The Forgotten World

by R Gene Curtis

  That was the worst shower of my life.

  And apparently, the funniest thing Ler has ever seen in his.

  Next thing I know, I’m wearing a pair of tights, a tunic, and a strange looking pair of boots.

  The tights are uncomfortable. They hug my legs tighter than Khanh runs his lab. The only nice thing about these tights is that I have some breathing room around my crotch, so I’m not strapped in like a male ballerina. The tunic fits me loosely, and my stomach pokes out at the bottom.

  I’ve never worn tights in my life, but I do now. I’ve never gone outside naked, but I do now. I’ve never slept on the floor, but I do now.

  This is my new life—do what others say and don’t complain. They won’t listen or understand anyway. And they might kill me, or they might not.

  I can only imagine what Tara would say if she saw me here. She was right; I should have never broken up with her. Everything in my life has fallen apart since then.

  Though, she still would have blamed me when they found out about her fake data, so it doesn’t really matter.

  ✽✽✽

  Ler doesn’t seem to notice the cloud of negativity that follows us through the village. He waves at everyone and greets them with a smile. This guy is seriously happy, but he’s big and others seem to stay away from me when I’m by him.

  We pick up a bland breakfast of eggs and root vegetables. Only my extraordinary hunger makes the meal palatable. We eat it as we hike back through the village and its sneers and glares.

  As we near the edge of the village, Ler puts his big, sturdy arm around me. He says something, but I shake my head and shrug his arm off. I’m not going to get buddy-buddy with my foreign captor, especially if he’s a large, stupid oaf.

  “Karu, Karu, Karu,” Ler says.

  He sounds like a howling dog. What happened to the “l” at the end?

  “It’s Karl.”

  “Eez Karu,” he says. And then he laughs. I hate not knowing what people are saying.

  I follow Ler to pick up a couple large carts, and then we hike a well-worn trail for three or four miles, most of them straight up hill.

  Yeah. Pretty much miserable. Where is Lydia? Did they capture her? Torture her? I was so mean to her last night, I wouldn’t blame her if she was avoiding me. But, I need her now. I’m ready to apologize and make up. And then I can leave this nightmarish hike behind and go back to the world where I belong. And I’ll call Pearl and tell her about Bob and she’ll know what to do.

  Eventually we come out of the forest into a large meadow, like the one Lydia and I started in yesterday.

  Ler pulls out a few gunnysacks and a couple small shovels from the cart. He dances around to show me the different plants in the meadow. Some are good and some are not good. Our job is to find good plants, dig up the roots, remove the tops, and place the bulbs in the bag. And that is how we get the disgusting food we eat for every meal.

  Have these guys ever heard of agriculture?

  Once Ler is sure I understand what to do, he hands me a shovel and we get to work. He’s about four times faster than me, even when I try.

  Sweat drips down my back. My hands blister. Sunlight heats up the fabric against my legs. And I keep digging.

  25 Rumors

  Lydia

  I have a hard time keeping the smile off my face as Cadah, my guide, leads me through the village.

  The mountain peaks surrounding the village tower above us into the sky, trees cling to them until they become so steep that only snow and rock can hold on to the surface. The air is clear—amazingly so, and the sky was so full of stars at night. I can’t think of anywhere on Earth that could compare.

  But as much as I love the scenery, the clothes are even more amazing. Clothes from Earth never fit so well! These clothes were made to fit my body in a way that clothes at home never were. And, they’re not too hot, nor too cold. Comfortable. The best description I can think of is stretchy pants on steroids.

  I belong here. Sure, I’m missing class and homework and my knee hurts like crazy. But I love it here. The people have the same skin tone I do, the same odd facial features, the same body types.

  If only my phone had made it through the portal. I’ve felt for it again and again, finding nothing but empty pockets. It’s the first time I’ve been without that phone since the night Mom died.

  “I think I’ve shown you the entire village.” We’ve arrived back at the village center. People hurry around us with carts of roots and berries.

  “Thank you.”

  I’ve warmed quickly to Cadah, which isn’t like me. She has been patient with me this morning. My leg isn’t as sore today, but that hasn’t stopped me from walking slowly. Avoiding reinjury is difficult on these rocky paths, and my knee is stiff from all the walking I did yesterday.

  From what Cadah showed me this morning, there are probably about 500 houses in the village with a population of maybe 1500. Most of the people are middle aged, which Cadah says is due to some particularly harsh winters over the past few years.

  That is a harrowing thought. This place is beautiful, but it’s destructive, too. Not as destructive as Karl thinks, but still dangerous.

  “The people all seem anxious,” I say as Cadah and I sit down on the front steps of the large, unoccupied building that is the village center. It’s the same building where we ate dinner last night.

  “Yes,” Cadah says. “This has been a stressful summer.”

  “Why?”

  “The winters have been harsh lately, and unrest spreads across all the mountain villages. Food is scarcer than it used to be. And many are stirring up rebellions. Some say you have arrived a hundred years too late, but even last year would have been better than now. The problems are much worse farther up the mountain where they’re overcrowded and have even more problems with snow.”

  The princess thing again. No one has told me what they expect me to do about it, only that I’m supposed to do something.

  “If the winters are so severe, why don’t you move? Perhaps if you moved farther down the mountain you’d find a milder climate.”

  “Moving into the valley would be certain death.”

  “Why?”

  Cadah shakes her head sadly. “You don’t know anything about us?”

  “How would I know?”

  “And Wynn, do you know about Wynn?”

  “Wynn? Is that a person?”

  Cadah looks puzzled, but she nods. “It doesn’t make sense,” she says. “The legends say that you would come out of the portal, posed to strike down Wynn and free us from these mountains. You would have fire in your hair and throw darts from your eyes. Everyone would fear you, and the armies of Wynn would fall before you. We would be free, and you would be our ruler. I though some of it might be exaggerated, but it’s still disappointing to see you show up and have it not be true.”

  I raise my eyebrows. Darts from my eyes? No wonder everyone is acting disappointed. It was fun to think of myself as a princess for a while, but if I’ve walked into a badly exaggerated legend, I should starting listening to Karl. Even though he was so mean to me yesterday. He was scared, but that doesn’t make the things he said to me hurt any less. I push the pain out of my thoughts.

  “Do people still think I’m the blue princess, even though I can’t do those things?”

  “Yes. You have the mark, impossible to replicate, in the exact right spot. You must be the princess. We will take you to Keeper, and then you will have the weapon you need to defeat evil and return the mountain people to the valley. You really don’t know any of this?”

  I shake my head again. I have no idea who I am. What does she mean that I’m hundreds of years late?

  Cadah looks away. “You come, having the mark of the flower, but you can barely walk. Many of us expected you to stand over Wynn’s body within a few hours of arrival. Instead, you can barely get across the village in that time.”

  Maybe she hasn’t been as patient with my slow steps as I tho
ught. My heart drops as I realize how much I want this girl to like me. But, if I’m being held up to an impossible standard, that probably won’t happen.

  “If nothing is how you thought, how do you know I can defeat this Wynn person?” I’m not a killer; I’m a soccer player.

  “You have blue blood; you’re an Azurean like he is—the only one who can defeat him.”

  Blue blood? What in the world does that mean?

  “I don’t have blue blood.” The good feelings from this morning are fading fast. I love it here, but things are so strange. Maybe they will kill us when they realize I’m not what they think I am.

  “I’m sure you do,” Cadah says confidently. I open my mouth to protest—I’ve seen lots of my own blood through my soccer days—but I stop myself. Is it smart to discredit myself when doing so might leave me dead?

  For a second, I find myself doubting the color of my own blood.

  Cadah is quiet now, and I don’t say anything else. I’m a mess, trying to put my thoughts together. The thought of getting caught up in a war with a group of desperate people scares me. I don’t feel like I’m understanding anything that is going on. The physical similarities, the mark of the flower, the feeling of belonging. There is so much to love here.

  But, I want to find out who I am, not get involved in saving people from a crisis.

  I hear a sound and look up to see a group of three men and two women walking toward the building. Ziru leads the group, and I recognize the other men from yesterday. Arujan is not with them.

  Ziru leads us inside the building. My clothes, which have been comfortable all morning, apparently don’t do as well in stuffy rooms. No climate control. I’m used to outside heat—I’ve played soccer for years—but suffocating inside a hot building doesn’t seem fun. Hopefully we won’t be in here long.

  I sit across from Ziru, who smiles at me. The men sit on one side of the building, and the women sit on the other, facing the men. The building is small; the seven of us fill all the floor space. At least I can cross my legs without hitting anyone.

  “Let us begin,” Ziru says.

  “We need to discuss Arujan,” an older man across from Cadah says.

  “Arujan will cause us no harm,” the woman next to Cadah counters. She looks like she’s about the same age as Cadah, and she has long blonde hair.

  My head darts from side to side, trying to keep up with the conversation. No one introduces themselves, and no one tells me what we are doing here. I wonder if I should stop everything and ask, but one look at Ziru is enough of an answer for me. I might be a princess, but he’s in charge here. Maybe I’m more of a figure than a ruler.

  I sit up straight, keep my mouth shut, and try to handle myself with aplomb. If they think I’m a princess, whatever that means, I might as well try and act like one. Hopefully my preconceived ideas of what a princess should act like, matches their preconceived notions.

  A young man is speaking. “No harm? Have you heard the rumors about what he did in the north?”

  “Rumors,” the younger woman is not fazed by the younger man’s mocking tone. I’m glad he isn’t talking to me; he doesn’t seem very nice.

  “He balkanized them!” he shouts in her face. “Ousted their leader Dynd and created a bunch of warring factions. There might not be anyone left up there.”

  “You don’t know that.” Her look stays as calm as drizzle on a windowpane. “That report was given to our scouts from the scouts at Keeper. Surely it is exaggerated. Arujan had to flee Keeper to come here.”

  Cadah speaks up next. “Ore, it is strange that you would defend Arujan like this. We all know Arujan did not flee from Keeper. The rest of the council is intent on getting Arujan out of our city, and yet it seems that your defense of this man grows stronger each day.”

  “We need to make sure we are fair,” she says, narrowing her eyes at Cadah.

  “Young love is a strange thing,” the other woman, farthest from me, says. She looks like she’s at least in her 70s, if not older. The girl called Ore blushes.

  “Love?” she stammers.

  “It’s no secret that you and Arujan have spent a lot of time together,” Cadah says. “There are rumors you slept with him.”

  Ore’s expression darkens.

  “Now child,” Ziru says. “You were always wild, and you’re young and impulsive. But, your father was a dedicated member of this council for many years. As his only living child, you’re entitled to the position you have on this council. Now, let’s forgive your indiscretion and move on.”

  “What?” Ore shouts.

  “You have been giving information from our meetings to Arujan,” the man next to Ziru says.

  “How can you say that?” Ore’s eyes dart from person to person until her gaze finally settles on Cadah.

  “We all know how much time you spend with him,” Cadah says. Her voice is calm, in contrast to Ore’s, which is getting louder and higher each time she speaks.

  “He has to get all of his information from somewhere,” the man next to Ziru says. “And you have been overheard by someone here.”

  “Enough of this,” Ziru says. “Ore will not betray us again. In the meantime, having won the affections of Arujan may allow her to play a pivotal role in a plot to get him out of here.”

  Several in the room nod their consent, but Ore’s glare stays fixed on Cadah.

  The younger man interrupts the silence. “We have other things to discuss beside Arujan. He’s causing trouble, but is he not a symptom of all our greater problems?”

  “There is less food this year,” the older woman agrees. “Many of the younger generation do not recognize how much we have to skimp. Nor do they see how skinny they all look compared to what we looked like when we were their age.”

  “Yes,” the man next to Ziru says, “but now the Blue Princess has arrived.”

  “Arrived, but she’s worthless!” Ore says, her shrill voice startling everyone. She turns her glare to me. I don’t know how Cadah acted so calm under a glare like that. “She has the mark of the blue flower, but she can’t do one thing to help us. At least Arujan can walk and is trying to solve our problems.”

  “She has never been here before,” Cadah says.

  “Exactly!” Ore shouts. “Why not? We’ve waited for generations. Where has she been? She looks younger than me.” Anger burns in her eyes. It’s the same look Dad had when he hit me. I fight the impulse to run.

  “Where have you been?” Ore says in barely a whisper. “Where were you when my father died?”

  I don’t know what to say. I don’t know who her father is or why she would blame me for his death. I see Dad’s fist swinging toward me, and I close my eyes.

  “That is enough, Ore,” Ziru says. “The legends never said the princess would save us overnight. Every legend I have heard says that when the Blue Princess comes, we must take her to Keeper.”

  “Keeper has the secrets of the blue blood,” the older woman agrees.

  “I thought Keeper had the weapon the princess would use to defeat Wynn,” Ore says with a smirk. “This girl can’t do anything. What would she do with a secret weapon? Grow wings so she can get around?”

  “You’re planning to take her to Keeper?” the older man asks.

  “Yes, Hattak.” Ziru nods.

  Ore interrupts again. It isn’t hard to see why no one seems to like her. “I don’t see why we need to spend time on a worthless quest when we have real problems. Our time with warm weather is already too short.”

  “When do we leave for Keeper?” Hattak asks, completely ignoring Ore.

  “Some of us will leave,” Ziru says. “I will take Tran, Cadah, and Lydia. Hattak, I need you to stay here and watch the village. Ler will be busy protecting Karu.”

  “I don’t know why the traitor is still alive,” Hattak says. “You expect me to keep order in the village with the traitor and Arujan still here?”

  “Yes,” Ziru says.

  “Impossible!”

/>   “That is why I leave it in your hands. Netta will also be here.”

  “And Ore?” Tran asks with a smirk on his face. “I’m guessing that she will be put in charge of keeping an eye on Arujan?”

  Cadah giggles, but Ziru doesn’t appreciate the quip. “Enough! We are all friends here, and Ore is a trusted member of this council. That is exactly what I had in mind.”

  Cadah looks at me behind Ore’s back and rolls her eyes.

  “How far away is Keeper?” I ask. I feel like a little girl, sitting here while this committee decides my future. Maybe I want to go, but maybe I don’t. There are other things to consider, like how I told Karl that he would be okay. I’m a girl trying to figure out where she came from, not a warrior wanting to get involved in a war.

  “One hundred miles,” Netta responded. “A week’s journey.”

  A week. That is a long way, but maybe it will be okay. And after we go, I could take Karl back home. A week’s journey would give me a sense of what is here in this world, and then I can stop my selfishness and take care of Karl.

  “Could we take Karl with us?” That way I would know he’s safe.

  “We can’t afford to lose the manpower,” Ziru says. “And besides, we don’t know how friendly the people of Keeper would be to a traitor. He’s safe with Ler.”

  “Perhaps,” Hattak says. “But maybe not. And you must be careful. Although the people in Keeper gave reports to our spies a few months ago about Arujan, we don’t know if they have sided with him in the meantime. We have always had a good relationship with Keeper, but Arujan is cunning. He broke up the Northern Alliance, perhaps he has put some kind of political pressure on Keeper to break the traditional leadership.”

  “We need to be careful,” Tran agrees. “And that means that we can’t take Karu. Keeping Karu with Ler is the best plan. Besides, who cares if he dies?”

  “I do,” I say quietly. My dislike for Tran is increasing as well.

  “And so do we,” Ziru says and puts a hand on my knee. “It’s decided. We leave the day after tomorrow.”