing like a golden ball in the sky. It was brilliant. I had never experienced such an inviting kind of scene in my entire life. Just like the back lawns, the front didn’t look…real. Something was off about it, albeit lovely.
I left the room and wandered back in the same direction I had come from. I figured that maybe I could get outside from the foyer. There had to be an entrance there, right? Maybe I would find someone, or something, outside that could give me some insight.
I walked to the front again and sure enough, I saw a set of wooden doors that were spectacularly tall and looked as if they had been hand carved out of jungle or Brazilian wood.
I gripped the handle of the door and tried to push it open, but it didn’t give way. It didn’t even budge, really. I grunted and yanked it in the opposite direction with all the force I could muster, even though I still felt a little fatigued for some reason.
My efforts paid off. The door yielded and creaked open, splashing a wonderous display of sunlight onto me like a spotlight. I blinked as my irises attempted to adjust to the light and took a hesitant step outside onto the concrete landing of the front breezeway of the castle.
The flight from upstate New York to Baltimore wasn’t supposed to last for longer than an hour and a half, two at most depending on the weather. It didn’t look like we had landed anywhere near any kind of airport or big city in any capacity.
The sun was warm on my back. I heard a few birds chirping off in the distance. It seemed peaceful and serene out here, but I couldn’t allow myself to relax because I still had no idea where I was or who had brought me here.
I lifted my chin and glanced over my shoulder. The castle was two stories high. Fresh green ivy was growing up the sides of the walls along with some interspersed honeysuckle. The honeysuckle plant smelled delightful every time the gentle breeze wafted its scent in my direction.
The smell brought me back to my childhood in rural New York where I used to ride my bike down dirt roads and squeeze a few drops of honeysuckle onto my tongue. The memory made me smile.
Did I ever even get on the plane? The more fervently I tried to rack my brain, the more intensely my head began to throb.
Maybe I never got on the plane. Perhaps it was delayed. I was probably just somewhere near my cabin.
But that couldn’t be the case either. It was the dead of winter in the western hemisphere. There wouldn’t be any honeysuckle growing this time of year. It was just ice and snow blanketed over everything.
Shouldn’t that be the same for Baltimore? It was only a few hours south of upstate New York. Something didn’t add up here. Suddenly it dawned on me. There was plush grass all around the perimeters of the lawn. The sun was bright and warm. I was wearing a silk bedroom dress without a coat or a jacket and I wasn’t cold.
Roses and hydrangeas and petunias appeared to be in full bloom in garden beds dispersed across the front lawns. It looked like spring was in full force. Was I in some kind of alternate universe?
“No.” I shook my head. “Impossible, Ariana. You are dreaming. You are stuck in a heavy dream. That is all. You’ll probably wake up soon and laugh this perplexing situation off immediately. You are just on the flight to Baltimore. You must have fallen asleep and maybe the altitude is messing with your head during your dreams.”
I was doing my best to convince myself of some practicality since I couldn’t lay my finger on the spot, but the little pep talks were doing little to reassure me.
I took a deep breath and drifted down the concrete steps leading to an enormous swan fountain in the center of a circular driveway. I peered inside. There weren’t any coins in there. I smiled. Why would there be? There wasn’t any other human life around me that would have had the opportunity to toss a coin into the water and make a wish.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? To me, there is just something absolutely stunning about a fountain that’s glistening so wondrously in the sun.”
I whipped around in a heartbeat as soon as I heard the sound of a female’s voice behind me.
I tensed and stared at the woman, well, gawked at her was a more accurate word.
The woman moved in fluid, sashaying like motions in my direction. I planted my feet on the ground and tried to mentally tell myself to be prepared for anything. This woman had appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
Where had she been when I was calling out in in utter bewilderment before? Then again, the castle itself was enormous. I guessed it was at least six to eight thousand square feet. It was possible that she hadn’t heard me before when I was calling out for someone after waking from my ominous nap.
The woman had full, cherry red lips and had striking purple eyeshadow. Her cheeks were rosy with rouge. She looked young, maybe early thirties if that.
She walked with an air of confidence and kept her shoulders squared and tall. Her grin looked insincere, although I didn’t know why I picked up on that. I continued to stare at her as she edged ever closer, but I didn’t return her smile. I was mentally guarded. She was too bubbly to be normal.
She had a lean figure, although she did have curves. Her nails were painted apple red. She had striking features and piercing blue eyes. She had white blonde hair that was straight as a board and shaped into a chic bob cut.
She wore a sparkling tiara that glistened with noble pride in the sun. Her appearance was immaculate. She wore a long flowing red gown with spectacular jewels and rubies adorning both her petite wrists and slender neck like trophies.
“Who are you?” I asked, forgetting my manners completely.
&nbs
p; The woman chuckled as if she found me adorably amusing.
“I’m Queen Nora.”
I blinked at her as if she was purely just a figment of my imagination, which she had to be. “Queen…Nora?”
The woman narrowed her eyes as if sizing me up. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” I nodded quickly.
She pursed her lips together into a thin line and seemed to inspect me as her eyes trailed up and down my body. I suddenly felt vulnerable, like someone on display.
She mumbled something inaudibly under her breath.
“Where…am I?” I asked.
Nora smiled and began to walk in a slow and deliberate circle around the fountain. I watched her as she seemed to move effortlessly like a true queen would.
“You are at the castle,” she stated vaguely.
That much was clear, but she didn’t seem like the type to take to sarcasm very well, so I tried to take a softer approach.
“Where is this castle?” I asked, hoping to get a more precise response from her.
I lived in America, and the last time I checked, the United States didn’t have a queen. Sure, other countries did, but we weren’t one of them. We were one of the few with democracy, even with the Trilyian race living within our borders now. This woman was mysterious to say the least.
Before Queen Nora, or whoever she claimed to be, had a chance to answer, I heard a wild, animal screech overhead. It was so violently loud and had come out of nowhere unexpectedly, that I shouted and instinctively ducked down, cradling my arms protectively over my head.
I heard the mighty flapping of enormous wings swiftly going overhead, almost resembling a helicopter blade, only slower. I dared to lift my chin and peek up to the sky to determine the source of the racket.
A giant red dragon flew overhead, casting such a spectacular breeze that it lifted my night gown over my head. I shrieked and pushed it back down, eyeing the majestic beast overhead with both awe and bone tingling fear.
“What is that?” I exclaimed, even though I could see that it was a dragon. I was just so dumbfounded to see it that I blurted out the first thing that raced to the front of my mind.
“Why it’s a dragon of course!” Queen Nora proclaimed it as she raised her arms over her head, extending them in the direction of the dragon.
She beamed up at it with loving pride as if it was her beloved pet, which maybe it was. I on the other hand, cowered in fright as I looked straight into its menacing eyes. Its pupils were slits, resembling a snake, although a dragon was at least a thousand times more threatening in my book.
“Don’t worry,” Queen Nora chuckled lightheartedly as if it wasn’t a big deal for a dragon to be hovering overhead, “He won’t hurt you, that is, unless you try to escape.”
“Escape?” I cocked my head to the side and gave her a look of sheer perplexity.
Queen Nora began to roar with laughter as her dragon began spewing a dangerous spray of green flames that lashed at the gates and overhead. I screamed and jumped out of the way as Nora continued to laugh as if she had wildly lost her mind.
What was going on? What did she mean by escape? Where would I go? Was I a prisoner here? Uncertainty churned in my nauseated stomach.
I was trembling from head to toe, convulsing so violently that my teeth began to chatter. Queen Nora looked at me and then shouted up to her dragon. “That’s enough Marigon!”
Marigon? Was that the dragon’s name?
The Marigon screeched begrudgingly but took off in the same direction it had come from over the top of the castle. I rubbed my eyes.
You are dreaming Ariana.
Then why couldn’t I wake up?
I began to sweat nervously. My heart pounded. My pulse swooshed noisily through my eardrums. I looked at Nora. If this was real, and I was uncertain how it could be real, then where was I?
“Dragons aren’t real,” I said on impulse.
Nora pitched one eyebrow like a triangle hovering above her left eye. She pointed her perfectly manicured nail to the sky.
“You just saw one flying above you.”
“This can’t be happening.” I shook my head and clutched the sides of my temples.
I groaned and walked around in a circle. I had no idea why I suddenly felt compelled to pace around the lawn, but I needed to keep body busy.
“It’s happening.” Nora chuckled maliciously. “I can assure you.”
“Who are you?” I asked her again with more defiance laced in my tone than before.
“I’m Queen Nora of course,” she declared precisely as if it should have been obvious to me from the start.
I frowned. “What does that even mean?” She didn’t speak with an accent or sound like she was from a foreign country.
“It means I am the ruler over this castle,” she stated simply and gave me an icy look. “Marigon is my dragon. She is extremely loyal. She does anything I tell her to do.” She leaned closer and gave me a domineering leer. “Anything.”
I swallowed hard and flickered my gaze to the green grass. It had seemed like an eternity since I last saw grass. Winter always stretched on forever in the upstate.
Something about Nora’s tone led me to believe that she was serious about the dragon doing what she told it to do. I didn’t want to end up in its green fire crosshairs.
“This place looks like a…” I trailed off as I tried to think of the right word. “Like a location or a setting that you might see in a fairy tale.” I didn’t want to say it seemed a little cartoonish, but everything still had that surreal look about it.
Nora pushed her lips into a pleased curl at the edges. “Doesn’t it?”
“Are we in America or somewhere else?” The question had to be asked.
Nora took a step toward me. Her eyes locked with mine and both of us were too bold and proud to break the gaze.
“Somewhere else,” she whispered, parting her lips in a teasing and controlling way. Her eyes flickered with amusement as if she was experiencing joy by being evasive with me.
“Where?” I asked.
“You are here in my kingdom, as a captive.” Nora’s voice didn’t falter.
“A captive?” My stomach dropped, but I tried to tell myself not to panic because there was still a high chance that this was just an odd dream.
“That’s right.” Nora took another step toward me. We were only a couple of inches apart now. I could smell her perfume.
I took a subtle step back. She was making me uncomfortable now.
“That’s right, my dear, a captive.” Nora was practically beaming, as if she couldn’t wait to spill the beans and tell me who was holding me prisoner in this warped world we were in.
“You are a captive being held by Jinurak of Trilyn,” she chimed with delight. Her face displayed radiant glee.
“What?” I felt the air leaving my lungs. My legs were weak. I suddenly felt faint.
“That’s right,” Nora said. “And if you try to escape, my friend up in the sky will rain down his not so friendly fire on you.”
She was talking about her dragon Marigon, of course. I couldn’t believe this was happening. The world was spinning. I felt like I was going to be sick. As soon as this mysterious Queen Nora confessed the name of my captor, I instantly knew that I was not trapped in a dream. I recognized Jinurak’s name immediately.
I felt the hot pain of betrayal like a stab in the gut. “How could I have been so stupid?” Hot tears stung in my eyes. I choked back a sob.
“Don’t beat yourself up, dear.” Nora stroked my cheek. Her hands were cold, just like her eyes. “It couldn’t be helped. Aren’t all men the same? Lying beasts?” She chuckled as if she was delighted to be the one to proclaim the words.
I gazed at her with muddled confusion surging through my mind. There had to be some underlying explanation, I just didn’t know what it was yet.
Chapter 5
Jinurak
I paced the floor of my office with my phone up
to my ear. “What do you mean the plane landed in Baltimore just as it was supposed to? I thought it was highjacked?”
The anxious voice of Vas, my assistant and security advisor chimed shakily through the other end. This rattled me for one exceptional reason. Vas never let anything get under his skin. He was always profoundly composed, no matter what happened. The fact that he seemed to be unraveling set off my internal alarm bells.
“The plane did land,” he explained. “But Ariana wasn’t on it.”
“Where was she?” I blurted out, knowing full well that I wasn’t going to receive the hopeful answer I was waiting on.
“We are still trying to determine that at this time.” Vas cleared his throat professionally, seemingly attempting to compose himself.
“Have you been able to take a look at the black box?” I asked, referring to the plane’s GPS and navigation system.
“Not at this time, but I can assure you that we are working on it,” Vas said.
“Well work harder!” I roared. I was allowing my temper to get the best of me. “I’m sorry,” I immediately recovered. “It’s just…she couldn’t have disappeared. She has to be somewhere.”
“I agree with you, Jinurak,” Vas stated patiently. “It is possible that she was taken by someone before our arrival at the gate. We couldn’t go inside without boarding passes.”
I groaned. “Somebody better find her and return her to me safely and in one piece.” My threat felt empty as I said it. Mainly because I had no one to blame yet.
“We will.” Vas’ assurance was just as empty.
“I am going to call my brothers while your forces put together a team to start finding out what happened to her. Summon all the security people I have at my disposal,” I said. “If you run into any snags, call me and we can try to figure something else out.”
“Will do,” Vas said before hanging up. At least he sounded determined.
“This can’t be happening!” I shouted up at the ceiling and pounded my fist against my desk, slamming my knuckles so hard into the wood that when I reeled back my fingers ached.