“You’re telling me there was a blue butterfly and then you appeared here?” I ask her, the words leaving a sour taste in my mouth.
“Well… yes. I mean…God, I sound crazy. What the hell is even happening to me? Maybe I passed out, and this is all some really vivid dream,” she says, shaking her head at the floor.
“This is not a dream,” I say quietly, narrowing my eyes at her.
Who is this girl and where the hell has she come from?
“Enough of this,” the king interrupts. “What realm are you from, girl?” he asks, anger in his tone.
“Realm? What do you mean, realm?” she says, looking genuinely confused.
“Do not mock me, girl. Tell me what realm you are from and who sent you. I would advise you not to lie to me. My knights can kill exceptionally quickly at a single nod from me.”
He isn’t wrong.
And I have done it frequently for him, as my duty.
But something tells me I might hesitate on this one.
The girl takes a step back from us now, raising her hands in innocence. “Look, I swear to you. No one sent me. I don’t know where I am. I do not know how I got here. Please. I am telling you the truth,” she says, pleading now. Her eyes go wide, flickering chaotically between the three of us.
The King looks at me, and I know what he’s going to say before he even announces it. I have served under this man long enough to know that he is obsessively cautious.
“Very well, girl. But until I find out what is going on here, you will stay under the direct supervision of my High Warden. Rothwyn, don’t let her out of your sight. I will request an investigation to begin immediately,” he says, glancing at both me and Kael.
He turns to Kael, “Commander Rook, see that this remains a closed topic for discussion. I will not have my castle in a panic over the gates. I need you to confirm that the gate remains sealed.”
Kael glances at me before turning to the King, “Yes, sir.” Kael exits the room as I turn to the King.
“Shall I have a room prepared for her, sir?” I ask.
“No. She will be in your wing of the castle. I cannot risk her being out of anyone’s sight in case she is a danger to this castle. We don’t know how she breached the seal.” I nod, feeling my guard go up. “You may leave. Report back to me first thing in the morning, Rothwyn.” I nod at him once in acknowledgment before turning to leave the room. I glance back at the girl who remains frozen.
“Hawthorne,” I mutter under my breath. She looks up at me before rushing to my side. The door shuts behind us, the corridor feeling narrower than before. Elodie stands still at my side, waiting for my next move. Kael appears from beside the door.
“Like I said,” he exhales. “Your funeral.”
Chapter 3
Elodie
My feet hurt.
It’s the only thing that my brain can focus on as I follow behind the knight through the confined stone corridors. The sound of his boots against the stone floor is steady and certain. Mine feel too loud in comparison. Echoing down the narrow passageways, the air smells of metal and damp stone. Lights flicker in iron brackets along the walls, though when I look closer, it’s not a flame as I would have expected. They look more like orbs of light, hovering above the metal sconces. The ceiling arches high above, carved with faded patterns I can’t quite make out, and the floor is uneven in places, worn smooth by the years, maybe centuries, of footsteps. A powerful scent of cold minerals and old smoke fills my senses immediately. The knight doesn’t look back at me, his shoulders broad beneath the weight of his armour.
He carries an air of power with him. A gold star stretches out in the centre of his upper back, something I didn’t notice on the other knight.
It feels like I have dropped into someone else’s memory. One minute I’m clearing the last bit of ivy at work and the next I’m here.
And I don’t even know wherehereis.
My thoughts feel distant.
I don’t know if I should scream, cry, or demand answers.
So instead, I just walk.
Numb.
