We ate and drank. After he told me his story I effectively told the story of The Lord of the Rings. I told him about Lord Sauron and the ring of power. The prince assured me that because of Earth's technology the story could not be real. I nodded and accepted that it was not a real-life story, but promised him that it would be very good, so even though it wasn't real he chose to listen to it regardless. He was quickly enamored with the Shire and his favorite character by far seemed to have been Samwise Gamgee. He laughed and listened attentively. His golden eyes seemed to capture each segment of the story. We sat there for hours.

"But what happened to Saruman?"

"He remained in his tower," I replied.

"That was a strategic mistake. Gandalf should have destroyed him while he still had the chance," Brok commented.

"What do you mean? He was just tired of all of the bloodshed."

"Precisely if he was tired, he should have finished him off. An enemy as Saruman was dangerous to have been left alive. He has a thirst for vengeance, plus he has powerful influence. Gandalf underestimates his enemy," Brok said.

"It's just a story," I replied.

"Yes, definitely it is only a story. I imagine that Saruman apologizes and Gandalf believes him."

"They don't meet again, or at least not that I'm aware of. I've only read Lord of the Rings. I never read the following books."

"Oh, what a pity. This story seems very interesting, but don't stop now, tell me the rest. I am dying to know," Brok said. I had to laugh.

"I really need to walk a little," I said.

"Yes, let us walk around the castle. I would like to show you my art collection," Brok said.

"Okay, sure," I said. I was about to get up.

"No, no, no. Allow me," Brok said standing from his chair very quickly. He pulled my chair again and I stood up.

"Thank you... thank you for the meal and for being so nice to me," I said.

"No Anabella, I thank you," he said. He grabbed my hand for the first time and strangely I felt alright under his grasp. We walked out of the dining room. Krimla walked towards us and she immediately noticed that we were holding hands. She didn't seem to like the gesture, but was very good at hiding it.

"Krimla, please remove the left overs. You can eat it with the rest of the servants if you wish or you can feed it to the pets or throw it all away, it is indifferent to me."

"Yes, my prince."

"Don't throw that food away, eat it yourself or give it to the pets, but don't be wasteful, please..." I said. Brok raised one of his black eyebrows and glanced at me. Then he looked back at Krimla waiting for her response. Krimla stared back at the prince and responded.

"Of course, Miss Torres. Whatever you wish," Krimla said and entered the dining room. Brok and I walked away together.

"Very good Anabella, very good," Brok said. I nodded and tilted a bit to try to glance back at Krimla, but all I really caught of her was the back of her purple tentacle head and her dark dress. I walked on forward with Prince Brok and continued to tell him the story of the Lord the Rings the best I could.

We reached the seventh and final story of the castle when I was finally at the end of the tale. Frodo Baggins had finally left Middle Earth.

"What a marvelous story. Very enjoyable," Brok said.

"It wasn't my story, it was written by J.R.R. Tolkien," I responded.

"Did you know him?"

"No. He was already dead when I read the story."

"Oh, my condolences," The prince said.

"It's okay. I really never knew him anyway, he died a long time ago, but his work was preserved," I replied.

"I knew you had books on Earth, but I did not know how marvelous they were."

"Were? So there are no more books on Earth?" I asked.

"Anabella, I have tarnished contact with Earth for thousands of years. I am no longer in contact with your planet."

"What do you mean?"

"After I met you I chose not to invade your planet. I experienced a change of heart."

"Really? You really decided not to invade Earth?"

"Yes, I did," he said.

"So Earth is okay?"

"Yes," the prince answered.

"And the people, what about them?"

"They are alive and well," The prince answered. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

"Thank you," I said.

"Why are you crying?" the prince asked me frowning. I shook my head.

"Nothing... I... I didn't know... I thought..."

"Well, now you know. Anabella I do not wish to see you cry. It bothers me," Brok said. I wiped my tears with my palms and fingers.

"I'm sorry. I just got emotional," I responded. There was a door in front of us. Brok opened.

"This is my art collection. I hope that you enjoy it," he said and together we entered the room. The room wasn't really as big as I thought. It was big, but I expected something more. I thought there would be thousands of portraits hanging on to the walls, but instead they were all large screens.

"This is it?" I asked. Brok laughed.

"I have thousands of art collections, but if you think it is insufficient then I shall purchase more," he said. I laughed.

"I just imagined it differently."

"There are one hundred and ten screens in this room. We shall walk and see the first one hundred and ten art forms and then if you would like to see more, we will simply walk back. The portraits will change automatically and you will be able to see the other artworks. We will be walking the gallery back and forth," Brok said.

"Oh," I replied.

"Does that discomfort you?" Brok asked me.

"No, it's not... it's nothing like that, it's just that things are so different here," I said a little homesick. I missed my planet.

"You will enjoy it. I promise you," Brok said and I smiled.

"Of course, I will. I'd love to see your collection, so let's see it," I said and Brok smiled.

Brok showed me around his collection. We walked together holding hands and as we did he showed me paintings of landscapes and other people from Sha. I immediately noticed a slight difference from all of the other Sha people. All of them had something that Brok did not. On their foreheads they had two very small horns and they were the color of their hair. Some Sha people had white, blond hair and eyebrows with pitch black eyes and others had raven black hair like Brok, but I noticed that if they had black hair their horns were black and if they were blond their horns were white.

"Brok, why do most of these Sha people have horns, but you don't?" I asked. Brok didn't respond. He pulled his hand away from me and placed his hands on his back.

"Brok?"

"I was born ugly," he said.

"Ugly?"

"I do not have the horns of Yingshu, the horns of beauty."

"What? That's ridiculous."

"Be silent!" He shouted. If I wouldn't have spent the time I had spent with him today my first instinct would have been to run out of the gallery, but I wasn't afraid of him anymore. I stared at him for a moment. I looked at his eyes, his forehead, his face and his body. I gulped.

"I don't think you're ugly," I said shaking my head.

"You don't know anything," Brok said annoyed.

"You're right Brok, I don't. There's a lot that I don't know, but I know that you're not ugly," I said.

"Do not tell me what I am or what I am not. I know what I am," Brok said. I was silent for a moment. I really didn't know how to respond to that.

"Okay," I said.

"I think I've had enough adventures for today. I will retire to my room now. You can stay here if you wish."

"You're leaving?"

"I am tired and my mood has changed. This day has been very interesting Anabella. Thank you. I will go back to my duties tomorrow. Maybe and if you would like it, we can do something else."

"Sure," I replied. Brok turned away.

"Brok!" I said. Brok turned around.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Thank you... for today. It was nice," I said. Brok nodded and left the room.