I slowly opened my eyes as my head pounded. The bright lights shining through the stained glass blinded me.

“All bow to her holiness, Freya! The Scepter has found her, and she shall bring forth peace and prosperity. Oh noble one, we beg of thee, please bring hope to our war-torn nation!”

“The fuck kind of dream is this?” I muttered, sitting up as I rubbed my head.

I looked up as my eyes adjusted to the scene ahead. Melonie was standing in a protective pose in front of me. All I could make out beyond Melonie was a group of kneeling uniformed mages in long shimmering blue robes as well as what looked like knights kneeling on one knee with their swords stabbed into the ground.

“Wha… Tsss.” I tried standing up, but a searing pain shot up through my ankle. Oh, right.

“Who are you, and what is it that you want from us?” Melonie’s shaky voice asked.

“This one is King of this humble nation of Galilith. This one is known as Payne, of the house of Doves. This one’s people are nothing but humble servants of your holiness and this one would want nothing more but to do thy bidding. This one beseeches you to protect and provide my nation with prosperity in exchange,” the King fawned in response.

“What… What do you mean? Look, you clearly have me confused with someone else. Can you please just take us back?” Melonie desperately pleaded.

I tried standing up again, this time avoiding putting weight on my ankle as much as possible. Despite my best efforts, I still fell back down. Melonie noticed my struggles and quickly came to support me.

“This is no mistake your Holiness, the scepter is never wrong. You are its master, the reincarnation of our beloved goddess and holy saint, Lady Freya. I understand why you are confused, as you do not have any of your past memories, but they shall return in due time,” the king answered.

After finally managing to stand up, thanks to Melonie’s support, I was able to look at the King. He was standing in front of a black throne. He looked to be in his early twenties, with a black crown embellished with various precious stones resting on his short blonde hair.

“Look, I don’t care about any of that. Please just let us go back. My friend really needs medical attention!” Melonie pleaded.

“This one is afraid there is no way back. I humbly suggest that you bring your friend to our medical mages, they can fix her up right away. You must be tired from your travels. Please follow my steward to your quarters. I’ll have another servant come to take care of your friend.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Is this man trying to split us up? Oh hell no!

“I apologize if I am speaking out of turn, Your Highness,” I slowly respond, “but I’m afraid we cannot do that. My friend and I will be staying together.”

For a split second, I thought I saw a look of disgust on the king’s face. It happened so fast that I wasn’t even sure if I saw it correctly.

“That’s right, we will be staying together,” Melonie chimed in.

“Very well then. Marshal, please see to it that our guests are taken to the head medic. Then send them to their quarters to rest.”

A tall, slender man in a butler uniform with a veiled hat covering his entire head walked in from the door behind us. He bowed to the king, then motioned us to follow.

“Wait, before you leave, I humbly ask your names before you stay in my castle.”

“Melonie.”

There was a subtle shift in the King’s face. It was so subtle it could be easily missed. King Payne turned towards me and smiled.

“And you friend of Melonie?”

A feeling of unease washed over me as my palms started to sweat. This King felt shifty, and this whole situation was messed up. I knew that I couldn’t give them my real name no matter what. My eyes darted around looking for anything that could make a decent name.

“Um…”

Banner? No. Glittery robes? No. Shit, think, think, think!!

“Is something wrong, friend of Melonie?”

Friend of Melonie. Friend Melonie. Frielonie.

“Felonie! My name is Felonie!” I blurted without thinking.

“Melonie and Felonie, what interesting names.”

I laughed awkwardly, “Most people usually call me Fey, right, Melonie?”

“Oh, yup. Good ol’ Fey!”

King Payne raised an eyebrow, “Marshal?”

Marshal bowed, “They are telling the truth, your highness.”

“I humbly apologize for having to ensure that you are not lying. Marshal, if you will?”

Marshal bowed and motioned for us to follow him once more. As the doors to the throne room closed behind us Melonie looked at me and whispered, “I always knew you were gonna become a felon, not like this though.”

“Haha, very funny. Just focus on helping me walk!”

Pain shot through my ankle with every agonizing step. Marshal was walking slowly, but it felt as though he was sprinting miles in front of us.

Just think about cats. Fluffy little dumb cats. Orange ones with no thoughts, no brain cells.

I was so focused on distracting myself from the pain in my ankle that I nearly fell over when Marshal suddenly stopped in front of us.

He turned to face us, and despite the sheer black cloth blocking the majority of his face, his emerald green eyes still managed to pierce through. It seemed as though he could see into the deepest depths of my soul.

"It was smart of you to not share your real name. I suggest you don’t ever share it.”

He then turned towards Melonie, “I am sorry.”

The air grew heavy as it became hard to breathe. I turned towards Melonie as concern made my blood turn cold.

“Wait, why do you say that?” Melonie asked.

Marshal, however, just kept on walking as though nothing had been said.