Conscious of a chirping she shouldn’t be hearing in her apartment, Natalie groaned. Even if she’d left her bedroom window open, there wasn’t really much in the way of tree or garden outside her building. She flung an arm over her eyes in an attempt to shut out the light that filtered through her closed eyelids, huffing in annoyance when there was a knock on her door.
Wait. A knock on her door? Who would be knocking on her door during this time of—Natalie’s hand flailed for her alarm clock on the night stand next to her as her eyes aided in the search for the missing timepiece. When she saw the night table—and worse, the room in which it was located, her hand stilled, as did the rest of her body. This was not her bedroom.
Disbelief pumping through her veins, she shot up in bed and took in her surroundings. A knock sounded on the door again. She put a trembling hand on her forehead. What…where…was…she?
Through distant ears she heard yet another knock but couldn’t bring herself to care. Her mind reeled as she remembered a scene of purple glowing eyes, along with a sky of that color. No, wait. Purple lightning and mysterious lights flickering in the air was what she’d seen. But they couldn’t really exist, could they?
She jumped out of the bed, her legs tangling in the sheets and on the long nightgown she wore. Nightgown? As her balance faltered, Natalie didn’t have much time to reflect on the mysterious gown before she felt herself falling. When she made contact with the smooth floor, the wind rushed out of her body. The slap of a knee and elbow against the hard surface caused tears to well up in her eyes.
Pain radiated up and down her leg. She lay in her sprawled out position for a moment before blinking them away. Gingerly lifting her head, she scanned the room for what she sought: a window.
When her gaze landed on one, she tore the sheets away from her legs and skidded over to the window. It would tell her something of her sanity, if she had any left. Ripping the flimsy curtains to one side, she revealed a veranda, its door ajar. She fought the urge to stagger back and held onto the coverings with an iron grip.
The scenery didn’t look right. Nothing was right. The veranda on which she stood overlooked a courtyard, housing exotic plants and trees. While not a horticultural expert, she’d never seen greenery look or act the way these specimens did. Multihued flowers opened and closed, almost as if they were communicating. Branches of trees waved. She stuck a hand through the open window. There was no breeze. Squinting, she saw her eyes hadn’t deceived her. Those trees branches intertwined, knobby hands meeting in a silent dance.
Beyond the courtyard, a stream flowed—a stream of clear glistening violet. Dropping her gaze to where her hands gripped the curtains, she only then noticed how all feeling had deserted them. She loosened her left hand and stared at it, flexing the fingers as blood flowed back into the extremities. As normal color returned, her fingers tingled while reality spun out of control.
A hand touched her shoulder. Natalie whirled around, stifling a scream, ready to knock away any further touch. Everything came back to her, flooding her mind with images. The storm. The fall. The male. All fight fled her body.
There, before her, stood a young girl. About the height and size of a seven-year-old human, the girl couldn’t be defined as human. She resembled him too much. The same hair, brows, and ears. But the eyes, they were different. They seemed not so glowing—more human, more bluish with just a hint of purple.
“M…my lady, how do you fare?”
“Where am I?”
“My brother will explain all.” Her voice held an odd inflection.
“Your brother?”
“He was the one who found and brought you here.”
That would explain the similarity in countenance and accent. Natalie licked her dry lips, but couldn’t stop the rush of questions. “Who are you? What are you?”
The girl didn’t speak, carefully avoiding Natalie’s eyes. She appeared as uncomfortable as Natalie herself.
“Aiya, you may go now.”
Both Natalie and Aiya whirled toward the doorway, from where the voice had originated. There stood the male whose lap she’d fallen into.
Aiya smiled. “Ah…brother, you’re here.”
“And none too soon.” His tone held a teasing quality to it Natalie found pleasing. He clearly cared for his sister.
The child bowed her head slightly toward both of them. “Good afternoon.” She walked past her brother and out the open door.
****
Natalie pinned him with a stare, her heart pounding for some peculiar reason. Since he was quite tall, even from that distance, she had to crane her neck a bit. He gazed back, returning her treatment. Tension crawled up and down her spine. Wanting to break eye contact, she grabbed at something, anything, to say. Words were not so easy to come by, though, and the moments crept by.
“What am I doing here?” Surprise jolted through her. While the necessity of the words couldn’t be denied, she hadn’t planned on uttering them yet. Indeed, she hadn’t planned on uttering anything.
“Would you like something to eat, my lady?”
Natalie frowned. She wasn’t his lady. She was no one’s lady. “I would like answers.”
His lips twitched. “You may order some of those with your meal, little bird.”
Through narrowed eyes, Natalie shot him a glare. She wasn’t a bird, either. Why didn’t he ask about her name? Then again, she hadn’t enquired about his. Still, he didn’t see her resorting to ridiculous names, did he?
This time his mouth broke into a smile, albeit a small one. “Come, Natalie, get dressed so you can have your answers.”
Her body froze. He knew her name. How?
“Your name was on that little card that had your picture. Such a vivid image! How was it drawn?”
He’d gone through her purse. Of course, he and his kin would take advantage of whatever means they had in order to discover who she was. She would do the same.
She shook her head, not bothering to answer his question. Once her head cleared somewhat, she tried to move the situation forward. “If you show me where my clothes are, I’ll get dressed.”
“Oh no, you cannot wear the clothing in which you came. Items more suitable have been provided.”
Her face darkened. “What’s wrong with—”
He cut her off. “For your convenience, of course.”
“Of course,” she agreed drily, even though she did see the benefit of not rocking any proverbial boats until she knew what she was dealing with.
The male vacated his post by the door, walking to an armoire she hadn’t noticed. Admittedly, she hadn’t noticed much about the room, until now. She found her attention split between inspecting the room and watching him. He won. As he rifled through the closet, which revealed an alarming amount of dresses, he would shake his head and mutter a word or two that held no meaning to her whatsoever.
A smattering of amusement welled up through her worry. Watching him play ladies’ maid was kind of charming. She would explore the room later.
Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, alarms sounded, but she valiantly ignored them. She was stuck here for now, so why shouldn’t she take in all the sights she could? It didn’t mean she was getting too comfortable. Not at all.
He finally settled on an ivory dress and moved to lay it at the foot of the bed. She tracked his measured stride, admitting more men could do with a walk like that.
A sudden thought caused her to frown. He had her at a distinct disadvantage, one she would rectify. Now. “What’s your name?”
He swung back toward her, a blank look pasted to his face. “Name?”
She tamped down on the desire to roll her eyes. “What do you call yourself? You know, what do others know you as?”
His eyes lit up. “Ah, you want my public name.”
Natalie pursed her lips. Public name? What was he talking about? She mentally shrugged it off for now. “Yes.”
“Lorh. My name is Lorh.”
“Lorh.” The strange name rolled around on her tongue, sounding like ‘lore.’
He nodded and gave a slight bow of his head. “I will leave you now.” And with that, he strode through the door before she even processed his words.
****
Natalie balked at putting on the lovely silk dress, and then straightened her shoulders. A simple gown would not get the best of her, even though she might have to struggle into it. She ran a hand over the fabric, and a smile forced its way to her mouth. The material felt divine, soft and smooth against her fingertips.
She glanced up into the mirror that stood before her. Her pale face greeted her, and she frowned at her colorless cheeks. More striking was the room displayed in the mirror, the room that surrounded her. Muted grays, tans, and greens met vaulted ceilings and stone floors that boasted the same color scheme. Even the furnishings echoed this down to the curtains that flanked arched windows—with an accent color thrown in here and there.
Natalie sighed. The room wouldn’t get the dress on her. Before all courage deserted her, she stuffed the offending article over her head. It slithered down with amazing ease. Or so she thought. Now her arms were in an awkward position, and she couldn’t find the sleeve openings. She scowled. Great.
The more she twisted, the more askew the dress became. Tears of frustration threatened to well up, while sweat popped up on her skin.
A soft laugh sounded, and a gentle hand helped slide the dress into place. She spun around. A young teen stood there, eerily similar to the young girl she’d seen but ten or fifteen minutes ago.
“There are more of you?” She slapped a hand over her mouth, and heat crept over her cheeks. The words had slipped out, but that didn’t make them any more polite.
A grin lit the teen’s face, and she dipped her head. “There are many of us, you could say. I am Nara.”
“Nice to meet you, Nara.” She paused. “How many of you are there?”
“With or without Lorh included?”
She gave the girl a puzzled look. “Why wouldn’t you include your brother?”
Nara sent her a smile. “Yes, silly me. Why would I not, indeed?”
Natalie blinked. Her conversations here so far were bizarre. “So how many more of you can I expect to pop up?”
Nara’s brow creased. “Pop up?”
“Show up. Drop by.”
“Ah, visit you, you mean.” She threw Natalie a mischievous glance. “You shall find out once you see us all.”
“What kind of answer is that?”
“The only one she will offer you,” a voice spoke from the doorway.
As she spun toward the voice, an energizing awareness swept down Natalie’s spine. Lorh leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe, his arms crossed and long fingers tapping on his forearms. She took a step back. “Y…you’re back?”
He lifted a lazy brow. “I’m escorting you to where we will be eating. I am lord of the manor, after all.”
Apprehension flared. “Lord of the manor?” Her wary gaze swept over him. She could see him as some sort of lord. His clothing, like everyone else’s she had seen so far, was simple yet elegant. The dark blue tunic he wore came mid-thigh, its silver embroidery contrasting nicely against its darker backdrop. A leather belt tooled with geometric designs sat upon his slim hips. Gray leggings tucked into knee-high boots completed the ensemble. Of course, the buttery leather made her fingers itch for a touch. On the whole, he made her itch for a touch.
Her mind stilled. She hadn’t just thought what she had. No, that was impossible. But she had. Oh, this wasn’t good. Feeling her face freeze up, she fought to keep a neutral expression.
He held out an imperious hand. “Come, it’s time.”
Nara shook her head. “I have yet to arrange her hair.”
He sent Nara a piecing look. “Playing personal attendant?”
Her lip jutted out. “I didn’t want a servant seeing to her.”
“Will you never follow my directions? You’re just like—” He broke off abruptly, tension creasing his face.
Natalie glanced at Nara. The same tension also lined her face. Just what was going on? Neither spoke, making Natalie search for the right words. “I don’t want to be any trouble and can wait on myself. Please don’t put yourselves out. Hopefully, I will return home soon.” That annoying voice in the back of her mind made its presence known, muttering something about three weeks, but she tuned it out.
“Yes, that’s the hope.” Lorh’s soft tone made her eyes flicker to him. His face was back to its calm mask.
Natalie shrugged. She didn’t want to get involved in a family tiff. “Well, we can go—to eat, that is.”
He sent an appraising look over her. “Your hair does need to see a brush today.”
Bristling at the criticism even though it was well deserved, she ran a hand through said rat’s nest. “I haven’t had time to comb it since I woke up. Anyway, my comb is in my tote, and I don’t know where that is.”
“All your belongings are in the armoire,” said Nara.
“Nara, you may leave.”
“But—”
Lorh’s mouth firmed. “No arguments.”
Nara’s crestfallen expression must have touched a chord within Lorh, for his face softened. “We will speak later.”
“Okay, Vichi.” Nara bowed her head in that way they all seemed to have before shooting Natalie a grin as she turned to leave.
Natalie’s mouth had dropped open at Nara’s choice of words, but she nodded to the girl, nevertheless. She watched the girl’s back with troubled eyes. “Okay” seemed like an odd saying for Nara to know. It sounded so…human. And “Vichi” meant… For a brief second, she believed she’d known, and it hadn’t jibed with everything she’d been told. Blinking, she frowned as the word and any meaning it held slipped farther away.
Shrugging off her silly thoughts, she focused on Lorh, only to squeak in alarm and inch back a step or two. He’d moved into her personal bubble of space, armed with a brush. She didn’t like that gleam in his eyes.
Still, she soon found herself seated on a chair that rested before the unlit fireplace, his sure stokes releasing any tangles that had the misguided notion of seeking permanent residence. It should’ve felt heavenly and it did, too much so for her peace of mind. The motions of his hands zinged down to her toes, which curled against the bare stone of the floor.
Speaking of toes, she would need some slippers. “Do you happen to have anything I can wear on my feet?”
Lorh stopped brushing and strode over to the massive wood armoire that apparently held everything that she could ever need. Flinging the doors open and withdrawing a pair of slippers from the bottom, he returned and set them down by her.
She slipped her feet into the soft leather, and the snug fit pleasantly surprised her. They couldn’t have fit better if they had been made for her. A smile tilted her lips, and she craned her neck to look at him. “They fit perfectly!”
He merely smiled, commencing his brushing again. She sat back, deciding she might as well enjoy having a handsome male seeing to her every need. Well, her hair’s need, that is.