“Of course. There are many; we assume. Few of them we’ve had contact with over the years, including the one who’s owner of the property through which your portal is located. She’s well advanced in years by now, but I’m hoping she’s still alive. Her grandson is the one who left all the equipment on the other side of the portal for us with careful instructions on how to create the podcast. It took some practice, but we’ve been successful releasing information into Time for a while now. The gentleman reaps the financial benefit from the endeavor, and we ensure the stories are told as they progress here in Mezzanine,” Jacob said.
“Wow. How do you get access to electricity and internet?”
“We have a disclosed location in which we’re allowed access by the royals. They monitor the world through channeling.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Through magic,” Jacob clarified. “They can recreate technology with their power. They prefer not to because they consider it conforming to the royals’ ideas and lifestyles of Terra. They believe their power is greater because of the lack of shared information with their people.”
Wilhelm coughed and gave Jacob a warning glance. Jacob crossed his legs and leaned back into his seat in apparent frustration.
“Now that we’ve answered your questions, we hope you’d be so kind as to answer a few of ours.” Wilhelm smiled.
“These will be on the podcast?”
“Of course. The world needs to know about the mysterious Rowena.”
“Wait. I need to ask one more question. I have to know. How did you do it? How did you force the portal open?”
Chapter 27
Wilhelm leaned in close and whispered, “That information is classified. You’ll understand why soon enough.” He cleared his throat and continued in a normal voice.
“Start from the beginning. How did you arrive in Mezzanine?”
I explained to them how I got there.
“You understand that for the safety of Mezzanine, we will not be allowed to disclose everything to the public?” Wilhelm interrupted. I nodded. “Censorship is a double-edged sword. Though it cuts both ways, one way almost always hurts less.”
I dodged the questions about whom I was with during my stay here and avoided using names altogether besides the two creepy twins who first captured me, the Tresels, and Madeline (since everyone already knew about her).
After saying all I was going to about “my story,” Wilhelm began asking me other questions.
“What are your thoughts about immortal life in Mezzanine?”
I said the first thing that occurred to me. “It’s unnatural.” Wilhelm gave me a quick grin and professionally continued his questions.
“What has been your strangest experience in Mezzanine so far?”
Me, Julia snickered in my mind.
“The separation between authority and commoners, I suppose. Where I’m from there isn’t such a distinct barrier. We vote in our governing authorities. They aren’t chosen by birth.” Immediately I thought of the disgusting, perverse Dekel and how terrible he’d be as an absolute ruler.
“Last question. Do you think you’ll ever return home?” His face and voice grew serious in tone. Jacob sat up to listen.
“I don’t know,” I answered.
“Our time is up, Rowena. It’s been a pleasure. We hope to meet you again,” Wilhelm said solemnly as he stood.
“Remember, what we don’t reveal is sometimes for the greater good,” Jacob whispered and walked out the door.
“Best to you,” Wilhelm said and followed him.
I nodded politely and watched them walk away. My stomach churned as fear overwhelmed me. I wished they could stay. Something about their presence was comforting. Dresdem walked in and closed the door. I saw Wilhelm glance back at me one last time. Panic raged within me and in a second my body had divided itself and was standing next to Wilhelm and Jacob in the foyer of the castle.
I startled them.
“What are you doing?” Jacob leaned away nervously.
“Don’t leave me with them,” I whispered.
Wilhelm looked around anxiously. “Why aren’t they following you?” he asked.
“It’s a trick. They want to see if we’ll help her,” Jacob said.
“No. I’m here. Or I think I’m here,” I said, trying to keep focused. Then I lost myself and was sitting right in front of Dresdem again, who was pouring himself another glass of brandy. I forced my thoughts back on the brothers, and I was there.
“Where’d you go? You disappeared right in front of us.” Wilhelm’s face grew pale.
Jacob laughed quietly to himself. “She’s a projector.” Wilhelm looked at him with wild eyes and back at me. He pulled me into the recess of a nearby doorway.
“Listen, don’t let anyone know you can do this. But practice it; perfect it. It will prove useful for you in time. Just be careful,” he whispered.
“We have to go,” Jacob said. They both placed their hats on their heads and left.
“Did you hear me?” Dresdem asked with animosity growing in his voice.
“I’m sorry. What were you saying?” I answered him.
He pulled at the bottom of his vest and straightened himself. He regained his composure and repeated. “Tomorrow we will take you to your portal, and you will open it. We will do this every day until you’re successful. Are we clear?” His eyes were black and forceful − the very epitome of power.
“Off with her.” He waved his arm and Nurse appeared at my side. She took my arm and escorted me back to my room.
“Why’d you have to go and make him angry? You stupid girl,” she said.
“I didn’t mean to. I was… distracted.”
“You’re not making your life any easier, you know. He refuses to have you down anymore. What’s more, he’s angry with the brothers for keeping you over the designated time,” she said as she helped me out of the dress.
“They left when the last grains of sand emptied the timer, I thought.”
“On time is late. Mr. Dresdem is a precise man, and he will have them punished for invading his time.” She yanked the tiara out of my hair.
“OW! What did you do that for?”
“Trust me. I won’t be the only one inflicting pain if you keep up your poor behavior.” She took the borrowed items and stomped out the door. The key clasped the lock and once again I was alone in my little tower.
I couldn’t help but stare out the window. I watched as the roadmen suffocated every lamppost and as the residents’ windows became dark revealing nothing but empty gray skies above. I kept my eyes on Mack and Cilla’s place. One of their windows still glowed in the night. I hadn’t seen anyone come and go. Of course, something could have happened while I was at dinner, but not knowing worried me.
My eyes became heavy as sleep came upon me. I struggled to stay awake. The entire town was dark now. I got into bed, blew out my candle and for some reason, took one more look back at the blacksmith shop. Castle guards stood at the door. I rushed to the window, thinking I could somehow get a better look.
What are they doing? My stomach turned, and I began to feel nauseous.
This can’t be good.
I tried not to blink. Two of them were at the front door and others went around the back. They had them surrounded. They knocked. Someone answered the door. I strained my eyes but couldn’t see who. The guards forced their way through the door. I grasped the window’s bars and began to cry. I felt helpless and guilty for ever involving them in all of this.
The guards brought three people out of the house after a few minutes. They each had sacks placed over their heads, and their hands were tied. I knew one of them had to be Cilla because I saw a dress, and I assumed that another was Mack. But the last one had me stumped. I couldn’t make out any distinguishable features in the distance.
“No,” I screamed into the darkness. The guards approached the castle gates. They were going to be housed somewhere within this enchanted prison.
I cried myself into exhaustion that night. Words couldn’t explain how terrible I felt for ruining so many people’s lives.
If I had never tried to escape the Tresels’ home, maybe none of this would have ever happened. Maybe Madeline would have been miserable, but at least she wouldn’t have to live on the run forever. Cale would’ve never needed to rescue Madeline from Dresdem. He would have saved her and could finally be building a life with his love. If I hadn’t brought Mack and Cilla into this, they’d still be in their homes. And what about Humbert? And Chester? If I hadn’t met him, he would be comfortable in his little cottage with in-door plumbing.
“Wakey, wakey! Get up,” Nurse said as she pulled the sheet off of me. “Today you will travel with Mr. Dresdem. He’s requested that you receive your breakfast here.” She sat a tray with a scone and some juice on the bed. “Eat up.” She hurried me.
I ate as instructed, had my cold bath, and went back into the room to await further instructions.
“Put this on,” she said throwing some clothes my way. “They want you to ‘fit in.’”
It was a long, full blue skirt with a white button up top with a belt. I put it on, secured the belt around my waist, and looked in the mirror.
“I look like someone out of an old Western movie,” I said. Nurse looked at me in confusion, which made me smile a little.
I followed her down the stairs and met Dresdem and Dekel in the front foyer. They were clothed in cool linen, which made me a little angry since I was forced to wear yards of skirt, and it was still flaming hot in the middle of the day.
“Don’t you look nice,” Dekel said while he mapped me with his pensively perverse eyes.
“Time is wasting.” Dresdem took my arm.
We walked out of the house and down the steps. Dresdem snapped his fingers and a horseless carriage appeared. He hurried us inside.
“Carter?” he called. A man appeared.
“Yes, sir?”
“Join us.” The man hopped on the seat in front of the carriage, shaking us. Dekel had taken the opportunity to sit next to me, and every bit of turbulence made me bump into him, which he liked a little too much.
Within moments, we were flying. I don’t mean like thirty thousand feet in an airplane flying. It was more like thirty feet, just high enough to clear most obstructions. The taller ones were simply avoided. Dresdem’s magic drove us, but he never so much as glanced out the window.
We were all silent during the trip. It only took about an hour to arrive. I wanted to know what happened to Mack and Cilla but was too afraid to ask.
When the carriage landed, a feeling of doom washed over me. Everyone I’d grown to care about in Mezzanine was now in danger of Dresdem, and a part of me just wanted to run back home and be with my family again. I wanted to take the cowardly way out. But there was another part of me that knew I owed it to them to help them, even though I didn’t know how to.
I grudgingly took Dekel’s hand to help me out of the carriage. I felt like I’d stepped back in time. It was surreal to be back where it all began. I stared at myself in the edge’s mirror.
I am not the same person I was when I stood here last.
We rarely are the same at the finish as in the beginning even if the destination is the same.
Chapter 28
I’ve heard it said that life is stranded together by a series of defining moments. This was one of them. I knew Dresdem would stop at nothing to get the portals open. He’d been searching for a way for many, many years. But I also knew that opening the portal, though good for me for the time being, would be disastrous for my world. Magic doesn’t exist there, and I sort of felt like it shouldn’t. On the other hand, being so close to seeing my family again made it hard for me to think clearly.
It would be better if I’m in control of the magic. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about the damage Dresdem could do. He would be nothing.
“Get to it,” Dresdem barked.
I had to try, or at least pretend to try, to open the portal. I pushed, prodded, kicked, cursed, and everything else trying to open it. It wasn’t long before the heat, fear, and frustration began to take its toll on me.
I studied the ancestral band on Dresdem’s arm. Swirling letters and a crowned crest, complete with a ball of fire, adorned his arm. I struggled to read the words, but I couldn’t get close enough to make them out.
I fought again with the portal to no avail.
“I’m starved,” Dekel finally said.
My stomach growled at the mention of food.
“So snap something to eat,” Dresdem scowled.
“I told Mom, Lauren, and Isabelle we’d be back for lunch.”
Dresdem glared at me with his arms crossed.
“You’re not getting anywhere, are you? You had better come up with something,” he said. “Let’s go.”
We got in the carriage and headed back. We were quiet for the first few minutes. Dresdem placed his hands on his lap, and I finally saw the words on his inked band “Magia est sanguis.” Odd.
“Isabelle is talking about having an end-of-summer party. You know, bring in the fall with a ball sort of thing,” Dekel said to his father.
“We’ll see.”
“I think it would be good. We haven’t had a party in Royal Court for ages. Don’t you think it’d be fun? We can make it a masquerade,” Dekel went on.
Dresdem glared at him. Dekel, sensing his frustration, hung his shoulders and looked down at his knees.
“Who’s Isabelle?” I asked, trying to lighten the conversation.
“She’s my wife,” Dekel answered.
“One of them,” Dresdem said. Dekel smiled even though Dresdem seemed to be appalled by the idea. “My son has a sort of appetite.”
Dresdem, moral?
“I’m a collector at heart. I love beautiful things,” Dekel responded with a creepy grin.
“When you collect people into the family, you distribute the wealth. I’d rather not share,” Dresdem hissed.
Magic. He’d rather not have so many people who are capable of magic around him. Julia cleared up my confusion.
“I’ve got my eye on another rare piece, actually. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about her.” Dekel smirked at me.
“We’ll discuss it later,” Dresdem said, glancing out the window and making it apparent to us that conversation time was over.
When we arrived back at the house, I was relieved to be escorted back to my room. It was the only place I felt somewhat safe. Nurse brought me lunch; I peeled off my dress and lay on the cold floor. I no longer wanted to look out the window. There was nothing left to see. My heartbreak returned, and I spent the rest of the afternoon in tears. I wanted badly to know who else the guards captured. It could have been Chester, Cale, or any of the other pack members. I kept replaying what I remembered of the hooded captive, but I still couldn’t know for sure.
If I could only get to the other side of that door.
What if you can?
I sat up and imagined myself outside the door, just like I had when I’d met with the brothers in the hall.
Then I was standing on the other side of the door in amazement. I practically ran down the stairs. When I got to the bottom of them, I wasn’t sure which direction to go. I wondered where royals would keep their prisoners. Every fairy tale I’d ever read would say the dungeon or basement. I searched random doors, which were either locked or just abandoned rooms.
The kitchen had the door wide open. I peeked around the corner, smelled supper cooking, and heard the cooks talking and chopping.
Supper is going to be soon. We need to be back by then.
I ran on my tiptoes across the opening and paused to hear if anyone noticed. They didn’t. I kept walking. I hugged the dark walls of the corridor, just in case I saw someone.
After a while, I began to feel a strange tug. Something deep down in my gut ached more and more with every step I took. The intense pain almost brought tears to my eyes. I doubled o
ver. That’s when I saw it. A stone staircase a few feet from me led down. This had to be it, so I pushed through the pain and down the stairs. When I reached the bottom of them, I could hardly see straight. I looked around, but it was pitch black. I started to see stars. I finally let go and was back on my bedroom floor again. The pain slowly vanished.
It took me a minute, but I made it to the bed. I didn’t understand this strange gift, but it amazed me. I wished I could have asked the brothers to explain it to me. At that moment, I just happened to catch a glance of a tray on the vanity. Nurse had already brought my supper. She must have thought I was sleeping.
My real body stays in whatever position I leave it in. That’s why Dresdem didn’t know I’d left when I saw the brothers. I was still sitting in a chair vacantly looking at him. Amazing.
I ate my supper quickly and tried the whole thing again. I got a little further before the pain stopped me this time. I started to see what appeared to be jail cells, but there were no prisoners in the first few — that I could see anyway. The third time I tried, I decided that bringing my candle would be a good idea. I could project it too, but it caused me not to be able to travel as far. I couldn’t even get into the basement with it.
The fourth time I went solo again. I walked down the rock steps and deeper down the unlit hall of the basement. My bare feet splashed in some sort of mucky substance. I must have made a sound in disgust because someone grunted. My eyes struggled to adjust. All I could see was the barred doors on either side of me. What those doors contained eluded me. Only darkness. A few minutes in the pit was all it took for me to realize I wasn’t going to find them by just looking. It would involve more risk.
“Mack? Cilla?” I whispered. My words bounced back to me. A slow, painful minute passed before anyone answered.
“Roe?”
I pushed forward to where I heard his voice.
“I’m here.” A pair of hands clasped the iron bars on the right side of me. But the darkness still prevented me from seeing his face.
“Cale?”
“Yeah?”
“How did this happen? How did they find out about Mack and Cilla and everything? Why didn’t you go with the others?” I doubled over in pain. This was my absolute limit for the distance I could project, and my body screamed for me not to take another step.
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