Mmm my bed feels so nice, these blankets are as soft as silk.
I slowly blinked the sleep out my eyes and stretched and then I felt… movement to my side but that cannot be…
Opening my eyes I see a room I do not recognize and a bed that isn’t mine. With a woman who I do not know.
“Ahhh!” I fell off the bed scooting backwards hitting the wall behind me.
My partner opened her eyes and green emerald eyes looked back at me, eyebrows furrow.
I looked into the mirror that stood on the opposite wall of the room and realized I was not in my body. I do not have blond hair or blue eyes and I look young! What the hell is happening… these aren’t my hands… this isn’t my body
“My wife, come back to bed,” The green eye beauty said to me. “My wife?”
At my lack of an answer the green eye beauty began to stand and I started to feel the room spin and the dark take me.
My name is Isabella Clarke and I am losing my mind. Last thing I remember before waking up was a car headlights heading straight for me and the cold, it was a cold winter night in Maine. I do not remember anything else from before that and I do not remember how I ended up in my current situation.
Somehow I ended up inside a castle married to the Duchess Alexandria Woods the II, second in line for the throne, we have now been married for 6 months after a complicated engagement done by our families for convenience and advancement.
My name in my current predicament is Clarke Eliza Griffin, my father Jacob Thomas Griffin is a Earl of the Empire governing the Ark area, and both he and the King made the plan to join our houses via this marriage.
For what I remember of Clarkes life she is a meek and fearful girl, my father was not a kind man and often required perfection of myself and my sister. She was married off as soon as it was possible for the time at 16, to the already established Dutchess, in exchange for more land and a possible Marquees statue if I can produce an heir within two years.
In my previous life I was a very accomplished accountant on the fast track to CEO to the biggest company in Maine. I had no friends and no family, having been in the system my whole life after a fire took my family at the age of 5. I was independent and most definitely no longer 16, I had just passed my 25th birthday at the Korean BBQ place down the street from my house.
I remember my “father's” hand against my cheek when he slapped me telling me that it wasn't up to me who I married and that I needed to realize this is all I could do for him and my sister. It was either me or my 14 year old sister. I remember reluctantly agreeing to save my sister.
The light in the room woke me up slowly again, the panic did not. I sat up quickly.
“My lady, please lay back down. The Duchess said you must rest today,” a young girl … Octavia pushed me back into the bed and I concentrated on breathing.
I need to calm down. I am clearly still here.
I raised my hand and looked at the paleness and the softness of the skin. Looking around the room I noticed the bed drapes the bed into a huge room. I must be in a castle, of some sort. This looks like the picture of a novel.
“Ww-where is tt-the dutchess?” Wait… I have a stutter?
“The King requested her presence, she will be back by supper,” Octavia responded as she got up and started to get a cup of water for her and prepare her breakfast.
“Octavia, could you leave me alone for a bit? I would like to rest.”
“Of course Duchess.”
Octavia made haste and left out the door before much else could be said.
“Okay Isabelle, let’s think this through. This is real. I know it is. What do I do…”
I went back to the door and opened it to see a knight standing right outside.
“Um excus-ss-e me could you call Oct-tt-avia please?” She asked the knight.
“My lady, of course!” The knight pulled a string and within minutes I saw multiple maids making their way to me.
“My lady, what can we do for you?” A second maid asked, her name escapes me now.
“I would like tt-tto get dress please”
That took forever.
I did not know there could be so many layers in this time period but I look regal, as soon as the maids finished I got up and started for the door.
“My lady, your guard is outside the door and she will be following you for your safety, after the previous attempt the Duchess wants you protected at all times.” Octavia spoke up
“...Of cours-s-se” Attempt?
As soon as I stepped outside the room a female knight with brown hair bowed “My lady,” she said and fell into steps with me. I remembered that Alexandria introduced my guards to me this is Raven.
This land is beautiful. The halls are tall and covered in light from windows all along the wall. Statues and portraits lined the other side of the wall. I walked without a direction but ended up in the garden. Beautiful roses and lavender fields as vast as my eye could see.
“I suppos-se I can do tt-this,” I whispered to myself