Serenei knew something was wrong before she even opened her eyes.

It was too [i]warm[/i]. Much too warm. Itervia, as a general rule, was, well...cold. Which was expected from a realm covered in ice and snow.

But right now, it was warm.

Serenei shifted slightly. [i]How peculiar,[/i] she thought. And that was when she noticed that the air tasted wrong, too. It didn't taste like...anything. And that was the problem. In the mornings, Itervia tasted like cold dew and fragrant pinewood. There was something wrong with the bed as well. It was a good deal less comfortable than the one she shared with Clarrik.

Speaking of Clarrik...suddenly, Serenei could tell that it was light in her chamber, where it had been dark before. She didn't move, puzzled by this new development. Her ears picked up the sound of something-or someone moving around beneath her. [i]What in the name of ice and snow...[/i]

"Hey Ash, you awake?" questioned a male voice that was most definitely not Clarrik. Serenei froze, not daring to breathe. Where was she? Where was Clarrik? Snow above, what about Ryne? If anybody had laid a finger on Ryne, Serenei would tear them to pieces. The owner of the voice shoved her lightly. He was calling her...Ash. [i]Ash? That sounds like an Alumnallen name. How could anybody ever mistake me for an Alumnallen?[/i]

Serenei took a deep breath and forced herself to open her eyes. The ceiling was startling close to her face. It was a cold white that was slightly tinged with grey, like day-old snow. "What...?" Serenei rubbed her eyes blearily. Something felt off. She touched her head, then the back of her neck.

"My hair!" she shrieked, sitting up abruptly and banging her head on the low ceiling. Serenei winced and frantically patted at her back and shoulders. "My hair! What have you done with my [i]hair[/i]?" she wailed. Serenei's hair was her pride and joy, and to think that somebody had [i]cut it off[/i]...she finally turned to meet the eyes of the other person in the room for the first time.

Serenei frowned. His eyes...they were wrong. They were grey. They weren't Itervian blue, or Alumnallen brown, or Cyrainese green, or even Meraliti gold. They were [i]grey[/i]. Serenei had seen blue-grey and green-grey eyes before, of course, but this...this was wrong. Everything was all [i]wrong[/i]. Serenei stared at him, panting. "W-who are you?" she stammered. Was it just her overactive imagination, or was her voice off as well? "Where's Clarrik? Where's Ryne? Where am I?" Serenei's gaze flitted across the cabin, taking in every detail of her strange surroundings. She did not recognize many of the items. She glanced down, and noticed that her chest was bandaged. Her skin was darker. 

"What happened?" she whispered in terror, her fearful eyes locking onto the unfamiliar man's face.

*****

Prince Clarrik Farwynd, the former Lord Clarrik Hanner of the Valley of Ice and the husband of Princess Serenei Farwynd, the Lady of the Keep, blinked the sleep from his eyes as his wife shouted angrily. Something about telling her where "where the fuck I am, who the fuck you are, and what the fuck happened to me, RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

Wait. What?

Clarrik gazed at her in shock. Serenei was very rarely angry, and even when she was, well, she [i]never[/i] said something as crude and vulgar as "fuck". Then there was the matter of her dainty hands curled into fists, and the fury in her normally carefree blue eyes. Clarrik took a moment to process what was happening in front of him before responding. 

"Serenei? Serenei, are you...are you alright?" he asked tentatively. "What is wrong? What's the matter?"

A knock sounded at the door, and then it opened to reveal one of Serenei's handmaidens. "Your Grace? You asked to be awoken-" the young girl stopped dead in the middle of her sentence as she took in the scene in front of her, eyes widening. "Oh...I apologize...I heard shouting..." the girl stuttered, quickly backing out of the room.

Clarrik slowly moved across to the other side of the bed, cautiously approaching his wife. "Serenei?"