Jamyria: The Entering (The Jamyria Series Book 1)

by Madeline Meekins

  The Hedermans’ front door creaks open across the field behind them. They all seem to shrink a little at the sound. “Supper time,” calls Mrs. Hederman from their front porch. “And I only made enough for us,” she tacks on sourly.

  “Guess that’s our cue,” Kylie says, stretching out her long limbs. She brushes off her shorts as she rises. She helps pull Crystal up, whose long chestnut hair falls over her shoulder.

  “Right,” Margo agrees ruefully, also getting to her feet.

  A hand lightly touches her shoulder. “Hey,” says Cameron softly. “We still have all day tomorrow. Besides, we’ll be back next year.”

  Margo tries to smile without success, finding it difficult to look upon his face.

  “Come over first thing,” Crystal urges Kylie. “Let’s have one last shopping trip before we head out.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Kylie agrees with a giggle. “You too, little sis?”

  For some reason Margo cannot lift her head. She nods with a weak smile on her face wondering why this year it is so hard to say goodbye.

  Kylie sighs and grabs Margo’s hand. “We’ll see you then. Let’s see if Mom has dinner ready, too.”

  Her feet move her, but Margo doesn’t look to see where she is being led.

  “Night, Margo.” The boy’s voice is somber, but at the sound of her name, Margo perks up a little. Warmth fills her chest, but her happiness is shattered when she remembers he will be gone by this time tomorrow. Just then, he turns to follow his sister across the field toward the Hedermans’ home.

  Margo raises her hand in response far too late, but for some reason her throat is thick and no words come out.

  “Come on,” says Kylie, giving her sister’s hand a tug. They walk the length of the pond. “If I were you, I’d just make out with him and get it over with already.”

  Margo plants her feet and Kylie stumbles backwards against the sudden jerk. “What?” says Kylie. “I mean, it’s pretty frustrating seeing you two all googly-eyed over each other. Neither realizing it. Neither willing to make a move. You like him — just admit it!”

  “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Margo’s cheeks darken again for some reason. “Or why you’re accusing me of this.”

  “It’s not an accusation, sis!” Kylie wraps her arm around Margo’s neck. “I’m just calling it like I see it. It’s cute.”

  Margo brushes her off and stomps harder through the grass. “I do not like him in that way. It’s Cameron. The jerk.”

  Kylie’s voice softens. “He hasn’t been a jerk since the first summer he visited. And that’s ‘cause of you.”

  Margo thinks back to when he and his sister first visited. He teased her for nearly everything she did, called her every bad name a seven-year-old could conjure, until her temper got the best of her. He was the first person she ever stood up to. She had told him he’d better start treating her like a lady or else. A lady? She was only six-years-old.

  A giggle slips out.

  “See! Admit it.”

  Margo shakes away the hint of euphoria. “I’m fifteen, Ky. I have more important things to worry about than boys.”

  “Do you even hear yourself? We’re young and should be out living life carefree! Not worrying about —” Kylie scrunches her eyebrows together, perfectly imitating her sister’s voice “— important things.”

  A laugh breaks through again, but what surprises Margo the most are the feelings inside her that also seemed to break through in that moment. “You’re right,” her voice cracks when she admits it aloud. “I do like him. A lot, actually.”

  Kylie sits down on their porch steps looking up at Margo. “So tell him….”

  “Can’t.”

  Her face grows serious. “Margo, he’s leaving tomorrow. It’ll be another year before you can let him know how you feel.”

  “Exactly.” Margo pauses. It makes the most sense to wait. “Imagine telling him the truth and then having to say good-bye right after.”

  Her sister frowns. “What if, God forbid, something happened between now and next summer?”

  Margo plops next to her on the porch, beaming at their strange reversal in character. “We’re young, remember? Stuff doesn’t change that drastically overnight. At least not in St. Joseph, Tennessee.”

  *

  “Any crushes?” Janie asks.

  Nick left abruptly after breakfast on some secret errand leaving Margo alone with Janie and her hundreds of questions. Her own questions of her impending mission will have to wait. Margo can hardly get a word in other than a quick response to Janie. For some reason she seems to have taken an interest in Margo’s mundane life outside of Jamyria.

  Blushing, Margo answers with a lying ‘no.’ Most of Janie’s questions are easy enough to answer. From school to free time — Margo chuckles at that one as free time is nearly nonexistent considering her work schedule — to favorite books and recipes. Those answers are simple and one-worded, but every once in a while Janie slips in an unexpected question.

  “And your family? What are they like?”

  “Oh,” Margo gasps, not prepared to answer this question. Of course, for most the answer would be easy. The truth is her family was once close, but they have been damaged. The broken pieces are still scattered about awaiting repair. Even if it were possible to move on, Margo knew that some of the pieces will never find their home again. It just takes time, she’d been told repeatedly. She still isn’t convinced.

  “We aren’t how we used to be. Things were always great between us, but now we’ve…drifted. It’s been difficult.”

  For probably the first time that day, Janie’s smile disappears. Margo’s eyes dart away knowing a lecture of some sort is brewing. That is definitely a conversation she wishes to avoid.

  “So tell me more about this mission,” Margo says quickly.

  Janie grins at her forced enthusiasm. “Well, that’s Nick’s area of expertise. He’s been through this already, so I think it’d be best if he gave you the answers you’re looking for. He should be back pretty soon…with a surprise.”

  Now Margo struggles looking for another way to distract her, so she asks the one thing she is too embarrassed to ask in front of Nick and a part of her really needs to know the answer.

  “What happened to Nick’s hand?” she blurts.

  Janie places her mug on the table and lets out one small, humorless laugh. “Nick has been through a lot for this world,” she mutters to herself mostly. Margo expects her to leave it at that. Maybe it’s the eagerness or urgency Janie sees in her eyes, but something makes her continue. She leans in and sighs, speaking each word rather harshly. “Many of the people of Jamyria don’t give him the respect he deserves. They’re ashamed of his failure. Makes me wonder if they really understand the risk he’s taken for them — for us.

  “He traveled for months searching for answers, but was faced with dead end after dead end. He couldn’t find the way out, obviously. And after almost a year of searching, he and his followers decided to start back at square one. So he headed for the castle —”

  “Which he was never allowed to go back to.” Margo finishes her sentence.

  “Exactly.” Janie’s smile grows darker. “He was caught, of course. It’s almost impossible to enter the palace without someone finding out. You see, the Queen can keep track of people in this world. She always watches us.”

  Margo shivers.

  “There are a couple of exceptions, though.” Janie nods once towards Margo.

  “Me?”

  “The original marks are cloaked. There’s about a ten-foot radius around them at all times that makes them and anyone standing within those ten feet invisible to the Queen.”

  “So for the most part, I’m safe.”

  “Should be safe,” corrects Janie. “Nothing in this world is definitive — don’t ever completely rely on anything anyone says. Your power should cloak you from the globe, but who’s to say she won’t find a way around that someday? I�
�m sorry we don’t have any better answers, but this is a learning process for all of us.”

  “The globe?” Margo asks curiously.

  Janie winces, as if aware she has spilled too much information. “Remember how you found that globe before you entered?”

  Margo nods.

  She picks up her tea and takes a sip to stall. “The Queen also has a globe very similar to the one that brought you into this world. Hers is much larger, though, and contains a lot more power. She can locate anything or anyone in Jamyria with just a few words.”

  Margo thinks about this and finds herself wondering if there is more to the globe than that. It seems too simple a feature to react the way Janie had. Either way, she decides she shouldn’t push luck on the subject. “So, Nick was going back to the castle…?”

  “Right,” she says. “He snuck back in with a few people. I still don’t know how he managed to do that. The Queen was furious after learning the Marked One was in her castle. She was even more upset to see that the New Mark was Nick, one of her first true prisoners in Jamyria.”

  Margo remembers the sign to Nick’s house labeled as ‘The First Man,’ but she cannot get a word in to ask if this is the reason why.

  “The first great rebellion took place, a battle the people of Jamyria will never forget.” Janie clenches her teeth. “But they were no match against the Queen and her Guard. Nick was soon on his back, others dead. The Queen pulled out her sword to finish him off, but just as she struck, he raised his marked hand blasting her away with his power. From what I hear, she was injured, too, but was able to heal herself without leaving a scratch in the end. The same is not true for Nick. As you saw, her blade cut off half his hand.”

  Her eyes fall to her cup. “He and his followers retreated, and the Queen never looked for him again. I’m sure her arrogance played a role in it, knowing that he lost most of his mark.” Janie chuckles darkly to herself. “She no longer saw him as a threat, so she just let him go….

  “It wasn’t long until he moved back into his home here. What was left for him to do but to come back? Of course, now he has to deal with the locals’ bad attitudes.” She scrunches her nose up in disgust. “But like I said, he deserves all the respect in the world for what he did for us.” Janie tilts her head. The corner of her mouth pulls up slightly, and she stares into the space between herself and the table as if recalling a private memory. Margo realizes just how strongly she feels about Nick. Perhaps, there is more than friendship between Nick Thomas and Janie Saunders. The way she defends him against the people here… It obviously strikes a nerve every time she mentions his failure. Her expression moments ago tells Margo that she does not condone the actions of these townspeople nor would she allow them to hurt him.

  Thinking of his failure and the many people who seem to dislike Nick, Margo wonders if she would have a ‘Janie’ to look after her if things were to end similarly. Would she be left alone to deal with the heckling? The thought of having to shoulder the lives of everyone within this world is difficult enough to fathom, but failure could mean a lifetime or two of ridicule.

  “That’s going to be me, isn’t?”

  Janie’s face freezes, holding her smile in an unnatural way. She places her cup on the saucer with a barely audible clink. “You will be faced with obstacles, yes, but these challenges will be your own. Mostly, you will find yourself faced with mental difficulties as you begin to learn the uniqueness of this power. You seem like a strong girl, Margo, but if you don’t feel you’re ready for this, please tell me. Nick feels you’re capable of the task, but if you’re worried, speak now before you’re in too deep.”

  In Janie’s eyes, Margo finds something unexpected. This is no cry for help, but instead a plea for her to stay behind. Whatever lies ahead is so dangerous Janie would rather wait to return home than see Margo through it.

  But she’s already decided she can’t sit around and wait for the Queen to find her.

  “I’ve sort of made up my mind,” Margo says. “I’m going to do it.”

  Janie’s smile grows more genuine. “Well, then, we must prepare you for the journey. Nick will be back any minute now.”

  *

  Light floods the room before Nick in the shape of a growing triangle as the door opens slowly to the dark room. It is a quaint room made of the Central City’s common gray, salt-stained wood. There are few furnishing about the room, all of which are abandoned. Sitting on the floor against the back wall is a boy with his knee propped up with an arm draped over it. He wears dusty brown clothes without shoes and has to shade his eyes as the morning light meets him.

  “Ever hear of knocking?” he groans from behind the shadow of his hand.

  “Why so dark in here?” Nick ignores him and immediately heads over to the window to push open a pair of shutters. The room illuminates too quickly for the boy’s liking. “There. You see? That’s much better.”

  The boy moans and considers laying face first on the cold floor but decides against it. “Come on, Nick. It’s too early for this.”

  “The day is nearly half over, my boy. We cannot have you wasting away in solitude. This world is too big, too magnificent, to be contained in this room!”

  The boy snorts. “We talking about the same world? ‘Cause it sounds almost as if you like it here. Keep talking like that, and I won’t know what side you’re on.”

  Nick chuckles. “You really are grouchy in the morning, do you know that?”

  The boy has yet to find the humor in their conversation.

  “Truth is,” Nick continues, “I’m in the market to buy a new shika. Now, nothing too fancy. Just something young, reliable. And it has to —”

  “You know my rule,” he cuts him off. “You were the one who made me who I am in this world. Take whatever you like. No need to come in here opening shutters and babbling on about what this screwed up world has to offer and all….”

  Nick doesn’t answer. He instead turns to the window and stares out into the adjacent field catching sight of a pair of brown shikas grazing in the distance. “There’s more, too….”

  “Oh?” His tone has sparked the boy’s curiosity.

  “Yes.” Nick drops his gaze. “I have also come to keep my end of our bargain.”

  For a split second, every muscle in the boy’s body tenses, and he suddenly jumps to his feet. He crosses over to Nick and slaps a hand on his shoulder. “The New Mark has arrived?”

  Nick wears a sheepish expression. “Seems my math was off. Fifty years is hard to keep track of in a world where time deceptively holds still.”

  He’s shaking his head. “None of that matters! The Marked One? It’s really him?”

  The joy in Nick’s eyes is enough confirmation. “But I have to send her away. And I’m here to ask you to be her guide.”

  Confusion strikes the boy’s eyes. “Her?”

  Nick smiles. “This one is slightly different from its predecessors.”

  *

  Janie’s mountains of questions about Margo’s life in the outside world have yet to cease; though, Margo finds it difficult to concentrate on anything other than what is occurring in the present. Luckily, Janie doesn’t seem bothered with a single word answer while Margo mulls over the changes happening to her. As long as Margo permits her to babble, Janie seems satisfied. She must really need a friend here.

  It’d been no more than a half an hour when they hear the front door open. With her grin somehow widening, Janie jumps to her feet, pulling Margo along with her. “Come and see. Oh, I do hope you like it!”

  The sun hits Margo’s eyes as they step outside, blinding her temporarily. It takes her a few blinks for them to adjust. That’s when she sees it towering over them.

  Margo was so engrossed in her thoughts of this new world and finding an escape that she only now recalls what Janie had snuck into the conversation earlier. Nick wasn’t on just an errand; he was bringing back a surprise. Where Margo is from, surprises come wrapped in pretty packages. Janie’s
definition is slightly different.

  With its back alone as tall as Margo, the lean creature arcs its graceful neck to peer down at them. It has an elongated deer-like face with short creamy fur rippling down its back. It is unlike any animal Margo has ever seen. It holds a demeanor of power and elegance.

  “Surprise! We got you a shika!” Nick stretches his hand out toward the giant thing, but it is no longer the animal that holds Margo’s interest.

  It is the boy standing behind it.

  His crystal blues eyes outlined in indigo lock with Margo’s and her chest rushes into spasms. He, too, must be surprised because his face instantly grows horror-stricken. But it is a familiar face framed with short chocolate hair and the most captivating eyes she has ever seen. He is taller than she remembers and his face has thinned into a man’s.

  Can it really be him? Locked away in this place, too?

  Seeing him is like a wonderful dream that suddenly turns sour. The kind of dream where you are not sure if you would rather wake up or keep it going just to see if it will turn into a happy ending.

  Nick is spewing facts about the animal he’s gotten for her, but Margo ignores him and rushes past. She freezes in front of the boy unsure of what to do.

  “Is this some kind of…joke…?” He whispers the words as if they are not meant for her to hear, but Margo jolts as a slew of memories are brought back at the sound of his voice.

  “Oh my…” says Nick. He looks between the two of them thoughtfully. “Cameron, my boy, do you…?”

  At the sound of his name, she outstretches a hand desperate to touch him yet too frightened to learn if he truly is real. He is mere inches from her grasp. This time will he slip away?

  “Margo?” Janie calls in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

  The blood rushes from his face. Margo’s fingers tremble before her and suddenly Janie’s delicate hand is on her shoulder.