RISE OF THE WOLF

William slowly opened his eyes from what felt like an eternal slumber, the first thing he observed being the ceiling that was definitely not familiar to him.

Stranger still was the bed on which he was laying, that though felt comfortable, had something about it that felt quite off.

William immediately tried to get up, only to feel immense pain in most of his body as if a group of teenage wannabe gangsters had beaten the shit out of him.'' Damn!!! what the hell happened to me? I can't even think straight right now''.

As if on cue and waiting to liven up this ''joy ride'' of pain, an intense headache hit him immediately after, so as to complete this unforgettable symphony of suffering.

''Seriously what the hell did I get hit by? Was it a train or something?''. William thought amidst the confusion and pain.

After a few minutes of groaning and intense discomfort, he finally got used to it enough to properly observe his surroundings and immediately understood that he was definitely in uncharted waters.

The room he found himself in being akin to something out of a historical medieval TV show, rather than anything he could conceivably come across in his daily life.

''Well, this is definitely not a hospital or my house, and I doubt it could be any average salary man's house either, at least not with today's average income'' William thought.

The room he was in was very strange as well as contradictory, on one hand, it looked simple yet well decorated, with furniture that at first glance looked to be expensive as well as comfortable, that only someone quite well off could afford.

On the other hand, there were none of the comforts of life that he was used to, no TV, no light bulbs, hell he could not even see a single outlet to plug an electric device into.

'' So I guess I am at some weird history enthusiast's house that loves to pretend to live in the middle ages, fine by me I guess no need to judge, the details are quite impressive actually'' William commented.

'' Wait!!! What the hell am I doing, I don't even remember how I got here nor how the hell did I get body-slammed so many times, my body almost canceled my life subscription, I need to figure out my situation and get the hell out of here ASAP'' William grumbled in frustration while almost face-palming himself ..... almost.

The moment he, tried his body reminded him that it had almost taken a permanent vacation without leaving a notice, by sending a strongly worded message in the form of pain.

Soon William heard the door of the room open, from which entered a young woman about 1.7 meters tall seeming to be in her mid-twenties, with brown eyes and hair that was braided at the front near her forehead, but as it went down it slowly mixed with the rest and disappeared, leaving only a cascade of brown thick hair.

She was wearing what can only be described as a maid uniform, not the café kind but rather the genuine actual '' I am serving the nobility'' kind.

'' My lord!!! you are finally awake, we thought we may lose you ever since your accident. How do you feel? is there anything you require of me? some food or water?''

The maid spoke with concern which soon turned into relief immediately after she saw that William was awake; though he seemed confused.

'' What the hell!!! This is dangerous, as much as I fantasized at least once or twice about being served by a lovely woman like I was some sort of lord, I still can't allow this beauty to lull me into a sense of complacency, I must stay vigilant and calm while trying to understand my situation''.

William thought while observing this woman in front of him.

'' Accident? What accident are you talking about? What lord? What is this place, where am I? who are you?''.

William sent a barrage of questions against this ''maid''. He wanted to play it cool but his voice rose slightly betraying his slight panic, which was against his wishes.

The maid looked at him with a surprised expression that quickly turned into concern.

'' My lord, you fell from your horse while you were in the city and hit your head pretty badly, though thankfully you broke none of your bones. You are currently in your bed chambers in the castle, as for me, I am your personal maid and my name is Laura''.

Answered Laura slowly and patiently.

'' So it was even worse than I thought, I did not get beat up by people but a freaking horse, great, no wonder I feel like a scrambled egg. Wait a second!!! this is not what's important here, focus damn it, she said a castle, what god damn castle?''

William thought as he quickly tried to analyze the implications of what she told him.

After about 10 seconds of silence, Laura's concern intensified further as she asked. ''My lord if I may, do you remember your name? Your family members? Anything about yourself? ''.

William paused for a few seconds, he needed to decide if he should say anything which may give his identity to this woman, especially in the strange circumstances he finds himself in. After some hesitation, though he decided to lead with his name.

'' My name is William and that is all I can tell you right now, I need some answers to a few of my questions first''.

Laurel was now slightly panicking, mistaking his probing answer for him being unable to remember much about himself; so she said.

'' My lord, did you perhaps lose some of your memories because of the fall, if this is the case it would be grave news, I must report this to the marquess immediately, maybe the doctor can help remedy this situation?''

Laura immediately turned and started hurriedly walking towards the door.

'' Woow, hold on there, you are not going anywhere before giving me some answers''.

William immediately shouted to stop her, which worked as she immediately halted.

'' OK you want to play it like that, fine I will play along with this charade'' William thought as he decided to go with the amnesia excuse to try to get some answers to this ever-growing rabbit hole.

'' Please just humor me and explain to me who and where am I exactly, other than being in a castle, I guess you are right, I do have some trouble remembering anything beyond my name.''

William said addressing Laura, who after some hesitation responded.

'' Your name is William Blackwell my lord, second son of marquess Ulric Blackwell, as for where you are, as I said before you currently reside in the castle of the city of Landow, the capital of the marquisdom as well as its most prosperous city''.

It took a few seconds for William to register all the info he was just slapped in the face with, almost regretting asking her in the first place, as well as feeling like he had just opened a can of worms, a huge ass can filled with seriously chunky and hungry worms.

While he was trying to find out how to proceed from here on out, his body, or more precisely his mouth betrayed him once more by involuntarily blurting out the only thing he was actually thinking. ''You have got to be freaking kidding me''.