Passages (Alternate Worlds Book 1)

by Taylor Leigh

  Andrew’s eyes moved to her briefly, before flicking back up to the ceiling. ‘Not as exciting as your late night,’ he said, uninterested.

  Victoria shuffled. ‘Late night?’

  ‘Mmmm. Out at the channel, I shouldn’t wonder.’

  Victoria crossed her arms across her chest. ‘How can you go making an accusation like that?’

  He sighed languidly. ‘The clothes you’re wearing are wrinkled, which I’ve noticed you never allow, you’re very clean. So they were thrown on the floor last night at a late hour. There’s a few sand burs stuck to your skirt as well, the only spot they grow is up by the ocean, and you haven’t been there yet with the rest of us. And there’s fine white dusting of white rock on your shoes. Only place that could have come from is the cut stones to build the lighthouse, which is at the channel. Pretty. Obvious.’

  Victoria rolled her eyes. ‘And I suppose you’re going to ask me what I was doing?’

  ‘No,’ Andrew said slowly. ‘Since Tollin and Molly have the same evidence on them—though I must say they cleaned themselves up a bit better—I can only assume you three were having some late night rendezvous with someone at the channel.’

  She made a face. ‘Well, lovely assumption. You’re right clever, you are. Ready for our rounds?’

  Andrew closed his eyes. ‘Already did them.’

  Victoria gaped. He already did them? How late had she slept, anyway? ‘You’re joking. Why?’

  He sat up rapidly. ‘Because I was bored!’ he snapped.

  She sighed and walked over to stand at the foot of the sofa he was lying on. ‘Okay, so what now?’

  He eyed her. ‘Why should I care what you do?’

  ‘Because you’re bored and I’m new here.’

  ‘I’m not a nanny.’

  She sat down on the edge of the sofa. ‘I kinda figured that out, thanks. So are you planning on just lying on that sofa all day?’

  He inhaled deeply in answer.

  ‘Come on, you’re a genius; I’m a girl from a different planet. Seems like we could figure something out.’

  He seemed to mull that over for a second. Then Andrew pushed himself up out of his chair, suddenly all energy. ‘Shall we be off?’

  ‘Off where? I haven’t eaten yet, I’m starved. Where are we going, anyway?’

  Andrew sighed impatiently. ‘Eat if you must. Trays are still out for you.’ He gestured vaguely towards the dining hall.

  Victoria scooped up a plate and started pulling silver tray lids off of dishes. Eggs, bacon, fish, fruit and oats were just a few of the choices underneath. She didn’t know what to try so she took a sample of everything. She carried her tray back out the lounge and sat down next to the fire. ‘So, you still didn’t tell me what the plans are for the day.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Well, you asked if we should be off, I assumed you had something in mind.’

  ‘I suppose I should show you where several of my frequent stops are, so you’ll know where to deliver my projects. I’ll need you to drop off several map designs at the printers,’ he mused.

  ‘You’re telling me to go down to the printers to drop off some of your drawings?’

  Andrew raised an eyebrow. ‘No. We’re going together. You don’t know where it is yet. I couldn’t very well ask you to go down there and do it yourself, now could I?’

  Victoria laughed mirthlessly. ‘What do you think I am, your slave? I’m not dropping stuff off for you!’

  He let out an exasperated huff. ‘Of course I don’t think you’re my slave. Assistant. I need one. All the work I do, it gets to be too much for even me to handle. I need someone to help with the more menial tasks so I can get to the important work. And if you’re insisting on tagging along everywhere I go, then I expect you to be of some use to me.’

  Victoria wasn’t sure why she felt it was so funny, perhaps because what he was saying as so absurd. She, a princess, doing Andrew’s menial tasks! Unlike Tollin, he was completely clueless about her true identity, and he wanted her for an assistant! There was something shockingly refreshing about it.

  ‘As I’m sure you can imagine, it’s been very difficult for me to find an assistant. Impossible to find good help these days. But you’ll do just fine. You do want to learn about the planet, don’t you?’

  ‘Well, yes,’ Victoria said. ‘But that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.’

  ‘Following me round is the best way to learn. You won’t hear from anyone cleverer, and you might learn a thing or two in the process, if you’re sharp enough. Now hurry up, the daylight is wasting.’

  Victoria downed another mouthful and stared at him. ‘Okay, I need to just get one thing straight, and then I’ll go with you. You say you need an assistant to help you with stuff because you don’t have any time, but you sat there in that chair waiting for me all morning?’

  ‘Yes.’ Andrew looked at her, as if he didn’t quite understand what she was getting at.

  Victoria cleaned her plate and shook her head. She could feel a grin spreading across her face. For the life of her she couldn’t comprehend why she wasn’t offended by him. He was fascinating, and honestly, she wanted to see what he was all about, even if it meant being bossed around. Plus, amazingly, she was doing exactly what Tollin had asked. Maybe his task wasn’t so impossible after all.

  They walked down the steps of the lodge and into the cold, foggy air. It was an invigorating morning, and Victoria felt ready for whatever Andrew had on his mind, despite how tired she felt.

  She followed Andrew in the direction of the printers. She struggled to keep down her disappointment about their destination. With someone like Andrew, she had expected something a bit more exciting. The man was an inventor, after all. Wasn’t there some strange contraption he needed her math expertise for? As a man who constantly complained of being bored why did he seem to be going out of his way to make their free day as disinteresting as possible?

  As if on cue, Victoria and Andrew stopped to watch several guards, chainmail clinking and red cloaks fluttering, running down towards the boat docks, Thedric leading the pack. Andrew turned his head to watch them pass, eyes following their procession with the mild disinterest of a cat.

  An old woman looked in Andrew’s direction. ‘Might want to get down there, Overseer, things are getting messy!’

  Her words brought him fully alive. A much too delighted grin sprang across Andrew’s face and he dashed towards the harbour. Victoria hitched her skirts up and broke into a run after him. Confusion and excitement pulsed through her in a rush. It wasn’t in her nature to run towards any signs of danger, but she was not about to let Andrew out of her sight. And if staying with him meant rushing towards the sound of screams then she supposed she had no real choice in the matter.

  There was rather a crowd gathered by the time Andrew and Victoria shoved their way through. They arrived just in time to see Thedric hauling one bloody man off another amidst angry shouts. The man on the ground, who the man Thedric had in his grasp had been attacking, appeared unconscious.

  ‘What happened here?’ Thedric shouted to the people surrounding them.

  ‘Oh, Thedric, why ask the obvious questions?’ Andrew swaggered forward with an overwhelming air of self-importance and addressed the man in Thedric’s grip. ‘Dispute at the boat docks? Arthur docked his boat in your spot, Cain?’ His eyes shone with a keen light.

  The man, Cain, wiped blood from his nose. He was a large, burly, intimidating man who dwarfed Andrew’s thin frame. ‘Yeah. I’ve been gone for several months. Get back and see this whelp taking up my dock, which I paid for!’

  Andrew’s interested expression became fixed. ‘I see.’

  Thedric sighed. ‘Right.’ He turned to two of his men. ‘Get Cain out of here, and someone, please help Arthur to the healers. Show’s over.’

  With Cain being led off, most of the crowd dispersed into muttering pockets of gossip. Thedric turned to stare at Andrew, baffled. ‘I don’t get it,’ he admitted.
‘Cain has never been a violent man. Attacking someone so much younger like Arthur doesn’t seem in his character at all!’

  Andrew frowned and trotted down to Cain’s boat. He hopped aboard and started rifling round. ‘Cain mentioned he’d been gone for a while.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Thedric said. ‘Long fishing trip. Didn’t mention where, though.’

  Andrew lifted a net and examined it. He pulled a thin, stringy clump of roots out of the mesh. ‘He’s been down the southern coast, to the mangrove deltas.’

  Thedric frowned. ‘That’s well beyond our normal reach. That’s Blaiden territory, if I’m not mistaken. What was he doing down there?’

  ‘Tigerfish, very rare. Rather a delicacy. Especially since the groves have been changing these past few years, from what I’ve heard.’

  ‘Okay, so Cain was down south, what does that have to do with his insane attitude? That was not normal.’

  Andrew shook his head. ‘I don’t know. Could just be stress from the trip.’ He leapt from the boat and walked up to them. ‘Could be a number of things. There’s not enough information here, and frankly, it’s not that concerning. So Cain snapped? Everyone has their moments.’

  Thedric nodded. ‘Yeah, guess it’s nothing. I dunno, I’ve just been jumpy lately. Keep thinking the Druids are going to attack. Don’t like it when our own citizens start acting up.’

  Andrew clapped him on the shoulder. ‘Thanks for the excitement. Let me know if there’s actually a real problem.’ He started off, back through the village, not bothering to glance Victoria’s way. She tailed after him in a daze, wondering if he’d even noticed she’d been at the scene in his excitement, for he showed no notice of her now, like he’d forgotten her existence. Like she was nothing more than a shadow to him.

  Her worry that he had forgotten her only increased when, silently, Andrew led Victoria away from most of the bustling village and towards a secluded spot at the edge of a pasture. The ground was sandy and covered with bark shavings from the cedars around them. Beyond, the pasture was a beautiful green with bright pink pea flowers and yellow daisies.

  Victoria turned round in a small circle, smiling. ‘What are we doing here? It’s very pretty. Are you taking me on a tour finally?’

  To her confusion, Andrew sat down in the grass without a glance or a word. He dropped a large leather book in front of him and flipped it open. Victoria noticed the pages were blank. ‘No,’ he said. ‘You’re going to make yourself useful.’

  Victoria hesitantly sat down next to him. ‘I beg your pardon? What about going to the printers?’

  Andrew gave her a measured look. ‘There’s plenty of time for that later, and honestly, if you can’t find it on your own, then you really are hopeless.

  ‘This entire world is completely ignorant to the Red World circling above our heads. And, reluctantly, I admit to falling into that category as well. There have been no books written on the subject that are true, factual accounts. Now, finally, I have the chance to write one. To be the first to write a real study of your world, Scrabia…’ His eyes shone. ‘People will be fighting to get their hands on it. I’ll finally be recognised for my accomplishments. They’ll finally invite me to the capitol. I’ll be invited to Academia, and be free of this mud-hole.’

  Victoria crossed her arms. ‘That’s what all this is about? That’s why you stopped Thedric from killing me? So you could be recognised for writing a book? That’s why you saved me? Not because…’

  Andrew looked at her, face emotionless. ‘Of course. I thought I already made that perfectly clear. It was a completely logical step for me to take. Obviously I couldn’t allow someone as valuable as you fall victim to Thedric’s ignorance.’

  Victoria glanced away from him and glowered in embarrassed rage. She’d been saved not because Andrew had taken any interest or liking to her. It had been nothing but a way for him to better himself. A way for him to use her for his own gain. He’d have thought nothing of his brother dispatching her if he’d seen no use of her. She wondered if he saw her as human at all. She fought down her disappointment. Just when Andrew seemed like a normal person, almost a friend, he said something like that. She supposed leaving in a huff wouldn’t do any good. She was tasked with getting on Andrew’s good side, and if that meant putting up with his unintentional insults and helping him with some damn book, well then, that’s what she’d have to do. She took a deep breath and turned back to him with a tight smile. ‘Right. Well, what do you want to know?’

  ‘Everything,’ Andrew said, taking a fountain pen out of his coat pocket. ‘Start at the beginning. I want language, botany, legends, cities, fauna. Everything.’

  Victoria felt her head swim. She sat down heavily. ‘Wow. That’s a lot to cover in one year.’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Nothing.’ Victoria thought for a moment. ‘Well, I live in the capitol city called Layers—’

  ‘Can you draw?’ Andrew cut her off.

  ‘Yeah, well, I should like to think so.’

  Andrew tossed another pen and some parchment her direction, and then went back to his own parchment. ‘Draw it,’ he ordered.

  Victoria let out a deep breath. ‘Okay…’

  ‘Talk while you’re sketching.’

  Victoria pressed the pen to the paper, mind reeling. She felt her stomach squirm and realised just how little she knew about her world. If she was supposed to entertain someone who was a genius, what would she accidentally let slip that could jeopardise her world? Andrew seemed decent enough, but she knew she couldn’t trust him, and she felt a sneaking suspicion that he would see through her frail palace slave lies, if he was as clever as he was proclaimed to be. She was going to have to be very careful.

  She could already tell it was going to be a long day. She gazed across the field as she talked, describing the landscape and the city. As she talked she noticed Tollin across a distant field, tromping along in one of the creeks. She frowned, wondering jealously what it would have been like if he’d wanted her to join him, instead of Andrew.

  * * * * *

  Molly plucked a few more leaves from the mareheart plant and gave them a quick sniff. She decided they smelled mature enough and pushed them down into her pouch. The break in the weather was giving her a good chance to gather some more herbs and she was not about to waste it. Being out was one of her tricks to take her mind off of things, and with the troubling sleep she’d had lately, she needed a good, calming distraction.

  Another one of her throbbing migraines was coming on and she put her hands to her temples as golden whiteness invaded her brain. The intensity of the sensation barrelled over her, throwing her onto her back and she was pulled back into the familiar vision which always had a way of hitting her out of the blue. Light and noise—the twisting of voices—and something else, nagging at her, a repressed memory she was sure belonged to her. ‘Come on, Molly! We have to go!’ A man’s voice echoed the words in her mind, but Molly didn’t understand why he said them. Who? Go where?

  Around her were trees, strange trees filled with a ghostly mist, and something else, something dark and evil barrelling down on her.

  She was faced by the man, rather suddenly. His face was familiar to her, heavy-set brow and big blue eyes, brown hair hanging limply across his forehead. There was always something strange about him, something just out of reach that she couldn’t put her finger on. The image of birds was always brought to her mind when she saw him, but for the life of her, Molly couldn’t explain why. She wanted to say his name, it was just there on the tip of her tongue, but it slipped away, as it did countless times before.

  There was another blinding flash of the light and both the wood and the man were gone.

  It always ended the same, a beautiful woman staring straight through her with eyes of gold.

  Molly moaned as the light faded. She pushed herself up, fighting vertigo and a numb disappointment at not being able to remember. She popped a salden leaf into her mouth to ease the pain. She wished
she could diagnose her condition. It was getting harder to concentrate on her work. Even being out in the fresh air was not as calming as it used to be. Every headache left her with a hollow, depressed feeling; like she’d lost something dear to her she couldn’t remember. She felt like she’d left something unfinished, abandoned something important.

  She pulled up some roots from another plant and gave them a look over, feeling frustrated and unhappy. Half the ingredients she had gathered in her bag were for the concoction she made for Andrew whenever he had one of his turns. He never drank it, but she kept gathering the herbs for it, hoping one day he would. She sighed and looked round. Andrew and Victoria were sitting on the small cedar studded hillside. People were driving a herd of cattle through the pasture. It was a good day to be out—if one wasn’t plagued by disturbing visions, that was.

  A muttering noise pricked at her ears and Molly turned the direction of the stream. Tollin was coming her way, talking to himself very fast as he dodged along the bank. His eyes were downcast and he seemed completely lost in his own world. Molly watched him for a moment in curiosity, then picked herself up and trotted towards the stream. She would be the first to admit she was drawn to Tollin, and a chance to catch him alone wasn’t something she was about to pass up.

  ‘Something that weight, taking in, of course, the time it was released and the intervention of the gravitational pull, shouldn’t it have ended upstream from here? Or no, do I have it backwards? Was there a wind? Yes. There’s always a wind. But this stream is the main one. Of course, if the Blaiden spotted it first then I’m heading in the completely wrong direction. The south, aye? How many rivers are there from the south?’

  Molly climbed up to a mossy spot on the bank and stared down at him as he peered into the water. ‘You look like a mad man on a mission, the way you’re dashing about.’

  ‘Yup,’ Tollin said, popping the word. ‘That’s me, mad man with ambition on a mission.’ He trailed off, completely preoccupied with the stream.