by Serena Rose
Bella turned from Rogan, her face flushed with heat. She walked through the throng of smiling and calculating people. She felt a touch on her shoulder and turned. A man with a hawkish nose and salt and pepper hair was smiling widely at her, a plump woman with a huge ornament in her curls in tow.
“You are La’Draiochta,” the man greeted, and Bella could only nod. “I believe I am your great uncle. I am Tanrik. This is my wife, Aval.”
The woman batted her eyes and grinned. Bella looked for a means of escape but couldn’t figure out how to extricate herself from their presence without seeming rude. “Er, yes,” Bella told them, and they smiled even wider.
“You know, I knew your mother. Such a shame she left so long ago. How is she these days?”
Bella coughed and then cleared her throat. “Um—well. She’s dead. She died in an accident when I was very little.”
“Oh, so sad,” Aval said and then her face brightened. “But surely she would be proud. You are fulfilling the promise and becoming queen. I would love for you to come by our cottage sometime. I tell the girls all the time that I am related to one of the most important La’Draiochta in generations. They would be so pleased to see you--”
“I see my—um—husband. I must go,” Bella said as she interrupted their prattling. She smoothly maneuvered out of their reach near a set of lavishly appointed tables. She sighed and accepted a glass of wine from a servant. In the corner where she stood, she was relatively hidden, and she took a few moments to relax. She was sipping contentedly on her wine when a young woman with blonde hair and blazing light brown eyes sauntered over. She sneered at Bella and stood with her arms folded.
“Can I help you?” Bella spat.
“Rogan was mine,” the girl said, and Bella nearly groaned.
“Let me guess, are you his ex-girlfriend or something?”
“I was vying to be his promised. He would surely have married me if you hadn’t come along and spoiled everything.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “If you want him, he’s right over there. Have fun.”
The girl pouted prettily. “He was mine!”
Bella took another swig of her wine. “Well, lady, he’s promised to me. I’m stuck here and it looks like you have as much choice as I do.”
The girl stared at Bella, her rising anger evident in her expression.
“You don’t know who I am! And you’re not even a dragon. You’re just some stupid laksma!”
Bella shrugged. She was sure the girl was greatly insulting her, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
“Whatever.”
The girl gave a small noise of frustration and rage and spun on her heels.
“This isn’t over.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Please let it be. I have no patience for airheads.”
The girl huffed and stalked away, and Bella gave a sigh of relief. She scanned the room and tried to spot Hildevar or Alannah but could only see the swirl of expensive gowns and uniforms as the music played.
Bella’s empty wine glass was suddenly filled with a full one, and she looked around, noticing the quick scurry of a servant moving around the corner. She wasn’t sure if she could get used to this, getting waited on hand and foot. She began to walk through the room, trying to ignore the sycophants vying for conversation. She was nearly back to the table when a cold wind blew through the room. She shivered and turned around. The music faded to a stop, and everyone looked about, confused.
A bright light welled up in the middle of the floor and panicked screams arose as the revelers moved out of the way and to the safety of the sides. The bright light coalesced into a ball and then became tall and humanoid. The light faded, and a hugely muscled man stood in the middle of the floor, his only clothing a long fur kilt and fur boots, along with bracelets that jangled upon his beefy arms. He sported crowns upon his head, and tattoos were wrapped all about his chest, back and arms. A long dagger-like earring fell from one ear, and his dark eyes seemed overly large. He sneered, and Bella could see the tips of fangs. She shuddered and crept closer to the raised table where the king and queen sat.
Bella could hear the whispers around her as guests pulled away from the floor and held onto to each other, fear evident in their faces. Bella turned to look at the king, who was now standing to his full height, his face suffused with rage.
“What business do you have here, Shadow King?” he spat, and the large man on the floor laughed. It chilled Bella to her core, and she moved ever closer to the table.
“You all have something that belongs to me!” he exclaimed, and he looked pointedly at Bella. She gulped and moved further back.
“You will not take her,” Rogan was moving to her side and he looked ready for battle.
Bella clung to Rogan, grateful for his presence. The king’s men moved to encircle her and Rogan, and even the king stepped down from his place on the dais. The Shadow King leered at Bella, and she felt revulsion run through her. People dressed in all white appeared near the floor, their hoods shading their faces. They surrounded the Shadow King. Rogan’s father stood next to Rogan, and the queen came to stand next to Bella.
“Leave us,” the king commanded, and the Shadow King grinned. He was carrying a bag, and Bella looked on, her curiosity turning to horror as the Shadow King released something upon the floor that rolled and bounced until it reached her foot.
Bella let out a scream and held onto Rogan. It was a head. Specifically, it was the head of the mermaid they had sent back with the message to the Shadow King, one that threatened his kingdom if he tried to come after Bella again.
“She died for your stupidity,” the Shadow King told her, his eyes growing lusty and his smile sadistic. “She screamed for hours on end. You were merciful. But in the end, I was not.”
Those outfitted in white, who Bella had quickly surmised were spellcasters, tightened their ranks.
The Shadow King raised his hands, and everyone in the ballroom scattered like insects.
“You shall not pass!” Rogan said as he stood in front of Bella.
Hildevar and Alannah rushed beside Bella.
The Shadow King smiled and threw his hands out. Both Hildevar and Alannah were knocked to the side, unconscious.
“No!” Bella yelled and ran to Hildevar and then Alannah.
Shadows coalesced along the floor and walls, deepening in color and texture before dropping before the party goers and attacking. There was pandemonium as spells were thrown, people ran screaming and yelling and the blood began to run.
The creatures were the most nightmarish things Bella had ever seen. They were the stuff of childhood frights, with their glowing eyes and dark shadowy bodies. Rogan’s father threw several power spells, but they were deflected by the Shadow King’s minions.
The queen threw a few of her own and managed to get the Shadow King in the shoulder. He growled and threw one back, knocking the queen off her feet.
“Magda!” the king yelled, enraged. He then threw spell after spell, his eyes misty with anger and grief.
Rogan was doing the same, along with what was left of the contingent of spellcasters. The shadow people were everywhere, and the blood they spilled made the floor slick and sticky.
Bella could only stand in shock. It was like being in the middle of a war. Her body shook, and she couldn’t breathe. A fire had broken out in the far corner of the room and the tapestries were melting, the flames licking the combustible material with glee.
Rogan began to chant, his voice first a low hum, and then it reverberated into two voices. The king joined him, and they worked the pitch and rhythm over again and again, forcing the shadow people into one spot onto the floor. The figures writhed and moved like a ball of snakes, their hissing sounding loud and scratchy to Bella’s ears. Rogan continued to chant, and the shadow people screamed as one before exploding.
The Shadow King didn’t seem fazed. He grinned evilly, and Bella felt something inside her twinge with fear. The king raised his hand at R
ogan, and Bella felt her eyes widen. This is it, she thought, he is going to kill him! Part of her thought she should be happy. With him gone, the promise was null and void. But a bigger part of her didn’t want him to die.
It was as if everything were happening in slow motion. The Shadow King was chanting and pointing, and then there was light, so much light. It infused the room with what looked like a thousand suns, burning with an intensity that made Bella curse and avert her eyes. She stepped in front of Rogan, who tried desperately to push her away. Before the spell could hit her, she raised her voice in one, long powerful note.
She pushed the note from deep within her, willing the feelings of all she loved into one clear moment. The note hung suspended in the air and, for a moment, it was as if time had stopped, as if nothing moved. Then, suddenly, the ball of light was speeding towards her, hurtling at a speed that suggested imminent death. But as she ended the last note, the light shifted and expanded outwards, moving like the light of a soft summer sun against a cool morning, morphing into a warmth equivalent to a blanket in the early fall.
It seemed as if time itself were tearing and splitting. Darkness was pushing its way into the light, and the Shadow King was yelling and cursing. Bella felt an intense pressure wrapping about her, and then she screamed, her lungs filling with so much air she couldn’t think and then deflating just as quickly. She thrashed in pain as her body folded and contorted, the many realms in the universe spinning all about her.
She could glimpse one where she was a fairy, riding regally through a glen in some far off world. In another, she was a teaching assistant at an urban school, making do on a small salary but hiding the fact that she could move small objects with her mind. She watched as another reality fled by; in this one, she was not magical at all, but she was the catty, bossy and incredibly unhappy daughter of a powerful senator.
Other realities flitted by, and she was both amazed and terrified by what was occurring. In some universes, she was kind and noble; in others, she was cruel and evil. She wanted to ponder the nature of this; she had always considered the soul to be the one unchanging thing about a person no matter what. Perhaps it wasn’t always true. She screamed as pain hit her anew, and she tried to gasp for air, but there was no air to be had.
There was, in fact, nothing for her to breathe with. It was as if she were some amorphous blob that lacked a basic skeletal structure. Then, finally, a cold, indifferent silence filled a void and something was rubbing against her consciousness, pulling at it. Bella wanted to yell, to scream, to flail, but could do nothing save hold onto herself, to keep the molecules that made up her mind from frittering away.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Bella groaned. She felt as if she’d been pulled apart and put hastily back together. Everything ached. Her body felt hot in some places and cold in others. She sneezed a few times and then gagged. She heaved out fluid and goop in rivulets and then took a deep breather before it happened again. The process lasted for about ten minutes before she felt as if everything were out of her system. Her head was pounding, and she rubbed her temples. She looked around and gasped when she noticed she was back at her aunt and uncle’s. She tried to move and hissed in pain. Her joints were screaming bloody murder, and she moved more slowly, getting to her feet and using the nearby wall for support.
She looked about her and noticed that nothing had changed. The calendar on the far wall was marked with the same date on which she had left, and the clock in the living room read 3:00 p.m. She rubbed her aching head and sighed. Had she hallucinated that last few weeks? Perhaps she had bumped her head and became disoriented. She stood with her back against the wall and examined herself. She was wearing the same clothes she had been when she’d left. She rolled her eyes. So it had all been some crazy, mixed up dream? But it had seemed all too real….
She trudged out of the living room and into the kitchen. The passwords and various phone numbers her aunt had left for her were still sitting out on the kitchen table. She glanced around and then felt a buzz. Her phone was in her back jean pocket, and it had just automatically updated. She sat in a kitchen chair with a huff, her mind going over what she could have possibly ingested to make her have such a vivid hallucination. Had she accidentally taken ‘shrooms? Maybe she ate something tainted, and she was just coming down from it? She continued racking her brain, but as the headache died down, she realized she was hungry.
She walked over to the fridge and began pulling out the fixings to make a sandwich. She rolled her eyes. It figures. She was tasked with watching the house for her aunt and uncle, and on her first day, she has some weird acid trip. She smacked her palm to her face. She would be sure never to mention the incident to anyone. Most of all her aunt and uncle, who would probably ship her off to the nearest therapist or drug rehabilitation program. It was all just some whacked-out dream, and she would forget all about it.
She was plastering mayonnaise on a slice of bread when a voice startled her, making her drop the butter knife. Mayonnaise flew onto the counter and floor, and Bella backed away, shock on her face.
Rogan was standing in her aunt’s kitchen, still dressed in his leather tunic and pants, a look of deep confusion on his face. He looked around with fear and wonder.
“Bella, what is this place?”
“You—you—you’re real,” Bella stammered, and he looked at her as if she’d gone daft.
“Of course I am, love. I am as real as you.”
“No—no! Nope. Not real. Not real,” Bella squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them to an agitated Rogan who paced the floor.
“Are we in the underworld?” he asked as he examined the various things in the kitchen. He picked up a timer shaped like a chicken and jumped back when it buzzed. He chanted a spell, and it blew up.
“No!” Bella yelled. “It’s just a timer. You can’t go around blowing up my aunt and uncle’s kitchen. They’ll kill you. Specifically, my aunt.”
“I donna ken these strange things, Bella. What is a—timer?”
Bella shook her head. “Never mind. Just come here.”
He obeyed and came toward her. He reached out to her, and a wave of desire crashed over her. Bella stepped back.
“On second thought, stay over there.”
“Look,” she began explaining. “You’re on Earth.”
Rogan looked around and frowned. “This is Earth?”
“Yes.”
“It is rather small.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “We’re in a house on Earth.”
“A house?”
Bella facepalmed herself and groaned. “A dwelling. A domicile. A place where people live.”
Rogan grinned. “Ah, yes. A commoner’s place of residence.”
Bella narrowed her eyes. “Hey, my aunt and uncle are not commoners.”
Rogan grinned even wider. “Your aunt and uncle? Then they are not commoners. They are also La’Draiochta. Partitioners of magic.”
“No,” Bella told him. “They can’t do magic.”
“Why not?”
“They just can’t.”
Rogan sighed in frustration. “Return us to my world at once.”
“I can’t, Rogan,” Bella replied.
“You brought us here.”
“I don’t even know how I did that, let alone how to reverse it and do it again. Besides that, I wasn’t interested in getting married right now anyway.”
“But I have a kingdom to rule!” Rogan said angrily.
Bella smirked. “Tough shit. Now, you know how I felt.”
“I command you to take us back!”
“You can “command” all you want, but it’s not happening. Even if I knew what I was doing, I’m not sure I would.”
Rogan growled, and fangs sprouted from his mouth. He took a few steadying breaths and then looked back at Bella. “So I am marooned in this world?”
“Seems so. How do you like them apples?” Bella told him cattily and began to clean up the mess she made. Rogan watched
her a moment and then sighed.
“I donna think I like this world.”
Bella rolled her eyes and got up from the floor. She put the mayonnaise-laden paper towel in the garbage and sighed. “Rogan, I get it. But I don’t know how I managed to get us here. One minute the Shadow King is shooting off curses, I sang a note and the next thing I know, I’m here. Or rather, we both are.”
“What can we do?”
Bella shook her head. “I don’t know. My aunt and uncle won’t be back for a while, so we’ve got some time to think. Until then, you may have to just get comfortable and make the best of it.”
She shot him a cheeky smile. “Sandwich?”
He growled, and she chuckled. She fixed him and her a sandwich and grabbed two sodas from the fridge and two small bags of chips from the cupboard. Rogan followed her into the family room and watched as she clicked on the TV.
Rogan made a noise of surprise and threw his hands up in front of his face.
“What kind of magic is this?”
Bella snorted. “It’s not magic. It’s television.”
“What is this ‘television’?” Rogan asked suspiciously.
“People on Earth use these boxes to entertain themselves and sometimes to inform each other of—you know, news and stuff.”
Rogan sat down hesitantly on the couch and reached for a sandwich. He watched Bella eat for a moment and bit gingerly into a corner. He made a noise of appreciation and gobbled the sandwich down in less than two bites.