I look at him stunned into silence for a moment and then nod my head. I just had to know. How bad could it be? Enre came over to me and said "Can I have a moment My Lady." I nod my head, and we walk over to the other side of the room. Thane and Aiden carry the bags to what I'm guessing is a bedroom, to give us some privacy.
Enre then starts off with "My Lady, whatever we tell you will be nothing but the truth, I promise this with my whole heart." He has my hand in his, rubbing his thumb over fingers. "No matter how farfetched and crazy you think it is, it will be the truth." I nod my head. Deep down in my heart, I know he is telling me this to prepare me for what I am about to hear. "Promise me that you won't run away, and you will not hate us after you have heard us out." His eyes were watery and saddened. He looks almost heartbroken at the thought of me running. I felt a pain in my chest. "Say something, My Lady," He said just above a whisper, his hands shaking.
I look at him and put my hand on his cheek and say "I promise, I will not run away, and I will stay by your side no matter how farfetched what you tell me is. I trust you Enre. I don't know why I do. But my gut and my heart agree with me. My mind might take some convincing" I snicker at the last part and give him a smile.
Instantly, he wraps me in his arms and holds me like he is never going to let me go. Really how bad can it be? What are they going to do? Tell me, that they are aliens or something. If so, they are the hottest aliens I have ever seen. Not that I have ever seen any that is. I almost laugh out loud, But I stifle it before it can surface. We walk back over to where the sitting area is and I sit in a big overstuffed chair that Enre and I were sitting in earlier. Enre is in the matching one.
We wait for the other two guys to join us, they are in there getting us something to drink. When they come in and sit and hand us our drinks Thane says "So where do we begin?" Looking around at us all.
Enre said "You might want to go with the big one, to start with Brother" The big one? Huh, I wonder what the big one is?
Just as I think this, Thane says very bluntly "Enre is The Crown Prince of Aelmere." Nothing could have prepared me for what I just heard.
With a look of shock apparent on my face, I say "What? A Prince? Really? Wait so you're a Prince too?" That would only make sense, Thane being one too. I mean they are brothers.
Enre says "Well she took that unusually well. Yes, I am a Prince." Bowing his head to me. So I have been hanging out with a Prince. It's kinda hard to believe.
"You're a Prince to right, since you are Brothers?" I ask Thane. Not really wrapping my mind around this situation yet.
He looks at me for a minute and says "No My Lady. My real name is Thegan Erinhall Arthfael, and I am the King of Realm of Aelmere. My apologies for giving you a fake name." My jaw hit the floor. King? What? Mmm... Ok, I got this. It's not so bad. So that's why they talk like that and have unusually good manners. There just royalty... Don't freak out Terra, stay calm. I tell myself.
"My lady? Are you ok?" Enre asked. No, I am most defiantly not ok. I am freaking out a little. I calm myself down some. I promised I would listen.
"Oh, Yes I am ok." trying to sound collected. "So that's why everyone has been calling you 'My Lord.' And here I have been calling you guys by your first names" I put my hand on my forehead. "So My Lords, Your Highnesses. Whatever I am supposed to call you now?" Royal hot guys, pops in my head. I had to shake my head to get that thought to go away.
They all laugh and Thegan answers my question "Just as you have been My lady." I don't know how I feel about that, knowing that they are Royalty now.
Enre asks me "Are you not going to ask where Aelmere is My Lady?" Come to think of it. I don't think I have ever heard of Aelmere.
"Ok Enre, where is Aelmere?" I ask him since he brought it up.
He looks at me for a second, then starts to speak. "First, do you believe different dimensions can exist?". Hmm? I have never really thought about the possibility of other dimensions.
"I guess it could be possible. Don't tell me you guys are aliens. It may take me a minute to process that one."
They all laugh at my alien statement. Enre continues "We are not aliens in the way you are thinking My lady, but we do come from a different realm. Where my brother is, King and I am Prince." Waiting for a moment to judge my reaction. "What I say is the truth, My lady." A different realm? Well I mean, I guess it could be possible. I mean this can't be the only place that has life. My old college professor believed in alternate dimensions, so what they say may be true.
I don't have a bad feeling about what they claim. So I say to him kinda bluntly. "Ok, so if you guys are from a different realm then why are you here?" There has to be a reason. Vacation maybe? Having to stop a laugh from escaping lips.
"You believe us?" Thegan asks looking stunned. I honestly don't know for sure if I believe them or not, but what the hell. Why not.
I turn to say to him, "Until you give me a reason to not believe you, I have no reason not to right." Hoping that I make the right decision.
He looked relieved, his expression relaxing. He then says "Thank you for trying to understand this My lady. I know it may be hard. I ensure you that what we are telling you is the truth".
Enre then began to speak in a tone that was a little unsure "That part of our story is probably the easiest to explain. The next part you will have to see." Looking at me with pleading eyes. "Please don't be scared my lady" ok now he is starting to freak me out a little. "You go first Thegan," Enre says.
"Alright, Brother. My lady, what you are about to see, cannot be spoken outside of this room. You have to promise to keep our secret till your dying breath. It's only for the safety of our family and our people that I ask this." What could he possibly be talking about?
I look at him and say "Of course, I promise" I don't know what is coming, but my nerves are standing on end.
Thegan then says "Alright watch carefully, My lady." He gave me a smile. He held his hand out and took a deep breath. Then in a flash, there was a tiny flame dancing up his arm. Flickering back and forth.
"What the hell is that?" I bend closer to him, and it starts to dance around more. That's awesome, are you controlling it?" I ask. Watching it glide up and down his arm.
"Yes, it is called Essence. It is a power our family has control over. We will explain more about that at another time My Lady" Thegan said.
I look over at Enre, and he has a smile on his face "Can you control fire too?" Thinking to myself, I knew they was hot, but this is not what I had in mind.
Instead of answering me he holds out his hand and a globe of water forms in his palm. He makes it change form, Turning it into a heart. He then grins at me and says "Not exactly, my power is over water." I smile really wide at him, and he winks at me.
I look at Aiden, and he waves his hand in the air and all of a sudden a breeze flips my hair up and swirls it around. I grin at him and say "It is amazing that you guys can do that." The most amazing thing I have ever seen to be exact.
Enre looks at me and says "You’re not scared of us?" looking surprised. I should be, but I'm not.
"No, not at all, I was surprised at first, but I think it is fascinating" I gleam a bright smile at them all. You can tell they all relax some.
Soon the smiles are gone, and Thane says, "Now to the hard part of our story" It takes a long time, but they did what they promised me. They told me the entire thing. About Ivar, the book, what happened to their family. The death and the state of the Realm.
Tears drops start to slide down my cheeks, and Enre asks me "Are you alright My Lady?" No, I'm not. The thought of those people dying is hard to take.
I look at all of them and say, "I am so sorry you all have had to endure such hardships and loss. It saddens my heart to think you all have been through so much" Enre then comes over and picks me up and sits me in his lap, he the wipes my tears away. And says "My lady, most of that is in the past, no need to shed tears over something that cannot be changed. I am just so relieved to kno
w, that all this doesn't scare you away." It should scare me away. Not knowing what's going to happen next. "I can assure you, My Lady, that we will make it right with you and save our people. I just pray that you will stay by my side. Even though I do not have the right to ask you to stay after what has happened."
I know all of this is going to be hard, but in my heart, I believe that I am supposed to be here. That I have a role to play somehow. I was just thinking the other day that I needed an adventure. I guess I hit the jackpot on that. I mean, what do I have to lose? Time to take a chance. I say to myself, So I say to him, "I will stay by your side Enre and help you guys any way I can." I pray that I am making the right decision.
He immediately let out a sigh of relief and hugged me tight to his chest. Whispering to me. His voice is shaking as though he is about to start crying, "Thank you, thank you so much for believing us, Believing in me My princess." He didn't let go of me for a few minutes. He held me tight, as to not let me slip away.
Thegan said to him "Brother, take your princess to bed. She has had a very rough day. Come back and join us when she is settled. There are still things to discuss." He nodded at him and said "Thank you, Brother. I will be back soon” I looked over Enre’s shoulder while when he started to carry me to bed, and I mouthed the words "Thank you" to both of them. They both nodded back to me and smiled.
Chapter Eight
Thegan
This woman that has shown up in our lives is an intriguing creature, and beautiful as well. Evan after everything she has been through, she still listened to our story and believed us. That in its self is shocking. I have met many people in our journey, and not once did I ever trust another with our secret. We only met her two days ago, but for some reason, confiding in her seemed like the easiest thing I have ever done. Something has to be different about her. I wish we knew about her past, but even she doesn't know any of it. She has never met her parents. Doesn't know where she is from. Doesn't even know her real last name is. The last name she has, came from a foster family. Poor girl, not knowing who you are has to be rough on her. Maybe we can help her learn her past somehow. For some reason, since we met her, I can't help but think there is a certain familiarity about her, which puzzles me. Her voice I believe. Maybe I have heard it before, but that can't be. We only met her recently. Maybe it is just a coincidence. No point in over thinking on it. Bohyne has placed her in our care for some reason, and I guess we just have to wait for what she has planned.
"I feel bad for her," Aiden says, drawing me out of my thoughts. For a moment, I forgot that Aiden was in the room with me.
"As do I Aiden," I replied. Saddened by the things the poor creature has already been through today alone. A little while passes as Aiden, and I carry on some small talk. We have been waiting on Enre, so we all talk together about the issues at hand. Just then Enre walks back into the room. "Enre did you get your princess settled in?" I ask him.
"Yes brother, I gave her some lavender tea to calm her nerves. She is asleep in my bed now. She also told me to say to you both goodnight and thank you again." He says with a smile.
"That young lady has a kind heart," I tell him. It is as undeniable as her beauty. That is what Enre needs in his life, someone caring.
"Yes, she does. She is very... What's the word... Unique. Most people would have left the room screaming if they had found out about us. She didn't, she accepted it all." Stumbling over his words. "She is not only kind but strong as well Brother," Enre says, with an almost faraway look on his face.
"That she is, but What I would like to know is, why is she being targeted? From what we know, she does not have a connection to our world or anyone from it." I say to him. It is a very curious situation.
"From what I figure, these followers of Ivar must have been watching our moves, and have seen her with us. That still doesn't explain why they destroyed her house and killed that defenseless feline pet". I say to him. The scene was awful.
"They had to have been following her to know where she lived and where she was going tonight. They did that to her house but not the bookstore right?" Aiden asks.
"Your right, when we left the house, we went by her book shop, and nothing had happened there. So it's rather unclear what the reason behind the attack was at this point." Enre added. Unless they had not had a chance to get to the Bookshop yet. Maybe Enre and Terra made it there before they could.
"One thing is for sure brother. We need to keep her safe. I have a feeling that she is connected to all of this somehow, we just need to find out what before something else happens to the poor thing" I divulge to him. I really wish we knew what her connection was.
"Your right Brother, she has to be kept safe," Enre say in a worried tone. Wringing his hands together. He is already too deep. I can see it on his face.
I put my hand on Enre’s' shoulder to try and ease some of his worries. I say to him "Enre, Myself, and I'm sure Aiden will agree, will not let anything happen to your Princess if it is within our control. You have my word, Brother". And I would do anything to keep from crushing Enre.
"You have my word as well lord Enre. Myself and my men will do whatever we can to help". Aiden stated. He has a small army of men here himself.
"Thank you, Aiden. That is much appreciated" I say to him. I hate to admit, but we are going to need all the help we can get. Especially if Ivar's followers succeed in breaking him out of confinement.
"So Aiden, did any of your men find the people that were spying on us earlier at your club?" Enre asked Aiden. I had forgotten all about that.
"Yes actually, one of my bodyguards caught someone being very suspicious and we have him detained at the club. I told my men to keep an eye on him until we can come interrogate him." Aiden told Enre.
"Very good. Maybe this man can shed light on what's happened." Enre says with a wry smile on his face. I'm sure he is just worried about our lovely guest.
Remembering something that I noticed about her I shared my thoughts with the others. "Come to think of it, the young lady in there, is unusually intuitive when it comes to her surroundings. She noticed that she was being watched the day that I met her, and she did the same at the club. Not many people are that attentive to the goings on around them."
"I noticed that too, but it may just be a trait of hers." Enre says "True. It could be. I'm sure we will have a better understanding of her as time goes by," I say to Enre.
Enre looks as though he is perplexed. Like he is trying to piece his thoughts together "She is an enigma Brother, a puzzle I wish to solve. Is it bad for me to have these feelings this way, knowing we still have such a long journey ahead of us?" Enre looks as though his thoughts are a pain to him.
I need to say something to ease his mind. But what, yes this woman coming into our lives at this moment is not ideal, but it can't be helped. It's as though she was sent down to us by Bohyne herself. So I say to him, "Brother, this woman has a purpose, as to what that is yet, I do not know. What I do know is, you care for her and that it is Good for you to experience another's love. The only other person I have seen you actually care for is me, and as much as I love you brother, I cannot love you like that beautiful creature can". The pained look on his face vanishes and we all have a good laugh.
"Thank you, Brother. I needed to hear that," Enre says to me. Smiling the way he use too.
The hour is getting late, and we have many things to do tomorrow, so I say to Aiden. "Aiden, we have an extra room if you don't mind staying to help us guard our young guest."
"It would be my honor My Lords, but if it is alright with you I would like to go home for tonight to gather a few things up to bring with me. I will meet you tomorrow morning and will stay from then." Aiden says.
"That will be quite alright Aiden. We will see you in the morning, say 9:00 am." I say to him. I am glad that he is going to help us.
"Very well My Lord. I bid you both good night." Aiden then bows and leaves the loft. His men must still be waiting for him downstairs.
"We should get some rest Brother. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be strenuous. “I say to my Brother. I have an undeniable feeling that it's going to get a whole lot worse before its said and done.
"Yes indeed, I will check on our guest and do just that, Goodnight Thegan," Enre says with a yawn.
"Goodnight Enre," I say to him, then I go to fix me some tea and head to bed. I pray to Bohyne that nothing happens in my dreams tonight.
Chapter Nine
Terra
The storms are awful in my dream tonight. The mood I was in when I went to sleep must have something to do with the rage I am feeling in my dream. My skin was being pelted with heavy raindrops, while the wind whipped my hair around my head. The general feeling under my tree was always pleasant, but tonight I only feel agonizing sorrow. I keep hollering out for the voice that was in my dream before, but I do not hear it, if only it would return, I wouldn't feel so...Alone. I notice that there are leaves all over the ground. As I look up, the site I see is startling. My tree is losing its leaves. Is it dying? What will happen if it does? The thought of this scares me, and I holler out into the field, only to hear silence in return. I lean against the bark of that giant and sink to my knees. Tears are running down my face. The overwhelming sadness that overtook me hurt my heart. If only there was something I could do to help.
Just then, it felt like I was being watched. I quickly jump up and hid behind the Wide tree, looking around for whoever or whatever it is that is watching me. Then I notice someone standing down by the tree line. Barely a shadow, as it was far away. So I holler to them "HELLO" but they are so far that they cannot hear me. So I wave my hand, stunned that the person waved back. After a few minutes the person seemed to be walking towards me, but in an instant, they were gone. Just vanished into thin air. 'Hmmm, that was weird.' I think to myself.
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