How Do I Love Thee?

The Elders

We walked through beautiful halls, fit for a king. Marble floors and gold plated walls. There were hangings of what looked like generations of families and elegant rugs. We walked for a long time before we came upon double doors.

She opened the door for me and I took a deep breath, contemplating whether to run or not. Ian placed his hand on my back and nudged me forward. I walked slowly.

We entered a room, very large but appropriately sized to the rest. There were four very old men sitting in thrones in front of us. One of them stood and smiled.

"Ah, mis rõõm on teid jälle näha, Ian ja Aaron. Ja see peab olema Alexandra!" He walked towards me and gave me a quick hug. He held on to my shoulders. "Sul on kasvanud nii palju näinud ma viimati nägin sind, kuid see on olnud mis? Üheksateist aastat?" He laughed and hugged me again. I heard Ian clear his throat. "Loomulikult peame pikali äri." He walked back to his place and sat. "Eeldan olete juba selgitas olukorda tema, Ian?"

I could hear the woman close behind me translating what he was saying. "Ah, what a pleasure it is to you again Ian and Aaron. And this must be Alexandra. You have grown so much since I last saw you, but it has been what? Nineteen years? Of course we must get down to business. I assume you have already explained the situation to her, Ian?" I stopped listening to the men, it only confused me and strictly listened to the woman.

"Of course sir." Ian said, with upmost respect for this man.

"And Alexandra?"

I looked up at him. "Yes?" I said quietly.

"You do understand what we are asking of you?"

I felt my eyebrows pull together. "Actually, no. I'm afraid I don't." Another man, small, old, and fragile walked towards me.

He sighed. "You're a very special person. We are asking you to fight along side of us. What we are asking is extremely dangerous. There are a lot of us that won't survive this fight. But you... You'll be protected. At all times."

I looked down. "But I've never even been in an argument with anyone other than my dad before. How am I supposed to... Kill people?"

"We will train you."

"Do I even have a choice in the matter?"

"Not really. No."

I shrugged. "Okay then."

I saw the man smile as he walked back to his seat. "Good, you will stay with Carolina until we can find other accommodations." The woman beside me, who I assumed was Carolina, clapped a little and said "Yay!" The man who had first spoken said something but Carolina was to distracted to translate. Ian towed me along with him as we left the room.

We followed Carolina to a little bungalow. "This is where you will be staying." She said. "Ian, you know the rules." I looked at Ian confused.

He said, "We have to leave you here. But don't worry, Carolina will take care of you. Everyone here is protecting you just like I have been." He kissed my forehead, gave Carolina a stern look, then him and Aaron left.

I stood there, staring into the trees at them until Carolina pulled me inside.

It's funny how life can change in a blink of an eye. One minute I was a normal girl attending college. Now I'm some sort of prophecy, or whatever. My mind still hadn't completely wrapped around this whole thing.