Why Me? (Part 1)

I looked around me to see a man and a quite beautiful woman staring at me as if they had just seen a ghost.

They recovered quickly, and the male started walking towards me like I was a scared puppy.

The woman began to walk away from the alleyway we found ourselves in.

I had seen the man slip her something which made me apprehensive of her walking away.

"Where is she going?" I asked suspiciously, nodding towards the woman.

"She is not your concern right now," the man responded, and, as much as I hated to admit it, he was right.

"Who are you then, and why am I being hunted down like a mouse?"

"I am James Wileson, an almost Cadmar, and we are pursuing you because you are a magess."

"No…" I started to deny and backed up. "That's not possible."

As I continued to back up, I bumped into something, and before I could process what happened, I got a needle to the neck.

The world around me started to spin and, before I knew it, I collapsed onto the ground and faint.

I woke up in a fluffy bed. My head was throbbing and I was seriously warm. I tried to move but my range of movement was limited by the 3 heavy comforters that had been laid on me.

When I finally got out from underneath the blankets, I noticed I was in a half circle room. I spun around, feeling disoriented and noticed the door on the opposite wall.

I walked towards the door, opened it, and stepped through.

Hearing movement to my left, I spun on my foot and looked around. I noticed a tall man standing by the door I just passed through.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Tethros, m'lady," the man said to me, "I am to help you get ready for a conference with the queen."

"Why am I here?"

"Her majesty will explain that to you," Tethros said to me, "I have drawn you a bath and set out some clothes. The bathroom is right there." He pointed to one of three doors in the houselike area.

Looking around, I noticed a glassless window. I walked over to it and looked out. The first thing I noticed was that I was about 13 stories above the ground, in a tower. The second thing I noticed was that I was scared of heights, I had never been more than two stories above the ground. I felt my breathing becoming more labored and quickly stepped away from the window.

I went into the bathroom and cleaned up. The dress that was set out for me was a beautiful one. I put it on but couldn't quite reach the zipper in the back.

I went out to the main area again. "Could you help me?" I asked Tethros, turning away and moving my long, black hair off my back to show him the unzipped dress.

"Sure, M'lady." He walked up to me and zipped up my dress. The size difference between us was so great that he had to kneel to reach the zipper.

"Thank you," I said when the zipper was set, keeping the lowcut dress from revealing any extra.

"Your welcome." I had turned around and saw that he was straightened up and was messing with some stuff on the counter that separated the mini-kitchen from the rest of the tower room.

I walked up next to Tethros and questioned him. "What are you doing?"

"These are the accessories to go with your dress." I looked at the items on the counter. There was a silver necklace with black diamonds and sapphires, and a pair of matching earrings. A pair of knee-high boots with two inch wedge heels were sitting in front of the counter. Also on the counter was a pair of black gloves, which had sapphires around the hem, and a ring with writing from the ancient language on it.

I had studied the ancient language and knew how to read it , write it, and speak it fluently. The markings on the ring were:

فليكن ، لا يمكن لمن يرتدي هذا الخاتم استخدام السحر

"Falaykun , la yumkin liman yartadi hdha alkhatim aistikhdam alsihr," I said. Tethros looked both surprised and curious.

"I've always wondered what those markings said," Tethros remarked, "What does it mean?"

"It says, 'So be it, whoever wears this ring cannot use magic,'" I said, translating.

"That makes sense," Tethros said. "Could I ask you to put it on?"

"Why?" I asked. "I am not going to use my magic, if I could even figure out how."

"Because you are still new to your magic," Tethros said. "Until you get a little more advanced in your training, your magic will be uncontrolled and can be triggered by just a small mood change."

"Oh," I said in response. "That makes sense." I put the gloves on my arms and put the silver band, with the ancient writing engraved into it, on my left ring finger. Immediately I felt that a part of me had been blocked in my head. I instinctively knew that the part of my consciousness that had been put into the mental cage was the part that my magic was contained in.

"You good?" Tethros asked me.

"Yeah," I said, "I just need a minute to get used to this feeling."

"Ok," Tethros responded.

"Alright," I said a moment later, "What's next?"

"You need to put on the rest of your accessories."

"Ok," I responded. I picked up the necklace, handed it to Tethros, turned around, and moved my hair up. Tethros brought the necklace around the front of my neck and clipped it shut.

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Miss."

I grabbd the earrings next and put those in my pierced ears. Next was the boots. I got the knee-high, tall-heeled, black boots put on and zipped them up.

I stood up and spun. The dress poofed out and my shoes made click sounds on the wood floor of the tower.

"You look beautiful," Tethros commednted when I stopped spinning.

"Thank you," I responded, beaming. "Can you help me with my hair?"

"Sure, just sit here." Tethros pointed to a stool. I sat in it and he picked up a brush from the counter I had failed to notice before.

"You're not tender-headed," Tethros asked me, "are you?"

"No," I responded, shaking my head.

Tethros pulled my hair back with his hands and started to run the black, plastic, brush through it. The brush caught in my hair few times and my hair didn't poof out as much as it usually would have.

"How would you like your hair styled, Miss?"

"Could you braid it please?" I asked.

"Yes, I can, Miss."

When the braid was finished Tethros handed me the brush and a small makeup bag.

"If you would like, there are some simple makeup items there that you can use."

"Thank you," I responded.

I went into the bathroom and put on a little bit of mascara and pink lipgloss. I replaced the items I used into the makeup bag and put the brush on the counter next to the sink.

Grabbing the cosmetics bag, I went back out into the main area. I tried to hand the bag back to Tethros but he just said to keep it in case I needed it.