Kari felt warm and comfortable for the first time in a week.  She was laying in some kind of soft bed with a very fluffy pillow (her favorite kind).  Maybe everything that had just happened was a dream.  If so, it must’ve been a weekday, because she was extremely tired.  Her eyes felt like they did every day she had a class at eight in the morning.  But no.  She hurt far too much for a weekday.  Or any day, for that matter.  What had she done to hurt so badly all over? 

“My lady?  My lady, please.  It’s time to wake up.”

That was a strange language.  She thought she had heard it before somewhere, but she couldn’t be certain.  Oh.  It was from her dream.  That was the language the robed man had spoken in her dream.  But, she couldn’t understand it before.  Why could she now?  What had changed?  Maybe, her subconscious had made up the language and she was still so drowsy that her brain translated it into her dream language. 

“My lady, you need water and food.  Please, wake up.”

Whoever was talking to her had a very pretty voice.  One that she had never heard before.  Who was in her house?  Kari opened her eyes and groaned as the sunlight hit them.  Man, her head hurt.

“Here.  Drink this, my lady.  It will help with the pain.”

The woman who was speaking held a cup filled to the brim with a very sweet smelling liquid.  She helped Kari sit up, her muscles groaning and stiff, and held the cup to her lips while she tried to sip slowly.  Kari was so thirsty that it was torture just drinking the little the woman gave her at a time.  If her arms hadn’t hurt so badly, she would have simply grabbed the cup from her and gulped it down as fast as she could.  As it was, she finished the liquid in the woman’s slow time.  Whatever the liquid was, it tasted wonderful.  It was sweet like hot chocolate, but at the same time had a slight bitterness to it, like coffee.  But, it didn’t taste like any coffee she had ever tried before.

“Did you like it, my lady?  It is called tul-ah.  It helps with headaches brought on from dehydration.”

Kari had never heard of it, and her mental translations didn’t work on that word.  Maybe there was no English equivalent.  Wondering if she could have some more, she looked around.  This was definitely not her room.  It was a large room, made of white limestone.  One wall was made entirely of windows that were open to let in a sea breeze.  They must’ve been somewhere on the coast.  The ocean smelled really close.  White lace curtains flowed lazily in the gentle breeze, leading Kari’s eyes back into the room.  It was lavishly decorated with beautifully carved furniture, a low table surrounded by cushions, colorful rugs (the floor looked to be made of the same stuff as the walls), and fanciful tapestries hanging from the walls.  There were tall stand lamps that held glowing orbs kind of like multicolored light bulbs.  And then there was the woman holding the cup of tul-ah.  She was pale with golden eyes and bright silver hair.  Not grey, silver.  Like the metal.  And her eyes weren’t yellow, but polished gold.  They practically glowed in the light from the sun and the light bulbs.  Kari had never seen anyone with gold eyes.

“I must say, my lady.  You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.”

What?  Kari’s eyes were only blue.  Sure, they were a very bright blue.  But still, compared to gold, they were rather plain.  Surely the woman was merely looking for a reason to compliment her.  Why else would she call Kari ‘my lady’?

“And your hair.  Forgive me, my lady, but I have never seen brown hair before?  Is it natural?”

Of course it was natural.  Kari had dyed her hair only once before, in middle school.  It had been a very pretty auburn color for three weeks before the auburn washed out.  She had been too lazy to recolor it.  She nodded and the woman sighed wistfully.  This was really strange.  Kari wanted to know what was going on and why she was in this beautiful, but weird place. 

“Excuse me, ma’am.  But, where am I?”

The woman looked a little shocked to be addressed as such, but she couldn’t have been as shocked as Kari was to hear herself use that strange language.  She had meant to speak in English, but the other language just popped out instead.  How had that happened?

“We are in Sal’isna.  This is the capitol city of Filarin.  I guess you are wondering how long you have been asleep.”

Among other things, yes.  She also wanted to know who that robed man was, how she came to be in Sal’isna and why she was here.  Kari kept those questions to herself for the moment and nodded.  She would ask them later.

“You’ve been asleep for two days and three nights.  We were told your testing was rather harsher than usual.  Was it really so bad?”

Testing?  Oh, she must’ve meant the week Kari spent being tortured by the tunnel and the obstacle course.  This woman expected her to go through something like that?  She was acting like Kari should already know why she had to be tested and why she was brought here.  She thought for moment and decided to play along. 

“Yes.  It was pretty bad.  There was another with me.  A man with dark eyes and dark hair.  Do you know where he is?”

“Yes, my lady.  The lord who came with you is in his chamber.  He woke up only a few moments before you did.”

Oh.  At least Yunho was there.  At least she wasn’t alone in this strange place.

“My lady?  Do you think you are able to rise?  We have clothes prepared for your meeting with the high wizard.”

Wait, what?  High wizard?  Did the woman think she was crazy?  Was the woman herself crazy?  Well, after all the things Kari had seen since she had been taken from her school, maybe she was crazy.  Might as well play along.

“Yes.  I think I can stand.” 

She needed the woman’s help to do so, but eventually, Kari made it out of the covers and stood.  She was wearing a long white shift (she had only ever read about those or seen them on movies, but she knew what they were) and the floor was slightly chilly against her bare feet.  The woman made sure Kari was steady on her feet before walking over to the subtly carved wardrobe.  The dress she brought out of it was breathtaking.  It was dark blue silk with silver leaves embroidered up the bodice and sleeves.  The woman helped her put it on along with the matching slippers and stood her in front of a stand mirror.  Wow.  I look beautiful.  She hadn’t been fat before, but she hadn’t been skinny either.  Apparently, she had lost a lot of weight during the ‘testing’.  But instead of looking frail or sickly, she looked…healthy.  Her body hurt like heck, but she was finally in shape.  Maybe that was the push she had needed to get in shape all along.  She chuckled to herself, in awe of her reflection. 

“Beautiful, my lady.  You look every inch your station.”

“My station?”

“Yes, my lady.  You look like royalty.  Now, I really hate to rush you, but the high wizard is waiting and I need to brush your hair.”

Kari was led over to a small table with a stool and told to sit still until the woman was finished.  She did as she was told. 

            “My lady, your hair is so curly.  It is beautiful.  I have never seen curly hair before.”

            So, if she had never seen something before, it was beautiful?  Kari had never seen a dead whale before, but she doubted it would be beautiful.  Wisely, she kept her sarcasm to herself and the woman (who still had not told Kari her name) led her to the door. 

            “I’m sorry I cannot let you rest longer, my lady.  But, we must go to the throne room to meet the high wizard.  He will tell you everything you will need to know.”

            Sure, he would.  Maybe this ‘high wizard’ character was the ruler of this place.  Kari shoved her fear away.  Surely they wouldn’t call her ‘my lady’ and dress her up just to punish her for something, would they? 

            If she had thought the room she woke up in was beautiful, that was before she saw the throne room.  It was magnificent enough to make the other room look like a dirty shack.  There was a raised dais at one end.  On top of the dais sat two ornately carved and jeweled thrones, one slightly smaller than the other.  But what caught Kari’s attention was not the jewels or the thrones or any of the wonderful decorations in the throne room, it was the man standing in front of the dais.  Yunho was dressed like a prince in black silk with golden embroidery.  She couldn’t even begin to express how wonderful he looked.  It took her breath away just seeing him. 

            He saw her walking towards him and smiled reassuringly, as if to tell her that everything would be alright.  He would make things okay.  She believed him.

            The man standing next to Yunho in robes of brightly colored silk cleared his throat to get her attention. 

            “Now that you are here, my lady, allow me to introduce myself.  I am high wizard Yazin.  You are probably wondering what brought us to the situation that required you to hold to your end of the treaty.  Please allow me to tell you.  Our late king’s wife died in childbirth, along with his newborn son and heir.  Grieved over the loss of his queen and heir, the king died scant months later without naming a successor to follow him on the throne.  That, of course is where you come in.  Doubtless, you probably thought that you would never use the training you received, that your older siblings would take over your kingdoms’ thrones and you would never be called by the Elanari.  I am truly sorry you were taken from your families, but our need is great and the treaty your kingdoms signed still stands.” 

            She and Yunho shared a bewildered look.  Elanari?  Treaty?  What?  Yunho asked what they both were thinking.

            “What on Earth are you talking about?”