Chapter 5

The masked man stepped down from the dais. Naomi strained away from her captors in a feeble attempt to avoid him, but the soldiers held her firmly in place and would not give her even a quarter of an inch. The masked man came to stand in front of her. He wasn't tall. Had to be about five foot seven. Instead of looking up to quiver in fear, Naomi looked directly into the eye holes where she saw not a hint of humanity reflected back at her. Just black pits. It made her think of Nietzche. The abyss was staring back at her.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked. His voice was deep and a bit scratchy. She'd almost expected the mask’s jaw to move when the words were spoken. The voice matched the mask so well.

Naomi shook her head. She could feel tears creeping out of the corners of her eyes. This was just too unreal. What the hell was happening to her? Where was Agatha? How was she going to get out of this?

“I am Lord Tavik. I have taken your husband’s castle, land, and by right of conquest, you are mine as well.”

“Who the hell do you think I am?” she blurted.

“Lady Alyssa, I offer you a choice. You can die here today or become my bride. Which do you choose?”

Naomi shook her head. “I’m not Lady Alyssa. I’m Noami Tailor from the United States. An old woman named Agatha brought me here. This is all just one huge mistake.” He had to believe her. Why wasn’t anyone stepping forward to tell him that she wasn’t this Lady Alyssa? But from what she could see of the hall, all the men stood still with their attention on this Lord Tavik. They were his men. Where were the castle’s inhabitants? Naomi’s eyes fell to the masked man’s sword. It was her silent answer. Naomi felt sick.

“An old woman named Agatha?” the masked man repeated.

Naomi bobbed her head.

“What is your choice?”

Naomi boggled at him. “I’m not Lady Alyssa!”

Lord Tavik stepped closer. He raised his sword. “You will choose.”

“Between marrying you or dying?”

He nodded.

Naomi couldn’t believe the question.

“I will give you until the preparations are complete to decide. Take her back to her room,” he told the men holding her. Naomi was pulled out of the room. She barely kept her feet under her. Her mind was sputtering over the situation.

The soldiers thrust Naomi back to the room she’d been in when they found her and left her there. Agatha was no longer in the room. Naomi was alone without any idea where she was, who these people were, or what was going to happen to her. She began to worry that she was in a very bad situation.

Naomi spotted a piece of folded paper on the bed. She picked it up and read,

Naomi,

I am sorry for abandoning you, but this is the safest place for you. If Tavik takes you as his bride, you shouldn’t come to harm as long as you go along with whatever he wants. I’ll try to contact you once you’re settled in his castle. Don’t fear. I will help you.

Sincerely,
Agatha

P.S. You should tear up this letter and throw it out the window. Tavik does not like me and would take it very ill if he knew you were acquainted with me.

Naomi reread the postscript twice. Each time she read it, it got funnier. She tore up the letter still giggling over the fact that she was doomed. She wandered to the narrow window in the room and threw out the bits of paper.

Watching the paper float away, she looked down. She was several stories up. Below was a medieval courtyard, or a close approximation. She didn’t know. It was rustic. Men ran around shouting at each other and carrying bundles. She guessed that’s what pillaging looked like. A lot of shouting, running and carrying. And grabbing, couldn’t forget grabbing, she thought as she rubbed her bruised arms and neck.

When she lifted her eyes to the sky, she gasped and stumbled back. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision and looked back into the bright day sky. Her vision was still mistaken. She must have something in her eyes. She rubbed them more until they watered and became irritated, but something had to be wrong with her eyes. She must have bumped her head and was now seeing things because she could not be seeing two moons. She was seeing double and her eyes were messed up, making one moon ruddy red and lopsided while the double was a pale yellow oval. There had to be something wrong with her eyes because if they were real, her situation became effectively much worse.

Continue to Chapter 6.