"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 Emir has returned!" a woman near to me yelled.

"And he has brought a fiance!" 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 an Emir?"

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

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 as if I did not exist 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, and 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 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 grew 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, and spires reached off the top and into 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 and spoke to his people. "My Fiance 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 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 Emir; one who cares deeply for his subjects. ~

"Your Grace," A woman who looked to be a maidservant greeted us and bowed when we entered the front doors of the palace. Which, just like the rest of the place, were almost ridiculously elaborate and expensive looking.

"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 Fiance."

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

"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.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"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 I looked to him again.

"I simply cannot wait." he said to me with his chocolate voice and I felt chill bumps rise on my arms as I looked away from him again.

"I need invitations sent to everyone in Ot Ulut of importance. Send an invitation to the Earth and Wind 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.

"I also want you to begin work on her wedding dress immediately." he rubbed a finger over his scruffy chin as he thought. "It should be in the style of a Kiziljer wedding dress but the colors of Pani rastra."

"It shall be done."

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

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

She began listing different people that the Emir needed to see but I suddenly could not hear her anymore because a strange tickling sensation appeared on my wrist. I looked down at my wrist to find that Altan's hand was lingering there. The tips of his fingers brushing along the soft skin 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 thought listening to the different duties he had to attend to. Yet his hand had a mind of it's own.

I saw the maidservants eyes move to look at the hand motion Altan was making as well. Then she continued speaking as if she hadn't seen it. I considered pulling away from him, but saw no advantage in doing this at the moment. Altan continued to touch my arm as she spoke. His thumb moving in a soft circle, one time, two times, three times. The feeling was light, yet the sensation of it ran all the way up arm and seemed to have a direct link to my heart that began to beat faster. Slowly his touch became stronger and I could feel the warmth of him again It was actually becoming very relaxing until-.

"Perfect." Altan spoke, and the sound of his voice made me feel as if I had awoken from sleep. "I'll See Adviser Barat first, I'm leaving Lady Azul in your hands."

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

~I feel strange... I don't know if I should like Altan or hate him.~

"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 that I had lived in 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 didn't realize what I ought 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 Emir (Which I'm pretty sure is the equivalent of a 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 then decides to marry her? I must be pretty freaking hot...~

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 that 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 rational of someone mature enough to get married??~

I scrubbed at my skin, taking 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 fiance 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."