Rose and Sensation

"Altan!" I whispered, but he ignored me. More cheers and clapping erupted as the crowd that surrounded us grew in number. It felt like everyone from the entire town had come out to greet us.

"The Duke has returned!" a woman near to me yelled.

"And he has brought a fiancé!" Another shared in the excitement.

I attempted to pull my hand from Altan's grasp, but he held fast to me. His eyes darted playfully in my direction and his dimple made another appearance.

He was laughing at me...

"Altan!" I spoke louder this time, but it was still not loud enough to be heard over the crowd. "Why didn't you tell me you were a Duke?!"

~and when did I agree to be your fiancé?!~

Again, Altan ignored me and my face flushed hot from anger. Just moments ago, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. Now, I was alive with fury.

A man appeared in front of us and bowed deeply to Altan. "Your Grace," he spoke, "Allow me to take your horse." he skirted around me and grabbed the reins from Altan's free hand. "Your Grace, you and your betrothed should enter the palace and rest."

Altan nodded in agreement with the man's statement, then interlocking his fingers with mine, he began forward. The crowd parted at his presence. And my face felt hotter: I couldn't tell now if it was from anger, from the desert sun's appearance in the sky again, or from the fact that -somehow- I still felt shy about the fact that he was holding my hand.

Altan led me through the streets of Kiziljer and the crowd followed giddily as if we were a parade.

"She is beautiful!" I heard someone whisper behind as we made our way into the city.

"And so young." another commented.

"But she doesn't look to be of noble birth."

"Perhaps it is a love-marriage." another speculated.

The buildings of the city rose up around me as we continued. Each building connected to the next and made from sandstone. Intricate windows of stained glass that depicted scenes of war and happiness decorated nearly every home. Probably giving colorful interior to the home when the sun shone threw it. And on nearly every window sill and growing in every available plot of fertile soil were the same red and orange flowers.

So this was Kiziljer. A city I'd never heard of, in a country I'd never heard of, in a world I didn't know existed until today.

It was so... colorful.

Altan smiled back at me again as we turned a corner, and I nearly tripped over myself when I saw the palace.

It was enormous. Built from the same sandstone as the rest of the city, but multicolored pillars surrounded it, spires and a dome-like roof reached off the top and pierced the desert sky. Elaborate stained glass windows covered nearly all the walls, and the garden that lay in front of the palace clouded my vision with color and beauty.

Altan led me to the gates of the palace. Whereupon his arrival the guards bowed deeply and opened the gates, allowing us to enter. Altan turned back to the crowd before we entered the palace grounds and spoke to his people. "My Fiancé and I need one day to rest!" he spoke with the voice of a leader and his subjects watched with respect "Tomorrow we will announce the plans for our wedding." then he bowed to his people and he pulled me with him. Together we bowed to the people of Kiziljer and even though I knew nothing of the cultures or customs of this place, I understood that this gesture was one that showed great love to the people.

I watched Altan as he waved to his people, then turned back to the palace.

~He must be a good Duke; one who cares deeply for his subjects. ~

"Your Grace," A woman with greying hair and wrinkles that implied she had frowned most of her life greeted us and bowed when we entered the front doors of the palace. She must be some kind of servant here in the castle.

"Amah, I have returned." Altan smiled brightly, and by the twinkle in his eye, I could tell that this person must have been of importance to him. "And I have brought with me a Fiancé."

"I see that." the maidservant looked to me, "And a Water Mage, no less." she looked at my eyes. "You impress me every day, your Grace."

I fought the urge to argue with Altan right there. I wanted to tell him that I never agreed to be his fiancé, I also wanted to tell this maidservant that he was lying. I wasn't planning on marrying him! But I didn't say anything, In all honesty, I wasn't sure what the consequences of denying it might be...

"It is simply that the Gods provided," he answered, then finally let go of my hand. Suddenly it felt as though my entire body was cold without his touch, and I restrained myself from grabbing for his hand again.

~Don't be stupid~

"Amah, please show Lady Azul to the chambers across from mine." Altan spoke, but he was no longer looking at me. Another person appeared behind him, and Altan began removing his vest and setting it in the man's hand. "She is in desperate need of hydration and a bath." he began unbuttoning his shirt next and I looked away when he saw me watching. "You can use the roses from the garden for her bath." he continued. And slid the shirt off his shoulders, putting it also in the hands of the man beside him.

I didn't dare look at him, but I noted the tan skin and well trimmed silhouette of him in my peripheral view.

"The wedding will be in three days," he said and began sliding on a fresh shirt that had been provided by a second man.

My eyes widened and my mouth popped open with surprise.

~Three days!?~

I gave him a fierce look to which he only seemed to laugh at.

"I simply cannot wait." he said in response to my silent protest, and he reached up to brush my cheek with his thumb. I quickly turned away from his touch.

~Who the hell does he think he is?~

Altan didn't seem to care about the fact that I rejected his touch, or that I was obviously not pleased with the news of our marriage. "I need invitations sent to everyone in Ot Ulut of importance." He said, ignoring the lasers I was shooting at him with my eyes. "Send an invitation to the Earth and Air Mages as well." he paused and looked at me as he spoke, "But do not let word reach the Water Mages yet."

"It shall be done." The maidservant bowed.

"Altan~" I tried to whisper and get his attention. If I could just get him alone for a second maybe we could talk about this. I'm not really sure at what point during our ride here last night he decided that it would be a good idea to marry me. But if he decided it so quickly maybe he would be willing to un-decide it over quick conversation.

He acted like he didn't hear me, "I also want you to begin work on her wedding dress immediately." he said to the maidservant as he rubbed a finger over his scruffy chin. "It should be in the style of a Kiziljer wedding dress but the colors of Pani rastra."

"It shall be done." The Maidservant replied again.

"Perfect." Altan smiled. "Are there any tasks I must attend to urgently?"

I bit my lip and tried to get Altan's attention again, "Altan!" I whispered louder.

"Ah, yes," the maidservant ignored me this time. "Your adviser, Barat, has a long list of things he needs to speak with you about. I believe-"

"Altan!" this time I didn't whisper it and he responds by grabbing hold of my hand.

The maidservant continued listing different people that the Duke needed to see, but I suddenly could not hear her anymore because Altan was fiddling with my hand. The tips of his fingers brushed along the soft skin of my wrist so lightly that I almost wondered if he was aware he was doing it. He wasn't looking at me, no, he seemed to be in deep thought listening to the different duties he had to attend to. Yet his hand had a mind of its own.

I saw the maidservant's eyes move to look at the hand motion Altan was making. Then she continued speaking as if she hadn't seen it. I considered pulling away from him, but thought it might be better to give him a taste of his own medicine. When he interlocked his fingers with mine I did something I used to do to my friends when I was young; I squeezed my fingers tightly together in an attempt to hurt his hand.

I know it must have hurt him, because it hurt me to do it, but he didn't react to my touch at all.

~Alright have it your way!~

Next, I tried to dig my fingernails into his hand. And I know this likely hurt him as well because I left little half-moon scars on the back of his hand. But again he didn't respond. I was considering stomping one of his toes when Amah stopped speaking.

"Perfect." Altan spoke, and the sound of his voice brought me to reality. "I'll See Adviser Barat first, I'm leaving Lady Azul in your hands."

Altan removed his hand from my wrist, turned in the opposite direction of me, and without even looking at me, he left.

I fisted my hands angrily as I watched him leave.

~that's right! run away!~

"This way to your Chambers, Lady Azul." The maidservant spoke, and I followed as she turned and began up an exquisite set of marble stairs.

The bed chambers were. Well, I'm not sure how else to explain it: huge! the bed alone was the size of the studio apartment where I had lived in Seattle. And there was easily twice as much furniture in the room than I had owned in my entire life. Well, in my other life.

The balcony off the room was decorated with the same red and orange flowers that were all over the city. It gave view to the city of Kiziljer and all of its beauty from the fourth floor and probably one of the highest spots in the whole town. Beyond the walls of the city, I could see the same sand dunes I nearly perished in just yesterday.

~How did I get from there to here? I really am 'climbing the social ladder' going from homeless to a Palace all in 24 hours.~

"The bath is ready for you." The Maidservant called to me from the attached bathing room of the chambers, and I entered to find a steaming hot tub filled with fresh rose petals. The scent of it wafted over me, and in that moment I realized how extremely dirty I felt. There was probably sand lodged into every nook and cranny of my body.

Heck, I probably had sand up my butt hole.

"Thank you-" I paused when I realized I didn't know what to call her.

"You may call me 'Amah' as well." she recognized my hesitation.

"Thank you, Amah." I said, and she left me alone to bathe.

Finally, I had some alone time to think over everything that had happened....

~So, basically. I somehow reincarnated into this body that is in a different dimension. And then Altan found me and pretty much saved me from death. But, it turns out he's an Duke...And he wants me to marry him... ~

I blinked at my thoughts.

~Something doesn't seem right about this. What kind of Duke finds some homeless lady with amnesia in the desert and then decides to marry her? I must be pretty freaking attractive...~

I dunked my head under the water and came back to the surface with rose petals clinging to my skin.

~I need to be careful... I'm in a different dimension. What if here, "to marry" means "To sacrifice?" Altan did say 'the Gods provided'... what if he plans to murder me? Should I try to escape before the wedding?~

~I mean, Altan seems like a nice enough guy. And he's pretty nice on the eyes too, if you know what I mean... But, do I really want to get married? I did just get here, after all. And I'm not sure how old this body is, but back on earth, I was only 20 years old. Even if I'm old enough to get married. I'm probably still not mentally old enough. I was still in school on earth. I was an astrology major literally because I had no idea what kind of job I wanted and I thought the stars were pretty.... does that sound like the rationale of someone mature enough to get married?? no!~

I scrubbed at my skin, took off a layer of caked-on sand, and sighed.

~If I decide I don't want to get married... Would Altan allow it? He did kind of decide the fiancé-thing without my consent... what's to say the marriage part will be consensual? I guess I could also try to run away, but... where am I going to go? I could try to escape the palace, but I don't have any money. And even if I did, this town seems small enough that Altan could find me again... and if I tried to get out of this town, I would end up back in the very sand dunes I almost died in.~

I put my nose below the water and blew air bubbles of distress.

~But apparently I'm a Water mage. If I could make an endless amount of water for myself and knew where I was going... maybe I could escape.~

I held my hand above the water in the tub and attempted to will it to move, but nothing happened.

"Alright." I spoke out loud to myself, "The first thing I need to do is learn to control my new power."