Welcome Home (Alternate Worlds Book 3)

by Leigh, Taylor

  ‘Investigating, of course!’ Andrew replied. His pace picked up from momentum till he was practically flying down the smoking sand.

  ‘Andrew!’ Victoria wailed in frustration. It was no good. He wasn’t listening. ‘Oh.’ She hitched up her skirts. ‘Wait for me!’

  Chapter Six

  Four Hundred and Thirty years later

  Realm of Solvareta

  Tollin smashed to the ground. Hard.

  He let out a growl of discomfort.

  A great, jagged rock was jabbing somewhere into his lower back with annoying persistency.

  He hadn’t been prepared for a jump to a new Realm and didn’t appreciate the sudden violence of it.

  Dizzily, he sat up, rubbing the back of his head where a rather impressive bump was starting to form. Now, where had he gone?

  The view before him almost knocked what little breath he had left out of him again.

  Before him was nothing but empty space. Stretching as far as he could see, silvery clouds blanketed the world like an ocean of snow. Above that was nothing but an infinite blackness.

  Where he had landed was a flat, round stone surface, and it was lucky he had, for the edge was just a metre away. Here and there beneath him was split into glowing scars, punctured by green crystals.

  He felt so very exposed, with nothing but the darkness above and the clouds below.

  A cold breeze blew against him. So, there was some air in this space. That was some small.

  Tollin was not one nervous of heights, yet he found himself somewhat shaky as he hauled himself to his feet. Once somewhat steady, he tottered to the ledge and peered down. Nothing but a straight drop into the clouds.

  He pulled an unhappy face. Just how was he expected to get down? Jump? Spinning round on his heel he swiped up a crystallised rock, casually leant back over the edge and released it.

  The rock whistled down and landed with a sharp clack! some seven seconds below.

  He huffed. Tollin could survive quite a bit, but he wasn’t ready to risk that. Who knew what was down there? He could be jumping straight onto more of those pretty, sharp crystals, or down a crevice…or…straight into the void.

  He circled the edge of his platform and, to his surprise and complete relief, discovered a narrow set of stairs carved into the rock. It glistened like ice, swallowed up in the clouds.

  Tollin sat down on the ledge thoughtfully, satisfied he’d found a path to take but in no hurry. This place was unfamiliar to him, and that was rare. It seemed wise to retrace his steps of how he’d arrived.

  He’d been inside the alcove studying the symbol of the green crystal and had told Sam to pull its corresponding crystal free. Then he’d ended up here.

  Pulling the crystal from the pedestal must have activated the window, transporting whatever was inside—back to the time the control panel was set to.

  Tollin wracked his brain to remember what the panel had looked like. Bits had been lit up faintly; he assumed it was nothing but some constant power supply, yet it must have had an active connection. There had been several dials he’d noted, all written in that foreign script he was just beginning to recall.

  A number flashed through his memory. One of the dials had been turned back, he was sure of it. The numbers floated to the front of his mind.

  Seventy.

  Tollin lifted his head and stared out across the void. He swallowed.

  Seventy years.

  He was in a dead Realm, seventy years in the past.

  Oh…

  Tollin didn’t let himself brood over the thought for too long, however. If he had arrived, then there was a way back and sitting at the top of a pillar wasn’t going to solve anything.

  With a heavy heart, but a growing thrill of the unknown, he stood and took his first step down into the clouds.

  If this was his new home, he had better become acquainted with it.

  Chapter Seven

  Victoria stumbled over a smouldering rock and swore elaborately—something she’d picked up from Thedric, Andrew’s older brother. She was sweating profusely and covered with dust and sand, growing grittier and stickier with each step. It did not put her in a pleasant mood.

  Though the sun was no longer visible—thanks to the steep sides of the crater—the heat rising from around them had turned the pit into an insufferable sauna.

  Andrew, as intolerant as he was to any sort of discomfort, was still plunging onwards in dogged determination.

  She clenched her teeth, tasting sweat. When he had his mind set, it was impossible to stop him.

  At last, Victoria caught up to him, just as Andrew reached the crack in the mountain wall. With a glance to her in acknowledgement Victoria saw he was just as exhausted and sweaty as she, which made her feel slightly better. His hair hung in limp curls across his forehead and his breaths were coming shallow and quick.

  ‘You shouldn’t be doing this,’ Victoria chided him, out of breath herself.

  Andrew shook his head curtly and then turned his attention back to the crevice. Despite the temperature, he dropped to a squat. Victoria sank down next to him. The heat was almost unbearable so close to the earth. Tentatively, Andrew ran his hands over the smooth rock which served as the top of the small gap.

  ‘This is carved stone,’ he muttered.

  Victoria stared at him. ‘You mean there’s some structure buried down there?’

  Andrew reached into one of his pockets and pulled out his leather gloves. Once he tugged them on, he grasped for the nearest rock blocking the entrance and pawed at it gingerly. After a moment the smoking stone came free and rolled in between them and down the slope. What it revealed, Victoria supposed—if she used her imagination—was the top of an arch.

  It made her head spin. What could this mean? It was true that there were many such monuments on Scrabia. There were hidden tombs and temples that the desert had long since claimed, but this one was buried deep in the ground, as if it had been there for centuries, carved into the mountain itself.

  Andrew put his hand to the arch. ‘Notice anything strange?’ He reached for his knife and began to scrape at the stone, pocketing a few of the shavings.

  Obediently, knowing that Andrew’s keen eyes were rarely wrong, Victoria turned her attention to making her own observations.

  The stone was not the usual red, rusty colour that all of the buildings on Scrabia were made of. It held a grey, metallic hue, glinting in the light. She had never seen the likes of it before. Great, half-circular images, with flat, square teeth spacing the outer rim were carved all along the arch.

  Looping writing she didn’t know was integrated around the blocky circles.

  ‘I don’t recognise this. It’s not like any ruins on Scrabia I’ve ever seen.’

  Andrew nodded grimly. ‘That’s what I assumed.’ He raised his cold eyes to meet hers. They were shining with a terrifyingly excited light. ‘I don’t think this belongs here.’

  His statement sent them both to excited work. After several frantic moments of digging, however, it became clear it wasn’t much good. They at last sat back together with disappointment. Victoria wiped away the sweat drenching her forehead.

  ‘We’re not getting anywhere. Not on our own.’

  Andrew nodded and stood in one swift movement. He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. ‘It’s time we started back. Perhaps with your influence we can round up a few labourers.’

  They picked their way back up the steaming slope; by the time they reached the top, the gathered crowd was a good distance away.

  Victoria leant against the neck of her horse as she watched the rising cloud of dust. ‘Who d’you think he is? Noel? I mean what an odd place for him to be. He doesn’t seem quite right in the head, does he?’

  ‘From what I have gathered,’ Andrew said, swinging himself up on his horse, ‘is that many are not too blessed when it comes to that. Too much sun?’

  Victoria narrowed her eyes, yet couldn’t help but smile.


  It was late afternoon when they reached the palace, and later still once they managed to clean themselves up. As much as Victoria would have preferred a quick lie-down, with all of the excitement of the day she didn’t dare. The chance of missing something was too great, what with Noel and his entourage having arrived back at the city.

  She darted across the hall to Andrew’s room and knocked sharply on his door. Irritatingly, there was no answer. She bobbed up and down on her heels, waiting for him.

  ‘Andrew?’

  Nothing.

  Victoria scowled and, losing her patience, rattled the handle. It was, predictably, locked.

  ‘Trying to break in?’

  Victoria whirled round to see Ramses, smiling drily, eyes glittering like black beetles.

  As casually as she was able Victoria eased away from him, abandoning Andrew’s door. ‘Are your quarters down this way, Sir Ramses?’

  Ramses did not move from his spot. He was such a massive man, pure muscle. ‘No,’ he said simply.

  ‘Ah,’ Victoria forced herself to not chew on her bottom lip.

  ‘If you are looking for Ambassador O’Neill, I believe he is speaking with the king.’ Ramses eyes shone brightly.

  Victoria smiled tightly. ‘Thank you…did our visitor arrive safely?’

  ‘If you are referring to Noel, then yes. He is resting now.’

  ‘Here? Oh…well, that is good.’ She dipped her head, desperate to get away. ‘I will bid you good day.’

  Ramses inclined his head ever so slightly. ‘Good day, Princess.’

  Victoria clutched her skirts and walked as quickly as was acceptable down the hall till well out of Ramses’s sight. Only when she had gone a fair distance did she pause, scowling, to cast a glance over her shoulder. What was Ramses doing sneaking about? As far as she could tell, there was nothing agreeable about him. There was something in the way his eyes shone when he spoke to her, like he was laughing. Like he knew more than he let on.

  ‘Your Highness!’

  She whipped her head round and watched as Assad trotted up. He slid to a stop across the floor, sandals scraping.

  ‘All right, Assad? And please, it’s Victoria.’

  Assad nodded, his expression one of distraction. ‘Are you off somewhere?’

  Victoria debated. If Andrew was talking to Reginald, chances were whatever she was missing was either incredibly interesting, or incredibly boring. Dropping that to discover what Assad wanted her for was possibly more interesting than some of Andrew’s conversations.

  ‘Not really,’ she said at last. ‘Why?’

  Assad grimaced. ‘You know that stranger we found in the crater?’

  How could she forget? ‘What about him?’

  Assad pulled a long, unhappy face. ‘Well, he’s asking for you. We’ve got him down in one of the lower rooms. Had trouble getting him away from the crowd. I’m already hearing talk of the man who fell from the stars. They love him.’

  ‘What? And he wants me?’ Well, that was a surprise. Warmth washed over her cheeks. ‘Then by all means, take me to him!’

  Assad nodded, leading the way. After several moments of silence, it was clear something was bothering him. She debated about the best way to pry when he suddenly spoke.

  ‘If you don’t my mind saying so, Your Highness—I mean, Victoria—there’s something wrong about this man.’

  Victoria did her best to keep the nervous tremble from her tone. ‘Oh? How so? I suppose it’s only natural, being out all alone in the desert, in the state he was in, would be enough to make anyone a bit confused.’

  ‘He doesn’t have sunstroke, if that’s what you mean.’ Assad shook his head. ‘He’s completely calm, not out of sorts, as you would think. He’s just…wrong.’

  A year ago, Victoria would have brushed Assad’s words aside. But since then, since her time living on Scottorr and all she had seen, Victoria found herself much more careful when it came to things that didn’t feel right. She knew now that there were dark, inexplicable things in the world

  She pressed her lips into a flat line. ‘All right, then, let me see for myself.’

  The walk to where Noel was being held wasn’t long. As they neared, Victoria’s pace slowed against her will. She couldn’t say what had stopped her. It was as if the air itself was pushing back against her in warning. It pulled at her insides; an animalistic nervousness Victoria had felt before, as if she were about to step down on a viper. Her skin crawled.

  Assad glanced at her. ‘You feel it, then?’

  Victoria met his uneasy eyes. ‘Like something really doesn’t want me down here? Yeah.’

  Assad turned his attention back towards the archway. Others clearly didn’t feel it, for a small press of what Victoria could only call admirers stood against the far wall, chatting excitedly.

  Yet it was so silent beyond where they stood…Victoria was suddenly faced with the mental image a cat hovering at the entrance of a mouse’s hole.

  She shook herself. Of course that wasn’t the case. He was under guard. He was nothing but a strange man found in a strange place.

  Squaring her shoulders she marched towards the doorway.

  Noel looked up sharply as Victoria stepped into the room. His amber eyes flashed in the low light. He seemed well, compared to when she’d first seen him. He’d been given something to wear and a plate of half-finished food sat before him.

  Immediately he pushed this aside and stood, bowing deeply, right arm pressed across his chest in an almost militaristic salute.

  ‘My lady, thank you for coming. I didn’t know if you would.’

  Victoria crossed her arms over her chest. The man’s intense gaze was uncomfortable. The whole room had that sense, like some giant serpent was twisting round the edges of it, boxing her in. ‘Bit hard to resist. You’re quite an intriguing individual what with all the mystery you’ve brought; have people all aflutter. So, who are you? Where are you from?’

  Noel smiled, a charming smile that contained almost too many teeth. He seemed a little by her question. ‘I’m from the stars.’

  Victoria’s sense of unease rose a little. ‘I am afraid that’s impossible!’

  A far off look of trouble drifted across his handsome features, something close to the look of one wronged. ‘No. I was waiting, you see; forgotten, I’d thought. Forgotten my purpose. Forgotten everything. And then it all changed. I was cast from my home; thrown here. I didn’t understand at first, but now I do. I know what I must do!’

  She scowled, an uncomfortable fear snaking up from deep inside of her. Assad was right. This man certainly wasn’t straight in the head. He must be suffering from sunstroke, yet his demeanour was so calm, so sure.

  ‘Who are you?’ Assad broke in.

  Noel faced them fully, eyes still shining. ‘I am…you could say…a messenger.’

  Victoria wanted to ignore the clenching in her chest. ‘You’re a prophet?’

  Noel studied her for a moment, looking almost innocent if not for his eyes. His eyes were too deep, too hungry, and the gaze he set upon her sent unfamiliar shivers down her spine. ‘In a way one could say that. I am paving the way.’

  ‘And what is your message?’

  ‘To proclaim the coming of the end!’

  She nodded slowly, struggling to remember how to complete the motion.

  Right. Well, that didn’t sound good.

  * * * * *

  After waiting for Victoria for as long as his patience allowed—which was about five minutes—Andrew decided he’d given her long enough and left without.

  A growing mad desire to uncover the strange ruins in the crater had possessed his mind. He couldn’t think of anything else. All he wanted was to go back with some much needed muscle and start working.

  Now here he was, in one of the king’s smaller meeting rooms, attempting to lay out his case. He’d just remembered to mention the location of the stoneflower pods—along with his suggestion Reginald send out a team to collect and distribut
e them in the water supply as quickly as possible—before he launched into his description of the structure in the desert.

  Unfortunately, things were not moving fast enough, to his annoyance. Reginald wasn’t quite grasping the significance of the situation.

  ‘What’s so great about a bunch of ruins out in the desert? There’s loads of those round here and if you haven’t noticed, I’ve got a lot on my hands at the moment. Why should I be sending people off to go dig this thing up when we’ve got work here that needs doing? D’you think it’s full of treasure or something? If you ask me, the stranger from the stars is much more worth your time investigating.’

  Andrew turned round to study Reginald. ‘I do not claim to know what is inside of the structure, but it was buried deep in the earth. Even considering the amount of sand that is constantly shifted about on this planet, whatever this thing is, it’s incredibly old. It could be evidence of a lost civilisation.’ He wasn’t sure if he should go into the whole not-of-this-world theory he was working on. It was a bit much even for him, and he doubted Reginald would be able to swallow such an idea.

  Reginald paced back and forth, sandals scraping across the sand-strewn floor. ‘So, what d’you want, then?’

  Andrew dipped his head respectfully. ‘A few strong, trusted men who can help me uncover the entrance to it. These men should be people you know; people you know won’t talk.’

  Reginald frowned. ‘Why do they have to keep quiet about it?’

  Andrew sighed, just managing to keep back his impatience. ‘Because, we don’t know what’s in there. We don’t want robbers or sight-seers crawling all over the place before we’ve had a thorough look-over.’

  Reginald narrowed his eyes. ‘What aren’t you telling me?’

  Andrew wrinkled his nose. He had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. He had wanted to have a look at the place before he came to any conclusions. Having Reginald on his side, however, might be the only thing that would keep things as quiet as Andrew wanted them. ‘We don’t want to cause any sort of panic.’