Born of Light and Power

Chapter 2

“Ungh,” Rhea groaned as she began to stir. Her eyes crept open and she sat up halfway in a huge luxurious bed. The deep purple sheets felt like silk under her fingertips. She looked around the large room warily. Sun was streaming through the large, open windows. A soft, cool breeze was curling around the drapes making them dance lazily around the windows. She looked down at her body to see her hiking clothes had been replaced with a loose pink slip dress. Her long, brown hair had been braided intricately down her back.

This was not her bedroom.

Rhea stood up slowly as she desperately tried to reign in the panic brewing within her. She opened the first door to her right, which led into a massive closet filled with beautiful clothes. The door next to that led into a bathroom. A large soaking tub lined the back wall with a marble standing shower next to the door. Huge floor to ceiling mirrors lined the left wall where a sink stood with a vast vanity.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and gasped.

Her hair was lighter and even maybe a little longer than it was before. Her eyes, too, had changed from a normal brown to honey gold, and were they glowing? Her complexion was clearer and her skin almost seemed like it was glowing. And her lips were more red than she remembered.

It must be the lighting in this room, she thought to herself, to justify the changes she appeared to have seen.

She walked back to bed in a daze and sat down. The door to her room suddenly opened and a tall skinny man with grayish hair walked into the room and smiled at her. His silver eyes were twinkling. He wore a tank top and shorts and was barefoot. His features were strong and pointed. Lethal. Rhea's mind began to race as she looked around the room for a way out.

“Good morning, Rhea. I’m Quinn,” he said with a small smile. She noticed his teeth looked almost sharp. “How are you feeling?”

“Where am I? What is this place? This isn’t my bedroom,” she replied hastily.

The man smiled widely and replied, “No, this is not your bedroom. Unfortunately, you’re no longer in the earthen realm. What do you remember, Rhea?”

Rhea closed her eyes and thought back to the last thing she remembered. She remembered sitting in a beautiful meadow. Blue mist had appeared to be spreading from the earth, growing into the form of a man. She remembered Darren was there for some reason. And then she remembered those eyes. Those green electric eyes that captivated her very soul.

“Oren,” she whispered. “He spoke to me. Somehow, his voice was in my head. He asked me to go with him to somewhere called Aureum. He said he would make me his when we got there.”

The man nodded sadly.

“You met my son Oren back in the Earthen Realm. He did indeed bring you to Aureum. That is where you are now.”

“But where is Oren? He told me that we would be together when I got here. For some reason at the time, it seemed like the best idea I'd ever heard. But now I’m not even sure why I thought that. I don’t even know him…this isn’t me!” Rhea hid her head in her hands and felt as though she was going to cry. Her mind felt so muddy and confused from what she thought was yesterday. “How long have I been asleep?” she asked.

“Three days,” the man replied. “Oren is currently being held in the prisons below the castle. Bringing a human to Aureum is a crime. Humans are not allowed here, they haven’t been for 20 years. And keeping one as a pet is strictly forbidden and very much against the law. Oren will likely face some form of punishment for his crime.”

“So, if humans are forbidden here, and I am a human, what’s going to happen to me?” Rhea asked.

Quinn shook his head. “I’m honestly not sure, Rhea. I wish I had an answer from you. The council has been called together to make a decision on what is to be done with you. This is a first in 20 years. No one has dared to go against the council's ruling until now.”

“Well, what do you think will happen?“

The man sighed and looked at her sadly. “At best they’ll imprison you, at worst you could lose your life.” He moved to her and sat on the bed next to her. “The council meeting isn’t for another week. Until that time, I ask you not to leave the castle grounds. If you escape, it could be terrible things for me and my son, and even worse things for you. Not everyone is as nice as me. There are some that would want to do you harm.”

Rhea's heart dropped. The room started spinning and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Was this really the end of her life?

He stood up and extended a hand to her. “Come. Let’s go down and get something to eat. You have to be starving.”

Rhea shook her head. “No thank you. I don't have much of an appetite right now. I'd rather just sit on my balcony and rest”.

Quinn frowned but nodded at her. He was frazzled. His fool of a son had defied a high law made by the Council of Ten, the lawmakers of Aureum. While he could not hope to change his son’s fate, he could at least try to help this innocent girl in front of him.

“Please, Rhea, promise me you won’t try to escape. I am speaking with some people I know who are very powerful and influential and I hope that I can keep you out of prison, and potentially spare your life. But I’m not sure how much I will be able to do if you try to run away. I know you don’t know me and I know my son has caused you a lot of pain and trapped you here against your will, but I am truly trying to save you from this. I beg you to trust me.”

Rhea looked at the man in front of her, whose very energy made her mind twist and contort in fear. He wasn’t scary. No, that wasn’t it. But there was an energy about him that stirred something deep within her soul, something that was whispering for her to get as far away from him as she could.

But she didn’t have many options, not when she didn’t have a clue where she was. This man claimed she wasn’t even on Earth anymore, something Rhea wasn’t sure she believed. For now, though, until she could discern her location, she would have to stay put.

“I promise,” Rhea responded quietly.

The man nodded, turned, and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Rhea ran to it and locked it. She then sighed and once again took in her surroundings. She noticed a small balcony on the far edge of her room and meandered over to it. She walked slowly over to the edge and wrapped her fingers around the cool, white marble.

She was several hundred feet above the ground.

Below her were beautiful, pristine gardens. The flowers were the most vibrant shades of violet, blue, and red. She had never seen flowers like those before. Even the grass appeared vibrant and more alive than she had seen back home. A cool breeze flowed around her as the sun beamed down. But it didn’t feel hot like it did back home. It just gleamed and shone, showering this beautiful place with radiant light. This beautiful, strange, alien place.

Below, people walked around on the cobbled paths. Laughter and merriment filled the air. In the distance she could barely make out Quinn speaking to two tall figures, both wearing green hooded cloaks. She looked beyond the gardens, past the marbled walls, and out to the landscape.

There were rolling hills with a deep valley. A large body of water was nestled in the hilt of the valley and glistened under the radiant sun. Just over the city walls were tall willow trees and wildflowers haphazardly growing throughout a large plain. To the far east was a large forest and to the far west was a large city. She could barely make out the tall buildings.

It all felt so -- foreign. Nothing necessarily screamed other-worldly, but none of it felt normal or mundane as home had felt. It wasn’t wrong, but it certainly wasn’t right.

Rhea felt her eyes prickle as tears began to build, as she began to believe Quinn. She felt like just a few hours ago she was cursing out Sanny and making plans to watch terrible movies with him. Now she was literally an entire world away from him and her family, hell, everyone she knew. She turned around and found a large overstuffed chair nestled in a shady corner of the balcony. She curled up in it, wrapped her arms around her legs and began to cry.