"Sinbad!!!" was all she had time to call out before yet another wave crashed over the deck and carried her unwillingly into the angry waters below. Maeve barely heard Sinbad call her name, followed by a rather large splash, before she succumbed to the darkness pressing in all around her.
"Mmm…" Maeve stirred in her sleep, on the edges of consciousness and only partially aware of the throbbing in her head. Slowly she realized she would not be able to get back to sleep and decided to open her eyes. As she remembered yesterday's storm, she wondered where exactly she would find herself…
Maeve risked peeking out of one of her eyes, fully expecting to be on some secluded, not to mention deserted, island, or perhaps by some stretch of the imagination she might be on the Isle of Dawn… Neither expectation turned out to be true.
At the surprise of seeing her actual surroundings, Maeve shot up in alarm, causing her head to spin in a nauseous whirlpool of confusion. She clasped her head in her hands for several minutes before she chanced looking up again. There she sat, on a bed made in dark blue silken sheets, a light blue satin canopy like the sky over her head. The hard wood posts and frame of the exquisite piece of furniture were polished to a shine she had never seen, as was everything in the room. The room itself was richly decorated with tapestries and other things fit for royalty. A few windows large enough to be doors sat covered with lacy curtains at the farthest end of the room. Maeve slowly stood from the bed, hoping not to upset her equilibrium any more than it already was, and cautiously made her way toward one of the windows, not knowing what to expect. As she carefully drew one of the curtains aside, she gasped at seeing the last thing she could have imagined: a vast kingdom, cluttered with homes large and small, streets littered with children playing and peddlers peddling, stretching for as far as she could see.
Before Maeve had a chance to try to consider this rather odd turn of events a door, which she had previously overlooked, opened at the other end of the room, allowing four young women to enter. All were dressed in robes humble enough for her to realize that they must be servants. *But whose?* she wondered.
The women left the door open behind them as they walked over to a still half-asleep Maeve. They silently ushered her toward the door. Maeve was still in too confused and groggy to offer any opposition, and besides, why did she even feel she had anything to oppose?
As she was led down a long corridor, she noticed the odd way in which she was being led: the women with her strode with one on each side, one in front, and one behind Maeve. It was as if she was either being guarded from something or they were preventing her from escaping… Which brought up the questions in her mind, *Why would I need to be guarded? What do they think is going to happen? What's going on here?*
The young women led Maeve through several corridors until they came to a tall set of double-doors. The woman in the lead of the little entourage motioned for Maeve and the others to wait as she walked to the doors and, in a single, graceful motion, opened both doors simultaneously, causing them to swing widely and revealing the throne room beyond.
Maeve gasped at the majesty of the room, the sheer extravagance. Everything solid was trimmed in gold, the carpets and upholstery of the finest quality materials, not to mention the most expensive. Even the servants in the room wore finer clothes than she would probably ever own. And in the center of everything was the throne, no doubt molded of solid gold, with cushions made of silk and jewels imbedded in the arms, seat, and back. There on the throne sat a man, who Maeve decided could be three or four years her senior, wearing the most exquisite crown she had ever seen and watching her every movement. He was well built with dark, searching eyes. Cold eyes. Eyes that set off his long, blonde hair, as did his dark tan. Maeve had to admit that this man was fairly attractive, no doubt the king had a lovely queen who would enter at any moment and fill the smaller, empty throne beside his.
"Come, enter," the man called, his voice ringing with authority. Maeve obeyed and stepped into the room, going only a few steps before she was startled by the loud sound of the doors slamming shut behind her. "I've been waiting for you, Maevelyn."
Maeve could do nothing other than stare, speechless, at the man who had just called her by this name. Surely he had just made a mistake! She was no longer known as Maevelyn, not to the world, and not even to her own brother. She had changed. Surely he had only slipped, perhaps she reminded him of someone else… After all, no one knew her by that name any more, no one except- "Dim Dim!"
Maeve had called out, and with good reason. For from a side door to the throne room had just emerged the last person she had ever thought she would see in a situation like this.
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