Passages (Alternate Worlds Book 1)

by Taylor Leigh

  ‘What?’ Victoria burst out.

  ‘Pledged?’ Reginald coughed.

  The other dinner guests let out cries of delight and congratulations. Victoria was aware of her cousin trying to say something but she didn’t care. She was on her feet. ‘You can’t do that! I can’t marry him! I won’t!’ Indignation filled her. ‘How could you decide this without asking me?’

  She wasn’t completely conscious of half the things pouring from her mouth, but from the look on her mother’s face, she could tell it wasn’t anything good.

  ‘Victoria! You will be quiet this instant!’ her mother shrieked.

  Victoria’s mouth automatically snapped shut and she slumped forward in her seat, seething. Her gaze flicked over to her uncle, who was watching her sharply. Everyone at the table was. She felt her cheeks grow hot.

  Reginald was staring into his glass of wine, which Victoria noticed trembled slightly. He looked to her mother. ‘You are right, this news is…rather unexpected. Forgive us for not being as…enthusiastic as we should. It’s just a surprise. Once Victoria and I have time to think over what this means we’ll hopefully be able to make up for our disgraceful behaviour.’ His eyes darted to Victoria meaningfully. She fantasised about leaping across the table at him with her dinner knife. Surely she couldn’t make the situation any worse after her outburst.

  ‘Well, at least one of us is reasonable!’ Lucinda said tightly, fixing her daughter with a murderous stare. ‘Now, the other matter which we must discuss is how we are going to announce your pledging. We have planned a ball for the announcement. It will be the most ideal setting to present you both to the public, wouldn’t you agree?’

  ‘I want gladiator fights,’ Victoria said before Reginald could even think of forming a reply. As miserable as she felt, she wouldn’t mind some violence. Watching a bunch of men hacking themselves to pieces would do her mood some good. Perhaps she’d be able to envision Reginald as one of them.

  Reginald looked rather green at her choice. ‘This announcement is supposed to be something happy; gladiator fights are all well and good in their place, but not for a wedding announcement. Besides, those who go to the fights have no interest or patience to listen to announcements. They’ll be too distracted waiting for the games to start. A scheduled ball would be a more ideal setting.’

  Victoria swore she was going to kill him. She hoped her eyes conveyed that.

  ‘How sensible,’ Rovin purred.

  ‘I’m glad you approve. It’s all been set! How exciting! There hasn’t been a ball in the castle in so long, I can’t even remember!’ Lucinda stood with a dreamy look on her face. She swayed slightly as if all of the plans in her head weighed her down. ‘If all goes well, by this time tomorrow the biggest party of the century will take place in the palace!’

  Tomorrow? Victoria thought in a panic. It was so soon! How long had her mother been plotting this? How had she not known?

  The other nobles at the table clapped in delight and stood with the Queen.

  Reginald laughed. ‘Biggest party? At least until the wedding!’

  Victoria couldn’t believe him!

  Her mother practically floated out of the room with her guests following behind her. Rovin, who clearly didn’t care for the company of his son and niece, made a hasty departure as well.

  As soon as they were gone Reginald’s face changed. He slumped back into his seat with a demeanour so weary he seemed to have aged ten years. He didn’t look at Victoria.

  ‘What was all that rubbish about?’ she demanded.

  He played with his fork. ‘What?’

  ‘You didn’t even put up a fight! Just let them go through with this as if you want it to happen!’

  Something inside Reginald snapped at that. ‘Do you really think I want to marry you? Do you think I want any of this?’ His voice was a quiet hiss. ‘My life is over if this happens, but throwing a big fit like a child isn’t going to do us any good!’

  ‘Well it’s better than making jokes and laughing about how wonderful it’ll all be!’ Victoria’s voice rose in pitch. She cast a furtive glance towards the hallway to make sure no-one was coming.

  ‘If we don’t act mature, how will they take any argument we make seriously? Are you even capable of thinking into the future?’

  Victoria stood to her feet. ‘Don’t you talk down to me, gorr rat! There is no way I’m going through with this and I’m not going to be playing your little games, going along with all these plans like everything is just perfect. I’d rather be dead than live with you for the rest of my life!’

  Reginald glowered up at her. ‘Believe me, the feeling’s mutual.’

  There was nothing left to say. Victoria didn’t want there to be. And so, with mind whirling, she left her cousin where he was still sitting. Leaving whatever reply he might have been thinking of stopped on his lips.

  Chapter Two

  Locked back in her room, Victoria was out on her small balcony curled up in a chaise, stroking her cat, which was desperately trying to escape. Panic and rage tossed about in her mind like wind-blown sand. She couldn’t focus on any solid thought, just a blind horror at her impending doom. Being forced to marry her cousin. Becoming his wife. Doing the things that a wife was expected to do. Being an obedient servant to him. It made her shudder.

  She stared out across the city. It was far from quiet, even though it was late. The lower layers, very distant below her, were still bustling with people going about their lives. She felt a twinge of jealousy towards them. They had no rules, no arranged marriages. They simply lived.

  A quick pounding came from her door. Victoria jumped and the cat on her lap seized its opportunity to escape.

  She eyed the door irritably. ‘Who is it?’

  Honestly, did no-one around here understand the meaning of locked doors?

  ‘Reginald! Let me in, will you?’ came a muffled reply.

  ‘Go away!’ she snapped, slinking back into her chair in anger.

  Silence for several ticks. She let herself relax slightly.

  ‘I really want to talk.’ Reginald’s voice came from the door again.

  Victoria let out an exasperated breath and threw her head back against her chair. ‘You’re not going to leave, are you?’

  ‘Well, it depends how long you expect me to stay out here.’

  She sighed hatefully and got up to let Reginald in. He seemed a bit surprised when she finally jerked the door open.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said, slipping inside before she could slam it again.

  Victoria swept back to the balcony, ruffled. ‘What do you want?’ She felt more hostile than Victoria realised she should have. Reginald hadn’t been in on this, and yet, doing anything that felt like submitting to him was too much of a reminder of things to come.

  ‘They just announced publicly that the ball will be tomorrow,’ he said awkwardly.

  Victoria glowered down at the city below her. ‘Perfect.’

  ‘I’m not going back home,’ he said. ‘I’m staying here till the wedding. They decided that.’

  Victoria stared out past the city, towards the Bone Vault, trying not to listen to him. He went on anyway.

  ‘I’ve got a girl back in my province. I told her I’d see her in a few months. We wanted to get married. Her name is Selinia. I’m not ever going to see her again.’

  Victoria raised her eyes to the sky. The Dead World was very close. It was only two nights till the Passing, when the pull from the world would be so strong it would yank rocks and anything else not tied down up into the sky. It was mandatory for everyone to be inside when that happened. She had a mad moment where she wished it would pull her up, away from all of her troubles.

  ‘What do you have to lose from this marriage, Victoria?’

  He sounded slightly desperate. She couldn’t tell if he wanted comfort or some understanding from her. Perhaps he wanted to prove that she was much more selfish than he was. She clawed at the stone railing of the balcony, trying to
think of something legitimate. She had no lovers to leave behind; nothing would truly change about her life. It would be the same as it was now, except someone else would be there to share her loneliness. It wouldn’t be just her now.

  ‘Freedom,’ she said brokenly. It was a lame excuse. She had about as much freedom now as her slaves.

  Reginald nodded. He didn’t laugh at her weak reason. Victoria watched him walk to the edge of the balcony and lean over. ‘I guess the older we get the tighter the leash becomes.’

  The cat that had escaped Victoria jumped up on the balustrade and walked over to him. Reginald stroked its face.

  ‘I’m going to have to leave after the ball,’ Victoria said.

  Reginald glanced at her questioningly.

  ‘Royal girls have to make the Journey. Half of them don’t make it. I have to leave the city walls and walk to that temple.’ She pointed to a small structure far away on the top of a thin ridge.

  Reginald gaped back at her in shock. ‘They send you outside the city walls? Alone? Who thought that up?’

  Victoria shrugged. ‘Someone with a sick sense of humour, I guess. It’s to prove how strong we are. Like the Trials you boys go through.’

  Reginald shuddered. ‘Glad that’s behind me.’

  They both gazed out at the temple. A fire from it was flickering, making the whole structure glow red.

  ‘Maybe I just won’t come back.’

  He turned to her, ‘Hey, don’t talk that way! You can’t leave me here. Who knows who they’ll set me up with then!’ He smiled, uncharacteristically gentle.

  Victoria smiled back, weakly.

  ‘So,’ he looked back out at the temple, ‘how long of a walk is that?’

  ‘I’m not sure. A long day. A very long day.’ Victoria slumped against the railing, cupping her chin in her hands.

  Reginald watched the sky. ‘Better hope you get there before the Dead World gets too close!’ They listened to the sounds of the city. Animals bellowed. Faint strains of laughter reached them. Music drifted here and there. It was so alive compared to the castle.

  ‘Hey,’ Reginald said after a few long minutes. ‘What’s that?’

  Victoria glanced at him in confusion. ‘What?’

  Reginald straightened, suddenly excited. He pointed up at the sky. ‘What’s that? There!’

  Victoria stared up at the sky, seeing nothing. Carefully, she followed Reginald’s finger, to the surface of the Dead World and finally saw what he’d noticed. Black dots. They blended in perfectly with the night so Victoria didn’t see them at first, but she saw them now, at least twenty of them, large bulky black shapes drifting up to the sky from the Bone Vault.

  ‘Those are going to the Dead World,’ Victoria breathed. ‘What are they?’ She turned to her cousin, hoping for some sign of understanding across his features. Unfortunately, he looked just as baffled as her.

  Reginald’s face darkened. ‘I don’t know.’

  She began counting again. Too many questions started spinning through her head at once. ‘There’s so many! Who could be sending them? Why would anyone want something to go there? Does anyone even live there? I thought only the dead haunted there.’

  Reginald watched more of the shapes drifting up away from the desert. He lowered his voice dramatically. ‘Maybe the dead are receiving them.’

  Victoria felt sick. ‘That’s impossible!’ Her voice faltered.

  Reginald shuddered. ‘I’m serious! What if it’s some message to the dead? It could be an offering for them.’

  Victoria jerked back. ‘Message to the dead? Don’t be ridiculous!’

  Reginald shrugged. ‘Sorry.’ She watched his brows pull down as he frowned. ‘Don’t you think we should tell someone about this?’

  Victoria looked back out at the strange floating shapes. ‘If we bring it up, they’ll bombard us with questions. I doubt we’re the only ones who’ve seen this. If someone is sending something up to the Other World then someone would have to know; my mother would know!’

  Reginald smiled grimly. ‘Well, if we needed any more proof, that’s it.’

  Victoria grimaced. ‘What’s it?’

  ‘Big things are happening.’

  Victoria rolled out of bed, bleary eyed the next morning. She could tell by the sun that it had been up for some time. Waking up late never put her in a good mood and when she remembered what they day would bring, her mood grew even worse. By the end of the day she would have to begin thinking about the ball. And with that, the end of her life. Or close enough.

  Soon the entire city would know the announcement her mother had made last night. There was no escape then, but she still had time. Victoria had been formulating desperate plans late into the night. After her little explosion at the dinner table she doubted her mother would listen to her, but it was certainly worth a try. She wasn’t giving up without a fight.

  The palace was quiet that morning as she crept down the dark hallways. She tried to avoid people when she saw them. Any of those happy, congratulating smiles made her feel sick. She doubted any of them would feel so happy if they had to marry their sorry sod of a cousin.

  Finding anyone in the palace was usually a challenge, but luckily her mother kept a semi-regular schedule. By the markings on the various sundials placed in the open carved windows, Victoria knew where her mother was. It was the last place she wanted to go.

  After several long flights of stairs and dark passageways, Victoria found herself standing outside of the palace’s temple. If she went inside, there was a good chance she’d get roped into staying for the whole ritual. She debated waiting for her mother to emerge, but there was no promise that was going to be any time soon. The ceremonies were notorious for lasting hours if the trances were good and the message was stirring. There was nothing else for it; she’d have to risk going in. There was always the excuse of needing to use the lavatory to escape. She’d used it plenty of times.

  Victoria slid behind the heavy curtain and tried not to breathe. The smoke and glowing yellow spores drifting in the air instantly brought tears to her eyes. It was a tangible cloud of clinging sickened darkness, shoving its way down her throat.

  She hated being here.

  There was no-one in the small room, which she found unusual, since there always seemed to be several priestesses lurking about. She did not complain. They were a strange lot. Unfortunately, that meant her mother was not inside either, which didn’t help Victoria’s situation.

  She was about to make a quick escape back the way she’d come when she heard a voice echoing from behind one of the curtained passages in the wall. With some hesitation, she slipped inside. The narrow tunnel wound to eventually open out into a dark, cavernous space. The throne room. Victoria had always hated how close the two rooms were together; the smell always drifted through the curtains.

  The room had no light except for a soft blue glow and the cloth shades were drawn over the windows. If the tunnel hadn’t opened out close to the throne, Victoria would have had a spot of trouble finding it. She tiptoed up to the throne and shook Lucinda.

  ‘Mother!’ she hissed.

  Lucinda jerked as if asleep. ‘Victoria! What is it?’

  ‘Can we talk?’ Her eyes flickered down to the chalice of spore potion her mother was holding. It made her want to gag. She didn’t know how her mother could swallow the stuff, but Lucinda had always been rather addicted to it.

  ‘Can it wait?’ her mother asked through clenched teeth.

  Victoria raised her eyes to the ceiling. ‘Will I see you before tonight?’

  ‘Victoria, I don’t know! Be still! If this is about the announcement, I don’t want to hear another word. I’ll never recover from the humiliation you brought upon me last night!’ She pressed a hand to her eyes theatrically.

  ‘Oh please, everyone’s already forgotten about it. All you worry about is your stupid pride. Well, my whole life is at stake!’

  ‘Don’t be so dramatic. I had to go through this with you
r father, as did my mother and her mother.’

  ‘Well, I’m not going to!’ Victoria wasn’t sure exactly where in the conversation things had taken a bad turn. She was finding she wasn’t very good at being calm in these types of situations.

  Her mother reached over and grabbed her arm. ‘You will do exactly as you’re told, young one! You’re no different than the rest of us. Now I suggest you go and get ready for your big announcement tonight!’ Lucinda offered her daughter a sickly sweet smile.

  She reached forward and patted Victoria’s cheek and as Victoria jerked back she noticed a new, beautiful red ring wrapped round her mother’s finger. She caught her mother’s wrist in her hand and stared at the strange, glittering stone encircled by two little golden dragons. ‘Where did you get that?’

  Lucinda pulled her hand free. ‘Sinsetun presented it to me. Maybe if you behave yourself I’ll let you wear it sometime.’

  Victoria was about to snap a reply when brilliant red light illuminated their surroundings. She turned her gaze towards the centre of the room. The sight awed her.

  Sinsetun stood with arms wide, holding a large staff adorned with a shining blue ball. Both priest and staff reminded her of artefacts of the Dark Times, they were so ancient. Maybe they were. Above him were two giant rotating balls, one blue, one red. They shimmered and revolved around each other slowly, impossible and beautiful. Victoria completely forgot her conversation with her mother once she saw it.

  Sinsetun began to speak, his voice a hiss. ‘The Dead World has remained dormant for many years.’ The blue ball rotated towards Victoria and her mother and expanded. ‘But it is no longer.’

  Lucinda shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

  ‘The dead have seen our world and covet it. They wish to return to where they once lived and breathed. While even I cannot see what they are planning, they are already on the move. The Passing of the worlds is always a dangerous time, but never before have we been attacked. Things are different now. They are growing in power. If we do not do something soon, we will be at war.’