The Other World: Book One

by Tracey Tobin

  “Just for a few minutes,” Jacob told him. “I was training in my field and then all of a sudden I was just there, surrounded by strange people, and the one who looked just like me.”

  “An unforeseen side-effect of the magic that lead Victoria home,” Eden mused. “The field where your father made your home is the same spot where he and I originally took the baby princess from this world to her hiding place. In a way you acted as a conduit to allow the princess to return home.” Eden gave him a warm, genuine smile. “And that is only befitting since you will now become her guardian.”

  Tori didn’t hear Jacob’s reaction, as she had managed to back all the way out the door, turn around, and walk away from the council room. She walked past staring Maelekanai and beautifully-painted houses, across platforms and over rope bridges, until eventually she came to a small platform that was empty except for a torch of white fire. At first she thought it was the platform they had come up on, but there was no rope ladder or other method of descending to the ground, so she merely sat herself down on the edge of the wood and stared out into the forest.

  She didn’t question what she’d seen. She should have; she should have denied it with every ounce of her being. It could have all easily been a story concocted by Eden to influence her. It could have been an insane hallucination. It could be something that she was seeing in the depths of her mind while doctors prodded her comatose brain with needles. It could have been anything other than the truth. But she didn’t question it, because somehow, deep down in her bones, she felt that it was true. She felt as though the entire story had been written on a page in the most silent, furthest-back depths of her mind for the past seventeen years, just waiting to come out and say, “Hey, guess what?”.

  She thought about her parents - the people she had considered to be her parents but had technically adopted her without even knowing it. She thought of the mother who had raised her, with whom she shared many physical traits, but who had not actually given physical birth to her. Instead it had been some stranger with her mother’s face who had carried her and birthed her, and been forced to give her up without ever having even held her.

  It was strange, but having watched the whole thing play out right in front of her eyes, Tori felt quite suddenly as though she had lost two sets of parents.

  A moment later she found herself laughing out loud, but there was no humor in the sound. “Every little girl dreams that one day she’ll discover she’s really a princess,” she cackled to herself. “And here I actually get that fantasy, but it comes with two sets of dead parents and a kingdom that’s been stolen by an evil zombie relative.”

  She’d thought she was alone, but a short laugh that was thick with attitude echoed around her as Kaima dropped down onto the platform from the dark trees above. “Poor little princess,” she said in a mock-whine. “Finds out she has rights to a kingdom and now she’s gonna cry about it.”

  If looks could kill Tori was sure she would have struck the Maelekanai teen down in her prime. “I suppose you were eavesdropping back there,” she guessed, “but you can just take your attitude and shove it because you know absolutely nothing.”

  Kaima’s sharp teeth shone when she growled in response. “I know the queen gave you up so that you could have a chance to survive,” she shot back. “I know that Eden gave you the opportunity to live a happy, safe life. I know that Jacob’s father gave up everything he had in the royal city in order to protect the spot where you would one day return, which, by the way, you would know if you hadn’t run away from the conversation like a spoiled, ungrateful little brat.”

  It was all that Tori could take. She snapped, her face hot and her body shaking. She pushed herself to her feet and flew forward so that she was inches from Kaima’s face, glaring down into the eyes of the shorter creature with a burning hatred that she hardly recognized in herself. “What the hell is your problem with me, you little freak?” she shouted.

  Kaima opened her mouth to return with her own insult, but her ears twitched half a second before a male voice shouted across the platform. “Kaimatrina! Sritha na fior shi!”

  Kaima turned and hissed at her father before leaping back up into the trees and streaking off with her tail literally between her legs.

  When she was gone the elder approached Tori slowly. He seemed visibly wary, and Tori realized with some embarrassment that she had her hands balled into fists. She forced herself to breathe, uncoiled her pulsing red fingers, and turned to drop back down on her perch. After a few quiet moments the elder joined her, though he was careful not to sit too close.

  “Please forgive my daughter’s impudence,” he requested. “She has always blamed humans for the death of her mother.”

  At first Tori kept her mouth firmly shut, not trusting herself to speak, but once she’d curbed her impulse to kick and scream she forced out a quiet, “I’m sorry. What happened?”

  The elder’s eyes went just wide enough that it gave Tori the impression that he was surprised she would bother to ask. He hesitated for a moment, and then offered a short version of the story. “The kingdom these days is comprised of many prison-like societies,” he explained. “My family and I were part of a group that managed to escape one of these, but a human male who feared retribution for the loss of a group of Maelekanai slaves informed the Shadows of our plan. In the resulting struggle Kaima’s mother was taken away from us. Kaima was only seven years old at the time.”

  Prisons? Slaves? Tori stared at him for a long time, before eventually averting her eyes and hanging her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  The elder sat up with a straight back and stared at his staff with terrible memories flashing in his eyes. “There is no reason for you to be,” he replied. “One human making a self-serving decision does not make the entire race accountable.” He pushed himself up to his feet and brushed the dust from his robes. “I remember the days before the Shadows came, when humans ruled fairly,” he told her. “And I have faith that they will rule well again. As far as I am concerned, you are our rightful queen, and I am very curious to see what you will do with your newfound knowledge.”

  And with that he strode away and left Tori alone with her thoughts.

  “Who are you?”

  The voice sent chills through Tori’s body. It was not a pleasant voice, not a kind voice.

  “Your entrance to this world did not go unnoticed, little girl, and neither is it welcome. Now you will tell me, before I get truly angry: who are you?”

  It was the same voice as before, Tori realized.

  She clutched her arms to her body and spun in circles, looking for the source of the voice, but all she could see was darkness in every direction. “Who’s there?” she cried.

  The next time the voice spoke it was filled with rage, pure and undiluted. “IMPUDENT CHILD! I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN! YOU WILL TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!”

  Tori woke with a gasp, flailing in fear, and almost toppled out of the bed. Her panic was not abated by the fact that she had no idea where she was or how she’d gotten there.

  “Are you okay, princess?”

  She nearly jumped out of her skin for a second time. Her heart had climbed right up her throat by the time she’d located Jacob, sitting in a pile of pillows on the floor in the corner of the room. “Nightmare,” she managed to gasp out. “Just a nightmare.” She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to breathe before opening them again. The shock was fading, and her brain was pushing the details away. “Where am I?” she asked.

  Jacob lowered his head when he spoke to her. “I apologize,” he offered first. “When I found you on the edge of the village you had curled up on the platform and fallen asleep. I didn’t want to wake you but I didn’t think that sleeping on a flat piece of wood all night would do you any favors, so I took you back to this guest hut.” For the next part he lowered his head even further. “I hope you do not disapprove of being carried.”

  Tori’s brain still seemed to be half in the dream world, b
ut she couldn’t help feeling that Jacob’s demeanor was off. “It’s fine,” she insisted, though a little voice in the back of her head wasn’t entirely certain that it was. “Thanks.”

  His nod was stiff and formal. “If it pleases you, princess, I can have a bath and some food prepared.”

  Tori frowned. She opened her mouth to ask Jacob what the hell was going on with him, but she was so sore and hungry and fatigued that what came out instead was, “Yeah, sure, that’d be nice.”

  Jacob stood and bowed awkwardly before gesturing for her to follow him. “The bathhouse is on the next platform over,” he explained.

  A little creaky, and still sweating from the horrible nightmare, Tori pushed herself up from the bed and motioned for him to lead the way.

  As they walked through the village, her discomfort level rose by leaps and bounds. She found that the Maelekanai were staring even more than they had the day before, and this time there were many looks of blatant curiosity as well as outright dislike. One group of females glared at her as they approached and immediately began whispering together as they passed by.

  “Let me guess,” Tori muttered under her breath. “They’ve all heard about the ‘heir to the throne’ thing.” She noticed the way Jacob’s shoulder twitched as she said this and added an authoritative, “What is it?”

  Jacob cleared his throat and seemed to be considering exactly the right way to phrase his words. “Kaima has been…spreading the word since last night,” he finally admitted, “and she has convinced many of the villagers that you are an impostor.” His head lowered as he spoke, as though he was expecting a backlash to this information.

  Tori almost gave it to him, but instead she turned her head and scowled toward the gossiping Maelekanai. “You’d think I’d come here looking for the job,” she hissed under her breath.

  They walked past the council room and to a small house set off to the side of the elder’s home. The tiny circular building was a single room sectioned in two by a colorfully-woven curtain. On one side of the curtain sat a table laden with platters of fruit and thin slices of some kind of hard bread. On the other side was a large wooden tub that almost looked like a miniature boat. Beside this boat-tub was an iron pit full of wood, over which was hung a large pot of water.

  “Please enjoy some food while I prepare the bath,” Jacob instructed as he approached the pot.

  Tori felt very strange about the way Jacob was talking to her, but at the moment she was far too hungry to argue. She scarfed down an apple while Jacob lit the fire to heat the water, and then moved on to a mysterious fruit that looked like an orange, but was bright purple and tasted a bit like grapes mixed with strawberries. By the time she was trying the hard bread - which had a sweet, honey-like flavor - Jacob had gotten the water to a slow boil and was tipping the pot into the tub.

  “If you need anything I’ll be right outside,” he informed her. “I will send one of the children to bring you something clean to wear.”

  Tori opened a mouth filled with sweet bread to ask Jacob if he’d completely lost his mind or something, but by the time she’d formed the words he was already out the door. With a frown and a bit of a growl she pushed the food aside, slipped behind the curtain, and ran her fingers along the surface of the tub water. She actually shivered at how good it felt, and realized that she’d been traipsing through the woods and hadn’t gotten clean in over three days. Without a second thought she stripped down and lowered herself into the beautiful heat.

  She hadn’t had an actual bath in ages, and she had to admit that it felt positively amazing. She could feel the hot water melting the sore muscles she’d earned via two days of horseback riding, and for a little while her mind began to melt as well. Then a little throat cleared behind her and she nearly drowned herself trying to cover up all her private bits.

  The little Maelekanai girl giggled as Tori coughed and sputtered and clutched at herself. “You’re funny,” she trilled.

  Tori glared. “You know, it’s really rude to walk in on someone in the bath!” she bemoaned.

  The little girl - Tori couldn’t help but think of her as a kitten - grinned. “Sorry!” she offered. Then she held out a bundle of dyed blue fabric with a proud glow in her eyes. “I brought you some clothes!”

  Tori was still frowning, but she couldn’t deny that the kitten was adorable. “Thank you,” she said, trying to be grateful. “Could you please put them on the table so I don’t get them wet?”

  “Sure!” the little kitten said, and she ducked to the other side of the curtain. Tori almost relaxed again, but a second later the little one was back with a toothy grin on her face. “You don’t look like an impostor,” she announced.

  Tori raised an eyebrow and let herself sink lower into the water. “Been listening to the local rumors, have we?” she surmised.

  The kitten nodded. “My sister’s been going on and on and on about it!” she explained. “But I don’t think you look like an impostor at all.”

  For the first time Tori noticed that the little kitten had a similar coloring to Kaima, except that it was reversed; her fur was shiny silver and her hair was black. “Ah… You’re Kaima’s sister, are you?” Aside from the colors she didn’t see the resemblance at all.

  “Yup!” the kitten said with a flourish. “My name is Jiki!” She scrutinized Tori for a moment before announcing, “But, you know, you don’t really look all that much like a princess either.” She said this with the kind of contemplative frown that only a child can manage.

  Tori didn’t really know what to say other than, “Well, you know, I only just found out that I’m a princess last night…”

  Jiki seemed to think about that. “Yeah, that’s probably it,” she conceded. “You just haven’t had time to become a princess yet.” With that she skipped out of the bathhouse just as happy as a clam.

  Tori was struck dumb by the innocence of it all. She allowed herself to lean her head back into the hot water and considered Jiki’s words. Not enough time? she thought. Maybe. Is there enough time left in my lifespan for me to get used to the idea that everything up until this point has been a lie? A princess. The lost princess of a parallel universe. It sounds like the most ridiculous Disney movie ever. And not only that! The rightful heir to a stolen crown! How wonderfully valiant. Defeat the evil usurper, Victoria, and become queen of-

  All of a sudden something struck her like a punch to the guts and she popped her head back up above the water. “Queen Victoria!” she sputtered. “Oh for the love of- I’d be Queen Victoria!” She burst into insane little giggles at the thought. Soon she was laughing out loud, big belly laughs at just how ridiculous it all was. And then, just as suddenly, there were tears streaming down her face, and they weren’t tears of laughter.

  Her discarded clothes were on the floor next to the bath. With a sudden wave of desperation in her stomach Tori dove for her sweater, pulled the prescription bottle from the pocket, and gulped down all four of the pills that hit her palm. As they slid down her throat she let herself sink beneath the water so that her tears would wash away.

  Some time later Jacob’s voice came, hesitant, from the other side of the curtain. “Princess?” he called. “I- Are you-?” He cleared his throat, and Tori could almost see him straightening his shoulders. “Eden would like to speak with you as soon as possible.”

  Was he listening to me cry? For some reason the thought bothered her quite a lot more than she would have expected. Struggling to keep her voice even she called back, “Alright. I’ll be out in a moment.” She thought she heard Jacob begin to say something else, but then his footsteps retreated and she was alone again.

  There was a small sheet behind the tub that she assumed was meant for use as a towel. She took great care to dry her face gently, hoping that her eyes had not gotten too red. When she was satisfied that she probably didn’t look completely awful she examined the clothing Jiki had left her. They were light blue robes, and a sash to tie them with. She draped them over her
shoulders and fought for a few minutes to make sure she was properly covered, and then tied the sash snug around her waist. The soft material hung to the tips of her fingers and almost to her bare feet, and she had to admit that it was quite comfortable.

  A wire brush had been wrapped up in the robes, so she brushed out her wet hair as best she could and let it fall around her shoulders. Once she had assured that her scars were covered she left the little bathhouse with her head held as high as she could stand.

  “I’m ready,” she announced. It must have been quite clear from the tone of her voice that her heart wasn’t in it.

  Jacob gave her a look that was heavy with concern. For a few seconds he stared and it seemed that he wanted to say something, but instead he simply nodded and gestured for her to follow him.

  They returned to the council room where Eden was waiting patiently. Tori was glad to see that at least the strange woman wasn’t grinning like a fool anymore.

  “We must speak” the ethereal being said. “I understand that this is a great deal to take in all at once, but you must be informed of what needs to be done in order to defeat Iryen.”

  Tori didn’t speak because she didn’t know what to say. She wanted to throw a few choice words at the woman, but she managed to take a deep breath and kept her mouth shut instead. Jacob took in her reaction and then stepped forward on her behalf. “You said the key is blood magic, yes?” he asked.

  Eden bowed her head low in agreement. “Only blood magic can defeat blood magic. In other words only Iryen’s own blood - that is, his last living relative, Victoria - can defeat him. But their blood link alone is not enough.” Her lips were pursed, as though she was remembering something terribly vexing. She turned her attention back to Tori. “Your blood-link with Iryen is very weak because the relation is so distant. You must, in a sense, exercise the magic in your blood in order to become strong enough to face him.” She extended her hand and, quite reluctantly, Tori reached out to take it. Eden flipped Tori’s hand over and pushed up the sleeve of her robe so that her bare forearm was visible. She waved her own fingers over the pale skin and the next moment a faint twinkling seemed to be coming from within Tori’s arm, from within the very veins.