A Royal Engagement (Enchanted Galaxy Series Book 1)

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “The Great Magician is ready to tell us who our next queen will be,” she said.

  The crowd murmured in excitement, some wondering which of Raz’s creatures would take the throne, but Paff’s attention went to the old man who moved with youthful grace toward the queen. He bowed before her then faced the crowd.

  He lifted his crystal ball and peered into it. For a moment, nothing happened and Paff would be lying if he didn’t admit his disappointment. He’d heard Raz was a planet ripe with magic and was curious about how it worked. Just as he assumed he’d see no evidence of magic, the ball projected an image of Raz into the air. Then the image expanded to their galaxy. The Great Magician’s eyes grew wide as the image continued to expand, showing more and more galaxies until a small red dot on one of the small insignificant planets in the center of the image blinked.

  “I don’t understand it,” the Great Magician said. “This has never happened before.”

  “Where is she?” a goblin called out.

  Paff leaned closer, his ears turning toward the Great Magician so he wouldn’t miss his reply.

  “She is not from our galaxy,” the Great Magician slowly replied, as if he couldn’t believe it. “She’s from a small planet called Earth in the Average Galaxy.”

  The Great Magician zoomed in on Earth, showing everyone trees, mountains, deserts, valleys, and other landscapes foreign to Pale’s flat wasteland of endless white sand. Paff marveled at the variety on Earth. And the creatures living on it were just as varied as those on Raz.

  “Her name is Ann Kerwin,” the magician continued. “She has a birthmark under her left wrist in the shape of a crown. That is how we will identify her.”

  “Must we search all of Earth to find her?” the elf called out.

  “No. I can send someone to Earth to bring her here,” he replied.

  “Who will go?” a human asked.

  “My son Hathor will go,” the queen replied.

  The crowd’s attention went to the 5’8” young man whose blond hair reached the collar of his white shirt. Paff studied him. Just what kind of opponent would he be for Omin? Hathor didn’t seem strong nor did he look threatening. Why not choose a grander being? The husky centaur nearby would have been a better choice.

  “Tomorrow, Hathor will go to Earth,” Queen Basilia continued. “We can expect the new queen soon.”

  Not if Omin had anything to do about it. Lowering his head, Paff turned and headed out of the assembly, maneuvering his way around the excited creatures who were cheering and wishing Hathor luck. Given what Paff knew about Omin, Hathor would need all the luck he could get.

  ***

  After the crowd left, the Great Magician approached Hathor, something that Hathor didn’t expect. And if the old man was heading in his direction, that could only mean trouble.

  “I sense one of the creatures here today wasn’t one of us,” the Great Magician told him.

  Hathor’s mother stepped over to them, concern in her eyes. “Which one?”

  “I don’t know. But someone doesn’t want our next queen to make it here safely.” He looked at Hathor. “You’ve assisted your mother on some adventures, and you’ve practiced your entire life for combat. But up to now, you’ve had nothing this serious come your way. The new queen will be under a serious threat. I’m not exactly sure what kind, but this is your chance to prove yourself worthy of her hand. Should you fail to protect her at any time, you will lose the honor of being the next king.”

  Taking a deep breath, Hathor nodded. Despite the task looming before him, a part of him looked forward to the challenge. “I understand.”

  “You can do it,” his mother said. “I raised a hero.”

  The Great Magician patted him on the shoulder. “You are young and inexperienced, but you are quick and smart. I’m sure you’ll do well. To help you on your journey, I’m going to give you my book.” A swirl of white mist formed in front of him and the Book of Spells appeared in his hands. He handed it to Hathor. “Make sure you study this before your departure tomorrow.”

  “I will.”

  Hathor examined the book with its solid wood cover. He’d heard of the book, of course. It was handed down from one Great Magician to another, only used by the king when necessary. And now he had the responsibility and privilege of using it to help the next queen. He couldn’t help but wonder what the next day would bring.

  ***

  North Dakota

  Cognitive Psychology Class

  Planet: Earth

  As the teacher droned on and on, Ann yawned from the back of the large classroom. She had two more years of her undergraduate study before she could get her master’s degree, but she had yet to decide what to get that degree in. Did she want to spend her days listening to people talk about their problems? Or did she want to go into the more scientific area of psychology where she’d have spreadsheets of data to analyze? No matter how much she struggled to figure out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, she kept coming up blank.

  Pushing aside the ever-ending question about her future career, she focused on what the teacher was saying.

  “Cognitive appraisal theory is a theory of emotions,” he said in monotone as he clicked the projector to show the definition on the screen. “This is the official definition, but in a nutshell, it states that the way a person perceives something contributes to his or her emotional response to it.”

  She stretched the kink in her neck then wrote down the definition in her notebook. Yawning again, she glanced at her watch. When would class be over? She continued writing what he was saying, but it was getting harder and harder to keep her eyes open. In fact, at one point she had to blink several times and straighten up in her seat.

  But in a couple minutes she yawned again. A swirl of purple smoke drifted around her, and her mind drifted off into a fog-like state. She slumped forward and fell to the floor face first. Startled, she jerked.

  What the…?

  She blinked and assessed her surroundings. She was in her apartment, face down on the floor. But how in the world did she get here? She was just at school for goodness’ sakes! She rose to her feet and turned around in time to see a young blond-haired man standing in front of her.

  She opened her mouth to scream when he clasped his hand over her mouth. “Please don’t scream. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Like she believed that one! She’d seen enough TV shows to know that situations like this never ended well. After considering her options, she gave him a nod. He released his hand, and she let out the loudest shriek she could muster.

  He spoke a word, and her voice went silent. Not taking the time to figure out how he managed such a feat, she bolted for the door, but then he said another word and she froze in place.

  This wasn’t possible. First, she couldn’t scream and now this? Just what was going on? She tried to turn her head in his direction but couldn’t. She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye and looked toward it. Well, at least she could move her eyes. That was something. It wasn’t much, but she’d take whatever she could get right now.

  “I’m sorry,” he said as he walked in front of her. “I just got to this planet and thought the easiest way to find you was to summon you to your dwelling.”

  Planet? Summon her? Dwelling? Just who was this freak?

  “First, I have to make sure you’re the right person.”

  He reached out and took her left hand and turned it over. She wanted to pull back her arm but, of course, she couldn’t. She was powerless against him. He could do whatever he wanted, and she’d be at his mercy. She wished she could go unconscious. She didn’t want to be awake when he did whatever he had in mind to her.

  He smiled and released her hand. “Wonderful! You have the birthmark.” Then, to her surprise, he bowed before her. “You’re the next queen of Raz.”

  What a psycho.

  Then she recalled how she suddenly appeared here. She’d just been in class, after all. Okay. He wasn�
��t the only thing psycho about this whole thing. There were definitely some weird things going on.

  Maybe she fell asleep in class. Of course! She was having a dream. Now it all made sense. And that explained why the stranger in her apartment wore a silk white shirt and silk black pants that were tucked into his black boots that went up to his knees. No one in their right mind wore such ridiculous clothes, unless it was Halloween.

  But she needed to wake up. Even if this dream was a lot more interesting than the teacher, she couldn’t keep napping. She blinked several times, but she was still in her apartment.

  “It is my privilege to introduce myself,” the stranger said. “My name is Hathor and I am from the planet Raz in the Enchanted Galaxy. I am to bring you back with me so you can be the next queen. Upon our return, it will be my great honor to protect and serve you.”

  Why couldn’t she wake up? Usually when she realized she was dreaming, she could pull herself out of it. So why not now? Come on, Ann. You’re in the middle of class. Wake up!

  “You see,” Hathor continued, “my mother is the current queen, and she’s due to step down from the throne on her next birthday. The planet needs another queen to take her place. You’re the one who has been chosen for this task.”

  This was ridiculous. Never in her life did she have such a persistent dream. With a sigh, she tried to answer him, thinking it might speed things up.

  “Oh! Of course. In my excitement, I forgot to unfreeze you.” He uttered a foreign word and her body relaxed, as if someone had been gripping her and had finally released her. “There. That’s better.” Then with a wider smile, he added, “I can’t believe I’m actually here. I could hardly sleep at all last night. I was so excited about meeting you. And, if you don’t mind me saying so, you’re the loveliest woman I’ve ever seen.”

  “Uh…okay.” Just how was she supposed to respond? “Thanks?”

  “Oh, you don’t have to thank me. You are the most important person on Raz.” She didn’t think it was possible, but she thought his blue eyes grew a little bit brighter. “I just can’t believe my good fortune. You probably hear how pretty you are all the time.”

  It was rather nice to be told she was pretty, so it wouldn’t hurt to sleep just a little bit longer. Besides, the class was a big one, and she sat in the back. No one probably even knew she was taking a nap.

  “So,” she began, “I’m supposed to be a queen on another world?”

  “Yes. The Great Magician let me borrow his Book of Spells so I could come here and get you. When you arrive, my mother will transfer the crown to you and you’ll take her place.”

  “Wait. Your mother is the queen?”

  “Currently, yes. But you will be the next one.”

  “Hold on. Doesn’t that make you a prince? You can be the king.”

  “It used to be that way on Raz centuries ago, but not anymore. The queen must marry and have a daughter in hopes of having an heir to take over the throne, but my mother only had me and I’m not able to assume her crown. That’s why I have to bring you to Raz.”

  It wasn’t the most logical story she’d ever heard, but then she figured dreams didn’t require logic to be believable. At least it was an interesting tale.

  “And,” he continued, “if I protect you on the way to Raz, I get the high honor of marrying you.”

  He stopped talking, an indication that he hoped she’d respond. “Um…alright,” she finally replied with a shrug.

  His smile faltered. “Don’t you believe me?”

  “Sure. I mean, it makes total sense when you consider everything else that’s happened. Me appearing in my apartment, you freezing me in place, me ruling a planet in another galaxy, and you marrying me… It makes perfect sense when you put it all together.” At least it did in dream logic.

  “It’s important that you believe me. Someone or something out there doesn’t want you to be the queen.”

  Now that was an interesting twist she didn’t expect. “Okay.”

  By the way his face fell, she gathered he didn’t like her reaction.

  “I could scream if you want, but then you might make me mute again,” she joked, thinking since this was a dream, he’d laugh.

  But as it turned out, her attempt at humor wasn’t even appreciated in the dream world. “This is a serious matter. We’ll need to be vigilant during our journey.”

  Before she could reply, her cell phone rang. “Hold on.” Maybe the dream was going to get even more interesting. Maybe she’d find out the man had really brought her here to kill her so the real Hathor couldn’t take her to Raz. Now that would be an even better twist. She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her jeans and saw it was William. Well, it wasn’t the twist she hoped for, but it was one, nonetheless.

  “Hey, William,” she greeted.

  “William?” Hathor asked, frowning.

  She placed her hand over the phone. “An old boyfriend,” she whispered then removed her hand. “What’s up?”

  “I just had to talk to somebody. Carol…” She couldn’t be sure but she thought she heard him fight back a sob. “She decided to go back to her ex-boyfriend.”

  “And?” she asked, wondering when the next twist would come. Maybe he’d declare his undying devotion and plead with her to stay on Earth and marry him.

  “And my life is over,” William replied. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to go on without her. She was perfect. Beauty, brains, a sense of humor… She had everything.”

  She forced back a yawn. “Like I care.”

  “What?”

  Hey, if this was a dream, she was finally going to let him have it. “That’s what you get for throwing away the best thing you ever had. I would have waited for you. As soon as I graduated high school, I was ready to move back to Ohio so we could be together again.”

  “I never wanted you to leave Ohio. You know that.”

  “Do you already love William?” Hathor asked.

  She waved his question aside and turned her attention back to William. “I know you never wanted me to move, but I was a junior in high school. I was seventeen. I had no control over where I lived.”

  “I would have moved to Florida, but I didn’t have any money back then.”

  “I get that. By the time I was able to come up to Ohio, it was too late. But do you really think I wanted to spend the past four years listening to you talk about these other girls you met and fell in love with? I have feelings, too, you know.”

  “You’ve always been important to me. You’re one of my best friends.”

  “Whoopee. Just what I always wanted to be. Your friend.”

  A touch on her arm distracted her from the long-overdue rant. Hathor motioned that he wanted to talk to her.

  With a sigh, she said, “I’ll get back to you in a moment.” She lowered the phone. “What is it?”

  “I didn’t realize you already had an attachment to someone,” Hathor thoughtfully stated. “The Great Magician didn’t mention that. If you wish it, then after you have my daughter, you may divorce me and marry him.”

  “Say what?”

  “The queen has all the power. As your husband, my two duties will be to serve you and give you a daughter. So if you still want to marry William, you’re permitted to divorce me and marry him. But since I will bring you to Raz, it’s my high honor to marry you before he does.”

  “And you’re okay with this?”

  “You’ll be the queen. You get to do whatever you want.”

  “Are you telling me that your opinion doesn’t count?”

  Though he hesitated, he said, “It’s the way things are done on Raz.”

  She studied him to see if he was joking or not, but he seemed absolutely serious. But then, this was a dream. “What a great idea,” she said, playing along. “I’ll do that.” She lifted the phone to her ear. “Isn’t that great, William? There’s this neat little loophole that makes as much sense as anything else that’s happened to me today. We can be together again,
if you want, but I have to marry this other guy first and have a girl.” She glanced at Hathor. “What happens if I have a boy?”

  “We’ll stay married until you have a girl.”

  “Well, no world is perfect,” she told William. “But hey, you get to be a king and I get to be a queen, and just like in the fairytales, we’ll live happily ever after.” It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t on the phone. “Let me guess. He didn’t hear any of that?” she asked Hathor.

  “I don’t know if he did or not. I’m not talking to him on that strange contraption.”

  “It’s a phone. You talk into it and the other person on the line…” She blinked then shook her head. Why was she explaining this to a figment of her imagination?

  “Ann? Are you there?”

  She forced her attention back to William. “Yeah, I’m here. So, what do you think?”

  “I think I should go for it.”

  The dream was getting weirder since William so easily accepted it, but that was probably a sign she was about to wake up. “Great.”

  “Really? You’re fine with it?”

  “Sure. I’m fine with everything.” That was the beauty of dreams. There were no unpleasant consequences to anything someone said or did.

  “Okay then. I’ll go back to Carol.”

  “Wait…what?”

  “I told you Carol was at the door right before I set the phone down. It was right after you asked me to hold on for a moment.”

  “Oh.” So he didn’t hear anything she said about going to another planet and being rulers there. She’d been talking to dead air.

  “I assumed you heard Carol asking me to take her back. The phone was right on the table the whole time we talked.”

  She frowned. This whole thing was beginning to feel real. This situation with William was something that typically happened, and she was beginning to suspect if she had been asleep, then she should have woken up by now. She glanced at her watch. It was still ticking, and about fifteen minutes had passed. That would be about the right amount of time that would have elapsed from the time she arrived in the apartment to right now. If this was a dream, wouldn’t time go slower or faster?