Bookland Fantasy Fiction: Halden Chapter Three

Of all the places I'd thought I might be seated, I hadn't expected to be settled to the left of Princess Suni, right next to one of the princes. I gave him a shy smile as he quickly stood up to hold my chair for me.

"Thanks—uh, forgive me, but I don't know how to address you," I said, biting my lip. "My father tells me you are all Halden, so I suppose that would do. But it seems—not enough. Does that make me sound foolish?"

He smiled slightly as he settled back into his own chair again. "Not at all, Princess. I know how strange all of this must be for you. I am Nord Halden. I am also considered the Head of the Halden. Beside us sits my brother Set, and beyond the king are Wes and Oster. Has your father explained the details of this arrangement to you?"

Glancing past Nord, I realized that Set was the dark-haired man who had landed earlier, which made the message on the screen and the behavior of the four guards make a little more sense. A jolt of apprehension hit me as I remembered their nervous reaction to him, and the way he had scolded one of them most severely.

"King Ergon told me that I'm to be married to all four of you, and nothing more," I said, blushing. "I have to admit, that's not the sort of thing that happens on Earth much. We're generally partnered with just one other person. Would it be rude to admit that I feel—overwhelmed by the prospect?"

He cast me a solemn look as he reached for my hand to give it a little squeeze. "It's perfectly understandable. If it were up to me, I would give you a chance to adjust to the new situation. To get to know us, and get used to the way things are done here on Zaadar. Unfortunately, the contract was quite clear. The marriage must take place by your eighteenth year, and that is probably why the Attans advanced upon you when they did. It's certainly why your father retrieved you and brought you back to our world today. And it's quite fortunate that he got there when he did, too. Your death would have ruined years of planning, I can assure you."

"Yes," I replied with a little shudder. "I don't think I would have been too pleased by it either."

"Forgive me. We are a rather practical people who are seldom ruled by emotion," he replied with a slight shrug. "But I can assure you that I, too, would have taken the loss personally. Would it please you to know that I've kept a likeness of you hidden in my pocket for the last couple of years? A few of my soldiers and I came to Earth expressly to ascertain your progress once, and I used a special device that Oster invented to take the picture."

"A camera?" I asked curiously.

"No, though the result is similar," he replied, and reached into a pocket of his shirt to pull out a little golden heart. When he opened the locket, I saw a picture of myself that seemed to be from around the time I was fourteen. But this picture wasn't flat like a camera would have produced. It looked more like a hologram.

"Oh, you're right," I exclaimed softly. "It's nothing like.

"You will find that our technology is far advanced compared to Earth's. However, our buildings and our way of life are strangely medieval."

I smiled. "How often have you visited Earth?"

"Seldom," he told me. "As the crown prince, and as the Head of the Halden, I am too valuable to the Kingdom of Halda to risk being discovered there by the Attans. My magic does not disappear completely, since my powers are so great, but it can be seriously diluted in that place."

"Magic?" I repeated curiously. "The queen and some of the others said something about me learning magic too."

"Oh yes, you must learn magic as quickly as possible," he agreed. "And don't worry, I can feel plenty of power surging through your body even from here. My brothers and I will do our level best to help you bring it forth into the world."

I was intrigued, but I was also hungry. I turned my attention to the servant who was filling my plate with some sort of meat, an ear of what appeared to be corn, and what seemed to be mashed potatoes and gravy. Beside it, they even placed some green beans.

"A lot of this food looks like it came from Earth," I commented as I looked it over.

"The meal was created in your honor," he explained. "You know how you find the idea of four husbands overwhelming? I suppose my stepmother thinks familiar foods might be able to soften the blow."

I stifled a giggle, and Nord held back a grin as well. It was very clear to see that everyone was trying to maintain the sense of decorum my father had mentioned. I wondered if this was how we were expected to behave at dinner every night.

Beyond Nord, I caught sight of Set's stern glance he cast in our direction, and my heart jumped into my throat. Where Nord seemed to behave with the discipline expected of him, Set was filled with an intense sort of energy that left me feeling frayed. He was the kind of guy who would probably demand my lunch money at school, and I would have quickly given it to him.

Was I really supposed to marry both these guys, and the other two as well? I could easily get behind marrying Nord, who seemed to be a kindred spirit, but how was I ever going to deal with a guy like Set? Maybe I’d get lucky and hardly ever have to see him. I wished I could have a chance to talk with Wes and Oster, too, to see if I might like either of them. Oster at least sounded interesting; Nord said he was some sort of an inventor.

Nord's hair was a brilliant white, and pulled back into a ponytail, while Set's hair was gleaming black, currently worn long and loose. I had to lean forward a little to see that Wes wore a strange leather outfit, and his greenish-white hair was braided, with shells and other oceanic type items woven through it. Oster's clothes reminded me of a medieval scholar's, and while he also wore a ponytail, the hair pulled back from his face was a lovely golden hue.

"Do you make yourselves look different on purpose?" I asked Nord curiously.

"Yes, indeed," he said, nodding. "That is also done with magic."

"Magic?" I repeated. "How do you mean?"

"Our father divided Halda into four sub-kingdoms when we were sixteen. They are North, East, South and West," he explained as I began to eat. "Each prince rules one, and we each do so with the particular magic we know best."

"What is your magic?" I wanted to know. He felt warm and somehow familiar.

"My heart is ruled by each type. Wisdom, Passion, and Empathy, but to that is added the power of Unity. It is why I am called the Head…the one who combines all four of us together. It's probably a strange concept to you at this point. It will make much more sense once you have sampled many spells and figured out how to do them yourself."

I nodded, seeing the wisdom in that statement. "And there are certain spells that go with each magic type?"

"Well, they all sort of blend together," he admitted. "But each of my brothers will be able to help you on your journey. By this time next year, you'll know at least a little bit of each type."

"Hmph," I snorted softly. "As interesting as that sounds, it also sounds daunting, Your Highness. I can't imagine working a single spell, let alone learning how to do a whole bunch of them. Are you sure you've got the right girl?"

His smile turned a little mischievous. "Oh yeah, you're definitely the right one."

Something about the way he said it sent a little shiver down my spine, tingling deliciously, though in the next moment his polite mask returned, making me wonder if I'd seen it slip at all. I caught a glimpse of Set's elbow in Nord's ribs, but the only indication that he'd noticed was that he turned back to his plate and started eating again. I took his cue and did the same.

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