Laura brushed her dark hair out of her eyes, letting out a heavy sigh as she struggled with the last of her many large suitcases. The matching, navy and cream pinstripe bags lay scattered in the entryway of the quaint, Victorian cottage that was to be her home for the next two weeks while her Aunt Caroline went on vacation in India. When her aunt had called her to ask her to house sit, Laura was a bit ashamed at just how readily and excitedly she had accepted. It would be good, she had decided, to take a break from her hectic life and career. Not that she didn't love what she did, of course, but even the most devoted of people need a break every now and then.
At just twenty three, Laura was one of the youngest legal and legislative advisors to the now US Senator Chris Murray. She had worked on his campaign when he had run for the House when she was eighteen, and had lent her support again at his most recent bid for the Senate. Once elected, he had offered her a position in his office. Having just graduated law school with a mountain of student loans, she had been excited to say the least. That and it had been her dream job. She had dreamed about working on the Hill and living in Washington DC ever since she was a freshman political science major. And her five months of working had not disappointed so far.
Laura looked around at the decorations that hung on the faded floral wall paper of the entry way. It was a strange fusion of old and new, with graceful gilt framed portraits of simpering Victorian women hanging among abstract paintings. In some odd sort of way, it worked. Or, it at least fit her aunt's eccentric personality. Aunt Caroline was the closest thing that their family had to a black sheep. Instead of marrying a son of one of the best families in town, she had escaped from the small, sleepy southern town to the bustling, bright lights of New York City. She worked her way through college and earned a degree in English. And now, And Caroline Jones was a respected journalist and novelist who traveled all over the world.
Ever since she was a little girl, Laura had always admired Aunt Caroline. It was Aunt Caroline who had inspired Laura to aim for her alma mater in New York City rather than the mediocre state school that everyone from her tiny high school went too. Her parents hadn't been happy, to say the least, either when Laura had broken up with her high school sweetheart, Michael Walter. Laura could still remember the look on her mother's face when she told them the news.
"But you're throwing away your future!" Her mother had protested, while her father looked on with his customary steely and disapproving stare.
She might have been throwing away the future that her family had planned for her, but she was building a better and brighter future that she had planned for herself.
Laura carefully maneuvered around the neatly stacked piles of books and manuscripts that lined the hallway. Organized chaos was the best way to describe her aunt's home. Once she reached the stairs, she made her way up the creaky steps, entering the first door on the left. Inside, she found a guest bedroom with cream and olive striped wallpaper and delicate, little pink roses swirling throughout. A large, four poster bed dominated most of the room, with a can't and mirror sitting opposite of it.
She crossed the room, pushing back the lace curtain that covered the window. Outside, the sun had already set, and the small, neat backyard of the house was shrouded in darkness. Beyond the With no small effort on her part, Laura struggled to open the window. The crisp, summer air gently made the curtains dance. Laura plopped down onto the bed, running her hand over the soft, lace coverlet. She kicked off her heels, laying back onto the bed. Within minutes, she was asleep.
Aganir Etu'An was facing one of the biggest challenges of his reign-finding a bride. The only girl of note in the small village that surrounded his land had been taken by the goblin king last year. It had been a frustrating oversight on Aganir's part, the goblin king had snatched her up before Aganir could claim her, and he would sooner marry a goblin than one of the unremarkable girls that filled the village. What made matters worse was that the goblin king hadn't even taken the girl as his own wife. Instead, he had married her off to a member of his guard. It was an insult and taunt from Marak. Relations between the two and their people had been even tenser since the event. Still, Aganir could not help but feel sorrow for the pretty girl with the golden hair from the village who was now no doubt afraid and suffering down in the dank and dark goblin caves.
Aganir knew that he could not just settle for any woman when it came to finding a bride. He did not want a brainless, empty headed woman as companion for the rest of his days. He wanted a woman who would come to love and understand his people just as his mother had, and who would not only be his wife and lover, but also his closest companion and advisor. It was perhaps his mother who had influenced these thoughts in him. His mother had been a beautiful and graceful woman, with a fiery personality that had captured his father's heart from the moment that he had laid eyes on her. Aganir's parents marriage had not always been the smoothest, with the pair getting in many an argument on account of both of their stubborn personalities, but one could never deny that the two had not loved each other ardently. This was what Aganir wanted in a marriage.
He let out a frustrated sigh, with the current state of prospects in the village, he did not think such a marriage possible. But his advisors were quickly growing tired of their king's pickiness and reluctance to marry. He was nearing thirty-five now, close to the time when his magic would fully mature and he would be able to have a son. Aganir knew that they were right, he would have to pick a bride, and soon.
"Aganir!"
Aganir looked up from his seat on a fallen tree, where he had been moodily lost in his thoughts for most of the evenings. Not even the sight of his elves dancing before him had been enough to pull him out of his glum mood. Enir, one of the guards on duty tonight and also a childhood best friend of the king, stood in front of him, his eyes bright with excitement.
"A girl! There's a new girl in the village!"
Because of past disappointments from such news, Aganir merely regarded his friend calmly. "Where is she staying?"
"In the house by the southern border. She looks similar to the woman that lives there, she must be a relative."
Aganir sighed, gracefully rising to his feet. "I suppose I had best go and see."
Enir was disappointed in his friend's reaction. He had hoped that the news of the girl's arrival might break Aganir out of the depression he had been in since he had lost his prospective bride last year. Perhaps if his friend finally found a worthy bride to bring home and make a king's wife, the old fun and witty Aganir that he knew would come back. He only prayed that this girl proved herself worthy.
Despite his earlier behavior, Aganir could not help the excitement and hope that filled him as he grew closer to where the girl was. Perhaps she would be the one who he would finally be satisfied enough to call wife. Once he reached the small house that sat on the outskirts of the village, he closed his eyes, calling upon his magic to ensure that all the inhabitants of the house were asleep. His magic also told him that the girl was in one of the rooms upstairs. He let out a smile, quickly changing himself into a bird and alighting upon the sill of the open window. He entered the room, quickly changing back into his normal form. The lights of the room hurt his sensitive eyes, and he pointed towards one of the lamps in the rooms, using his magic to return the room to darkness.
His gaze moved over to the bed, and he nearly stopped in his tracks. On the bed lay one of the most beautiful humans that he had ever laid eyes on. Her dark curls lay fanned out in a halo around her head, and her skin was smooth and tanned. She wore a white collared shirt and a pair of slim, dark pants. Her feet were bare but he spotted a pair of odd, human shoes lined up neatly by the bedside. He pictured how much more beautiful she would look in the dress of his people, with flowers braided in her hair.
He could not help but push a silky strand of that black hair from her face, running his fingers gently down her cheek and across her jawline. He pulled his hand back. Yes, she was beautiful, but he could not let himself become attached so quickly. He had to be sure that she would be a good companion as well.
Looking around the room, he spied a small, bag on the little table beside the bed. He dug around in it, looking for something that would give him some more information about the girl. He pulled out a small, plastic card, which had a picture of her in one corner, and a small blurb of information about her in the other. Her name was Laura Winters, she was twenty three years old, and she was from America. An American then, he thought, looking down at the small picture. Her blue eyes and smile were warm. It would be hard, he concluded, not to get attached to her.
He pulled out another small, plastic card from the bag. This one looked similar to the other one, but under her picture the words UNITED STATES SENATE: LAURA ANNE WINTERS: JUNIOR LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT, were stamped in bold, block letters. Further searching revealed two books, each of them having something to do with politics and history. Aganir moved over to the desk in the room, finding a large, black folder sitting on the surface. Opening it up, the first thing that he laid eyes on seemed to be some sort of human law document. A law regarding the funding of national parks, he read. As he flipped through the thick packet, he noticed the same, neat handwriting throughout the margins, in addition to the various scratches throughout words and arrows and other symbols.
He looked back over at Laura on the bed, a soft smile beginning to curve his lips. She might be a suitable match after all. Moving over to the bed, he laid his hand over her forehead, closing his eyes and muttering the familiar words to a protection spell. He had finally found his bride, and he was not going to let her get away.