by Shara Azod
He laughed along with her, but then he became serious once more. “If you choose to be a spirit, Chrissana, you will be much different than you are now.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but he held up his hand.
“I wouldn’t make such decisions now, but just know that everything you are experiencing at this moment is with your human body―mainly touch sensations, taste, smell, eyesight, and hearing. These would all change if you were to become a spirit, so I suggest you put that decision aside for the time being.”
They had come upon a carriage connected to two white stallions. The body of it was the same color as the man’s clothing, its framework outlined in gold. Chrissana had never seen anything so luxurious. He walked forward and stood next to the door, his hand taking hold of the handle.
“My name is Audric,” he introduced, “Audric St. Sauveur.” He placed his free hand over his heart and bowed to her.
“Your name sounds very French.”
“France was my origin a long time ago. I’ve been here so long that my accent has faded and has become a mixture of many, given all of the places I have lived and visited. So, since you missed your opportunity to attend the spa, would you mind if I played host to you?”
“Until the next wave of carriages come?”
“I’m afraid that would no longer be feasible for you. I am your only resource at this point.”
Chrissana backed away from him.
“I assure you, I mean you no harm whatsoever. I will not do anything without your consent, and your choices will be your own.”
“No tricks?”
“No tricks.” His eyes half closed and his head bowed toward her.
“Can I just wake up? What if I changed my mind and don’t want to do this at all.” Despite how fairytale-like the village appeared and how sincere he seemed, she felt a momentary uneasiness. If she happened to go with him, she could wake up finding herself in a hell of some kind.
“If you remember, you took a rather large dose of medication. Waking up in your world may prove somewhat difficult at the present.” Audric righted himself. “Once here, this place demands that you be given treatment, as you made that agreement when you walked across the bridge. Those are the rules.”
She looked up at him. He was awfully good-looking, and the few times she had given way to her attractions, it had not bode well for her. On Earth, men like him wouldn’t have given her two nods. Not that she was unattractive, but her daily makeup regime was only enough to offer a little color to her brown skin. Showing cleavage or other dynamic wear to accentuate her figure had never been her style. She preferred being alone with books and painting to going to parties or other types of socializing.
Audric opened the carriage door. “So, Chrissana?”
“Audric, I appreciate your offer, but are you sure I can’t go back home?”
“You agreed to a healing, did you not?”
“Yes, I—”
“Well, part of your healing begins with trust. I’m offering you not only healing, but also a bit of spontaneity and adventure. I promise that when you are ready, and your treatment is complete, you can decide to go wherever you wish.”
Chrissana’s mouth twisted to the side. She looked up at the carriage. It was quite large and high off the ground. The first step was above her knee.
“I must apologize that I do not have many guests to ride with me,” Audric said. “It has been some time since I’ve played host to anyone.”
Chrissana was lifted into the air by a force.
“Go in,” he said.
The inside of his carriage was lavish and filled with pillows. Chrissana’s body sank into the velvety cushions of the seat, her arms resting on a few throw pillows. Audric sat down across from her, looking like a pampered king. He lifted a small basket from behind him and removed the cover, revealing green and purple grapes.
“Please, have some,” he said. “They come from my vineyard nearby and are most delicious.”
Chrissana took a small bunch of the greens and munched on the huge bulbs. They were sweet and seedless. “Oh my,” she said, her mouth still full and her hands wiping away the juice from her chin. “These are so incredible. How can there be fresh grapes when it’s winter?”
Audric smiled then popped a few of the purple ones into his mouth. He said nothing but took a napkin from the small table between them and handed it to her.
She decided not to push for an answer. After she’d eaten her fill and cleaned herself with the napkin, Chrissana sat back, moving the curtain to look out the window. The ride was smooth, not at all rocky or bumpy. “I noticed the carriages don’t have anyone guiding them, nor do the horses have reins.”
“My horses, Tam and Driel, know exactly where I live.” He leaned his head out the window and said a word she couldn’t understand. “It means go home,” he said. “Would you like to ask me anything else?”
“I do, but I feel quite discombobulated.”
“I understand.”
“I’m still trying to make sense of all this. I’m not dreaming and I’m not dead, but I feel very much alive and awake.”
“Chrissana, all I can say is that I cannot stress enough that you are quite safe. There is no reason for you to feel wary of being here with me.”
“I’ve read a lot of stories of dealings in the fairy lands.”
“Oh, have you?”
“They talk about fairies being tricksters to lure humans to their realm with food and drink. Once a human eats and/or drinks anything, they can never leave.”
“And here you’ve partaken of fare at the bakery and have just eaten several of my grapes.”
Chrissana opened her mouth and then exhaled, dropping her head to her chest.
Audric laughed. “You are absolutely a delight. Have you thought that maybe the humans weren’t tricked at all, and they didn’t wish to leave?”
“Now that I think about it, it could be the case.”
“And that perhaps the cautionary tales are to keep too many from neglecting their human lives and pining away for a place like this? An escape from their responsibilities?”
“Perhaps.”
“Then why not trust my invitation to you?”
“Because bad things have happened when I’ve chosen to trust people. The two men that I had any sort of real feelings for let me down―one was stolen from me and the other cheated. Then my sister cheated me out of my half of our mother’s estate. She thinks she was doing me a favor by forcing me out on my own—that it would make me into a responsible human being. So now, I have no time to paint, which is the only thing I love to do. Basically, I’m working two jobs just to earn enough to go and work two jobs. And to top it all off, the only person I’ve ever loved and that loved me is now gone. My life is shit, excuse my French.”
“Oh, you have many things, Chrissana,” Audric said before popping a few grapes into his mouth. “I assure you that during your tenure here,” he said between chews, “you’ll discover what those things are. Call this a reprieve from your earthly existence—from always having to be on guard or afraid that for every good there’s something equally bad waiting as a consequence. While one does need to be awake and aware of such things, it does no good to constantly expect them.”
They rode through the forest of oaks she had walked through earlier. Audric closed his eyes as though he were in deep meditation, so Chrissana thought not to bother him any more during the ride. She looked over his smooth features. Not a line existed anywhere on his face, and she placed him somewhere in his mid-thirties, a man who had been lavished in richness his entire life. He behaved in every way like some sort of lost monarch, confident and regal in dress and manner. And his tone of voice imparted he had an answer to every question she could pose to him, even if he hadn’t answered her question regarding the grapes.
She forced herself to look away from him and back out the window for a bit, but she found her eyes wandering back in his direction. His were once again op
en, watching her as well.
“Does this place have a name?” she asked.
“It has many names,” he responded, “but one of the more popular ones is Bera’lanis. It’s an ancient word from a lost civilization called M’nu Asha. It means, the place that makes one whole.”
Her eyes fell over the fur of his hat and mantle. It looked to cost a fortune.
He followed her gaze and then ran his hand over his chest. “Actually, they were companions of mine who have since left their bodies for more enlightening endeavors. I didn’t kill any of them. Their pelts are of great beauty, so I keep them. No animals are slaughtered here.”
“So people and animals can die here?”
“They don’t die; they evolve. Human remains fade and are carried away on the winds and animals leave their bodies behind for consumption and their hides for clothing. You can call it a harmonious relationship with nature.”
“But if you’re all spirits here, why the need to eat?”
“Spirits do eat and drink, but their need of sustenance is different than that of a human, as is the consistency of food and drink in realms like this one. I cannot explain it any different than that, since you have never been a spirit.”
“So what are you?”
He inhaled then blew out a long stream of air. “I’m something else, and that’s all you need to know for the present. My role here is that I work closely with Earth and offer healing and replenishment to its spirits and souls, if they would have it.”
The carriage came to a halt.
“Ahh, we’re here,” he said. At once, the carriage door opened and he hopped out, offering his hand to her.
Chrissana found a modest mansion of gray stone when she floated down to the ground. She was so caught up in looking at it that she didn’t think to ask about how she’d been lifted and lowered without Audric’s help. He was already halfway to the wooden double doors, which opened by unseen hands upon his approach.
Once she cleared the carriage, the horses trotted away. Chrissana observed the vast, snow-covered lawn and white-capped, manicured bushes of the surrounding grounds.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said.
“Wait until you see the inside of my house.” Audric said. “Come.”
She met him at the doorway, and when she stepped over the threshold, she was treated to a very homey setting with plush couches, marble-topped tables, and gigantic paintings of various unknown people on the walls. However, the painting over the fireplace caught her eye as it looked an awful lot like her host. He was dressed in a full set of decorative armor. Her gaze traveled up to the cathedral ceilings and down over the two great chandeliers that hung from them. They sparkled like diamonds in the setting sun, casting reflections of rainbows all around.
On both sides of the large room were staircases that met in the middle, creating a rounded terrace of sorts that overlooked the lower level. The handcrafted banister was molded to look like a vine with brass doves and other birds planted throughout.
“We still have some time before the evening meal,” he said. “Would you like to see more of the house?”
“I’d love to,” Chrissana smiled. Suddenly, something out of the corner of the room caused her to freeze. A tall figure dressed like something out of the Arabian Nights walked out of the shadows. It wore pantaloons and a long sleeved robe, all in red, with a matching turban. The frightening part was that silken scarves were draped over where its face should have been. No human could see where it was going with their face completely concealed in such a way.
“Don’t be frightened, my dear,” he said, slipping his mantle from his shoulders, and taking off his hat. He handed them off to the red figure. “That is all,” he said to the creature. The thing then bowed and walked away. It mounted the stairs and disappeared to the level above.
“What was that?” Chrissana asked in a trembling voice.
“Oh, you could call it a thought form,” he said. “They’re completely harmless. They only handle whatever tasks I’ve created them to do. You will find them all about the house—cleaning, preparing food, etc. That one brings me whatever clothing I desire and takes it away when I’m finished. It can mend, tailor, and clean them as well.”
“They’re scary-looking,” she said.
“You will become used to them,” Audric said nonchalantly. “Come see the rest of the floor.”
Chrissana took in his ivory brocade tunic belted with a silken sash. He wore matching hose on his bottom half inside thigh-high boots, like an actor out of a Robin Hood movie. He led Chrissana underneath the arch of the stairs to a small foyer. On the floor was painted a large, directional compass. Above them white pillar candles filled an iron chandelier. From its center hung a silver point suspended by a long chain that reached halfway to the floor.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“It’s a pendulum and on the floor is a compass marking key points. When the sun, moon, and other planets are in a particular alignment, it allows for the energies they produce to be tapped into. I can then direct it wherever I wish. It’s magic.” He raised his hands then wiggled his fingers.
“What kinds of magic do you do?”
Audric’s eyes softened. “Only that which would aid and abet in a Divine way. Come along.”
Directly ahead of them were two entryways, one on the left and the other on the right. Audric led her to the left through a double-doored entrance with a beautiful stained-glass design on them. Her feet sank into the rich, burgundy carpet.
To the back of the room was a huge bay window lined with tan pillows. The windows were tall and arched, as they were to the front of the house. The ceiling was painted with an image of another directional, but with different writing and symbols. The bookshelves were built into the walls and spanned almost to the ceiling.
In the center of the room was a large desk with a plush, leather chair. On the desk was a globe that looked to be encased within a giant crystal ball.
“Go see,” Audric urged her.
Chrissanna walked over to the globe and gasped. Inside the crystal sphere looked to be the Earth, complete with clouds. As she peered deeper, she could even see it spinning slowly.
“Think of a place, any place.”
“Australia,” she said.
“You don’t have to say it aloud.”
Immediately, the globe didn’t move, but the landmass on it spun over until the continent of Australia came into view.
“That’s cool!”
“It will show you any city, country, continent—you name it. It can even seek out people.”
“Is there some sort of computer graphics inside causing it to look so real?”
“This globe is thousands of years old, older than I,” he said. “I cannot tell you about the technology used to power it. But it was given to my mentor a long time ago, and he then passed it to me.”
Chrissana allowed him to lead her away from the globe. She looked back at it momentarily to see the landmass change back to showing the United States at its center. She walked around the expanse of the room. Her head turned from left to right suddenly.
“What are you looking for?”
“A ladder. I mean, what if I want a book that is too far for me to reach?”
Audric smiled. “Think of one of your favorite books.”
Chrissana closed her eyes and thought. At once she was lifted off the ground by the same force that lifted her up and down from the carriage. She traveled midway up, and a book was pushed halfway out of the bookshelf before her. She took it to see “Illusions” by Richard Bach. When she took the book, she descended slowly back down to the floor. “Did you do that?”
“No, this room can take your requests and lead you directly to your heart’s desire. In books, that is.”
“I could spend an eternity in here just reading.”
“Shhh,” Audric bent to her, looking about. “Don’t let the room hear you say that.”
“Why?”
&nb
sp; “It cherishes readers and would love nothing more than to keep you here forever, feeding you book after book.”
Chrissana chuckled. “You’re joking.”
Audric grinned, taking the book from her and setting it down on a small table. “Come, you must be hungry.”
“I wouldn’t think so, but I am.”
“Good.”
Chrissana followed him from the room, and they walked over to the double doors that led to the right, which opened as they approached. These doors were a light beige in color with a similar stained glass design. Her nose caught a whiff of cooked food. They walked down a hallway which led them to a beautiful dining area. Champagne-colored damask covered the walls and tawny satin drapes framed the windows. Two places were set at the long dining table, like the ones she’d seen in the movies, on which the rich would dine. Fortunately, the place settings were very close so she wouldn’t have to shout to him from the opposite end of the table.
Audric walked over to the high-backed chair at the head and pulled it out, sweeping his hand over it. Once she was seated, he seated himself to her right.
Chrissana marveled at the porcelain dishes with edges etched in green and gold designs. Next to her water glass was a bejeweled goblet with patterns similar to their plates. She was about to take up her napkin when Audric made a “tsk” sound, shaking his head from side to side. At once, another door to the back of the room opened and in walked more of the thought forms she had been treated to earlier. Their outfits were the same as the first, but this time their colors matched the walls.
Chrissana stiffened as one of the figures came over to her and took the napkin. It was unfurled and draped across her lap, while the other thought form did the same for Audric. Two more of the creatures then appeared in the room. One filled their water glasses, and the other followed behind it carrying a silver tureen. This one ladled soup into the bowls which sat atop their service plates.
“Tonight’s soup is tomato bisque,” Audric told her. “I understand it’s one of your favorites.”
Audric clapped his hands once and the figures all lined up before him. After bowing to them, they all left the room in a single file. A nod of his head toward her signaled for them to commence eating.