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Sean awoke confused. His bed was a lot larger than he remembered it being. And he was lying on top of the blankets, instead of underneath them.

He looked around the room and realized he wasn’t in his own bedroom. Well, at least it isn’t a cloud! He thought as he looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings.

The room was very large. The bed was at least a king size with a canopy and lacey curtains. The color scheme was lavender and silver. Half the bed was covered in fancy pillows in the same colors. The floor was marble tile.

His inspection was interrupted when a large, ornate door opened. A large man stood there, wearing a uniform with a sword in a sheath on his belt. He carried his hat under his arm and looked like he was some kind of soldier.

“Princess, how are…” he began, before seeing Sean sitting on the edge of the bed. “Sir!” he bellowed in outrage, “What do you think you’re doing in the Princess’ room?!”

Sean was caught completely by surprise and couldn’t think of anything to say. The man became even more agitated as he drew his sword and strode forward. He held his sword to Sean’s throat, the tip drawing a drop of blood. “Answer me at once, or I’ll remove your head from your shoulders!” he roared.

“I…I don’t know how I got here!” he stammered out as quickly as he could. “I just woke up on this bed.”

The soldier’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You had better come up with a better answer than that, sir! And quickly!”

Sean was beginning to panic, having nothing to say in his own defense. Just then another door opened, a smaller, less ornate one. A beautiful young woman in a lavender and silver nightgown strode gracefully in, followed by what could only be a maid. “What is all this noise?” she inquired imperiously.

Sean looked back and forth between them fearfully. What is with my dreams lately?! He thought.

“Princess! I have just caught this intruder. He has so far refused to answer my questions. I suggest you keep your distance, he may be dangerous.” The soldier answered.

“Oh, please!” she answered dismissively. “He is obviously terrified! Put your sword away, General!”

He gritted his teeth, but grudgingly lowered his sword. “You have no idea who this man is, your Highness! Allow me to take him to the dungeon. I’m sure my men can get the truth out of him!” he asked eagerly.

The Princess ignored him and turned to Sean. “What is your name and what are you doing here?” she demanded.

Sean was still warily eyeing the General’s sword and quickly turned to answer her. “I’m Sean, I don’t know how I got here. I just woke up on this bed.” Sean repeated.

The Princess looked curiously at Sean before replying. “Very well. I will summon my wizard and we shall find out how you came to be here.”

The General had still not put his sword away, though it was lowered. He was now gripping it tightly in anger. “Princess! How can you trust his word? We must interrogate him to ascertain his true purpose here!” he demanded.

“General!” the Princess snapped back, “you forget yourself! You do not make demands of me! Have you forgotten who I am? Not only am I the daughter of the King, I am also Troothsayer for the royal court! This man is telling the truth, and is no threat to me. You will find Wizard Garmer and bring him here at once!”

The General was obviously offended at being ordered around in this way, even by the Princess, but left as ordered. “Now, I must get dressed.” The Princess said. “Mary, get my clothes and bring them to the bathing room, I will dress there. You,” she said, turning to Sean, “will stay right where you are! If you move from that spot I will call the General back in and let him do whatever he wishes with you!”

Sean was terrified and quickly agreed, gripping the bed tightly. The Princess nodded curtly and strode back through the door she had entered from. A moment later her maid followed, her arms filled with piles of cloth.

Fifteen minutes later the Princess returned, resplendent in a scarlet gown. She nodded when she saw Sean still sitting on the bed. “Good, you can follow direction. Now where is that wizard?” she asked, turning to her maid.

“I will check on him your Highness.” The maid said, curtsying and hurrying out the door.

The Princess paced around her bed, studying Sean closely as she did. He felt naked under her gaze, despite the T-shirt and sweat pants he wore to sleep in.

This continued for several minutes, with Sean becoming increasingly anxious with each circuit of the bed made by the Princess. To his relief the door finally opened, revealing a middle aged man in a dark blue robe and carrying a large tome.

“You called for me, your Highness?” he asked politely as he entered.

“Ah, Wizard Garmer, how kind of you to come on such short notice!” The Princess greeted calmly. “We seem to have a mystery here that I thought you might be able to solve.”

“Oh?” the wizard replied, curious.

“Yes, this man awoke on my bed while I was bathing. He does not know how he arrived here. Can you help us?” she asked.

“Hmm…” he mumbled, looking Sean over. “How very interesting.” He said, unconsciously repeating the Princess’ movements around the bed while examining him.

Sean tried to watch the wizard, but was afraid to move even now. The Princess watched on in curiousity. While this was going on the maid returned and waited silently behind and to the side of the Princess.

The wizard nodded eagerly at something and turned to the Princess. “Your Highness, this is amazing! This man appears to be from another world! I have never even heard of such a thing, but his energies are quite foreign to this world!” he said excitedly, as if he had been presented with a wonderful puzzle to solve.

“How did he get here?” The Princess asked impatiently.

“Well, the most likely method would be if a wizard from his world banished him here. I don’t know how one would go about doing so, though.” He admitted.

“So he is some kind of criminal?” The Princess asked with contempt. Sean winced at that. Just what I need, for these people to think I’m some kind of crook!

The wizard frowned in thought. “Not necessarily. He could have been a rival wizard, or a political enemy. He could even have been a test subject for developing this kind of magic.” The wizard answered.

The Princess turned back to Sean and looked him over carefully. “Why were you banished here?” she asked.

Sean raised his hands helplessly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I thought wizards and magic were myths.” He answered, keeping the thought that this was just a dream wisely to himself.

“Are you saying magic is unknown where you come from?” the wizard asked with interest. Sean nodded. “Interesting. I will have to investigate this situation.” He thought out loud, as he turned towards the door.

“Wizard Garmer!” the Princess called, “have you no more answers for me, then?”

The wizard turned back to the Princess in surprise. “Oh, my apologies your Highness! I became caught up in my thoughts. I will have to investigate this matter further, I’m afraid. There may be another reason for this young man’s presence, but I do not know what it might be, yet.” He explained.

The Princess nodded curtly. “Very well, please proceed with your research and inform me immediately when you have found an answer.” She commanded. The wizard nodded and bowed before turning and walking out the door.

The Princess stood in thought for a long moment before turning again towards Sean. “Well, it seems the mystery you represent will have to wait a little longer to be solved. In the meantime, tell me about your world.” She commanded.

Sean began to tell her about his world. Soon she became hungry and had her maid bring them both food. Afterwards he continued to talk about his world, with frequent interruptions for questions from the Princess. They repeated this process with lunch and dinner. Finally it was getting dark, and they were both getting tired.

“Your world is quite fascinating! I would like to hear more of it tomorrow. For now, Mary will show you to a room for you to sleep in tonight. I will send her for you in the morning.” The Princess said, dismissing him. Mary led him to a small room some ways away from the Princess’. He crawled into bed and hoped, despite the relatively pleasant time he’d had since the visit with the wizard, that he would wake up back in his bed. He did.

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« Venus Cursed! - Chapter 2 »