Mirror of Dreams - Chapter 11

11

I lowered myself back to the ground and let my cyr wheel circle on its own as it eventually dropped to the floor. I watched my hands as the blue flame slowly disappeared, and then closed my eyes as I took note of the calmness of the sizzling.

“I did it on purpose!” I squealed happily as I flung my arms around Ian. “I've only ever used my magic on accident before!”

“That was awesome!” Ian exclaimed, returning my hug and lifting me off my feet for a moment before setting me back down. “You were totally on fire!”

I stepped back and winked at him. “This girl is on fire!” I sang, pointing at myself.

“Fire, fire!” He sang, backing me up.

“This girl is on fire!” (“Fire,” Ian sang with me.)

“She's walking on fire!”

“Fire, fire!”

“This girl is on fire!” (“Fire,” he sang with me again. “Oh-oh-oh-oh-ooooh.....”)

“Everybody stands as she walks by, 'cause they can see the flame that's in her eyes, watch her when she's lighting up the night, nobody knows that she's a lonely girl, and it's a lonely world, but she gon' let it burn, baby, burn, baby...”

Ian backed me up perfectly because we had done this song for karaoke once or twice. Just as I did his favorite things with him, he did my favorite things with me! I finished singing the song, even though I had started in the middle of it, and then when I was done, I laughed.

“You know,” Ian remarked with a silly smirk. “You sound terrible without the music to go with it!”

“I do not!” I laughed, pushing him away from me playfully.

He walked away with a shrug. “Just sayin'...” Taking the cyr wheel, he started in on his routine. I flapped my hands at him dismissively, returning to the table for more water.

“Sorry,” I apologized to Lord Antony as I flopped in my chair. “Continue. I promise I'll sit still and listen.”

Lord Antony glanced very quickly at Nathan, and then tactfully continued reading the report. This called my attention to the fact that Nathan was positively glaring at Ian. I reached over and took Nathan's hand in mine, giving it a firm squeeze as I smiled at him.

He didn't look at me or say anything, but continued to hold my hand. In fact, when I opened my hand slightly to take it back, he wouldn't let me. Happy by this, I simply held his hand for as long as I could stand to sit still.

With them combining similar reports like I suggested, we got through them all in a surprisingly short amount of time. We normally would have eaten lunch as we worked and then kept on going, but since we only had a couple of reports left when lunch arrived, we finished them up quickly and then ate after we were done.

By this point, I'd gotten up to work with my cyr wheel again, which meant that Ian and I had simply done whatever we felt like, rather than follow a routine. It was a marvelously free flowing experience that was helped out just a bit by my magic. I'm sure that Lord Antony was tempted to stop and watch me again, but he resisted the urge, and Lord Gregory probably didn't care in the slightest what I did, so long as I did my work.

Thus, when we were finished with all the reports, I was pretty hungry. I dug into my food with gusto, tossing out all thoughts of fancy manners. Even though Ian had eaten earlier, he was hungry enough to eat again.

“And you do this every day?” Ian asked curiously, waving to indicate the multitude of reports.

“It's usually worse,” I muttered, wiping some sauce from my cheek with the back of my hand. “They were going easy on me today.”

“Are we going for a run today?” Sir Barrett asked curiously. It was unusual in his opinion that I hadn't simply grabbed something portable to eat and taken off right away when the reports were finished.

“Probably...” I murmured as I thought this over.

“Run?!” Ian asked incredulously. “You? Run?”

“Hey, I know how to run!” I protested defensively.

“Yeah but your definition of running is to the mall. In a nice, comfy, well-air-conditioned car!” Ian stated, still in a state of disbelief.

“Yeah...” I agreed because that was usually true.

“I tried to get you to race me to the lake that one time when we were about 12 and your mom brought me on vacation with you guys since my parents hadn't been home in over a year, and you refused because you didn't want to risk getting sweaty!” Ian pointed out.

“I know,” I stated with a sigh of agreement. “But you don't understand, when I am here, I get this sizzling in my blood that drives me crazy! If I sit still for longer than a couple minutes, I start thinking about slitting my wrists just to let the blood out so it can't sizzle anymore! In an effort to cope, I have run so many circles around this palace that there's now a permanent track!”

Ian leaned away from me and gave me a scrunched up look. “I still can't picture you running... I mean, if you just need to be active, I would have assumed that you'd dance a hole in the floor.”

I was surprised by this suggestion. “You know... I never thought of that... When I get fidgety, all I can think about is running away.”

“You're not fidgety now,” Nathan pointed out. He had seen me restless enough to know that something was definitely different.

“That's because the sizzling has been more or less calm since I did that magic thing earlier,” I explained.

“That's good,” Nathan murmured.

“Not necessarily,” Lady Leeza stated. She had obviously been bored by the reports, but had stayed – as had Lady Sophia – so that she could keep an eye on Ian. It was almost as if she kept expecting him to suddenly confess that he was their holy man and apologize for letting everyone think he was dead.

“What do you mean?” I wondered.

“Well, the way I see it, you didn't just use your magic, you tapped into your ultimate power,” she elaborated. “Using regular magic, like Nathan's fire power...” She pointed to him and he made a ball of it appear in his hand. “Or Lord Gregory's Earth based magic...”

At her probing stare, he reluctantly made the ground shake for exactly three seconds. She rewarded him with a rare smile. And then pointed at Lord Antony.

“Or his air power...”

Lord Antony made a rose float out of a vase and fly over to me. I took it with a soft smile and held it to my nose.

“Well, you can see it for yourself,” Lady Leeza stated as if it should be obvious.

“I'm sorry,” I said with a confused frown, setting the rose aside. “See what?”

“None of them glowed, did they?” She asked with an evil smirk, clearly enjoying the fact that I didn't figure it out for myself.

“No...” I murmured, realizing that she was right.

“Lady Sophia might have the power to do that,” Lady Leeza murmured in thought.

“I suppose if I absolutely had to,” Lady Sophia responded, also looking as if she had to think this over.

“You have the power because you are Queen and might need it to defend our Kingdom from our enemies,” Lady Leeza finished explaining. “Using it just to calm down your blood and get a decent night's sleep could leave you without enough to do something bigger if needed.”

Lord Gregory nodded in agreement. “Exactly. What if you use up all your power on something frivolous, and then the enemy attacks and you are weak and helpless to defend yourself?”

I sighed and groaned and rolled my head around in frustration. “This is basically the same argument you made when you wanted to keep me inside the palace! Look, I get it that Nibal might just attack at any moment, but it's rather like having a baby! I know that I am going to have one someday, but that doesn't mean that I have to start avoiding alcohol and waddling like a duck right now!”

“Uh...” Lord Gregory literally couldn't think of anything to say to that. I think he was too flustered by the analogy of having a baby.

“Well, I'm not saying that you should never use it,” Lady Leeza pointed out. “Simply that you shouldn't use it all the time. It's only prudent that you would use it enough to really learn what you're doing. If you only used it when provoked to anger, you'd never be able to control it. Conversely, if you use it every day just so that you can sleep at night, you wouldn't have any left if you needed it.”

“Balance!” Lady Sophia sang out with a becoming smile, one finger pointing to the sky and swaying back and forth.

“Exactly,” Lady Leeza agreed. “And please don't mention babies to Lord Gregory again, unless you want him to run screaming from the room.”

I smirked and gave Lady Leeza a look that said: Oh? And how do you know that?

She simply rolled her eyes and shook her head. I decided to change the subject. Or rather, return to the subject we were already discussing.

“So wait, you already said a while ago that as ruler, I should be able to use all the elements, right?” I asked her.

“Right,” she confirmed.

“Then how do you know that I'm not just using a fire power?” I wondered.

“Lord Nathan, another demonstration, if you please,” she murmured angelically although she cast him an evil look. Man! She's got to be the most interesting woman I know!

Nathan got to his feet and walked a little away from the table. He circled his arms around a bit and stepped his feet apart. Suddenly, fire shot out of his hands and circled him before gathering at his back. He pulled his arms back – a little bit like he was rowing a boat – and then pushed his hands out vigorously. The fire turned into a pair of wolves and then ran forward as if chasing prey. They disappeared before hitting the wall when he made a motion as if pulling them in.

“Whoa!” Ian and I both exhaled in awe.

“That was amazing!” I added.

“Now you try it,” Lady Leeza prompted with a smirk.

“I can do that?” I asked, feeling surreal. I had apparently used magic before, but always when I was doing something else. Never just to do magic. Hmm...

“Try,” she encouraged with a smile the sent chills up my spine.

Taking a deep breath, I got to my feet and walked closer to Nathan. Making sure that I wouldn't hurt him, I visualized a ball of fire form in my hand. A moment later, a huge sphere of flame shot out from my hand, looking like a comet with a long tail as it raced to the wall and then slammed into it with an explosion.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed as I stepped back.

“Again!” Lady Leeza called out maniacally.

“Are you crazy?!” I blurted out. “I nearly destroyed the wall!”

“So try to restrain yourself,” she replied with an uncaring shrug.

“But!” I protested, and then forced myself to take a deep breath. “I thought I was trying to restrain myself.” I muttered under my breath.

Closing my eyes, I pictured a ball of fire between my hands. In my mind, it was about the size of a softball. When I opened my eyes, I saw an orb the size of a basketball – which was still smaller than the comet I'd fired off earlier.

Lady Leeza jumped to her feet and marched over to me. “You see?” She roared. “That's what I'm talking about! Look at yourself! Do you see the blue fire?”

Startled, I realized that she was right. I was not enveloped by the blue flames like I had been earlier. Nor was my basketball blue, it was a swirling red/orange/yellow like normal fire.

In my surprise, I fumbled with and then dropped the fire I was holding. Before I had time to think, Nathan grabbed it and forced it to go out with a yelp of surprise. He looked almost scared as his hair stood on end.

“Whoa...” he whispered in awe. “I've never felt such power...”

“Are you okay?” I asked, concerned about the scorch marks on his hands.

He nodded and wiped his hands clean on his pants. “Fine, see? I thought it would be like my fire, but it wasn't. It was almost too much for me, and actually hurt to touch, but it still obeyed my command to extinguish.”

“Ahahahaha!” Lady Leeza cackled crazily before grabbing him and kissing Nathan full on the lips. She pushed him away roughly and turned to me. “I knew it! Even though you appear to have fairly good control over your magic already – another gift from your father, I wonder? – you simply have so much of it that it overwhelms you!”

She pointed to Nathan, who was staring at her with a blush on his adorable face. “If you must know, he is the most powerful fire magic user in all of Rolandia. His power was carefully bred and passed down through his Royal House, and if he says that yours was almost too much for him to handle, then that means that you have an immense amount of magic in your veins! And that was when you weren't even tapping into your ultimate power!”

She pulled me close and stroked my face as she probed my eyes with hers. “Will you please come to my lair with me right now?”

I grinned at her suggestion.

“No!” Lord Gregory roared, leaping to his feet and slamming his hand on the table. “I still say that it's treason for you to drag the Queen to your lair, string her up, and whip her for your perverse pleasure!”

Lady Leeza advanced on him, pointing angrily. “And I still say that it's only treason if she doesn't want to be in my lair at my mercy!”

“Stop it!” Nathan yelled, preventing an epic shouting match. “Damn it! I'm the one that lives with her and shares her bed, and I say that nobody is dragging her anywhere until after I've had a chance to talk with her in private and welcome her home!”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me after him as he marched out of the dining hall. I didn't protest, happy that he wanted to be alone with me. I waved at Lord Antony and called out to him.

“Hey! Make sure that Ian has a room to stay in while he's here!”

“As you wish, my Queen!” He agreed graciously.

Arriving in our room, Nathan slammed the door shut behind us. He promptly let go of my hand and started pacing the room, huffing in agitation. I watched him warily for a moment before deciding that some soothing herbal tea might be necessary. I busied myself making a pot from the supplies kept in my room at my request.

“I think we should talk about your world,” Nathan stated abruptly. “Why haven't we ever talked about your world?”

I shrugged. “You never asked, and in fact, whenever I say something like: 'my mother hosted a fundraiser yesterday,' you always murmur something like: 'uh-huh' and change the subject.”

“Uh...” he droned for a second or two, probably trying to deny it but unable.

“I think you keep trying to tell yourself that if we don't talk about my other world, then it doesn't really exist,” I pointed out.

He sighed in defeat. “Fine... Well I want to talk about it now.” He pulled out my journal, flipped it open to the last page, and then set it in front of me. “According to this, you were busy getting married...”

“Yes,” I confirmed softly.

Nathan looked like all the air had just been knocked out of him and he sat rather involuntarily in a chair. “I see... Does he... does he know about me?”

I shook my head sadly. “I can't tell him about any of this. I really don't think he'd believe me. I mean maybe after we've been married a while and he knows that I'm not one to lie or exaggerate about something like this, then maybe I can tell him and he'll believe me. In the meantime, the only person I could tell was Ian. Even he didn't believe me at first! I had to come here and change into something kinky and have my hair done before he'd believe me!”

“So you keep secrets from your husband too,” Nathan remarked with a perverse smirk. “I don't know why, but that makes me feel a little better.”

His statement made me feel both happy and sad. Happy that he felt a little better, but sad that he made it sound like I went around keeping secrets from everyone. When had I turned into that kind of person?!

“Now that you know that I do actually read your journal, rather than when you assumed I did, I can't tell if what you write is the truth or not,” Nathan said, pointing to a paragraph in the middle of the page. “Do you really think that I deserve happiness?”

I snorted a wry laugh. “Contrary to what you might think, when I write in my journal, I am talking to myself. I like to picture that I am reading it when I am on my deathbed, too old to remember half of the things I've done. I write things in a way that hopefully I will understand them when I reread them in the future. It would be of absolutely no use to me if I lied. About anything! Therefore, yes, I do mean it when I wrote that I think you deserve to be happy.”

He smiled at me a bit shyly. “Most of the time, you make me happy. Until I found out everything in here, I was the happiest man in the world! Now that I know everything though, I hurt inside... When we're together – just the two of us – I can forget everything and just be with you, and that makes me happy. When I read some of the things you've written about me, my heart races! When you're gone, I miss you so much that I feel like I can't breathe!”

He looked away, obviously embarrassed to have admitted all of that. I purred as a thrill shot straight through my heart and made my toes curl. I threw my arms around him and held him tight. He returned my embrace, trembling as if afraid that I might disappear.

We spent a long time simply kissing. Eventually, I dropped to my knees, opened his pants, and took his hard shaft into my mouth. He panted softly, running his hand through my hair. Just when his knees started to shake – a very long time later – and I figured that the end was near, he pushed me away.

“What's wrong?” I wondered, disappointed that he had stopped me from pleasuring him.

“I want to be inside you when I shoot,” he admitted softly, looking just slightly embarrassed.

With a smile, I stripped and then walked over to where my diaphragm was waiting. Nathan quickly threw his clothes off too, grinning at me. After it was inside me, he picked me up and carried me to the middle of our bed. Giggling, we kissed and played around for a while until Nathan felt the time was right to enter me.

I sighed happily and held him close. In that moment, I understood something so completely that I gasped in astonishment. I love him! It wasn't a simple attraction or infatuation, but real and true love. This revelation was soul-shattering!

“Something wrong?” He asked, concerned by the tone of my gasp.

“No...” I denied in a whisper. “Everything is perfect.”

Satisfied by my answer, he kissed me. His thrusts were powerful, shaking me to my very core. I held him tight as my feelings ran amok. So electrifying were my emotions that I suddenly broke out in that blue flame. Nathan cried out in shock even as he filled me up. He pulled away and stared at me, his mouth hanging open.

“That hurt a little,” he finally managed to tell me. I myself had been reeling from an orgasm so intense that I nearly blacked out. Gasping to catch my breath, I stared at one of my hands.

“I'm sorry!”

The smell of smoke told me that even the bed was protesting the use of my power. I closed my eyes and focused until I was certain that my power was under control. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Nathan staring at me in awe.

“That was... unbelievable! Earlier, when I caught your fire, I thought that your power was too much to handle, but just now, I think I actually felt a bit of the ocean that's inside you. Just a touch was enough to completely overwhelm me! No wonder you can't sleep...”

“Mmm,” I murmured since I couldn't think of anything better to say. So I changed the subject. “I think I really need to visit the Temple...”

He nodded in agreement and understanding. “You should ring for the maids. They'll need to dress you up if you're going to leave the palace.”

With a sigh, I realized that he was probably right. Getting out of bed, I rang for the maids, who arrived in so little time that I wondered if they were listening at the door. After I informed them that I was going to the Temple, they squealed with excitement, planning out what dress I should wear and how my hair should be done.

It was then that I understood that the Queen visiting their God was no mere visit. It was so important that one of the maids sent out a messenger to inform Sir Barrett, the palace guards, the Town Watch, and the Priestesses of the Temple. In that moment, I knew that I wouldn't be allowed to wear yoga pants and a cami like I wanted. They even insisted that I take a bath!

Almost an entire hour passed as I was primped and prepared. My hair was done up ornately, braided, bejeweled, and adorned with my tiara. My face was enhanced with magic infused cosmetics that made my inner beauty really shine. My dress was a full length regal number with a small train. It resembled my coronation gown just a little, but wasn't nearly as lacy and ornate. Other select pieces of the crown jewels were added to my neck, ears, and fingers. When they were done, I looked completely like a real Queen!

It was startling, even though I was mostly used to being a Queen by now.

Nathan cast me a goofy grin from where he was still laying on the bed. He had been watching me the entire time, and I wondered if he felt the same way about watching me as I did about watching him. I personally could watch him all day! Blowing him a kiss, I left my room.

While I'd been occupied with Nathan, everyone else had done their own thing, mostly talking to and keeping Ian company. Everyone had taken the time to fill him in a little on the history of Rolandia. He had apparently asked nearly a hundred more questions than I had ever thought to ask in my first days in the palace.

A guard stationed at the door of the dining hall noticed that I was in full regalia, and decided that it was appropriate to announce my presence. “Announcing Her Royal Majesty, Queen Kaitlynn of Rolandia.”

I entered the room to find that everyone promptly stood. I thought I had finally broken them of that! Sigh... Even Ian got to his feet after looking around and feeling out of place. He sent me a wry grin.

“Well now, look at you!” He drawled. “They sure did pretty you up!”

I laughed softly. “Apparently I'm not allowed to go visit the Temple wearing just anything.”

“They tell me that their God is more or less a real person that you can really talk to,” Ian stated, shaking his head as if he didn't actually believe it either.

“He is, or at least there really is a man who claims to be their God. I personally think that he's just trying to pull a con on them, like the Wizard of Oz,” I replied, provoking various responses that let me know my court was offended by my statement. “Sorry...”

Swallowing any nasty remarks he may have wanted to make, Sir Barrett walked over to me and offered his arm. “Are you ready to go?” As my bodyguard, he was required to accompany me, although he wouldn't be allowed inside the Temple.

“Yes please,” I murmured, slipping my hand into the crook of his arm. “Will you be alright here without me?” I asked Ian.

“Yep,” he assured me. “Lord Antony just promised to show me to the communal bath.”

“You can use my private bath, if you want,” I offered.

Ian gave me one of those grins that left no doubt he had something naughty in mind. “That's okay, I'm good with the regular bath.”

“Oh...” I purred knowingly. “Have fun!” I waved to him, and then let Sir Barrett escort me from the room.

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