I grab one of my guards by the shirt.
“Stand so you can see her. Do not hesitate to intervene should Maneshha make one single wrong move.”
It feels wrong to leave her. But it would feel traitorous to stay. I’m torn, but I know my duty even if my intuition says I should not leave Fern alone with the enemy.
Ripping myself away, I hurry after Derlix.
I must go to my King.
Chapter Eleven
Maneshha reaches into a small leather bag tied around her hips.
I stiffen, my hand at the ready on the handle of the bronze and marble sword I took off the table. It looks Roman, which is exciting as hell, but not important right now considering this bitch is probably going to try and kill me.
She’s wearing a strip of fabric over her breasts and a pair low rise pants that show of her sharp hip bones and a concaved abdomen. I’ve struggled with envy over skinny women my entire life, but this one could stand for a triple-patty hamburger, fries, and an extra-large soft drink with a side of cheesecake.
That’s not nice. But I don’t care.
I’ve spent my life making apologies and saying the right thing, trying to make people like me so they wouldn’t notice my belly pooch when I wore yoga pants, or how my thighs rubbed together, or how I never tucked in a shirt.
Even though my body is exactly the same as it was when I left Earth, it feels different somehow. Stronger. More capable. And I’m not sure if that’s due to the same cosmic magic that gave me different hair and freckles and mad fighting skills, or if it’s something I did. Me, Fern. Was I mentally holding myself back by always bemoaning my less than perfect figure? Or did the portal change me somehow?
I don’t know, but I appreciate the new confidence. In fact, I appreciate almost everything different about me. All of my desires are coming true. Everything I wrote on the paper in the Desire Dimension is coming to fruition.
Maybe… even true love?
“What do you want, Maneshha?”
She flips something over in her large hand. I only catch a glimpse, but it’s enough to make my blood run cold. Hiding the object from me, she does something to it. I hear static.
My heart drops even as my pulse races wildly.
“Fern? Fern, where the hell are you?”
Shock claims my muscles, paralyzing me.
“Fern, for the love of God, where did you go? Don’t leave me in here. F-e-r-n!”
“Arial.” Her name drops as a sob.
Maneshha flips my cellphone over in her hand. “This is a strange device. One little tap on the screen and this poor female calls out to me. Fern, Fern, where are you, Fern? Over and over.”
Her humorless smile feels like a slice from a knife right across my heart.
“The portal you came from? The female is trapped inside. Trapped inside a time loop that rolls her over and over and over until she dies. Fern, Fern, help me, Fern.”
No. This isn’t real. Not Arial… no.
“This is a trick. This isn’t possible. You’re messing with me.”
“Oh yes, I am messing with you but it’s not a trick. It’s very real. You didn’t believe in portal travel until it happened to you, yes?”
My face gives away the answer. She smiles wider.
“Then perhaps you should be more open minded about what’s happening to your friend.”
She holds the phone with the screen facing me. It’s lacerated and chipped, but the glowing colors of the portal still shine from deep within. How is that possible? I try and recall at what point I dropped my phone. It must have been after I landed on Tala Furi, during the wedding. Has she had it this entire time? God, I thought I’d lost it and the last tangible remnant of my mother.
