laneys.info Beware of Yankees, drunks, and loose women.

After breakfast, she explored her new home for some time as her husband had to tend to other matters dealing with their empire. Waving in the cool sunlight, her long, red silk dress flowed with her strides towards the low wall that lined the gardens which bordered the back of the palace. As she neared, her eyes drew in the cascading river whose white froth thundered from the waterfall to the distant right and across her into a river that had cut a deep gorge for many years. Her eyes followed it through mossy green walls of granite until it disappeared. Birds flitted high above and soared on the wind as the sun rose in the morning sky. Breathing deeply, she took in the clean air and smelled the water below, flowers around her as well as Beatrice nearing from behind.

“What is it,” Kailee turned to see her attendant bow.

“Would milady wish to view the library? The master stated that your memory may need some assistance in reviving.”

She nodded. “Sure.” As Beatrice motioned back to the palace, she followed across the manicured lawn to the veranda. “What happened to me last week that my memories are gone?”

“I’m not sure, madam. Only the master would know that.” Kailee found no deception in the obedient servant as they walked and discerned that there may be little to be found anyway. Perhaps she could get more from her husband later.

“What is his name? He never said and I can’t remember.”

“I only know him as Milord. Sorry. Your memory was completely erased?”

Kailee turned and eyed the gaunt servant directly. “I guess it was.”

Through the great hall, they continued back towards her room through the gallery until turning to a door on the right which led into a large study. Her mind was quickly diverted as she saw the walls full of shelves choked with volumes of knowledge. She could spend several years in here and perhaps that was the goal. Her suspicions had been piqued now that conversations with either of them eluded to little more than gently pushing her towards accepting what was.
Thickly padded, leather chairs and couches centered the room atop large rugs which bordered the sitting area to the high shelves separated by tall columns.

As she entered the room, Kailee turned to Beatrice. “How long will my husband be tending to matters of state?”

“Some time, I would imagine. Would milady wish to know when he’s completed?”

She nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

Bowing, the modestly dressed attendant backed out and disappeared into the gallery, leaving the queen to the quiet confines of the study. She sighed as she walked to her right and browsed the titles, most in various languages which she could read. Elvish, human, orcish and their various kingdoms and empires were all represented. Works of fiction as well as nonfiction filled the room and she wondered how long her husband had been collecting these volumes. Centuries were catalogued in these shelves and she remained uncommitted until noticing a thickly bound book high on a top shelf whose title sparked something.
‘The Elven Struggles With Vampires.’

Reaching out with her mind, she telekenetically pulled the book out and lowered it to her hands. Quietly walking around the nearby chair, she sat down and began perusing the work which had been written by a dark elven historian from the forgotten city of Glamoc. As words leapt from the pages, she felt her memories returning of the sagas within. Mental pictures of their struggles and eventual alliance with the Mysteries of the Night strengthened and soon conquered the elven cities which now were lost to time. The First Dark Age erased much that the elves and titans had built long before.
As she read, other things filtered into her mind dealing with vampires which interrupted the narrative but, caught her attention nonetheless. A kind face, steel-blue eyes and long black hair neatly groomed and pulled back and belonged to someone that she knew once. Her eyes rose to the long table between the sitting area as she tried to recall his name. The presence in the room washed away that curiousity as she turned and noticed the king watching her from the doorway.

“Forget him. He was someone that tried to take you from me once and I will never allow that again,” he stated firmly as he entered the room and approached her chair. “Many have tried to take your life,” he began as he crouched at her side, hand on her arm. “I’m just glad that your safe here,” he smiled as long fingers carressed her cheek.

She could feel an energy between them as she looked into his eyes. “I just wish I could remember all these things for myself. People, places and times that are now lost,” she looked down to the book across her lap. “It’s frustrating.”

“You just have to be confident that time will heal all that,” he glanced to the book. “What are you reading?”

“A collection of stories about the dark elves and their vampire allies during their conquest of Ocna Mures.”

“Oh, yes. I remember this one,” he picked up the large tome and rested it on the arm of the chair as he studied the pages she was open to. “That was a great victory for us until the elves united with the dwarves and sacked Trigueros,” his tone became darker as she listened. “Destroyed all those years of work just like they’ve always done. And now they’re doing the same thing across the world. Undermining all my efforts along with the human Orders. I’ll have that...” His eyes rose back to her as he cut off. She noticed the glow in his dark eyes slowly dissipate and for a moment, thought she recognized something in the depths of his dark soul. He sighed as he rose and closed the book.

She stood with him and followed him to the shelves as he replaced the tome to it’s place. “What is your name?”

“With us, names and titles are unnecessary, darling.” He turned to her as strong hands wrapped around her arms. “Only our love for one another. That’s what’s carried us through the hard times and what will get us through this one, I promise you.”

“How can I help if I don’t know what I’m fighting?”

He grinned. “You have no idea how that lifts my spirits. To hear you finally say that. You have no idea.” He kissed her deeply and she felt nothing in his embrace. No warmth, no love - nothing at all. Finally, he hugged her as she eyed the doorway back to the gallery and the windows beyond. “I love you so much, Kailee.”

A name that finally sparked some recognition in her mind. She knew that name.