It’s just another day in the lap of luxury. I get to wake up in a comfortable bed, be pampered, and I am well fed. It’s all good and stuff, but I’m bored out of my mind. I guess that I have to accept this current position of mine. It looks like I’m stuck here and won’t be returning home. Perhaps, everything was a dream and I was in a coma. However, everyone is so vague and outlandish that it makes things hard to believe. It just doesn’t add up.

As usual, they come in and dress me up like a doll. Then I am escorted to the dining room for breakfast. However, instead of joining me or escorting me all the way in, I am abandoned at the door.

Before I can say anything, Jeffrey opens the door from the other side and reveals some guy I’ve never seen before seated at the table.

“Please sit,” he made a small gesture with his hand.

Jeffrey did as he always does and pulls out a chair for me. I never break eye contact with this mysterious man as I make my way over to be seated.

“So you must be the husband?” I try to sound as unimpressed as possible.

“Yes, I am YOUR husband,” he was being smug. What could be great about being married to me or him?

“So where have you been? Isn’t it kind of weird not to show your face after your WIFE wakes up from a coma?”

I wasn’t angry, not even annoyed. And something about this bastard appealed to me. His down-turned eyes and the green emeralds they hold are beautiful. His lips are pink, full, and moist. This man’s jawline is stronger than my will to live. He’s a pretty boy with nice skin, basically the type of guy you would see in underwear ads. I don’t care for looks but I liked the look of his face a lot. Then there was the sound of his voice that I like even more.

“What are you thinking about?” He startled me. I didn’t see him approach nor did I hear a sound. His breath, I could still feel it’s warmth on my ear. He stood up after bending over, my eyes never leaving his. The Duke is tall. That seems to be the case for everyone who lives here except for Abigail. She’s only five foot.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” I said as my voice trembled. I was nervous and that never happens. Is it his looks, the sound of his voice, his aura, or is it his smell that overwhelms me?

“I had my reasons,” he turned away. The Duke returned to his seat and I could finally breathe normally.

“Am I dead?”

“No. You’re alive.”

“How do I know this is real?”

“This isn’t a long dream. You’re not in a coma. This is real life.”

“But with everything I’ve seen and heard, this can’t be reality.”

“You were supposed to be eased into all of this. I guess they couldn’t contain their excitement but it looks like they tried to,” he laughed.

The Duke explained that I am a Divine, a deity from a parallel universe. In each parallel universe there are people who look alike. However, this does not usually apply to a Divine. I am the only exception.

“What the hell?” I asked aloud.

“To summarize, you were punished for trying to destroy humanity so you were fragmented by the other gods,” he spoke so fast that I felt nauseous.

“I’m leaving,” I stood up.

“I’m just pulling your leg,” he smiled. “You heard the story about the Rain Maiden or whatever?”

I nodded.

The Duke explained that the story is somewhat true. He worked to stabilize my magic for a year but that eventually stopped working. My body started to deteriorate. At some point the Duke tried a different approach to save my life and I fell into a coma as a result. His method or the coma may have caused me to lose my memories.

“But that life, it felt so real,” I said.

“They say that people experience their past lives when they dream. This is the real world. That was just a long dream.” He sounded reassuring and his smell stayed consistent. He has an earthy smell. Like how it smells after it rains.

The Duke briefed me on who I actually am. My name is Alexandra Grian. I was adopted. My biological mother died during childbirth and my birth father is unknown. As I was growing up my magic abilities started to manifest but I couldn’t control it. My parents sought the assistance of many wizards before writing the Duke.

We formed a friendship and he had taught me to wield magic. It wasn’t until I became the crowned prince’s fiancé that my abilities could no longer be controlled. So the story was true about me being passionately in love with the Duke. And I didn’t want to marry someone I didn’t love. As soon as I married the Duke my abilities were being managed just fine but that didn’t last long.

“I wanted to give you some space and I thought that you would be upset with me.” he half smiled. “Never did imagine putting you in a coma or that you would get amnesia.”

How am I supposed to respond to that?

“You have changed but you are still the woman I love,” he smiled.

Smooth bastard.

After breakfast the Duke invited me out for a walk.

“I’d like to learn more about my life and maybe meet my family,” I said.

“In due time,” he said.

“It’s been over a month since I’ve been awake,” I exclaimed. “They should have been notified immediately.

“I should have but I promised to look after you during our wedding. I feel like I’ve failed as a husband.”

The Duke grabbed my hands and kissed my palms, causing a shiver to run down my spine. I couldn’t break away from his gaze, his eyes lusted after me. Again, I gasped, not realizing that I had stopped breathing. He smiled at my reaction. Then his expression transitioned into that of a predator. At that moment he looked like he wanted to devour me whole. My legs buckled underneath this heavy gown. I’ve never responded this way when I was with Stefan but that was a dream. The feeling of lust, I’ve never experienced that before. Is it possible that I was never really void of emotions to begin with?

Lost in thought the Duke took this as an opportunity to pick up me and throw him over his shoulders. I should have protested but I felt crippled from these new experiences. Thoughts were running wild, still there was an edge of doubt that kept looming over my head. And as the doubt consumed my thoughts more than my lust for this man, the feeling of despair was beginning to drown me. Water pooled in my eyes tainting my vision and tears streamed down my cheeks. Who I knew myself to be didn’t exist in this moment. This isn’t normal for me.

That’s when it appeared before me. The blue door in my dreams. I reached out for it though he was carrying me away. And I let out a blood curdling scream. Something was fighting to escape inside. The blue door shot open and I was knocked off the Duke’s shoulder by an unknown force. My head hit the ground so hard that I blacked out.

_____

Wake up!

My head was killing me. I awoke in my room alone, I could have sworn that I heard a voice. To be honest I was happy to be alone. This morning was overwhelming.

Listen to me Victoria.

I scanned the room to look for the source of the voice. No one was present but myself.

My name is Alexandra Grian of Ambry. I am the original inhabitant of this body.

“What the fuck,” I asked aloud. “Doesn’t this type of shit only occur in movies?”

Listen to me! This is my body, not yours. I am married to the Duke, not you. I was here first.

So I just might have been mentally ill all along.

You’re aren’t mentally ill. Maybe you can return to where you belong with the Duke’s help.

Sure, why not? All of this is insane. One moment I’m being told that this is my reality and now I’m being told that this isn’t my body. So my life wasn’t a figment of my imagination. As far as I’m concerned everyone is suspicious.

The voice inside my head took control of this body and stormed out of the room. I sensed that I could have regained control but I wanted to see how this would play out.