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"You loved books when we were together. I would often find you pouring over books late at night when you couldn't sleep. I've always found that charming about you. You live in basically a fantasy world in your everyday life, but you still manage to find worlds to escape to."
The inflection in his voice fills me with a warm feeling and gives me courage to ask him my next question.
"Aiden, what were we to each other?" I ask him, keeping my back to him and pretending to study the books more as I wait for his answer. He takes a deep breath and I can feel his warmth as he gets closer to me.
"I was your husband," he finally says after a long pause.
My breath hitches. That's unexpected. Now I really do feel like I'm dreaming. I turn to look at him, sure he must be joking. His face holds no hint of laughter though. If anything, he looks destroyed, and a little furious as well. I feel sorry for him. I'm sure that if we really were married, he got the worse end of the deal having to remember his wife who disappeared while I operated my new life with no idea of his existence. Well at least I assume I had no idea.
"Were we happy?" is all I can think to finally respond.
"It was everything I've ever dreamed," he answers, and I get little goosebumps that this man, or I guess 'fairy', felt that way about me.
"I know you have more questions about our lives, but I would like to get to know this version of you. You've been gone for so long that at times you have seemed nothing more than a dream. I'm not expecting you to be the same being you were then. I just would like you to give me a chance," he tells me.
Again, I don't manage to get anything out in response but a nod. I do have more questions, about a million of them, but hopefully with time I will get all of them answered. I'm intrigued to find out more about who Aiden is as well. In a way, if I have no memory of him, then I can really give him the fresh start he's looking for. He will always have the memories of the old me to compete with who I've become, whoever that is.
"I have one more thing to show you," he tells me as he leads me out of the library.
He laughs at the longing look I throw at the room full of books.
"You can come back to this room whenever you want. It's all yours," he assures me, and I brighten at the thought.
He leads me down another long hallway, the castle is full of them, and I can hear laughter coming from a room up ahead. The room is some sort of a lounge area where there's actually other people present-or beings I guess is the proper term. They all look down respectfully as we enter the room, their earlier laughter disappearing with our presence. I study them while their eyes are averted. There's six of them in the room that's filled with comfy looking couches and chairs. There's a bar taking up the entire side of the large room with an assortment of dark glass bottles, all with names that I've never heard of. Enormous windows on another wall give the room an airy feel.
The men all look like military type, all of them well-muscled, and well kept. They are all wearing the same old-fashioned breeches and loose shirts that Aiden is wearing. I wonder if it's a 'Fairy' thing to wear this type of clothing and if I'm soon going to find myself in a corset top and petticoats.
"I have brought you The Golden Queen, men," announces Aiden, pride threaded throughout his voice. I blush at the tone and watch the men as they finally raise their eyes to look at me. There's a little bit of shock and awe in all of their gazes and I blush even further under their inspection.
"These are my personal guard," says Aiden, gesturing to the group. "That's Caiden, Nicolas, Garion, Romulus, Madoc, and Umbriel," he says, motioning to each one in term.
They give me a respectful nod as he introduces them to me, but still say nothing.
"If you are ever in need of anything, they are at your service," says Aiden sternly, as if giving them a warning with his statement. I can't help thinking I would rather them be asked if they want to be of service, but I'm sure that's not the royal way. I smile politely at all of them, hoping I'm giving off an aura of friendliness to them. If I'm to be at the castle for the indefinite future, it would be nice to make some friends.
"Nicolas, Romulus, and Madoc," snaps Aiden, his tone still very authoritative. Three of the men jump to attention.
"These will be your personal guards, My Queen," he announces.
"Personal guards?" I ask. "Is that necessary?"
I see a hint of a smile on one of the guys' faces at my questions. I think it's Madoc.
"I said I would do everything in my power to protect you, my darling. Personal guards fall into that category," he explains to me patiently.
His logic seems sound, especially if there are so many people after me. I can't help but wish that my memories will come back sooner rather than later however, so maybe I can find out what these threats actually consist of besides the metaphorical phantoms hiding under my bed. It's hard to comprehend that I would be important enough to garner any attention, let alone one requiring a personal guard.
"Thank you for your help," I tell them. "I'll try not to be too much trouble for you." The three fae warriors once again nod respectfully but still say nothing. It's going to get pretty boring if they never talk but are always around. Hopefully they will liven up a little when Aiden's not around.
Aiden pulls me close and kisses the top of my head.
"You could never be trouble, My Queen," he tells me. For the millionth time today, I'm caught off guard. A kiss on my head feels pretty presumptive but I remind myself that Aiden is operating on the idea that we were married. That we are still married? I'm nervous to ask which one of those he is thinking.
Just then my stomach rumbles again and I catch one of the other guards trying to hide a laugh out of the corner of my eye. Aiden looks at a large, antique looking clock on the far wall and makes a small groan.
"It's already dinner time and you haven't eaten since breakfast. I'm not taking care of you properly," he says, guiding me out of the room without another glance at the men he is leaving behind. I wave at them over my shoulder and I'm gratified to see at least a few of them tentatively wave back.
Aiden hustles me through the thousandth long hallway we've passed through today into a long rectangular room. There are all sorts of animal heads hanging all along the wall of the room, some of the creatures unrecognizable as any animals that I'm familiar with. A lot of them have a lot more teeth and talons still attached to them than I'm comfortable with.
