I awoke with the dreadful realisation that this confusing dream was a reality I had to face. Night had fallen, and only faint moonlight peered through the lace curtains of the windows. The brunette woman was dozing by my bedside, her head leaning against the small table by the bed.

As silently as police training had taught me, I slid out of the bed, and stood for a moment, looking at my unfamiliar face in the mirror. I didn't know what the heck was going on, but one thing was for sure: I needed to figure out where this place was.

I didn't seem to be in immediate danger, like in the threat of being held captive by a human trafficking ring- I wasn't bound or threatened by words/weapons- but there was so much strangeness. The way everyone looked at me, was like they knew me.

The doors gave way with an awfully noisy creak, but the brunette woman hardly moved. She seemed to be slightly snoring.

Carefully, I took my first step out of the bedroom. What stretched out before me was a long corridor with a stretch of marble floor and a high arched ceiling. My bare feet felt cold against the marble, and the winter breeze touched my bare skin through the thin silk of the night gown I was wearing.

Pushing the blond curls out of my face, I took careful steps forward, to the end of the corridor. What faced me was a long stretch of steps, and a railing. I looked up, and then down, stunned. The room I had been in, was only a small fraction of the entire building I was in. This building, from floor to walls all entirely made of marble, was five stories tall, with several rooms along corridors on each floor.

When I put my hands on the railing and looked down, I saw on the first floor the statue of a lion, and a small fountain. All was quiet in this place that seemed like a museum, like a castle in the Victorian era.

"Do you plan to fall from there?"

I started, and turned around.

The man who'd been addressed as 'Your Majesty' stood behind me, his hands folded behind his back. He was dressed differently from the last time I saw him, without the coat, and instead in a dark blue velvet robe.

"Who are you?" I asked.

My voice seemed to echo in the big, silent building.

At my words, the man's cold grey eyes scrutinised my face. His jaw tensed, and then he tilted his head infinitesimally, his mouth twisting into a mocking smile. "Is this your way of patronising me, Lady Helena? If that is, my humble suggestion would be for you to opt for a slightly less childish manner of doing so."

"Look, I don't know why I look like- this-" I gestured to myself- "but I'm Alice. Alice Edwards. I'm a cop working in the New York City department, and I was involved in an accident. Did you bring me to this place?"

His lips parted, and then closed. I couldn't be sure because of the corridors were only dimly lit by candles, but I thought his face paled. He wet his lips, and then, swallowed. "Lady Helena. You don't...you don't recognise me?"

"It's Alice. Do you know me? And where is this place?" I spread my hands out, and gestured to this museum of a place.

"You...I brought you here. From the forest." He muttered, lowering his eyes, full of thoughts and emotions I couldn't read.

"Oh, so you saved me. Thank you." I added a little awkwardly, and smiled.

At my smile, he blinked, like he was somewhat flabbergasted. The man who'd earlier been so icy cold, rubbed the back of his neck, as if in deep thought.

"What's your name?" I had to at least know this guy's name to put it through the system, in case he was holding me here. No rope ties and gun threat didn't necessarily mean he was the good guy.

"Name?" The man repeated, as if in disbelief, and laughed quietly, shaking his head. Then, softly, he responded, "Hanes. Hanes Oskar Winter."

From behind Hanes came forward a younger looking man, his blond hair cut short in a buzz cut, wearing clothes which seemed a combination of tunics and a robe, a sword at his belt. A sword. My hand automatically went to my hip, where of course, I could find no gun.

"Hyle," Hanes spoke calmly, looking away from me, glancing at a pocket watch hanging from his pocket. "Escort the lady back to her room."

"Yes, my lord."

The Hyle guy seemed friendly enough, with friendlier looking warm brown eyes. He would be friendlier if he didn't have a sword with him. It looked real enough. After uttering the unbelievably anachronistic reply, he came forward, and bowed low. After some thought, I felt compelled to, and bowed back, feeling quite foolish.

What would my team members think.

At my bow, Hanes sighed audibly, and Hyle, seeming quite flustered, bowed much lower. "My lady, if I may escort you back to you room."

I didn't seem to have a choice. This guy had a sword. "Um sure-"

Just then, from the corridor came running the brunette woman in her night dress and hair crumpled, panting. When she saw the two men, she seemed utterly frightened, and curtsied, twice.

"Regica, is it? What were you doing while your lady was out in this...attire?" Hanes's voice was icy cold, and he was pinning the woman down with eyes of casual irritation and anger.

The woman called Regica bowed again, not daring to lift her eyes from the floor. "Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"She remembers nothing, and it seems from her expression, even you."

Regica stared at me in utter horror that I felt almost apologetic for not knowing this woman I really didn't know.

"Well, have her well treated." Hanes said off-handedly with a condescending smile. "And ensure she does not step out again in this kind of a...state in her night dress. There are eyes around and some dignity to maintain, don't you think?"

"Who are you that you're ordering her around like this?" I couldn't help but utter, seeing the poor woman tremble like a rat in front of a cat.

At my sentence, I swore the air in the building suddenly became colder. After some silence, Hanes came closer with a deliberate step, the sound of his leather boots ricocheting throughout the corridor.

"I am the Emperor of this kingdom, Catrinsa, and you are a gift of reconciliation given to me by your country, Irennia." He stretched out a hand and took one of my curls in his finger, smiling coldly. "So behave sweetly, like a gift should." After releasing my hair, he turned around, and walked away.

I would've said something, if not for the abrupt, sharp pain that seemed to jab into my chest. 

My breaths came out fast and rough, and against my will, my knees gave way. As I barely re-collected my breathing, hearing Regica urgently call for the physician, I saw Hanes glance at me with cold, condescending eyes, look back again, and walk away.