Nia sat on the steps outside the counsel, waiting to be called. Suddenly she felt Norda tapping her on the shoulder.
"They're ready for you now." Norda returned inside.
Nia stood up, smoothing down the scarves in her skirt and adjusting her corset top. She put on her shoes, which happened to be her favorite because they were her thigh-high-black-leather-spiked-heel-platform boots. She felt a tall figure next to her. She looked at the figure, it was Legolas and on her other side was Aragorn.
"We're not letting you go in there alone," Legolas whispered as they entered the counsel room.
The other mages seemed outraged when they saw the two men with her. Empress Savina called for silence.
"Who are these men?" Savina demanded.
"They are my protectors and closest friends," Nia answered.
"I mean their names, girl," Savina snapped.
"Well, milady, the blonde, who happens to be an elf, is named Legolas. The other man, a human, is Aragorn," Nia answered calmly.
The Empress nodded.
"Now who are you?"
"My name is Nia, milady. Nia Whitecastle."
"Well, Nia, can you tell me why Marina brought you here?"
"Milady, I must confess that I do not know why Marina has brought me here. You may know that the spell she used called for a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Both of which, as you can see, I don't have. My hair used to be blonde as a child but my eyes were never blue."
Savina nodded a second time.
"Nia, what do these men mean to you?"
"For truth, my lady, we are all very close. Aragorn and Legolas are like my brothers, if I had any. I only have sisters, milady. Too many by my count."
"How many?"
"11, Empress."
"What are their names?"
"Danica, Ursula, Natasha, Gina, Eve, Ophelia, Narcissa, Samantha, Dreama, Rain, & Ariadne."
"Quite a few."
"Yes, Empress."
"Which one is the oldest?"
"Danica is, Empress. She's 35. Ursula is her twin, but the younger of the two."
"And?"
"Then there's Natasha and Gina who are 28. Natasha was born early in the year and Gina in the last month of the year. Eve, Ophelia, and Narcissa are triplets, they're 26. Then Samantha's 25, Dreama's 24, Rain is 23, Ariadne is 22, and I am 21."
"What can you tell me of your world?"
"Well, Empress, It's nothing like this. It is much more…well, to put it bluntly, dangerous. Of course, we don't have dragons or any other creature like you have here."
The counsel went on until dark. As soon as counsel was over, Rid-ley, Marina, and Nia were called away. Of course, Legolas and Aragorn wanted to go, but Nia told them to stay in Izmer with the Empress. En-emy forces had made it past Clearwater Pass. There was a battle, which Marina did not survive. She was run through the abdomen with a sword. She died in Ridley's arms, confessing her love for him. The next thing she knew she was back in the library, right where she left off.
She finished putting away the books and then went home. She took the large red leather book with her. She opened it to the part where Marina died. Then she was back in that world. In that world she had been gone for 3 hours. Norda took her to Ridley, who was in his tent. His tent was far away from the others by at least 450 feet. Norda went back to her camp, leaving Nia outside Ridley's tent. She reached forward, gra-bbing the thick fabric door and opened it. She quietly stepped inside, Justin's 'Still On My Brain' playing in the background; Ridley obviously didn't notice it though. He did hear her enter though.
"Where have you been, Nia?"His voice was broken, saddened with too many tears.
"I was whisked back to my world, Ridley. I came back as soon as I could. I'm sorry that it took so long." She sat down on his bed next to him, and cradled him in her arms.
"They killed her, Nia. They killed Marina." He nuzzled his head in her shoulder, taking in her scent.
"I know, Ridley, and if I could have saved her, you know that I would have." She kissed his hair.
"Nia?"
"Yeah, Ridley?"
"Why did Marina bring you here?"
"I don't know, Ridley. To be honest, I don't know. She probably thought that I would be of some use to you, but so far not so good. I tried to stop her, Ridley. But she said she could take him. I could see it in her eyes. She knew that she was going to die, and she sent me a kind of mental message that she knew she was going to die, she wanted me to take care of you, blah blah. Well, the thing was that she didn't want me to stop her. There was nothing I could do." She could hear him quietly sobbing.
He sat up, looking her in the eyes. She took the cold wet cloth sitting on the stool next to the bed, that's when Justin's 'Nothin' Else' started playing in the background. 'What am I doing?' He thought to himself as she used the cloth to wipe away the tears. She sat the cloth in the bowl of cold water sitting on the floor, bring it out of the water only to have him take it from her and sit it back in the water. He took her face into his hands, stroking her cheek with his thumb. She closed her eyes, giving in to his touch. He brought her the final distance closer, their faces practically touching. He touched her lips gently with his, giving in to the feeling he was feeling for the girl he dreamt about for weeks now.
The kissed ended with both of them jumping apart.
"What the hell was that about, Ridley?"She gently touched her lips with her fingertips.
"I honestly don't know, Nia. It just happened." He was trying to cover up his feelings.
She grabbed the red leather book and opened it to the page where the kiss just happened. It read, 'Ridley was lying though. He knew why he kissed her. He just didn't know how to tell her that she was the woman in his dreams.'
"I know you're lying to me, Ridley. How come you never told me about your dreams?"She closed the book but not before she put a ribbon in the pages to mark her spot.
He could tell that he was busted. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened his eyes again.
