Chapter 2

She awoke with a start the next morning. Rhian was briefly disoriented before she remembered where she was and the events that had brought her here. Algwad stood over her. He had woken her. He untied her from the bench and motioned for her to take a seat at the table. She rose slowly, every muscle in her body aching from sleeping on the bench and the horse ride the night before. Rhian stumbled to the table and sat down. Before her, was a bowl of hot soup with what looked like vegetables. It was a mixture of green and orange. It smelled like Brussel sprouts which she was not partial to at all. But she was too hungry to object and gulped it down hungrily.

Algwad watched her with a smirk on his face. Rhian supposed he was taking pleasure at the power he realized he now held over her and tried not to look at him.

“What’s the plan for today?” Rhian asked.

“Today you tell me all about yourself and you start to teach me about the book and how to use it. You can work with me or not. I do not need to tell you which is the better option for you?” he asked rhetorically.

Rhian looked out the window. From where she sat she was too low to see the ground outside and found herself looking up into the trees which rose above the cabin outside. She could see birds coming and going from the branches and longed for their freedom.

“That all depends,” she replied between mouthfuls.

“Yes, it does. It depends on whether you want to sleep on the bench or share your food with the rats in the cellar.”

Rhian chose the cellar while she tried to figure out what it was she could share with Algwad without giving away the secret of how to get to earth.

He took the risk of using the book on his own without her guidance. He disappeared for days at a time traveling to different locations. Algwad did not know how to return to anywhere close to where they were, and so he had to return by conventional means which took longer than using the book. When he returned, Rhian was often tired and weak from lack of food and water. He ignored Rhian’s suffering and told her with much joy where he had been and how he had returned. He had not figured out how to return to the place he had departed from initially using the book. Rhian was not even sure if it was possible. She simply knew how to get to the lake and return to Earth.

Often, Algwad disappeared for a few days without using the book as a means of travel. Rhian believed at these times that he went to see the king’s betrothed to take orders from her and do her bidding. He never elaborated much about the king’s betrothed. His early references to her impersonating the king’s betrothed still puzzled her. She had thought at the very least that he would take her to meet the king’s betrothed but he had not and seemed reluctant to do so. Rhian could only surmise that this had to do with his objectives.

Then one day, Alg, as Rhian eventually came to call him, reappeared within an hour after he had disappeared. He had a broad smile on his face which told Rhian he had made a discovery.

“Hah! At last, I have it!” He was overjoyed. The fact that he had figured out how to return to his point of departure using the book was the cause of some relief for Rhian. It meant she would have her meals more regularly now since his return would not be delayed by having to use traditional methods like walking or horse riding to return from distant places he traveled to when using the book.

“I have but one more thing to understand my dear.”

“And what might that be?” Rhian believed she knew but she asked anyway.

“How to travel to your world.”

Algwad’s response was what Rhian had feared it would be and it left her cold. If he found a way to go to earth he would arrive in their home where Andy and Shay were. There was only that point of arrival for the earth and no other. Even worse, if he could make it through, how long would it be before he developed the insane notion of invading earth?

A few days later, Alg moved her to the keep. They entered the keep after dark but he was taking no chances and covered her head with a sack for the journey. Rhian believed it was so she could not see her surroundings or memorize landmarks from the journey in the event of an escape.

The rustle of the sack over her head prevented her from hearing anything clearly throughout the journey so she could not try to remember any specific sounds if she escaped and wanted to retrace her journey for any reason.

They entered the keep and the horse stopped. Rhian was helped to dismount. She was guided down stairs and felt cold laying its hands on her the further down she went. She could only assume they were going underground. Rhian recalled visits to castles in Europe with Andy and the dungeons they had seen. She suspected she was being led down into a dungeon now. The difference was that this one was still actively used while the ones she had visited had been deserted for centuries. Eventually, their descent ended and they walked along a corridor until they finally came to a halt. A key scraped in a lock and a door shrieked on its hinges. She guessed that she was about to enter a cell. Her guess was confirmed a moment later as the sack was removed from her head. Rhian was pushed forward roughly. In the faint light, she could make out a stone slab in the corner which she took to be her bed in the cell. She turned around as Alg closed the door and locked it.

“From now on this is your home.” It was all he said before turning and leaving. His silhouette receded into the dark along with the light from the torch he carried until he turned a corner and was gone. Rhian was left in the dark and she felt as if she had gone blind. It was pitch black and even after the impression from the light of the torch had faded she could see nothing in the dark.

The only visitor she had in the dungeon was Algwad. He never delegated her meals to be delivered to anyone else. He delivered her meals personally when he was bothered to do so. Many times she would go without food for a day or two and she started to squirrel away portions of her meager meals so she would have something to eat on the occasions when Algwad did not come and feed her. When he did feed her he said little. Less than when they had been in the cabin in the forest. Occasionally he would watch her as she ate or tell her about a new place he had visited in the book. Rhian never shared anything about the book with him and he seemed to have given up asking. She guessed he felt confident enough that if he continued exploring with the book he would find the way to her world.

She had a glimmer of hope at one point though when Algwad deviated from his standard conversation.

“Someone is looking for you,” he stated matter of factly as he pushed her food under the cell door.

“Wha…What? What do you mean?” Rhian asked.

“I returned to the lake. A man was looking around. He scouted the edge of the lake and wandered into the forest. He was searching for someone. I expect he was searching for you. He looks about your age. Dark hair. Tall. Thin. Does it sound like someone you know? He uses the book to come and go too so he must be from your world.”

The description was that of Andy. Rhian tried to hide her emotion as her hopes soared. She spoke and did not look up at Algwad to show him that she was interested in the news.

“There are many from my world. He could be anyone,” Rhian replied shortly.

“I see. So you won’t mind if I kill him?”

“What for?” Rhian resisted the urge to look up.

“He is a nuisance. Maybe soon he will discover my cabin or arrive here in the keep. If you do not know who he is then perhaps you can tell me what your kind wants with our world? Why is it that your people are suddenly arriving here? There must be something important for so many strangers to frequent our kingdom? I suspect you all seek what I seek. After all the time is nearly here for the power to be released.”

Rhian sighed. “Did you ever realize how much you love your voice? You make me weary. You speak so cryptically about so many things but will not elaborate. I think perhaps you should find a use for a needle and thread and sew your mouth shut.”

Algwad paused a moment. His jaw clenched in the light cast by the torch, his arrogance temporarily halted.

“You speak boldly for a prisoner,” he stated matter of factly.

“And you sing like a prisoner being tortured,” Rhian replied sarcastically.

Algwad changed the subject. “So you do not know this man?”

“No, I do not. Do you have a picture?”

“A wha…” Algwad paused not sure he understood what Rhian had said. Then he realized what Rhian was saying.

“Why… how… how would I get a picture of him?”

Rhian smiled and decided to have fun with Algwad. “Don’t you have a camera?”

“What? What is a ca-me-ra?” Algwad asked confused.

“It paints pictures,” Rhian replied smiling condescendingly.

“He does not stay long enough to paint a picture,” Algwad replied.

Rhian burst out laughing. Now Algwad was a clown. It was the most fun she had had in a long time. She could not remember the last time she had laughed.

Algwad was at a loss for words. He retreated into the dark without saying goodbye and left Rhian laughing in the dark until long after he had left.