Binding Dreams: Binding Series Book 1

Chapter 1 continued

She heard her name being called over and over, which made no sense, as she didn’t recognize any of the men chasing her. “Go away, damn it! If you leave me alone, I won’t call the police!” She swore she could hear laughter after that and she took a wild turn into the deeper woods. Unfortunately, she soon heard footsteps behind her as well, and just as she thought she had gained some distance, felt the tug of her ponytail yanking her backward.

“Oof!” With the wind knocked out of her, she looked up at the faces now staring down at her. She had the time to consider how they all appeared as though they shared some physical traits such as their slightly pointed ears, their almond-shaped eyes, and their slim but strong builds and wondered if they were related. Immediately after that thought, however, came confusion and grogginess that pulled at her until she let go into the black of unconsciousness.

The ceiling was low and lit by hanging candles and lanterns. That was the first thing Raerdel noticed when she came to. The second thing she realized was that she had absolutely no idea of where she was or recollection of how she got there. The last thing she remembered was being surrounded by the group of men that were chasing her and then blacking out. Sitting up abruptly at that last memory, she winced as her head was immediately filled with a sharp pain.

The door to the room was shoved open abruptly and a tall woman with exceptionally long white hair entered with a pile of clothing. “No point in pretending to sleep. We know you aren’t. You will get up and bathe before preparing yourself to meet our Queen.” She pointed to the connecting but open room that housed an old-fashioned-looking claw-foot tub.

Frowning, Raerdel attempted to focus on the face of the woman. She was beautiful and had wide-set almond-shaped eyes as well as elongated ears that stuck out either side of her head. “This is all very funny, but I want to go home now.”

Shaking her head in dismissal, the woman placed the clothing on the end of the bed. “There is no humor meant. You will get yourself ready or we will have others prepare you. If you don’t wish to share your hygiene ritual with strangers, I suggest you get yourself up.”

Raerdel frowned. “Listen, lady, I didn’t ask to come here. I’m not doing another damn thing until someone tells me what is going on.”

The woman shook her head and walked over to her before touching her forehead. “You’ll find everything to be more pleasant here if you do as you’re told. The Queen does not abide disobedience.”

Raerdel suddenly felt very faint, and as though in a fog, she found herself getting out of the bed as the woman left the room. Picking up the clothing, she walked to the bathroom where she went through the process of bathing and putting on the strange garment. The dress was made of soft, silky material that molded around her breasts and hips without looking overly tight. She was suddenly no longer feeling lethargic and instead felt very desirable. Of their own accord, her hands began applying makeup to her face. Looking in the reflection, her expression did not match the fury she felt internally from being used like a puppet.

“Stop it! You don’t primp for your kidnappers!” she yelled at the mirror. Suddenly, as though the bizarre feelings hadn’t existed, they were gone. Storming out of the bathroom and to the door, she frowned when she noticed there was no doorknob or handle on the inside of the door. She tried pushing the door and it would not budge. Attempting to ram into it did nothing but hurt her shoulder. Eventually, she settled for screaming and banging on the door. “Let me out! You’re all in big trouble if you don’t!”

The door was suddenly flung open and a woman dressed in a very large billowing dress walked inside. On her head was a crown of woven wood, and she wore many items of jewelry. Her hair was long and red, and her skin was pale. “Excuse me, do I need to make it so you can’t speak? You are disrupting other people.”

Raerdel couldn’t believe the woman’s gall. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are or even who you think I am, but I’m not staying here.”

A laugh erupted from the woman that both sounded pleasant and instantly painful. Covering her ears, Raerdel watched the woman sit on the edge of the bed.

“I don’t believe you understand your predicament, and how could you really? I’m Maeve, the Queen of the silver realm of the Fae. You, dear, are half fae, and as such, we have recovered you from the mortal realm for a purpose. You will eventually leave this room, but only for our purpose.”

Raerdel shook her head. “Even if I believed you, and I don’t, I’m not property to be ‘recovered’ by anyone. I don’t have to serve anyone’s purpose.”

At this time Maeve snapped her fingers and all of the items in the room, with the exception of the bed she was on, began floating. Including Raerdel. Screaming, she grabbed at the bedpost to stop herself from floating up to the ceiling.

“What drugs did you give me? Put me down!”

Almost as soon as she hollered that, she was dropped to the ground.

Maeve looked surprised by something but regained her composure quickly. “You will do as you’re told. You have been given no drugs, as they don’t work here. Know that we Fae cannot lie. Everything we say is true. Your purpose is not a hardship. You are to marry the Prince of this realm and become Queen eventually, though I’m immortal, so that won’t happen unless I wish it.” She raised a brow as though expecting thanks.

Raerdel frowned. While she wanted to think this was all a hallucination, it was fairly obvious that this was neither d**g-induced nor a dream.

“What if I don’t want to marry some prince? What if I don’t want to marry at all? I was quite happy where I was. Surely you have other people willing to be in the running.” Raerdel attempted to reason with her captor.

“Child, there is a reason for all that I do and not all are yours to know. You are who is chosen, and you will do as you’re told.” With that, the Queen rose and moved toward the door, which opened before she reached it. “You may roam. However, you cannot escape, so do not try.” With that, she left the room. The door stayed open.

Raerdel waited until the Queen’s shoes could no longer be heard on the floors before she peeked out of her room. The floors of the hallway appeared to be made of glass and below she could see that the large castle was built on what looked like large stilts over gardens and a pond. Being afraid of heights made her resolve to not look down anymore as she walked briskly through the hall until she reached the stairwell. There were stairs up and down a winding staircase. She chose to go down in the hopes of finding the exit.

The next floor was similar to the last one with the exception of a large dining room and music coming from further down. Raerdel quietly made her way through the dining room toward the music and was surprised when she saw what looked like a ballroom with people lounging while a band played acoustic instruments. Raerdel walked into the room quietly and made her way to the corner of the room to watch. There were people all dressed very formally in suits and dresses however that was where their resemblance to normal people ended. The women in the room were all very beautiful and each had slightly pointed ears. The men were as beautiful as the women—some so breathtaking it was difficult to tell initially their gender other than by their clothing.

Her attention was suddenly focused when the woman she knew now as the Queen walked up on stage as the band ended the song. She smiled at the crowd and announced quite loudly without using a microphone, “I thank you all for coming today. It’s not every day that we bring home one of our own that was wrongly left with the mortals. It’s also not every day that we find a would-be princess amongst those filthy heathens.”

Raerdel tried to back into the now-forming crowd, however, she found she was unable to move in time before the Queen pointed at her. “Welcome our new daughter to the realm. Treat her as you would me or suffer. Soon, she will meet Sindri and begin her life here.”

Immediately she was barraged by well wishes of a multitude of people who all had very exotic features and pronounced ears. One such woman made the appearance of giving her a hug, but as the woman held her against her will, she felt a sharp poke in her side. Immediately after that, the world became fuzzy, and once again she felt herself falling amidst sounds of chaos just before her sight went black.

She was conscious of being ill off and on and opening her eyes during bouts of lucidity to note that the Queen was sitting next to her bed simply watching her. She offered no words of comfort or explanation of what was happening but sat and watched her. Eventually, the moments of awareness became more prolonged and she was able to sit up. “What the hell happened? I’m getting real tired of being messed with by you folks!”

The Queen laughed, and it sounded as though many bells in the room were jingling. “This was not my doing this time, child. You should not allow just anyone to touch or hug you. Now you’ve no choice but to stay here and it’s your own fault.”

Raerdel frowned and attempted to process what the Queen had said. “I didn’t allow her to hug me. She just did.”

The Queen shrugged. “Be that as it may, it happened. Now get dressed as you will be the guest of honor at dinner tonight.” She did not give Raerdel time to argue and instead left the room.

Getting up, Raerdel was surprised by her lack of strength. She had no way of knowing how long she had been unconscious for, but she felt as though she could not support her own weight for long moments. Leaning against the furniture in the room, she made her way over to the bathroom. While getting herself cleaned up, she had to accept that this wasn’t a dream or a hallucination, and that things were very serious for her currently. She decided that her best course of action with these crazy people was to play along until she could escape.