"I think maybe a couple of miles. But we ought to be careful. Being this close means there's probably more Guardsmen around.”
"Lots more, I'd imagine, since Ella will be looking for us by now."
Stu put his hand on the dagger. "And this. I'm dying to know what it does."
"Let's take a proper look at it," John said.
Stu slipped it slowly from around his neck and handed it over. Crystal took it first, and turning it from side to side, saw nothing of significance. She ran her fingers over the filigree markings, but beyond that, it was no different to any other blade she'd handled in her entire life.
Nic took it next. After a while, she shook her head and handed it to John.
John reached for it almost before Nic was ready to hand it over. He was clearly itching to test it, and he held it close to his face, as if expecting some miracle to reveal itself to him, denied to all the others. But after a while, even he gave up, and he dropped the dagger to his side, disappointed.
"The secret must be in what it can do," Jake said.
"No fooling," John was about to hand it back to Stu, but then hesitated. "Are you sure you're the best man to look after this, considering your shoulder?"
Stu shrugged, and must have immediately regretted it for the action made him wince. "You can carry it if you like. It's no skin off my nose. It's not like I'm struggling under the weight of some heroic burden. Knock yourself out."
A glimmer returned to John's eyes, and he tied the dagger around his own neck. He looked like a contented cat. Crystal also shrugged and peered ahead, into the forest.
"Let's get this over with," she said. "All I want now is a good meal and a warm bath, and since we're this close, I want to get there as quickly as we can."
"Seconded," Nic agreed.
They all pressed forward. Their steps were determined, but cautious, and Crystal dreamed of all the home comforts ahead of her. Only Jake looked sour, his shoulders slumped. Crystal suspected she knew the cause but could think of nothing to say to comfort him. I don't know what destiny has in mind for you, my friend, and I wish for the best, but right now we have to get back to reality. But though she tried not to think about what was going to happen to Jake, she couldn't quite put it out of her mind. It was one hell of a gloomy prospect, spoiling all thoughts of going home.
The Marquis
They were making progress. They were beyond the palace and the city of Somnia, and Crystal should have been encouraged by their progress, and she was, but they were not out of danger yet. And there was something else.
Nic glanced back over her shoulder at Crystal and slowed until they drew level. "Something's up," she said, keeping her voice low. "I can always tell."
"I guess," Crystal said.
"What is it?"
"Jake. I'm worried about what will happen to him when this is over."
Nic nodded and glanced a few feet ahead to where Jake and the boys were scouting for signs of trouble. "Nothing I suppose. I sort of figured this world would disappear when we went back through the curtains. I'm sorry to say, but I think Jake will disappear with it. He’s not real. Like none of it is.”
"Will it though?" Crystal replied. "But what if it doesn't? What if it has a life of its own, and they punish him for helping us?"
"I don't know," Nic said. "What do you propose we do, stay back and defend him? That would be totally mad."
"No, of course. We all have to get home."
"Yes, we do," Nic said. "And remember––there is a real Jake on the other side of that curtain. So that one will live on, whatever happens here.”
"Yes, but I've gotten used to this one. I like him a lot." Crystal rubbed her forehead and wondered what was to be done. "If there was just some way to leave him, knowing everything was okay and that he wouldn't be hurt. Then I'd feel better about it."
"Well if I think of anything, I'll let you know."
"Thanks." Crystal glanced around carefully. "And there's another thing. I know we had no choice, but I wish I knew what happened to Empusa and Lily. Do you think they got away from the Guardsmen at the waterfall?"
"I dunno," Nic answered. "There were up against a lot of 'em. I just hope they were captured and not killed or anything."
"Maybe––or if they got away, maybe they went back to the boat?"
"Yeah, maybe," Nic agreed.
Crystal heard something and cocked her head to one side, uncertain. "Um, is that... music?"
They all came to a halt. Sure enough, they heard the faint melody of strings––violins perhaps ––coming from a little distance ahead. And then an oboe. And perhaps a flute.
"If we hear dueling banjos next, I'm outta here," Nic whispered.
The others waited for Nic and Crystal to catch up.
The trees were dense in this part of the wood, so they couldn't see what was going on ahead. But the music was getting louder.
"What is that?" Stu whispered. "Friend or foe, you think?
John scratched his head. "Hard to say when you can't see it. But the musicians are really good."
"Well I don't want a concert, or another adventure. I just want to get home. Since the music's coming from that way, I say we head over that way." Nic pointed in the opposite direction.
"I agree," Crystal said. "Let's try and make our way around it."
This was easier said than done, because now the music seemed to be coming from all around them, and Crystal didn't know whether to turn left or right to avoid it.
"Which way?" John asked.
Jake shrugged.
"I don't know, it seems to be all around us,“ Crystal said. There was no choice. She'd just have to wing it. "Let's try this way."
They all followed her lead to the left and pushed through some very dense foliage. On the other side was a clearing, and as soon as they saw it, Crystal knew they were in trouble.
"Oh shit," John said.
"Nicely expressed," said the Guardsman. Like his three companions, he sat on a horse, his sword drawn and pointing directly at them. "Queen Ella requests the pleasure of your company in her marquis."
Crystal looked behind her, wondering if they could make a dash for it back into the woods, but two other Guardsmen were following up from the rear on foot.
Nic was the first to respond. "Tell her we would love to come but must regrettably decline. A prior engagement and all that. So sorry"
One of the two Guardsmen behind them prodded the flat of his sword into Nic's back.
"Hey, be careful where you stick that! You guys just love poking people with your mighty swords."
Nevertheless, she stepped forward into the open with the others.
Crystal looked up at the sky. It had been a long day, and the light was beginning to dim. Jake had told them Ella's powers were limited outside of the city, but who knew what she could conjure out here in the woods.
They had only been a few hundred feet from the source of the music. Ella's entourage had erected a large marquis in the open clearing, surrounded by smaller tents. There appeared to be some kind of tea party going on. A tea party with walkers, dressed in their finest, holding onto drinks and wandering aimlessly about, just as they had been in the city, only more stylishly and with a lot more color to their clothes.
In the corner of the marquis was a small orchestra, playing something pleasantly appropriate for the occasion. It reminded Crystal of a wedding she had been to. And there, in the heart of it all, dressed in white and sipping a cup of something steaming, was Ella herself. She was sitting on a small replica of her palace throne, and at first, she didn't even look up, but sipped on her tea, with her little finger extended.
When she did finally acknowledge them, it was with feigned surprise.
"Oh, how lovely to see you all here. You all look so well. Charming." She took another sip of her tea. In contrast to the others, she wore a sheer white veil over her quaintly bonneted head and looked like she was planning to chase butterflies.
"Please have a
seat. My cook has made lots of lovely things for you to eat––see." She motioned to a table spread with all kinds of wonderful sweet things, from donuts, to muffins, to little sandwiches and pies. "She particularly made the pumpkin-iced cinnamon rolls for you, Crystal. I believe you like them."
There seemed little point to arguing, and they were all hungry, so they sat down and helped themselves to the feast in front of them. Ella continued to sip on her tea as they snarfed the goodies down, like someone without the slightest care in the world.
Crystal picked up a cinnamon roll and sniffed it. Perhaps Ella had simply wanted her to enjoy it, but for her it was a reminder of home, and she set it down again. Her eyes were welling with tears. They had come so far, only to fail now? This world was so cruel.
Perhaps they were not done yet. She brushed off all thought of defeat and secretly dried her eyes. She would not give Ella that satisfaction. She looked across to Ella, and their eyes locked.
"Damn you Ella, all we want to do is go home. Enough with this charade. What is it that you want?"
"You know what I want. And one of you carries it. Is it you? When we first met, I sensed it would be you. You seem like a potential queen."
"We are all winners here, Ella. Not me especially. The only loser will be you. Brace yourself for disappointment."
"Fine words, my friend. But they are just words. Would you care for more tea before I have my guards search you? Resist and I shall have you all killed at once." She said it so pleasantly, like she was choosing between a fruit scone and a donut. The queen was insane.
Crystal opened her mouth, but she found that for the moment she had no words.
One of the walkers became suddenly animated, and approaching his queen, whispered something in her ear. "Ah. Intriguing. My spies at the dock tell me it was not you that defeated Ursula, but another." She turned her gaze on Stu. "How delightful. But I see you are injured. Perhaps it is more fitting this way, that the ceremony be performed by a champion of men. Caducus might enjoy a king instead of a queen, for a change.”
Stu put down his Bavarian cream donut. "Ain't gonna happen, lady. Anyway. Bring on your Guardsmen. They're not going to find anything. I cut off Ursula's arm, it sank to the bottom of the ocean, she was still holding the dagger in her hand when it disappeared."
A shadow crossed Ella's once perfectly serene face. "If you were in my city, I would know if that were true. As it is, I do not. You give me no choice." She beckoned to a Guardsman standing at the entrance to the marquis. 'Strip him!"
"No damn way!" Stu said.
The Guardsmen had not searched them, so had missed their concealed weapons. In a flash, Stu jumped to his feet and unsheathed his sword. He grabbed hold of the nearest walker and held the blade to the confused man's windpipe.
"If your goonies come within an inch of me, I swear I’ll slice him before you can shove another piece of pie down your regal throat."
Ella didn't seem in the least fussed. Instead she checked her pinky was correctly pointed and took a sip of her tea.
"I see you haven't quite grasped the concept of my puppets. Let me enlighten you. This world is nothing but shadows. It takes an otherworlder to breathe life into it. When Crystal passed through the curtain that first time, this world became Caducus and it borrowed her consciousness. When she entered this land, she was a typical, self-obsessed seventeen-year-old. So naturally, everything and everyone here is the same. People she knows, people she is familiar with, tastes she has experienced, things she has read about––this is real enough. The rest is but shadows in her subconscious, waiting for a catalyst to awaken them. The puppets, or walkers as you like to call them, are her unrealized dreams. She needs to interact with them on some level for them to take shape. But they are not real. Go ahead. Cut his throat. Grab another. Cut theirs. Let me know when you are done defeating shadows. In the meantime, I'll just sit here and enjoy my tea."
Defeated, Stu pushed the hapless walker to the ground. He advanced on Ella herself.
"If all that is true, then you are a figment of her imagination too. What's to stop me slicing off your pretty head?"
As he approached, a slew of Guardsman closed in around him, swords drawn and pointing straight at him in defense of their queen.
"Nice thought, but no. I exist on a different plane in her subconscious. Kill me, and she dies too. It would be like dying in your sleep. You have heard of this concept in your world, I think. And I'm ever so sorry, dude, but if she dies, you all die with her. This is, as you would say, her party. Crystal's Caducus cannot exist without her. If she, err, bites it, I'm afraid you all do, too. So, if you're done with the dramatics, prepare yourself to be searched."
All Crystal could see was his face. The Guardsmen surrounded him, but it was clear from his movement they stripped him entirely, searching every shred of his clothes, not leaving a thread unchecked. When they were sure he didn't have it, the leader turned to their queen. "We found nothing, your Majesty."
"I told you so."
Stu picked up his things and got dressed again. Ella's eyes narrowed to mere slits, and she turned her cold gaze to the others. "Enough of this trickery. Take them outside and search them all." Her eyes fell on John, and she looked like she was trying to read his mind. "If they have it, bring it to me. And its carrier. We will have a ritual to perform."
"At once, my queen," said their leader.
The guards surrounded them again, and they were marched out into the open clearing. As she was pushed forward, Crystal looked back. Stu, having been thoroughly searched, was left inside with Ella, her captive once more. She shot him a hopeless look, but he took a defiant stance. "Don't let them get to you, baby. It's what they want." But before she could reply and tell him never to call her baby again, the Guardsman pushed her forward and out into the open.
The sun was almost set. Several Guardsmen were busy lighting torches around the marquis and the perimeter of the glade.
Although she tried to make light of it, Nic's voice was shaky. "I don't suppose they're taking us to a nice shiny cubicle or pushing us through an x-ray machine?"
"Fat chance," Crystal said. "Where are all the women Guardsmen when you need them?"
"You need to dream up some female authority figures, and fast," Nic said. "I've never stripped in front of anyone except my mom and my doctor, and even he was nice enough to give me a modesty sheet. I don't think they have those out here."
The guards stood right in the middle of the clearing where the moonlight was at its strongest. "If it helps, just remember they're not real," Crystal said.
"John is."
"It's okay," said John. "I promise I won't look."
"Neither will I," Jake agreed. "Even if I'm not real."
Poor Jake! He reminded Crystal of Pinocchio, the little wooden boy who wanted to be a real boy.
There was no need for anyone to worry. The guards formed two circles––one around the two boys, and the other around the girls. They didn't force them, and Crystal took her time removing her garments, and glaring under her eyes at Nic, willed her to do the same. Nic caught on, and following Crystal's lead, undressed as slowly as she could. They had barely removed their dresses when one of the guards cried out from the other circle.
"We have it. The otherworlder boy had it tied about his neck, hidden inside his shirt."
"Get dressed," they told Crystal and Nic.
"That's a relief," Crystal said. But is it? She watched as John was quickly marched back inside the marquis, and Stu was pushed out of it. The entrance, a large flap of canvass tied up until this moment, dropped silently behind him.
As soon as they were fully dressed, their guard thinned, content to watch them from a distance, and Stu and Jake were directed to join them.
"So, what happens now?" Stu asked.
"Damned if I know," Crystal replied.
"Pray for a miracle," Nic said. They all looked anxiously toward the marquis. Crystal was not one for placing bets, but if any of them c
ould be turned, her money would be on John. And now Ella had both him and the dagger in her power. There was no hope. They had lost. They were never going to escape from Caducus. Ever.
A Restless Night
John and Ella were taking forever. Crystal noticed Nic was biting her nails, something she was pretty sure she'd never done before. Her friend's gaze was glued to the front of the marquis, desperate not to miss anything.
"What the hell are they talking about in there?" she asked.
"World domination," Stu said. "Dividing up acreage. Deciding who gets to vacation in the palace in the peak season. Whenever that is."
"It's not a joke," Nic said. "She could be doing awful things in there. Doing things to his brain. Turning him into one of those zombie things."
"That won't be hard," Stu said.
"Shut up! You don't know him like I do. All that nonsense he puts out. It's just a front. Haven't you ever noticed, whenever I need him, he comes through for me? I need him now, and I know if he can save us, he will. But Lord only knows what mind tricks she's playing on him. So just give him a break, will you."
Stu looked glum. "Sorry."
"This bickering isn't helping," Crystal said. "We need to focus. We need to figure out what to do––make some kind of plan." But even as she said it, she knew how hopeless their situation was. Nonetheless they had to try to come up with something.
She looked around the clearing. Just behind the marquis were some smaller tents, presumably for the members of her court and Guardsmen to bed down in. The light was limited, restricted to the pale moon and the flickering torches.
"Do you think whatever they're gonna do, they'll do it now? Right away?"
"You mean––the ceremony––or whatever it is?" Jake asked.
"Yes," Crystal replied.
"Maybe. But my bet is they'll wait until the morning," Jake said. "Most things that happen around here happen in the morning."
"Why's that?" Crystal asked.
"That's when Ella's power is at its strongest," Jake replied.
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