Realm of Kyrre

Emily was startled to attention by the sound of her doorbell ringing. She quickly tossed aside the book she had been lost in and sprang to her feet. When she got to her door and opened it, no one was there, but on the ground lay a small package the size of a ring box wrapped in brown paper. Naively, Emily picked up the package and returned to where she had been sitting on the couch. “This is rather strange,” she thought to herself. “I probably shouldn’t open it, but what could be that bad and fit in a box this small?” Emily slowly, cautiously, pulled at the tape holding the paper on the box. The wrapper unfurled to reveal an ornate ring box with beautiful scrolling patterns carved on all six sides. There was a slip of paper placed neatly under the box. Emily pulled it free to see if it contained answers to the mysterious package. The note read simply: “take care to mind your words and follow your heart.” What a strange and ominous sentence Emily thought. What could possibly be in the box to warrant such a warning she wondered. The only way to find out was to open it.

Very gingerly, Emily peeled back the hinged lid on the tiny ring box. What she found inside was quite underwhelming. It was an old tarnished silver ring. No gems, no ornate scrollwork, just a solid ring which was surely beautiful in its own right a long time ago, but now just bore the signs of age. Emily turned the slip of paper over in her hand to see if there was anything more, a clue maybe to where this ring had come from or why it was delivered to her. Blank, the back of the paper was blank, no clues. She decided the only next logical thing to do would be to put the ring on her finger, cause why not right?

Immediately after she placed the ring on her finger, Emily blinked and was in a different room, in a different home, and surrounded by people she did not know. What had happened? Where was she? Emily panicked and frantically searched for an exit. She spotted a doorway and began to run but was stopped suddenly by a voice calling her name. When she turned in the direction the voice came from, she saw a gorgeous mountain of a man walking in her direction and staring straight at her. He was the most beautiful creature Emily had ever seen. He was so tall, six-foot-three, maybe six-foot-four, and very obviously covered in muscle. She could tell by the way his shirt tugged at his biceps and his jeans clung to his tree trunk-sized thighs. He walked right to her, reached for her hand, and placed a chaste kiss upon her knuckles. In the most enticing voice imaginable he said “Hello miss Emily. My name is Brock and we have been waiting very patiently for you to arrive.” Emily’s jaw dropped in disbelief. Why would anyone be waiting for her? And who exactly are we? No one else even seemed to have noticed her arrival in this place. She had to find somewhere to sit before she fainted.

“Hi, Brock, was it? Can you please show me to a seat before I pass out? Then would you be so kind as to tell me what is going on?” She said in her sweet but sarcastic tone of voice. He took her hand once more and led her to a secluded balcony overlooking the sprawling estate.

“Have a seat here miss Emily, please. Rest for a moment. I will do my best to explain why you are here when we are in a safer space to speak freely. I apologize, but I do not wish to further overwhelm you.” he said in such an earnest tone.

Emily nearly melted at the way he said her name, but if she had not been near fainting, she probably would have given this man an earful. After all, she hated surprises since she was a small child and this was all quite surprising. Brock continued “I do feel you should know that you are royalty in this realm and I am your protector.”

“Realm?” Emily questioned in her head. “What do you mean by realm? Where are we exactly?” She asked.

“We are in Kyrre. The realm of your father and before you continue to ask questions, I think we should go to him as soon as possible. You could be in danger and I need to get you to a safe place.” Brock said.

Emily looked at Brock with tear-filled eyes as big as saucers and said faintly “Did you say the realm of my father?” Before Brock could respond Emily had fainted and he caught her in his arms. Brock carried Emily’s limp body carefully through the house and out to his waiting car. He loaded her gently and proceeded to drive to the castle where her father eagerly awaited her arrival.

Emily awoke in a room she had never before seen, but it still felt familiar to her somehow. When she looked around, she spotted the man who had introduced himself as Brock, but he was not alone. Next to him stood a man with the same flame-colored auburn hair as hers and when he turned in her direction, she saw he had her same dark chocolate eyes as well. This must be my father she thought, but how? She had been told her whole life she was an orphan and her parents died in a fire. She had so many questions she wanted to ask.

Just then the two men noticed she was awake and hurried to her side. Brock helped her to a more comfortable sitting position. The man she assumed was her father began to speak. “My sweet Emily, my name is Magnus. I am your father and I have so much to tell you.”