Arrival

  Now he wondered if all the girls from her world were as beautiful as she. She was looking at him defiantly. He smiled broadly, amused by the ferocity of her, and the fact that she seemed to think there was some kind of competition between them. She just looked away in distaste.

  No, he decided. No matter how beautiful she was, there would be no chance of him ever liking her if she was going to be so rude.

  ***

  Darkness could not have come soon enough for Jane. She was exhausted—they had been walking all day. She didn’t want him to know this though. She despised the way Fern thought so little of her because she was a girl, and she was determined to keep up with him.

  After they’d finished eating, they sat on either side of the fire.

  Jane had so many questions racing around in her head, but she had no idea where to start. “Your horse is beautiful,” she said into the silence.

  Fern smiled. “This is Nuitdor, my beloved.” He gave his horse a loving pat. “Nuitdor means ‘Golden Knight’.”

  “But she’s black,” Jane said.

  He shrugged. “She has always seemed bright to me.” After a moment Fern clapped his hands once. “All right, Jane. We need to sort out a plan. Is there anything you wish to do here in Paragor, besides heal that lump on your head?”

  Paragor, he kept calling it. So that was the world she had crossed to.

  She blinked and opened her mouth only to shut it again with a snap. “Well I ... I’m not...” Jane sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. We just jumped off the cliff. Now I’m here, I can’t find my friends, and I don’t know how I’ll find my way back...”

  He nodded. “You must be frightened.”

  Quickly she shook her head, her jaw clenched. “No. Of course I’m not. It’s just...”

  He smiled. “You are safe with me.”

  She stared at him, and after a moment he looked up and their eyes met. “Better get some sleep,” he said.

  They slept with their backs to the fire and, even though Fern had given Jane his cloak, she was very cold. She could see him shivering. Eventually, thinking of his words, and the kindness in them, Jane crept over to him and pulled the cloak over them both, lying down next to him, not quite touching but close enough that they were both much warmer. She could feel him tense, and he stayed that way for the rest of the night.

  She didn’t sleep either. Lying under foreign stars, in a world that was not hers, with a man she did not know, it was hard to ignore the feeling that she had walked into something so much bigger than anything she had ever known.

  ***

  Satine crept along the dark, empty halls, her bare feet making no noise on the stone floor.

  She was quick and careful not to make a sound; she even tried to slow her breathing—she could not be caught—it would be too suspicious if she were found creeping around in the dead of night. They were already watching her closely.

  Leostrial had heard rumours that she was a spy, but he had believed none of them. She loathed him more than anyone in the entire world. The anger was like a knife inside her, and easier to bear than anything else.

  She knew what a terrible thing she was committing, pretending to befriend him. She also knew how much it would horrify her mother to find out what she was doing.

  Queen Liessen had no love for her second husband, and feared getting close to him. She had forbidden Satine to have anything to do with him. Satine knew that if her mother ever found out she was trying to get close to Leostrial in order to spy on him, Liessen would be terrified. The queen was weak and had never stood up to Leostrial. Satine was ashamed of her mother for it.

  The shame festered inside her until she could no longer look at Liessen. Satine was a young woman with such a deep sense of honour that it physically hurt her to see the way her mother acted—subservient to this conqueror whom she hated. Satine did what she did because it was her way of fighting for her father. She had loved him.

  For this was at the heart of it. This dark, powerful warlord from the seas had taken control of the country and killed her father. Snuffed out the life of the most wonderful man in the world, and then married his widow. This was the knife in her heart.

  So she had befriended him, had spent countless hours talking with him, had helped him in his endeavours to rule her country. She had gone against everything she knew to be right, but now Leostrial trusted Satine completely. It was what she needed, for it allowed her to do her job.

  And perhaps the most important thing in all of this was that when Satine looked at Leostrial, this conqueror from the sea, there was something else in his eyes. Something more than just hate and malice. Something for her, burning inside of him, given light only through those eyes she had grown to know. And how, how can someone committed to her very last breath to the act she had set herself upon so many years ago, deal with this thing? How can it be understood, when he had killed her father?

  The years had passed and she knew him well by this seventh year. Satine had found, much to her confusion, that he was not the man she had first thought he was.

  But the knife was still in her heart, and it always would be. She was set upon a path—one that was unchangeable.

  Other thoughts were dangerous and foolish for so many reasons, not least of which the fact that Satine loved another. The thought of him was enough to cause her heart to beat wildly, for theirs was a young love, a first love, full of passion that still burned though she had not seen him for seven years—since the change.

  There, too, was a pain she hated to think on, but could not stop herself. She had been twenty years old when she fell pregnant. Just at the ripe age to be married. A few months later Leostrial had sailed to her country and taken over, forcing the father of her child to flee for help, never knowing he had a son. Satine’s mother had sent her away to have the baby, and then put him up for adoption—it wasn’t fitting for a princess to bear a child when she was unmarried. Satine hadn’t seen her son since. He would be seven years old by now, she thought with an ache in her chest.

  But all of that was just too far away now. Too distant. It had to be. Satine stopped and took a deep breath, willing herself to concentrate on the task at hand.

  The palace that stood in the city of Burmia, the capital of Lapis Matyr, was full of winding corridors and stairwells, in which it was easy to get lost.

  Satine came to an iron door with a heavy padlock. She took two pins from her hair and threaded them into the lock. There came a soft click and, as the padlock fell, her hand whipped out to catch it before it hit the ground. She slipped quietly into the king’s dressing room.

  On either side of her was a door. The one to her left led into the king’s bedchamber. The door to her right led to the king’s study.

  She slipped through it and walked to the desk. Satine had only been in here alone once since Leostrial had come from over the sea, and then she hadn’t had enough time to find what she was looking for. In fact, she didn’t really know what she was looking for—that was half the problem. She needed something to prove what Leostrial was planning, to show he was up to something. She had her suspicions, but nothing to send to Gaddemar, and without proof, or even a stray word to report, Gaddemar could not, or would not do anything.

  Piled on the table were many scrolls She couldn’t take them all or Leostrial would notice, and she didn’t have time to read them, so Satine left them and looked at the other parchments lying on the table. Most were maps, showing all the lands around them.

  Then something caught her eye—a scroll with a red ribbon tied around it. She opened it, and found two parchment maps inside, places she had never seen before. One of them showed the plan of a huge structure and the other seemed to be of its surroundings. There were strange markings on the latter. She decided that these were worth taking, though Leostrial would know they were gone.

  Leostrial stirred in his chamber and Satine held her breath, willing him to remain asleep.

  She crept out of the study, int
o the hallway, ran back to her room and closed the door behind her, slumping into a chair with relief. Lighting the lamp next to her, she went to stand, when suddenly, impossibly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  Satine gasped and dropped the lamp, plunging the room into darkness. But she moved quickly, and grabbing the hand, she turned and landed a heavy punch into the intruder’s nose.

  The intruder fell to the floor with a cry and looked up. It was a boy. Satine saw that he was unarmed, and quite scrawny. His nose was bleeding and he didn’t make a move to stand.

  Satine stared at him a moment before gathering herself and asking, “Who are you, and what is your business in my room at night?”

  The boy’s eyes widened in shock and he stuttered, “I’m sorry I frightened you, but I’m not here to hurt you. My name is Harry.”

  Chapter 3

  On that same grey morning when Satine was sneaking about in the cold castle, and Jane awoke on the side of a cliff, Luca opened his eyes to find himself in a stone room lit with lamps. There was a dressing table against one wall, a canopied four-poster bed and a washing basin on another. He knew at once that they had made it through the portal—nowhere in his world looked like this. He must have blacked out when they landed.

  He rolled his head slowly to one side, looking for the others, and saw a crumpled figure lying on the floor next to him. It was Anna. Luca scrambled over, and saw that her leg was bent at an awkward angle. “Anna!” he shouted. He shook her, and realised that she wasn’t breathing. He looked around for help, but the room was empty. He had no idea what to do, and wished desperately that someone were here—someone who might have the faintest idea of how to treat a broken leg. He decided to give Anna mouth-to-mouth like he’d seen on television, thinking that if he didn’t do something, she would die.

  “Five, six, seven, eight...” he counted, pumping on her chest, then he blew into her mouth. Anna gave a deep rasping breath and convulsed, but soon she relaxed and started to breathe normally. Luca lifted her, being careful of her leg, and carried her out of the room into a hallway.

  The room they emerged from was at the end of a passageway. Luca walked quickly past several other closed doors. It was pitch black. His voice rang out, “Hello! Is anybody there?” As he shouted down the silent corridor, doors swung open and people flooded out to surround him. They made no move to help, but only stood in silence, rubbing their eyes sleepily and trying to work out what was going on.

  Luca heard a deep voice cry out, “What is going on here? What’s all the commotion?” The crowd parted to reveal a tall man.

  “Who are you? And what are you doing disrupting my palace in the middle of the night?” The man was enormous. He had a huge chest like a beer barrel, and arms like tree trunks. Draped over his shoulders was an animal fur that looked so heavy it would crush anyone not built like a gladiator, and his chin was covered in a shaggy beard that matched his mane of hair.

  Luca didn’t know what to say and decided it would be a lot easier to just tell the truth.

  “We’re not from here ... my friends and I found a portal and we came through, but we were separated. I woke up to find Anna like this, and I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I need your help.”

  They could not know how the frantic words were so uncharacteristic for him, but they could all see, quite clearly that he was in definite trouble.

  The man frowned for a moment, and Luca’s heart sank, but then he motioned to a door and said, “Take her in there.”

  Luca set Anna down on a bed in a room identical to the one he had woken in and stood back hesitantly. He ran a hand through his hair in agitation.

  The large man asked a small servant boy to run and fetch a Healer. Once the boy had left, the man turned to Luca and said, “I am High King Gaddemar of Uns Lapodis, and you are in the high city of Amalia.”

  “Thanks...” Luca stared at the man. High King? His hands clenched and unclenched of their own accord. He could feel himself start to sweat.

  The door opened and a man dressed in a strange shimmering robe and carrying a wooden staff entered. He bowed stiffly to the king and walked to Anna lying on the bed.

  After looking at her for a moment, the Healer moved the staff so that it was vertical above Anna, as though he was going to stab her with it, and stood with his eyes shut for a long time, making neither noise nor movement. After ten minutes, Luca was about to speak, but the Healer turned around and said to the king, “She is very sick. It will take me many days to heal her completely. Now if you will leave me, I must begin straight away.” And with that, he turned back to Anna. The king motioned for Luca to follow him from the room.

  Luca blinked and felt a coldness touch his chest. He fought an urge to shout aloud for a proper answer, and instead asked calmly, “Will she be all right?”

  “I cannot say. Would you like wine?”

  “Uh ... no thanks.” He followed the king into a large dining hall and sat at a wooden table, which filled the length of the hall.

  Luca felt his eyes droop with exhaustion, but knew he must stay awake and observe everything. The king was quite old. His face was set in a scowl that seemed like it had been there a long time—there were heavy lines around his eyes and mouth. Luca wondered when he last had smiled.

  A young man hurried into the hall and sat down with them—he looked quick and strong. He was introduced to Luca as the king’s son and the Crown Prince of Uns Lapodis, Accolon.

  The two men looked at Luca expectantly as they waited for him to speak. Luca spread his hands wide. “I’m not too certain what I’m doing here, actually. We found a portal and came through. We just wanted to know what was on the other side.” Luca paused to look around and said, “So where exactly am I?”

  Gaddemar frowned. “You are in Paragor. It is made up of five different countries divided by oceans. Uns Lapodis, Cynis Witron, Lapis Matyr, are the three treaty countries, and then to the west there is Frescana, and further west is the desert land of Tirana.” The king paused and looked over at his son. Accolon looked back at his father and nodded. Gaddemar turned back to Luca, his brow furrowed.

  He took a deep breath and continued. “Many years ago, a man named Leostrial sailed in from the sea. He came with an army of men and claimed the country of Lapis Matyr, and killed Altor the rightful king. The conqueror married Altor’s wife, Liessen and now lives in the capital city, Burmia. He took over the city. From there he rules the land. We could do nothing. There is a law that prevents the king of one country from meddling with the affairs of another unless his life is threatened. We have been forced to stand back and watch the land spiral into a state of degeneration.

  “Altor didn’t give up easily—he fought hard, but he was young and was slaughtered like an animal. We don’t know how this happened because Altor had a large army of soldiers and Leostrial had only a score or so.” Gaddemar lowered his voice and slowly leaned towards Luca. “But we have a spy in the castle. They have informed us that Leostrial came across the waters with great and strange powers. It has never been known in our world for a man to wield powers such as these—powers that only the gods should hold.”

  “We fear the worst. Tyrants such as him are not happy until they can cause great devastation and conquer everything in their path,” Accolon said abruptly. He had been watching Luca intently throughout the conversation. Luca looked at the king with foreboding.

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  Gaddemar blinked. “Direct, aren’t you?” He shrugged and spread his hands wide. “It is a lot to learn at once. Especially if, as you say, you found the portal by accident. But you must understand, Luca, that we have many stories about Strangers who have crossed over. They have been treated with great respect. I would have your stay here be as pleasurable as possible. Perhaps, some day in the future, you may be able to help us.”

  Some day in the future. Luca considered the implication of his words. It was the first time since waking up that he’d had the chance to consider h
is predicament.

  “Will you help me find my friends?” Luca asked, his voice conveying a calm he did not feel.

  “Of course, we can try. How many of you crossed?”

  “Six, if everyone made it.”

  Accolon sucked in a quick breath. There was a light in his dark eyes as he looked wonderingly at Luca. Gaddemar only stared down at his hands, frowning, and said quietly, his voice heavy, “So. You have finally come.”

  Chapter 4

  Jane and Fern walked for a day and a night and it seemed to her that they had been walking forever. It was not easy winding a slow path around the mountain, the track was often covered with slippery stones and crumbling edges. Fern didn’t seem to notice any of it—he spent the entire time singing and joking and telling silly stories. If he weren’t so tall and strong, she would have thought him a child.

  The mountainside began to level out, and a distant noise tickled Jane’s ears. “What’s that?” she asked, looking around them to find the source.

  Fern grinned secretively. “A surprise, lady. Close your eyes.”

  “I’m not closing my eyes anywhere near you!” she exclaimed. “You’d probably push me over the cliff for a good laugh!”

  “You think so little of me! I’m hurt.”

  Jane rolled her eyes, not deigning to reply. Fern leapt from a rock and clutched at his heart, groaning in mock pain. “Your cruel words have wounded me, lady. I might as well throw myself from the cliff to ease the pain!”

  She watched him for a moment, and couldn’t help a reluctant laugh. “Oh, all right. Don’t give yourself a heart attack. I’m closing my eyes.”

  After a moment she felt him gently take her hand. Slowly he led her, telling her repeatedly not to peek. As they walked she noticed how warm his hand was. How big and encompassing. This annoyed her.