TRAVELLER (Book 1 in the Brass Pendant Trilogy)

by Amanda May Bell

  I was vaguely aware of voices out in the hall, but I ignored them and wrapped my arms around Morgan’s neck, and he ignored them too as he pulled me closer…..But the voices were getting louder. Soon, they were right outside the door and we were going to be sent home…..but I…….just didn’t care and Morgan didn’t seem to either………..until the door opened suddenly and Evangeline stood very still in the doorway as she stared at us in complete surprise. Almost instantly, she closed the door again and I heard her voice clearly as she insisted to Erin and Imogen that she’d heard the Aldiris message guard and they were to come back downstairs with her immediately. Their voices faded and Morgan kissed me again……..but the girls would be back soon and we wouldn’t be so lucky twice.

  “You should go,” I whispered, and he murmured a reply but I had to tell him to go one more time before he left me reluctantly and closed the door softly behind him.

  When he was gone, I sat on my bed in a daze before I let myself fall on my back against my pillow…… I stared up at the ceiling……and I couldn’t stop my smile.

  Evangeline spoke loudly on her way up the stairs when she returned and I knew it was solely for my benefit. I sat up quickly and took clean clothes out of the chest at the end of my bed, and I was safely locked in the bathroom with the water running by the time the three girls entered the room.

  I washed my hair and cleaned the zestonate dust and the smell of cypress smoke from its lengths, and I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror and smiled again. Tomorrow, Morgan and I would be forced to spend two whole clock turns by ourselves in another time segment. I didn’t know where, exactly. I hadn’t even asked Morgan what time segment we’d be visiting….but I didn’t really care where we were going……

  It took me a while to dry my hair completely. I pressed it section by section with an Aldirite drying towel and, by the time I was braiding it, it was almost time for the evening meal. Evangeline had bathed when I’d finished in the bathroom and she’d washed the dragon smoke out of her hair too. Erin and Imogen had gone downstairs as soon as they’d dressed and Evangeline glanced at me more than once as she sat on her own bed drying her hair. I avoided her gaze though and concentrated firmly on braiding my hair. I could tell she was curious but I didn’t want to talk to her about Morgan right now, even though I knew I could trust her. Eventually, she gave up trying to get my attention and she was braiding her own hair when I left the dorm room to find Morgan waiting for me at the top of the stairs.

  “Hey,” he said, and I smiled at him shyly. His hair was damp and he leant against the stair rail.

  “Hey,” I said quietly, and he smiled too as we stood close together at the top of the stairs.

  “Your hair smells nice,” he said softly, and I nodded.

  “It doesn’t smell like dragon smoke anymore,” I said. Morgan smiled again before he glanced behind us into the hallway. We could hear Dominic’s voice coming from behind the dormitory door and Morgan looked at me and let out his breath.

  “Let’s go down to the dining room. I can’t stay here with you or I’ll be sent home before we even make it to the meal,” he said quickly, and I followed him as he ran down the stairs.

  Erin and Imogen were at the table already and, by the time we sat down, Seth and Dominic had joined us as well. Evangeline and Caspian came downstairs together and Evangeline asked anyone if they knew when the messages were meant to arrive.

  “The messages will be late tonight. They’re not expected until just before set nine,” Morgan told her and Evangeline nodded. “I went outside to talk to the marker guards for a while after I left you,” Morgan added to me quietly, when I looked at him curiously.

  Marko served us our meal and Seth, Dominic and Imogen began to speak together quietly. I glanced at Morgan and he glanced at me at the same time. He smiled and moved so his leg rested against mine under the table. I let out my breath slowly and looked over at Caspian. How was I supposed to get through the hours until our quest tomorrow?

  Caspian was writing in his book of Parchments again but when he’d closed it and prepared to return it to his pocket, I decided I couldn’t wonder anymore.

  “Caspian, if you don’t mind me asking, what is it you write in that book of yours?” I asked him curiously, and everyone at the table stopped eating and looked at Caspian who glanced down at his book and shrugged before he addressed us all.

  “I’m working out time travel markers,” he said, and we all stared at him. He half smiled at our surprise and then went on to explain himself. “I worked out the marker equation about a turn ago and I’m working out as many markers as I can. It’s fascinating, actually. Markers are generally situated in one area in groups of four or five, and there’s any combination of rising and setting markers, but never all of one kind. The groups themselves are spread widely across the earth’s surface as they line up in each turn, and, interestingly, it’s almost impossible to travel between them quickly either by land or by sea. The circle is moving constantly, of course, at each group of these markers too, and it’s like the time circle itself makes sure no day can be revisited,” he said, and he smiled at us broadly as he patted his book affectionately.

  There was an awkward silence and Caspian’s smile faded.

  “You’ve worked out the marker equation,” said Dominic eventually, and his disbelief was obvious. Caspian frowned as everyone at the table exchanged looks.

  “Yes, it wasn’t that difficult after all,” Caspian said defiantly, and he turned to a page in his book and showed us a complicated equation that was scrawled halfway down the page. “See, when I halved the variant at………”

  “So, you’re saying that you’ve worked out an equation that was lost six hundred turns ago on the day of our Destruction; one that no scholar in either Denboris or Aldiris has even come close to working it out over the last six hundred turns, and you’re also saying it wasn’t that difficult?” asked Seth in astonishment, and it was obvious he didn’t believe him either. Caspian frowned again and looked around the table before his eyes came to rest on me.

  “Livia, tell me the marker at your last house,” demanded Caspian, and I recited the park marker setting from +2013. Caspian rifled quickly through his book.

  “See, I have that one, and I’ve worked out there’s another in that same area. It’s Vela +2013 set 106º,” said Caspian triumphantly, and I looked at him awkwardly as he showed me a page in his book. His script was very small and it angled slightly across the page.

  “I wouldn’t go using that marker if you need to return there, Livia,” said Imogen, with amusement, and Caspian frowned at her before he turned to Morgan for support.

  “Morgan, what marker setting do you have for tomorrow’s quest?” he demanded, and Morgan took the small parchment from his jacket pocket and passed it across the table to Caspian who unrolled it before he rifled through his book again. I glanced at Morgan and I could tell he didn’t believe Caspian either.

  “See, I have all three from that area,” said Caspian, “I have Orion +1770 set 54º, Andromeda +1770 set 81º, and Scorpius set +1770 set 190º and I know there’ll be at least one other marker in that area too. When I work it out, it’ll be a rising marker for sure. It has to be,” insisted Caspian, and he passed Morgan back his parchment. Moran shrugged.

  “If you say so, Caz,” he said carefully, as he returned his parchment to his jacket pocket. Caspian let out his breath angrily but he wasn’t done yet.

  “I’m working out how far the markers are from each other as well,” he said, as he glared at all of us. “I’ve already tested the formula I designed to work out the distance between markers and I know for a fact that there’s a marker exactly 42 lengths to 40º from the Denboris border marker. It’s at Delphinius +3570 set 7º and I can assure you all; once our spies start using my markers, and we defeat the Denborites at their own games, none of you will find my equations amusing then,” he finished crossly, and he frowned angrily as he picked up his book and shoved it into his
jacket pocket.

  “Don’t forget us when you’re famous then Caspian,” said Dominic with amusement, and Seth laughed.

  “Look after your partner at all costs when you’re out on your quests Evangeline. It appears he’s carrying the complete Book of Markers in his pocket,” said Imogen, and there was more laughter at the table.

  “It’s not complete yet, but it will be,” muttered Caspian crossly, as he picked up his spoon.

  Caspian ate in silence for a while and the others soon moved onto a new topic, but Morgan glanced at Caspian a few times across the table before he spoke to him quietly.

  “Do you want to play hand ball after the meal Caz? We can play next door,” he said, and Caspian looked at Morgan carefully across the table before he nodded slowly.

  “Alright, but I’m not playing you for money,” he said firmly, and Morgan frowned.

  “I’m not asking you to,” he said, and when I folded my arms, Caspian grinned suddenly and Morgan wouldn’t look at me at all. So, that was where some of his coins came from……..

  While Morgan played handball with Caspian, I took sword practice with Evangeline. The practice room was only lit dimly at night and the half-light added an extra edge to our competition. Evangeline glanced at Morgan a few times as he played handball against the wall at the other end of the room, and, a few times, she glanced just as thoughtfully at me too. I ignored her though and tried to concentrate on beating her instead, but I managed to win only one round.

  We removed our practice vests quickly when Erin informed us the messages had finally arrived from Aldiris, and both Morgan and Caspian followed us as we walked back through the gate in the fence and walked around the edge of the marker towards the Quest house back door.

  All of us had received messages. My one and only message though was from my mother and it wished me many happy turns……but it wasn’t in her hand writing. Morgan put his one and only message straight into his pocket, and he didn’t read it at all, while Evangeline sat at the table with her five messages, and was still reading them as the rest of us made our way slowly towards our rooms. It was almost time for lights out.

  “Good set, Liv. I’ll see you tomorrow,” said Morgan quietly, and he smiled as he paused beside me in the hallway. “If you can’t sleep, try taking that terrible noise out of your ears,” he added quietly, as the others disappeared. I smiled.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” I said softly, and Morgan had taken a step towards me when we heard Evangeline on the stairs. He glanced at her and took a step backwards again and we both turned quickly and disappeared into our rooms……

  CHAPTER 16:

  The morning dawned with the sound of the house alarm and the house lights came on at the same time, waking me slowly from a very deep sleep. I hadn’t listened to my music at all during the night. I knew what it was I wanted now and I didn’t need the distraction. Surprisingly, I’d fallen asleep relatively quickly, despite having slept during the day, and I sat on my bed now as I did up the laces of my Synthetic Era running shoes. Erin and Imogen had already left the room and I wasn’t surprised when Evangeline sat down suddenly beside me. I was surprised though, by the first thing she said to me.

  “How well do you know Elijah, Livia?” she asked me quietly, and I looked at her for a moment before I shook my head slightly.

  “Err…..oh, you mean Elijah from the Tournament Champion’s ceremony in Aldiris,” I said slowly, and she nodded awkwardly.

  “He sent me a message through the marker guards……He wished me well in my finals,” she said, and she hesitated.

  “I only met him that night, Evangeline,” I said.

  “It’s just that he wouldn’t dance with me, but he sent me a message and I’m not sure what to think. What do you think that means?” she asked me quickly, and she looked flustered. I stared at her in surprise again before I smiled slowly. So, Elijah hadn’t given in to her demands after all. No wonder he’d caught her attention.

  “I think it means he really doesn’t like dancing and you might just have to accept that, but I think he might like you,” I said, and she frowned a little.

  “What should I do?” she asked me, surprising me yet again.

  “Well, if you like him too, you should send a message through the guards to wish him safety in his forthcoming Tournament, and you probably shouldn’t try to make him dance with you when you see him again,” I suggested, and when Evangeline smiled, I hesitated before I spoke to her just as carefully.

  “Evangeline, thank you for…… yesterday…..for…..”

  Evangeline interrupted me before I could finish.

  “Be more careful Livia. It might not have been me who was first to the door,” she said, and she looked at me seriously. I nodded slowly and she nodded too, before we hurried downstairs together to join the others for our run….…..

  Morgan didn’t look at me at all as I rushed into the courtyard and I should have realised then that something was wrong.

  He didn’t look at me as I fell into step beside him either, but it was only when he didn’t speak at all as we ran together along the track together that I started to suspect that something wasn’t right with him today. Normally, he talked the whole time we were running and he did this to help me forget I was running. Today though, he ran with his eyes focused straight ahead and, when I glanced at him, I could see he was frowning.

  “Are you okay?” I asked him in Synthetic Era language.

  Morgan loved Synthetic Era phrases and this would usually have made him smile. He didn’t smile this morning though, and when he told me he was fine in the old language, he didn’t smile then either. To make matters worse, I was sure he knew I could tell he was lying but, today, he didn’t seem to care. I didn’t know what to say and I ran beside him in silence too as I wondered if it was something I had said or done. I went through my actions in my head, but he’d been more than fine when I’d left him last night to go to bed.

  My lungs started to burn, but I hardly noticed. I was too busy worrying about what could have happened overnight to have caused this sudden silence between us. When we finished the run, Morgan still didn’t speak and, after we returned to our rooms to change, he was late to the morning meal, which was even more worrying. Morgan was never late when there was food involved and Marko frowned at him too as he waited for him by the meal trolley. He sat down beside me and tried to smile as if nothing was wrong, but he still didn’t look me in the eyes. I looked at him carefully and he looked tired; like he hadn’t slept at all during the night, and, eventually, I asked him what Era we were going to today, just to try to force him to talk.

  “Discovery,” he said quietly. Caspian had mentioned +1770 last night so I knew that already, but I asked him what turn we’d be visiting anyway.

  “+1770,” he said, with his eyes on his meal bowl, and suddenly, I’d had enough of his one word answers, and I left him to eat his morning meal in the silence he obviously preferred.

  Morgan disappeared into his room when the meal was done, and when he didn’t reappear, I went next door to take bow practice with Erin, Imogen and Evangeline. Dominic and Seth played handball at the other end of the weapons room and the sound of their ball hitting the wall started to give me a headache. I frowned as I shot arrow after arrow into the targets and when Erin, Evangeline and Imogen went back to the Quest house, I stayed in the practice room by myself in the hope Morgan would come and find me…….but he didn’t, and I ended up cursing him silently as I loaded more arrows into my bow. I didn’t miss once.

  I resharpened all the practice arrows in the small weapons storage room after I was done with my practice and, when Morgan still didn’t appear, I challenged the off duty guards to sword practice. I beat each of them in three rounds only and I gritted my teeth as my anger towards Morgan built.

  As soon as I saw Morgan at the midday meal though, my anger disappeared suddenly and, just as quickly, it was replaced with despair. He looked almost as miserable as I felt and I w
ondered why he couldn’t just tell me what it was that was wrong.

  Almost worse than his silence though was his behaviour after we finished the meal. He decided to pretend nothing was wrong and he asked me into the sitting room to look through the Discovery Era parchments with him in preparation for our quest. I had to sit beside him on the sofa while he tried to make jokes about Discovery Era customs, but I didn’t laugh and he still didn’t look into my eyes. When I leant close to him to read over his shoulder, he moved away from me quickly and I sat back against the leather sofa cushions and folded my arms.

  By the time we stood out in the front courtyard, I’d decided he must have spent the night thinking about the consequences of starting any kind of relationship with me. Even once we’d passed our finals and joined the Quest, our pendants could be removed by the Quest supervisors in Aldiris if they thought we were getting too close……and then, there were the unfortunate circumstances of my birth. Maybe, Seth had talked about my mother in their dorm room last night. That wouldn’t have helped.

  Zurina wasn’t in the courtyard this afternoon to check our exits. It was obviously up to us today to leave at the required time, and I asked Morgan for our setting straight away in the hope that he’d talk to me once we were alone in +1770.

  We needed no packs, and weapons weren’t allowed on this quest. It was only to last two clock turns, and I’d only changed my boots and put my emergency cylinder in my inside jacket pocket. I was still wearing the same light jacket I’d put on this morning and I saw Morgan hadn’t bothered to change his jacket either. At this hour, it was likely to be cool in the Discovery Era, but today, I just didn’t care about the weather.

  “Andromeda +1770 set 81º” said Morgan, and he hesitated slightly before he read out our setting from the small parchment Zurina had handed to him yesterday. Of course, he still didn’t look at me, and I decided to set my pendant without repeating the setting back to him like I usually did…..I did double check it myself though.