Alek awoke feeling drowsy, as if he were coming into, rather than out of, a dream. He looked down to see a soft, thick piece of fabric covering him from the waist down, rumpled over his body as he slept on some kind of padded, elongated seating device.

He shook his head as he sat up, hoping, if this were some kind of hallucination, that coming more awake would make it all disappear and bring back a world he recognized.

No such luck.

All he could remember was the beginning of a nightmare. Being encased, so cold even the lord of winter couldn’t stand it. Being frozen, unable to move. Unable to think.

And then a buzzing from deep inside him… No, from without. Something calling to his very soul, an energy spreading throughout the ice that had held him.

And then he’d broken out into this world.

Things were as strange here as they’d been in the room where he’d awoken. He looked down to see some kind of scratchy but soft material beneath his feet. The ground in the other room had been cold and hard.

This was a small room, outfitted with furniture that was unlike anything he’d seen before, even in the finest of castles. The other room had been huge, bare except for tables and hulking pieces of equipment.

So why had he been there?

He put a hand to his head, wondering if he’d somehow died. If so, was this hell or heaven?

A face came into his blurry vision, and he blinked a few times, realizing the woman from before was leaning down to stare into his face.

He jerked as his vision cleared. It was almost as if his eyes hadn’t seen in so long, they took a minute to remember how to. How long had he been in that ice?

“You’re awake,” she said, taking a step back.

She didn’t look too different, at least in form, to the women of his day. She was shorter, very short compared to him. Then again, she was human. And she had dark hair that may have been wavy but was pulled so tightly back into some kind of round hair ball that he couldn’t really tell much about it.

But it did allow him to see her face. Heart-shaped. Rosy cheeks. Soft, tanned skin. Dark-brown eyes like the deepest woods. Long lashes.

Full, red lips.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked, folding her arms. “You’re making me nervous.”

“Why?” He raised an eyebrow. “I would never harm you or any of my subjects.”

“That’s good to know.” She tentatively extended a hand. “My name is Talia.”

“Alek.” He shook her hand lightly, marveling at the smallness of it, and then released her to sink back on the couch, feeling slightly weak. “It is nice to meet you.”

He was glad that the dragons in his region were multilingual. He’d thought it would be useful for ruling but was even more grateful for it now.

“Wait.” Her cute nose wrinkled up. “What do you mean subjects?”

“I told you. I’m the lord of winter.” He glanced toward a window that showed a view of the outside where snow was falling gently. “This place looks perfect for me to rule.”

“That’s… not how things work here.” She shook her head. “Do you think you hurt yourself before you were frozen?”

He frowned. “I don’t remember anything at all before waking up in that place. Except for my name and my title. I’m not sure why the rest is blocked from me, but for now, it is enough. I must regain my strength and take over this kingdom.”

She sat in a chair across from him and looked at him reluctantly. “I’ll be honest in saying I don’t know what to do about this situation. My mentor… He’s the one who found the samples you were in, and he won’t be back for—”

“Found? Where?”

“Siberia,” she said hesitantly.

He gasped. “So not here?”

She shook her head. “I’m afraid we are many miles from there now.”

His heart began to pound, which hurt for some reason, perhaps from disuse. He placed a hand on his chest and rubbed gently. If he was truly in a new land, what next?

“Who is your mentor?”

“A scientist, like I am.” She stood. “Here, I’ll make some food for us. I imagine you’re hungry.” She let out a laugh that sounded slightly hysterical for some reason. “That is if frozen men who probably lived centuries ago have appetites. Oh God, how is this happening?”

“You brought me here?” He raised an eyebrow. “How?”

She walked over to a large, black square and placed a finger below it, making a clicking sound. “I, uh… used some lab equipment. And called in a few favors. Undergrads don’t ask questions.” She laughed nervously.

“Hm.” He had no idea what an undergrad was.

Noise filled the room, and Alek glanced at the black square, startled to see it was no longer black. He jumped back, pinning himself to the back of the couch. “What is that?”

Talia looked from him to the TV, and her eyes held a sparkle of amusement, along with a good dose of pity. He didn’t like it. “It’s a TV. Sorry, it’s a habit to turn it on when I cook or eat.”

“Sorcery,” he murmured, watching the people in their strange garb and strange environments interact as if they were in that very room. He crept closer to the TV, crouching before it.

“Um, no, just science. So do you want me to turn it off? Or leave it on while I heat the food up?”

“On,” he said. Was this a way to study this world? A quick way to catch up so that he could soon regain his kingdom? He was born to rule. It was in his blood. He needed to. And he couldn’t do it in this alien world where he understood none of the rules.

A pang of pain went through his head, and he pressed a hand to the side of his face and closed his eyes. What was deep inside, bothering him? Something was pressing, but he didn’t know what.

Or perhaps he was still trying to get used to the fact that he was in this situation where nothing made any sense at all.

He gave himself a few minutes before he opened his eyes to stare back at the TV. He could sense that he had been a lot of things in his life, but never a coward. He would face the new world before his eyes.

“You want to come over here and eat with me?” Talia called from the small room that joined the one with the sorcery device.

He looked up at her suspiciously, wondering if she was not wanting him to catch up on her world, but then smelled the wonderful things she was holding on a plate in her hand.

They appeared to be some kind of pastries.

He stood, his stomach rumbling with a kind of hunger that grounded him, made him truly feel awakened. “Of course.”

She took one of the chairs at the small table, and he took the other, frowning when it creaked beneath his weight. Everything in this world was made for tiny people. He could see why he was brought back to be king.

He took the plate she slid him with several of the pastries on it and picked one up. He was sure it would never compare to the things he’d eaten as someone who’d once ruled a kingdom, but he was wrong.

When he bit in, unfamiliar flavors and the salt of unknown meat mixed on his tongue in a way that made him let out a groan of pure pleasure. He had no idea what these were, but he knew he must have more of them.

“More,” he said hoarsely, devouring the three on his plate. She nodded, amused as she got up to cook more. When he’d finished all she had in the house and was finally full, he yawned, stretching.

“That was satisfactory, servant. And you will be rewarded for your loyalty to me once I have regained my throne.”

She cleared her throat. “Um. Okay.”

“We will rest, but then after, I expect you to take me to the nearest dragon so that I may discuss which territories are at stake.”

She frowned. “Dragon? Uh… maybe we should get your head checked. No matter where you’re from, I don’t think such things exist.”

He blinked. Were beings like him simply a secret in this part of the world? Or perhaps there were none of his kind left, at least nearby. That did make things easier in a way. “I see.”

“Maybe you should rest for now,” she said. “Did you need anything else? Are you comfortable on the couch?”

“Fairly,” he said, heading back to the “couch” where he’d been sleeping. Everything here was so foreign. How did he even understand her? So many mysteries. Perhaps the magical picture box would help.

“Should I turn off the TV?” She walked toward the device, and he put up a hand to halt her.

“No,” he said. “I think I’d like it on.” He’d slept most of the day already. And he’d apparently been asleep for many years. Right now, he needed to do research.

“All right, well, if there’s nothing else you need, I’m headed to bed.”

He perked at the thought of the female in bed, but he knew it wasn’t the right time for seduction. He had more important things on his mind.

Yet he didn’t like the thought of her leaving. Not at all.

“Good night,” she said quietly, with a little wave.

As he watched her petite back disappear from the room, an odd, aching buzz started up inside him. She was just a mere human. No one of import.

Yet, despite everything else in this world that bothered him, her absence was what unsettled him most.

He turned his attention back to the TV, forcing himself to regain focus. If he was going to rule in this new world, he would need to understand it first.