Forced into Fantasy
Chapter 23 - Enemies

Adomis;

I can’t see straight. For some reason my arms keep bumping into walls and corners as I pace in somewhat of a dazed state through the castle corridors.

He called her the ‘Moon Princess’…

But that can’t be.

It just can’t!

Not her!

I can feel my heart thudding at an accelerated rate as my thick boots stomp along the stone floor, one foot after another.

‘clump’, ‘clump’, ‘clump’

I finally step out into the cool outside breeze through an open balcony, filling my lungs with a desperate breath of fresh air. I make my way across to the edge of the railing and rest my elbows down against it.

My entire body feels numb, as if an arrow lit with raging fire could hit me right now and I wouldn’t feel a thing. Not a single sensation of pain…

‘Did she know who she was?’

‘Has she perhaps known all along with the hidden intention of seducing me? Of making me feel something for her?’

I brush aside the though as my stomach begins to stir. The thought is making me feel physically ill. Betrayed, that’s how I feel right now. As if my heart has been pulled from my chest and crushed within her very hand.

Ivy... why?

-

Ivy;

Zarkin and I finally enter his chamber located in the high tower of the castle and I look around with a new-found interest in the Mage and what he does.

Strange objects are displayed everywhere, with endless bound books lined up along the shelves and strewn across desks carelessly. There are several glowing lights surrounding the outside walls of the room which I decide to closely inspect, just out of curiosity.

Stepping up to one of them I lift my hand and reach out to try and touch the glowing light. My finger is within mere inches when I hear Zarkin clearing his throat behind me.

I turn to face him, a little startled and half embarrassed.

“May I see it?” he asks me.

“See what?”

“Your marking Ivy. May I see it?” he reiterates.

“Oh…”

Upon realising what he had meant I nod and turn back around to face the glowing light once again.

I feel his hand grasping at my hair gently. He pulls it across to the side, then drapes it over my left shoulder to reveal my bare back and shoulders to him.

It is only then that I realise the style of dress I am currently wearing and that it may be a bit of a problem. It covers most of the tattoo. I silently prey that he does not need to see any more of it as I stand still waiting for him to finish.

“Um, forgive me Miss Ivy…” his expression shows obvious embarrassment as he speaks again.

“Would you… perhaps… lower your dress?”

“What?”

I immediately frown and turn to face him, but he quickly lifts his hands up in a form of surrender as he tries to explain and calm my fears.

“I need to see the tattoo in its entirety. Your dress… it covers…”

“Fine.” I roll my eyes and let out a huff.

Turning back around to face the wall and glowing object, I reach up to start untying the small string at the front of my dress. Within seconds I hesitantly shimmy out of my dress, pulling it down to just below my breasts. I am fully exposed of course, but my arms are wrapped protectively around my breasts in an attempt to cover them. I don’t plan on turning around so I begin to relax a little.

I suddenly feel the tip of his finger sliding across my left shoulder blade and squirm a little.

It tickles!

My mouth fights to hide the oncoming smile as I tap my foot down below in an effort to keep my mind on something else other than this man’s hands on me. Not that he’s doing anything creepy.

“Incredible.” he whispers softly.

I swallow nervously. I can feel a cool draft caressing my exposed breasts and I feel the need to cover myself once more. My patience is quickly fading, and I feel uncomfortable. I don’t like being exposed like this, not to him or anyone else… other than Adomis perhaps.

Then I realise, what if Adomis were to walk in on us like this?

Dread fills me and I turn and glance at the doorway. I can’t help but begin to panic as I feel my heart racing faster and faster.

“Alright, you can…” he trails off, waving his hands to gesture towards my dress. “Dress yourself. I have what I need.”

“Thank god.” I whisper to myself.

Like lightning I have once again re-dressed myself and turn back around to face him while I tie up the string simultaneously.

“You said you had something to show me?” I probe.

“Just a moment…”

Zarkin is now sketching something onto a piece of old parchment paper, a drawing I think. It looks like the moon with the five rings around it. Just like my marking. He’s trying to make a mental note of what it looks like.

I smile and decide that he’s actually not a bad artist. The drawing looks quite detailed.

Once he is finished Zarkin drops the feather dipped in ink he used to sketch and stands to join me.

“Now, of course. You deserve an explanation. This must all be very confusing to you.”

He holds his hand out, gesturing towards the seats positioned nearby and I take the closest one to me. He sits down opposite me.

“Zarkin, I need you to tell me what the hell’s going on? Why did Adomis react the way he did back there?” I questioned.

As if preparing himself for something difficult, the Mage takes a deep breath and then speaks.

“Do you know who you are, Ivy?”

I frown in confusion.

“What kind of a question is that? Um, yeah of course I know who I am.”

“Tell me… what are your earliest memories of childhood?”

The way he is seated and the depth of these questions makes me feel like I’m back home visiting a shrink or something. It’s actually kind of intimidating.

He continues to probe, “What do you remember? Any details at all?”

I decide to go along with it and relax back into my chair as I try and think as far back as I possibly can.

“Let’s see… um, I remember living in my apartment with my roommate. I remember… er, I had a job of some sort… and…”

Suddenly I frown and the realisation hits like a tonne of bricks. My memories, all of them are gone? I can’t remember anything past that evening Jess decided to grace me with her presence and I found the mysterious amulet.

And forget any earlier memories; I don’t remember anything about being a child!

Not even one memory. There’s just nothing, it’s blank!

“Ivy?” he leans forward.

I lift my eyes to meet his, my expression showing just how worried I truly am now.

“I don’t understand. There’s nothing. No memories, nothing.” I announce with terror. “How? Is there something wrong with me?”

“No, of course not.” he assures me with a smile.

“I merely assumed as much. You see Ivy, the reason that you have no memories is because they were purposely taken from you upon your arrival by a means of magic. As a way of protecting your mind from being overloaded. And… from learning who you really are.”

My mouth is open but the words won’t come out as I sit there, still confused as I try and process what it is that the Mage is telling me.

My memories were wiped?

“But how can memories be taken away from me? That’s not possible.”

“I disagree actually. I’ve done it many times myself, for various reasons of course.” he objects. “It appears that since the moment you first arrived here your memories of the other world vanished.”

“Why would someone take my memories? That makes no logical sense.”

“Perhaps it was done with the intention of protecting you from the truth. Because of who you are, your birthright.”

“My… birthright?” my left brow rises sceptically.

“Yes, when you mentioned that Ronaar had called you his ‘Moon Princess’ it all made sense. Not only the truth of who you really are, but also the reason why Ronaar kidnapped you in the first place.”

“And… that is?”

“Ivy, you are a Princess. The missing heir to the Sage Guild and the rightful ruler of one of the greatest armies ever assembled.”

Now I’m really confused.

“When Adomis first came to me and told me that the two of you had bonded I’ll admit I was intrigued. A bonding is a rare and very mystical occurrence. It’s not something one would see every day. But he then informed me of your marking and I had to be sure.”

“Sure of what? That I’m a Princess?” I joke. “You can’t be serious.”

He sighs, noticing my obvious lack of belief.

“Many years ago, the King and Queen of the Sage Guild feared an imminent assassination. They felt that they needed to protect you, as their only child and rightful heir. Now, as the story goes, the rulers sent you far away to some unknown place where you would be safe enough to live a life without fear. To grow into adulthood without the constant threat of death looming upon your shoulders. And as the decades passed many believed that you had either died or would never return to stake your claim…”

“What claim?” I ask, baffled by all of this.

“You are the legitimate heir and future ruler of the Sage Guild, thought to be the most powerful Guild of all the four. You have claim to the throne and to its powerful army.” he explained calmly, as if it were nothing strange.

I take a moment to think, to try and allow all of this to make some kind of sense to me.

“Wait, even if this is true, and I’m not saying that it is…” I pause to wet my lips before continuing, “What made Adomis react that way when I told him about the whole ‘Moon Princess’ thing? He looked… hurt.”

“It’s rather complicated, I’m afraid.”

“Please, I need to know.”

I lean forward and place my hand on his knee, my brows furrowed in desperation for more information and advice.

“Very well. As I mentioned before, there are four Guilds within our world. The Fire Guild, the Sage Guild, the Marine Guild and of course, the Moonlit Guild. When the Guilds rose up against one another, we each became hated enemies. Each Guild would attempt to wipe out the others in dispute of power and territory. Countless battles were waged, with the war still continuing on to this very day…”

“So, the Guilds each hate one another?” I reiterate.

He nods his head.

“That’s stupid! Pointlessly killing one another, and for what? More land?” I shake my head with disgust. “Who controls each of the Guilds?”

Zarkin leans forward now, resting his arms down against his knees as he replies.

“Members of the Marine Guild have not been sighted in over a decade, with their people thought to have been lost over time. And I have no doubt that you’re well aware that Ronaar leads the Moonlit Guild…”

“Yeah, I got that…” I nod my head and continue. “So, if I supposedly belong to the Sage Guild, we’re still missing one, the Fire Guild. Who commands that?”

Zarkin appears visibly distressed now, which worries me.

“You don’t know, do you?” he asks softly.

“What is it? What am I missing?” I demand, my patience growing dangerously thin.

“Adomis reacted that way earlier… because… this is the Fire Guild, Ivy.”

He speaks with hesitance, fear even. Perhaps fear of how I will possibly react?

“Adomis is our ruler and Overlord of the Fire Guild and is therefore your enemy.” he explains solemnly.

“Which means that I’m afraid your life is now in danger.”

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