Chapter 11
Aeliana wandered through the cold, twisted corridors of Tharx's fortress, her footsteps echoing off the dark walls. She had been given more freedom recently, allowed to roam within the king's personal wing, but even that freedom felt like a double-edged sword. The more she explored, the more acutely she felt her isolation. She might not be confined to a cell anymore, but she was still a prisoner, trapped in a world where nothing felt familiar.
She walked aimlessly, letting her feet take her where they wanted to go. She had no destination in mind. Tharx had been even more distant than usual, his presence like a shadow lingering just beyond her reach, and Aeliana had been left to fill her days with wandering and wondering.
It was during one of these lonely explorations that she stumbled upon the door.
It wasn't particularly grand-just a simple, dark door that blended into the rest of the fortress's cold architecture. But something about it caught her attention. The faint glow of golden light spilled out from beneath it, flickering like candlelight against the dark stone floor. Curiosity stirred in her chest. She glanced down the empty corridor, half-expecting to see one of Tharx's silent guards watching her, but there was no one.
Hesitating only for a moment, Aeliana reached for the handle and pushed the door open.
What she found on the other side made her heart skip a beat.
The room was massive, larger than any space she had seen in the fortress, and it was filled-top to bottom-with books. Shelves stretched to the ceiling, crammed with volumes bound in all kinds of strange materials. Some books were sleek and metallic, others soft and organic, their covers almost pulsing with life. The walls themselves seemed to hum faintly, the air thick with the scent of old paper, alien inks, and something vaguely metallic.
But what truly took Aeliana's breath away were the familiar spines nestled among the more alien-looking texts. Hundreds of books from Earth lined the shelves, their covers weathered and worn from years of use. Her heart raced as she approached one of the shelves, her fingers trembling as they hovered over the titles.
There, tucked among the shelves of alien literature, were classics-Moby Dick, War and Peace, The Great Gatsby, Jane Eyre, and so many more. Hundreds of them. She ran her fingers over the spine of Pride and Prejudice, a small smile tugging at her lips. How had this ended up here? How had any of these books found their way into Tharx's library?
Her eyes scanned the shelves, and she quickly realized that this wasn't just a collection of Earth's most famous literature. It was a treasure trove of human culture. In one section, she found entire collections of Shakespeare's works, neatly arranged in chronological order. Nearby, she spotted a shelf dedicated to poetry, with volumes from Emily Dickinson to Walt Whitman.
As she wandered further into the library, her eyes fell on something that made her laugh aloud. There, tucked between two imposing tomes that looked like they belonged to some ancient alien civilization, was a collection of comic books. She pulled one from the shelf, her fingers brushing against the glossy cover of a well-worn X-Men comic. Aeliana shook her head in disbelief, flipping through the pages. It was surreal to see something so familiar in a place so foreign. She placed the comic back on the shelf, still smiling.
But her amusement quickly faded when her eyes landed on a small pile of magazines tucked in a corner of the room. They were different from the rest of the collection-thinner, their pages glossy and slightly crinkled from age. Curious, she picked one up.
A flush of heat crept up her neck when she realized what it was: a porno magazine. Aeliana nearly dropped it in shock, her heart racing for an entirely different reason now. She quickly put it back where she found it, her cheeks burning. Who would have thought that among all the classic literature and high-brow philosophy books, there'd be that?
She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. But as she wandered further into the library, her laughter returned when she came upon the next surprise.
An entire shelf-no, an entire section-was dedicated to one series. She knew it before she even saw the titles. The familiar covers, the weight of the books, it was unmistakable.
The Harry Potter series.
Aeliana pulled the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, from the shelf, her hands trembling slightly. She ran her fingers over the cover, the image of a young Harry standing next to the Hogwarts Express staring back at her. Her eyes filled with tears she hadn't expected. It wasn't just the book itself-it was what it represented. This world she was in, this cold, brutal alien world, was so far removed from everything she had known. But here, in this room, was a connection to home. A connection to Earth.
She sat down on one of the plush chairs near the window, the Harry Potter book still clutched in her hands. The room was warm, the golden light from the overhead lamps casting a soft glow over the shelves. It was the first time since she had been taken from Earth that she felt safe. Almost comfortable.
Aeliana settled deeper into the chair, the weight of the book comforting in her hands. She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face as she flipped through the pages, reading the first few lines aloud under her breath.
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much"
She laughed softly to herself, shaking her head. She had read this book so many times as a child, the words were practically burned into her memory. But reading it here, in this strange, alien library, it felt like rediscovering an old friend.
For hours, Aeliana lost herself in the pages. She had intended to simply glance through the first few