by Leela Ash
She looked in the direction of the noise but could not see anything in the darkened corners, although one corner looked a little darker than the others. She was about to turn her head again when she felt a light breeze flow across her face. Staring hard now into the corner, she was now convinced that it definitely was darker than anywhere else in the cellar, as though there was another room. She’d never noticed another room before. Maybe the specialist beer crates were in there, because she couldn’t find them here. As she neared the darkened shape, she could make out it was an entrance to another room. She supposed it was a bit hidden away. With this dim light it was no wonder she’d not noticed it before. With a bit of luck the crate would be in here, and then she can get off home.
Chapter 2 Flickering Light
As soon as she stepped into the passageway, she knew she had made a mistake, it seemed to go on forever. What was she thinking? Just turn back round Tammy girl, get your coat and go home, sod the dude and his pretentious beer. Then she turned to look back but couldn't see the entrance, all she could see was the cellar wall, she must have made a turn somewhere, without realizing. Looking in front, she could see a light glowing. With an increasing feeling of trepidation, she headed for the light.
The light flickered, like a flame, but she couldn’t see anyone lighting a fire down here. A breeze blew up the tunnel and she realized she was about to step outside. How could it be the outside? She looked on in puzzlement, yes, it was definitely the outside, it led to a woodlands. There were no woodlands at the back of the bar, she was certain.
Her heart pounded in her chest and her legs felt like jelly, but bravely, she stepped out of the end of the tunnel, and into a dense woodland. Sat in a small clearing, next to a camp fire, was a figure. It seemed to have a cape or blanket over the shoulders. As she approached the figure, she could soon make out that it was an old man.
“At last you’ve returned to us, Princess Tamara, and not a moment too soon,” the figure spoke to her with a deep rattling voice.
Tammy was surprised to hear the old man call her by name, her Sunday best name at that, but she had never met him before, she was certain.
“I think you’ve got the wrong person, old man, I just work in the bar over there, and I ain’t no one’s Princess,” she turned back in the direction she had come from, and all she could see were trees in her wake. “Where the f… I’m telling you, I just came down a passageway, back there, and now I can’t see it. I have to get back, there’s a customer waiting for me.”
“You have bigger problems than customers, Tamara,” the old man told her.
“Do I know you? I’m sure I would have remembered you. How do you know my name?” Despite her question, she was certain she’d never met this man before in her life.
“I gave it to you,” he replied, with no further explanation.
“Are you crazy? I don’t even know who you are, or how I got here. And, while we’re at it, where is here, exactly, it’s no part of Baltimore that I know of?” She was beginning to feel afraid and unable to keep the rising levels of panic out of her voice. Something was wrong, maybe it was just a dream.
“Calm yourself, Tamara,” a voice spoke behind her.
Tammy swung around at the sound of the voice behind her, and was a little stunned at what she saw. It was the guy from the bar. Speechless, all she could do was stare at the man.
“Are you following me?” she managed to utter. “Just because I work in a bummer of a job, doesn’t mean you can stalk me.”
The man looked at her with contempt, but said nothing, instead he walked over to the old man.
“It’s a mistake to bring her here, look at her, she cannot help us Father.”
The old man looked at his son.
“She is our only hope, she always was,” he looked at his son harshly. “Make your peace, divided we are weak, and that suits no one but our enemies.”
Father? There was some crazy stuff going on here, and Tammy’s head was in a spin.
“I don’t know what you two are about, but I think you’ve got the wrong girl, here,” she huffed at him and walked away, only thing was, she had nowhere to go.
Turning to Tammy, the old man beckoned her to sit by him.
“Come, I have much to explain and little time to do so.”
She stared at the two men, unable to see any resemblance between them, although the father’s skin was darker, and his features more pronounced. His eyes were dark, almost black, and seemed to look like deep pools, but she found them calming. He smiled at her and beckoned to her again. She was still uncertain, but the fire looked warm and comforting. What did she have to lose, she thought to herself as she walked up to the old man and sat down next to him.
“My name is Angeni, and if you are ready, I shall begin?”
She nodded and waited for him to start.
Chapter 3 The Cruel Truth
She listened to what the old man had to say, with rising incredulity at what he was telling her. It was simply unbelievable.
“You are from a bloodline of Royalty that has ruled this land for a millennia,” he started, what followed was nearly an hour of pure fantasy in Tammy’s mind. These guys were playing some kind of trick on her.
“Look,” she said to the younger guy, when the story had finished, “can you just show me how I can get back to the bar? I don't mean to be disrespectful to the old man, but that story is simple nonsense. Surely you don’t expect me to believe all this crap about me belonging to a Royal family and my brother’s gonna murder me if he discovers I’m in this fairy land. All because I can neutralize his magical powers. Hah!” she spat out her last word. “Are you two nuts?”
“I told you it was a waste of time, Father. She’s not worth the effort,” Niyol said, contemptuously. “My Father holds a lot of faith in you. I warned him not to bring more bad blood into these lands, we have enough with Vaclav. How do we know this sister will not side with her brother?” He turned to the old man as he asked this question.
The old man ignored his son, turning to Tammy, “Please Princess Tamara, sit back down and watch.”
Tammy did so. He pulled a small leather pouch out of his pocket, opened it, and poured some fine powder into his hand. Throwing the powder onto the fire, it caused it to flare up, brightly.
“Look,” she said, a little hesitantly as she didn’t want to upset the old man. “I’m sorry, but I don't need any parlor tricks, I need to get home.”
While she said this, she didn't take her eyes off the fire. It seemed, for a second or two, when the flames died back down, that nothing was going to happen. Tammy was just about to turn away, when something caught her eye. The flames were flaring up again, and this time, embedded in the flames was a moving image. It was hazy and distorted as the flames flickered, but it was clear to see. Tammy sat back down mesmerized by what she was viewing.
She saw a young boy in his teens, walking with two people, her parents. How she could know this she had no idea as she didn’t recognize them, but yet she did know. In her heart she felt a connection, a love and then a yearning. She watched on in horror as the boy murdered them in cold blood, but she was unsure how. He carried no weapon, yet kill them he did, and horribly. It was clear they died a painful death. The scene changed and she could see armed soldiers, terrorizing people. Killing some, and imprisoning others, but above all this, in a dark blood red sky, was the face of her brother. She knew him now, sensed who he was as he smiled evilly, amused by the bloodshed. The scene changed again and she could see the old man, but younger, carrying a baby into a swirling abyss. She recognized her home town. The face of a young boy changed, grew older with cruelty written into every line of its features. This was her brother, and he was the evil tyrant.
Everything was true. How she knew, was unclear, but it came to her as if it were her own memories. She was that baby, and this man had saved her from her murderous brother. Tammy was too shocked to say anything for a while, after the magic show. It was unbelievabl
e, but deep down inside she knew it to be true. She had always felt an outsider in Baltimore, never feeling that she fitted in, always believing something was missing. Tammy had always thought it was because she had never known her parents, being brought up by her aunt, but now she realized, it was deeper than that.
Her head was full of questions, each vying to be the first to be asked.
“So, where am I from?” Starting with the obvious one.
“These are the lands of Ionia,” the young man said, proudly. “Your brother rules five of the seven provinces, if he takes the final two, our people will be lost, forever.”
Ionia? The name meant nothing to her.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t see how I can be this person that you think I am. I’m just an ordinary girl. I don’t have any destiny and I definitely don’t have any magic,” she was still trying to convince herself that they had the wrong person. Magic isn’t real, is it? She asked herself
Yet, she remembered the visions she had just witnessed in the flames. That was magic.
“In Ionia there is no technology,” the old man spoke to her, his head bowed forward, and he didn't lift it as he spoke, he looked in some sort of trance. “Technology is the art of science. Ionia rejects science, instead it relies on magic. Magic is much deeper and its source is from the mind. Science, for all its cleverness, does not understand the mind, and that is why you cannot use magic in a world of technology, science simply rejects it.” He paused, as if waiting for his words to sink in, before continuing. “In this land, magic comes from the spirit world and is channeled into certain individuals, you are one of those individuals. Your bloodline is borne of Royalty, which is a vessel of magic, in Ionia.”
The younger man looked upon the girl and could see confusion written on her face, confusion and fear, and for the first time he felt pity for her. Whilst her character was like an annoying thorn in his hand, this news was difficult for her to understand. In only moments she had been brought from her familiar surroundings, into an alien world. Shown her parent’s murder, and the murder of her people. Finally, they were now trying to convince her that her bloodline had been the cause of all this destruction. She looked wounded and broken.
Niyol passed her a blanket
“You should try and sleep, tomorrow we travel far and you will need your rest.”
Tammy wrapped herself in the blanket and curled up to keep warm. She was stunned by what she had learned today, but she knew it all to be true, this was her home. It was almost too much to take in, she had just seen her parents murdered by her brother, a tyrannical despot. She had been brought here to save this world. How could this happen to a barmaid, a simple small town girl who never did anything exciting? Many thoughts whizzed around in her head, and it seemed to take an eternity before she finally fell into a light sleep.
The old man was pleased that she slept because the next day, and many days to follow, would be difficult for her. He just hoped that he had made the right decision, all their hopes depended on this girl.
Chapter 4 Fresh Tangy Oranges
Tammy felt confused when she first awoke. When she saw the old man, in exactly the same place he had been as she’d fallen asleep, she realized that it wasn't a horrible nightmare, everything was real.
“Are you well, Princess?” the familiar voice asked her.
She recognized the voice as the son of the old man, the handsome stranger who was the first cause of all her troubles.
“Don’t call me that!” she snapped back at him. “It sounds ridiculous.”
“It is not ridiculous to your people,” he told her. “They will rejoice at your return. You are their savior. You must become comfortable with this role, Princess.”
“Are you doing that simply to annoy me?” she spat at him, knowing he was enjoying her discomfort.
Right now it all seemed his fault. It was him that had sent her into that stinking cellar, which ultimately landed her in this strange place. She didn’t belong here, even if it were true, how could she make herself into a Princess, and a magic one at that? It sounded too surreal, how was she ever going to get back home again?
They ate a quick breakfast of fresh forest fruits, and drank clear spring water. Tammy felt she had not eaten anything so delicious in her entire life. As she was finishing breakfast, the old man approached her.
“It is time for us to move on, Princess. We need to start the journey that will one day result in the freedom of your people,” he smiled at her. “Today, is a good day.”
His words sent dread through her heart, how could she be the savior of any people? She was so confused, what exactly did they expect her to do?
Niyol’s voice snapped her out of her reverie, “You ride with me, Princess,” he placed extra emphasis on the word, Princess, enjoying that it caused her chagrin.
“Up there? With you?” she frowned. “No way. Can’t we walk?
“I gather our Princess hasn't ridden on horseback before, then?” he smirked at her, enjoying her discomfort.
“No, the Princess hasn’t, neither does she want to.”
“Well, it’s at least twelve miles before our first stop. Passing through woodlands that are home to many wild creatures, including wolves and bears. If that’s what the Princess ordains, then who am I to argue?”
“Okay, okay, I get the picture,” she said, resignedly. “Help me up,” she demanded, holding her hand out. He grasped it firmly, pulling her up, seemingly effortlessly. She swung her leg over the horse and tried to wriggle into a comfortable position. “Have you never heard of saddles in this world?” she asked, a note of sarcasm in her voice.
Niyol ignored her sarcastic remark, simply shaking his head in despair. How his father thought this flip of a girl, this prima donna, could save their world, escaped him. He pressed his heels into the horse and commanded it to move off. Finally, they set off on their journey. Niyol wrapped his arm around the young woman’s waist, keeping a firm grip when the terrain became rougher. His father would never forgive him if he let her fall. The softness of her shape between his legs was encouraging his member to harden. He wondered at what she’ll do if she notices.
The horse wasn't as uncomfortable as Tammy thought it would be, it just took a little getting used to. It didn’t help that there was nothing for her to hold onto, other than the horse’s mane, but she felt uncomfortable pulling on that too hard, though the horse didn't complain. She didn't even mind when the man behind her wrapped his arm around her waist, his strong arms holding her securely, his broad chest pressing into her back, it gave her a feeling of safety, something she hadn't felt since this adventure had started. She shuffled back to press closer to him, his strong arms giving her a sense of security. Then she felt something stiff pressing against her ass. She blushed with embarrassment when she realized what it was, and for a fleeting moment an image of a naked Niyol shot through her mind.
To take her mind from such visions, she tried to make conversation with him, but he was reluctant to talk. Whenever she had a question, his answer was always, “things will become clearer,” or, “ask my father.” It was all quite frustrating.
“Will I ever be able to return home?” she asked him, not expecting a reply, and was surprised when he responded.
“This is your home,” he said, as if that was all he would commit to.
He really infuriated her sometimes, with his superior attitude, wasn't she meant to be the Royal one? What was he anyway? Nothing but a jumped up bodyguard. Perhaps it was time to give out some Royal edicts, starting with forcing this infuriating man to treat her with some respect.
“Yes, I will show you how to return to your other world, when the time is right,” his words startled her and she felt a little guilty for her angry thoughts.
The rest of the journey passed by in an uncomfortable silence, for each of them, and they were both pleased when they entered a large clearing, not too far from a small village.
As they drew closer, a rider on horseback came o
ut to greet them. He was dressed similar to Niyol, with a dark green leather jerkin and black leather pants. On the breast of the jerkin was a badge with a red background, and embroidered in gold was an eagle fighting with a wolf. It was the same as the badge on Niyol’s jerkin. She wondered if it was some kind of clan marking.
“Welcome to Ionia, Princess Tamara,” the rider greeted her. “My life is yours to command,” he bowed at the waist, sweeping his arm in front of his body, in an elaborate salutation.
“Thank you...umm...” she stared at the rider questioningly, wondering at his name.
“Peta,” he responded.
“Thank you for your gracious welcome, Peta.”
They all rode together into the village, with Peta leading the way. News had travelled ahead of her and the streets were lined with happy people. When they entered the village, a huge cheer rose from the thronging crowd.
“Are these people here for me?” she asked Niyol.
“I told you that your people would be happy to see your return,” he said to her. “They think, like my father, that you will save them from the tyrant.”
“And you?” she asked.
“It matters not what I think, if you can motivate the people to stand and fight, then your being here may have merit and reason,” he couldn't hide the doubt in his voice.
“Why do you dislike me, Niyol? I have done nothing to deserve your derision,” she scolded.
Niyol didn't respond to her question, he just stared ahead. Truth is, he was actually getting used to having her around. She did instill in him some confidence that her arrival may help, especially having seen the village folk welcome her, but he wasn’t going to admit that to her. Unknown to her, he smiled down at her head as she sat in front of him on the horse. He thought she smelled of fresh tangy oranges, and in fact, he thought she was quite beautiful, for a thorn in his hand.
