Out the little iron door, standing on the tiny stone deck, the view was breathtaking. The hill fell away quickly, revealing tall, but not too tall, buildings, which shone in the sun at this time of day, and went on some way, to the capital's historic wall. A wall which was largely crumbled, providing a view of roads and fields all the way to the blue sea. It was one of his favorite views.
"Your highness?"
Twenty-six-year-old Prince Johnathan Velat turned from the view of his soon-to-be kingdom to the Prime Minister, James Watcher. "Yes?"
"It's time."
John nodded, and followed James into the building behind them. It was the grandest building on the island of Belor, which was perhaps the reason for its main entrance jutting out from its side. Belor had a tendency towards odd architecture.
Once they were inside, James took a grand jeweled sword, once of the Belor crown jewels, which had been removed from its case, kept deep in the building, for the purpose. "Not stolen this time around either. God above have willed your reign." John surpressed a chuckle. Of course it hadn't been stolen. There had been guards in this room up until James's coming to get him, and they still were guarding the other doors to the room. And noone could have come in the last door, because John and James had been there. "Kneel."
John did so, then felt the cold steel on the blade first on one side, then the other, of his neck. "By the power thy Holy Kingdom of Belor has given me. I pronounce you its monarch, King Johnathan VII."
John rose. "I didn't tell you you could rise." John glared at him. "But I won't tell if you won't."
They both chuckled. Tradition dictating the King take his title for the first time in private had its advantages. "Agreed. So, what now?"
"The usual tradition. You and I go riding through the kingdom. You hold the sword and get the other jewels presented to you along the way. When we're all the way through, you give the sword to me, because I happen to be the real ruler of this island."
John chuckled again, but, slightly ruefully perhaps, knew he was right. "Carrying all those jewels, how do I stay on the horse?"
"You figure out a way. Your father didn't fall off, neither did his father before him-"
"-Or his before him, and so and so on, yeah, yeah, I know. Any advice?"
"Nope. Never had a situation like it myself. Sorry." He added unconvincingly.
The two men then walked out the door, were saluted by the guards, and waited for the horses to arrive. They did, after several minutes of waiting. They climbed onto the horses and began to descend off the grounds. They reached a large gate, which swung open to let them through. John could see the crowds outside, their tense faces, the excitement they were radiating off, growing in its intensity by the second.
The gate clanged shut behind him and James, and the crowds surrounded them nearly broke John's ears with thier cheering. He rode past them, but there were more beyound the first. This led to the question in his head of how the the person persenting the jewels was to get them within reach.
James was absolutely in his element. "People of Belor," he roared above their clamour, not caring that they turned no quieter, "I present to you your-"
And then, very suddenly, all the noise died away.
The silence was so jarring that John had ridden on for several seconds before he became aware that not only had the noise stopped, but the crowds, the gate, and James had all vanished. And that he was in a part of the island he didn't recognize at all. And it was completely deserted.
Not knowing at all what else to do, he rode his way along for quite a long while, but ran into noone. After some time, however, he discovered a primitive-looking road, like nothing found on Belor, but he already was convinced this wasn't part of the island, and began riding along that. He had no idea where he was, and he was beginning to get very scared.
It was about an hour or so later when he saw a tiny cluster of primitive-looking huts. Tired and thirsty, he got off the horse, walked up to the closest, and knocked.
The door opened, and he was face to face with a peasant woman. She shrieked and slammed the door in his face. Wondering why, he turned to try the next hut.
Then he heard the door open again, and before he could even turn back, he found himself being dragged into the hut and felt steel at his throat. When she spoke, he could barely understand her. "No, no, I won't let this villian go!"
"I'm not a villian!" John protested.
"Say that all you want, but no ordinary man would wear a sword like that! What misery does Stephen III intend to wreck on us now!"
"I have nothing to do with Stephen III!" John insisted. "My name's John Velat. Johnathan VII, actually, but-"
"So you are one of those who would take the King's place!" John was unceremoniously dumped onto a rough floor, and the woman laughed at him scornfully. "I suppose such men would make themselves, but I know better than to trust such men to do right by my land. I would not find it at all an ill deed to present your head to the new Queen as a traitor and enjoy the reward she would give me."
"Look," protested John desperately. "I don't who you are or what this place is-"
"What's going on?" The door opened, and a man came in.
"Marc, I've caught a false King!" the woman crowed.
"I don't claim to be King of this place," pleaded her captive, "I'm not even from around here, I'm from a place called Belor! I know you've probably never heard of it-" Then he saw the expression on the man's face. "Have you?"
"Belor..." the man's voice was shakey. "Sir, I think you'd better come with me. Tammy, fix us up some food, I'm taking him to the Princess."
"Where am I?" John asked simply, once they were outside and riding together down the path.
"You are in the kingdom of Lin." replied the man.
"New," noted John, "In old Belorian."
"We're all from Belor originally," explained the man. "But we came centuries ago, transplanted with no clue as to how-just you have no doubt been. Our ancestors settled this land, which they named Lin. Centuries and centuries ago, yet who has not waited for the day it happened again? You are too important, I think, for me to deal with. Unfortuneatly, the kingdom is in a state of desposing our current monarch. I will take you South, to the Zigella province. I think the rebels have an office there currently."
It had taken them several hours to reach a small town, connected to the "Liquid Network." This was a network of things that resembled carriages(and from what John was able to garner from the locals, worked rather similar to cars) ran on railroad tracks, and were called "gols." John assumed since these people had come to Lin over five hundred years ago, that had had to develop most modern technology themselves, and thus had developed it differently.
Gols couldn't go as fast as normal cars, it seemed to John. At any rate, the journey down the network took several more hours. So by the time Marc was announcing the approach of their destination, John was well briefed on the history and most recent history of the place he had come to.
The town they had come to was the grandest John had yet seen in the country, which had struck him as somewhat backward, despite the gasoline and public transit system. He noted too lights coming from some of the buildings, which hinted at electricity. So the Lin had discovered that too, but probably very recently, and possibly had only a limited supply.
Their entrance into the town did not go unnoticed. John had now been wearing his tuxedo since he had first ended up in Lin, so it was a bit soiled, but it still looked much more magnificent then anything anyone else was wearing. Several people pointed and stared, making John feel pretty conspicous.
The instant they pulled into the station for the gol a boy in a white tunic ran up to them. "It's a page, to a Lord or Lady," said the man softly.
"I am page to the Lady Lindsey Herlo." said the page.
"Marc," the man gave his first name only, and John repeated his own, deciding against revealing more about himself in this crowd. Perhaps if he was alone with the page he would tell him then.
"John," said the page, "the Lady Herlo wishes to see you, and, if you did not know, you cannot turn her down."
Accepting this, John got out of the gol and followed the page, calling farewell to Marc. There was something about the page that suggested a longer farewell was not necessary if it would keep the Lady Lindsey Herlo waiting. Marc seemed to sense likewise, and simply nodded.
John soon spotted near the exit a woman who he immediately realized was the Lady Herlo. She was dressed much fancier then anyone else, with a rainbowy blue overcloak obviously made of some expensive material, and a hint of green underneath. She had very long wavy dark hair that was tied loosely about her head.
John approached her not knowing what to do. Being a King now, he certainly didn't feel like kneeling down, and the people who passed her did not do more then glance. So he held out his hand. "Hello. My name in Johnathan Velat. You wished to see me?"
"Yes," she replied in a voice that made John wonder if he should have knelt after all. "You obviously aren't a normal inhabitant. The Lord Amane sent me to find out who you were. And I'd like to know myself."
"Well..." There were way too many people in hearing range, and he was exiciting a little interest, being the person to talk to the Lady. "What say we go someplace where we won't be automatically overheard? If I revealed who I was here, I'd think there'd be an uproar."
"All right," she replied, unfazed by any notions of his identity being one that would cause as uproar.
They went outside, and she led him to a closed carriage, which started after they got in. "No one can hear us now."
"Okay," John took a deep breath, reminding himself he'd likely have to repeat what he was about to say more then once. "I am in fact Johnathan VII, the newly crowned King of Belor."
"Belor?" the Lady Herlo turned white. Then she knelt down. "Your Majesty!"
"Um, you don't have to do that," John said quickly. She got up and sat back down. "So, exactly how are you here?"
John ended up telling her the entire story, complete with his just being coronated. When he was done, she asked, "What do you know about our kingdom?"
"What the man who took me here told me. You are descended from a number of serfs from Belor who ended up here, just as I did, 736 years ago."
"Well," Lady Herlo observed, "736 is the most commonly believed number, though there may be a few more years added to it. One theory I read suggests over 800 years ago. But continue."
"You formed your own laws and a few years in, half of you suffered enough of a spiritual crisis that you moved away from the Catholicism you had previously believed in. Some, however, didn't, and eventually there was a fight and a spilt. Those who wished to remained Catholic went away, and then sailed across the sea you call the Ral to form the country of Hozan."
"After that you grew and expanded, begged, borrowed, and stole land," the Lady Herlo had a mildly indignant look on her face, but did not interrupt, "from the natives around you, developed your own written script, and your own monarchy. The most the man told me about was the religous civil war."
"By then, he says, you'd defined your borders with the native Woodensenag, who controlled most of the land on this continent, and the xenophobic Jardinaf. You'd divided the land into 31 provinces and appointed a ruling family to each, though the provinces did not have much contact with each other. You and Hozan had become sea-faring at about the same time, and therefore came into contact with each other for the first time in over 600 years. And then people living near the coast began to convert to Catholicism."
"Are you Catholic?" asked Lady Herlo.
John shook his head. "And though I imagine the viewpoint of anyone in either Lin or Hozan would be biased, from what I've heard so far, the Hozan only kept what was bad about the religion. Including its tendency towards war."
The Lady Herlo stared. "Surely the man told you Hozan didn't just indirectly encourage them. Hozan backed them up!"
John considered. "Has that ever been proven?"
"They never admitted to it," growled Lady Herlo. "But it's just the sort of thing they'd do."
Knowing local prejudices would be local prejudices, John continued, "Out of the war, there came a warrior woman, of humble birth, by the name of Karen Alanna. She fought mainly for peace, and enough people liked that idea that they subdued all the fighters, and as the current King was dead, Karen was crowned as Karen I." Noting the glare Lady Herlo had given him at his remark that people "liked that idea," much harder than her early one when he had spoken in regard to the natives, he wondered if she thought him callous. But that one of his qualities, his own way of rebelling against his station in life, was a frankness that did sometimes offend people. "You have great respect for Karen I, don't you? From what I know, you look a bit young to be alive when she was."
"I was six when she died," Lady Herlo said. "But she was a figure in my life for three years, like she was to everyone who lived at court before she died."
"Would you like to tell me your story?" asked John. People like her didn't exist in a tiny island like Belor, so he was a bit curious.
The Lady Herlo seemed to shrug a bit, and then she told her story. "When I was three, my mother and brother both died of the Wadn plague, and I was named Miss Herlo-that is, the heir to the province of Herlo, to rule over it when the current Lord Herlo-my father-died, which he did five years ago. The province of Herlo has been in my family's control ever since the religous war."
"Did all of you call yourselves Herlo?" asked John, getting more curious.
"No," said Lady Herlo. "Only the Lord or Lady, and heir apparent. And the Lord or Lady's spouse may also claim the title of Lord or Lady, but 'va is put after the name to avoid confusion." She pronounced it "v-vah," a language nuance John did not know, so assumed had developed in Lin. He was aware he was fairly lucky in the similar manner the languages had evolved.
"Ever since the invention of the wiret-" John had heard of this to, apparently it was similar to a telephone "-made it possible for them to stay in communication with their provinces, all Lords and Ladies have been required by law to live at court. So I joined my father there. He was considering calling my brother there soon, to learn the duties he would eventually have to perform, and I similarily learned these."
"So you'd be 28 now." said John. He remembered the man had very specifically mentioned Stepen III's reign had lasted 22 years, and he had been the only child of Karen I.
She nodded. "The common crowds are probably babbling now that they thought him a bad ruler from the start, which shows how poor their memories can be. He was at first a good ruler. But he never was equipped to handle the burden laid on his shoulders. That's just how it sometimes is, I think. The death of his wife, Neslia of Terens, the Jardinaf noblewomen arranged for him by his mother, might have hurt too. Slowly he became corrupted by power, not as bad a some of rulers in our past before the religous war, but bad enough. There were politics like there always were, a few too many executions, but the real marking point was his second marriage."
"His second marriage? I know nothing of that."
"I do. I knew his second wife very well. Everyone at court did; she was well-liked. Her name was Elise Roning, she arrived at court when she was named Miss Roning, when I was 14. The King fell madly in love with her, and they were married. She was a good influence on him. Had she lived, I think he would have pulled through. But when she died, she sealed his fate. It was downhill from there. The kingdom went through some hard years. Herlo itself suffered so much with my father unable to do anything about it that he developed heart problems, and that's what killed him. I have been able to do little myself."
"And so the people rebelled." said John, "led by Lord Amane, in a way they done in the past, to remove those who become simply intolerable. Though most don't know quite what provoked it. The man I came down here with was very curious about it, and I am too; what did?"
"What provoked it," answered Lady Herlo. "Is one incident that was rather random as the spark, but certainly showed the need to depose the monster that Stephen III had become. As a ruler, it was expected he was to have affairs, matters of lust or power. But he set his eyes of the Lady Rebecca Amane 'va. She viewed as a girl his mother's ascension to power, and served her faithfully as a page for many years before she married the Lord Amane. She is the oldest person in the court, and the wisest. She came to the rescue of me and of the others who found themselves with new duties we couldn't perform. Perhaps that is why the King wanted her, though despite her age she isn't unattractive, she's even kept her pagan-colored hair. It must have something to do with it, he wanted to destroy her, make her his plaything. The most honorable woman in the kingdom!" Her voice shook with fury, which struck John as rather odd, since up until now she had been very calm and cool, even when talking about her dead family.
"So...what happened? Did he rape her?"
"He tried to. But her husband guessed his intentions, and was careful never to leave his wife alone with him. Finally he pretended to leave them alone, and when the King had made his villianous intention clear, he confronted him and tried to duel him. But a coward, the King fled. Knowing well the danger they were now in, the Lord and Lady 'va Amane snuck out of the palace. All the servents were very willing to help them."
"Downstairs we heard the Lord and Lady 'va Amane had tried unprovoked to kill the King. But the truth came to us soon, surprised none of us, and we left too, every last one of us, a clean stroke for the Lord Amane, who was already raising the discontented people into rebellion. Each of us contacted our own provinces, and then fighting broke out in the capital, and we came-to this place." While they had talked, the carriage had taken them to a large building in the center of the town. "Teka, the capital, is very close. The King is still hiding out there, and I'm afraid we will have to fight to apprehend him. Fortuneatly his children came with us. As one of them is sure to ascend the throne when this is done, I think you should be introduced."
John would have been surprised to hear that Stephen's child would be allowed to take the throne, but Marc had told him that was traditionally what happened after a rebellion. Also Stephen was sure to be hanged, and that meant his will came into effect, and in Lin, a man's will was considered inviolate.
The Lady Herlo knocked at the door. A pair of eyes showed themselves through a slit.
"Lindsey?" asked a voice.
"Good day, Lord Chris," she responded. "The Lord Chris Hawas." she whispered to John. "I've brought back a...very unusual person with me. "Would you, if you please, let us in."
"Certainly, Lady Lindsey." The door opened. "Okay, who is this fellow-and what is that thing he's wearing?"
Lindsey glanced around at the street. "I think he had better see the princesses before he's introduced to anyone else. Where are they?"
"Bring him to a back room and I'll find where they are. You know how Karen is."
Going to the back room, of course, meant going through the building. With everyone passing glancing twice. But then, John noted, it could go both ways. He could have liked to get a closer look at the men and women in their odd fashions. Which included man of the men wearing skirts, well, they were probably tunics, but...
The backroom wasn't much more then its name said. It was a room in the back with a pair of benches which could be sat on. John sat down on one of them. "Wait here," the Lady Herlo told him, and left.
John yawned. He couldn't remember when he'd last slept. He hoped they had a place for him to sleep for a night or so.
It was at the back of his mind that given they'd discovered gas, and electricity, and phone wires, that surely someone would research the phenomena that brought him here, and make a portal between the two worlds. They had never used it, no doubt, because they knew Belor would likely claim power over them. He also hoped they trust him if they wanted it kept secret. That was a pretty long shot.
The door opened and Lord Hawas stepped in. "The Princesses Karen and Jennifer Alanna." He glared at John, who decided to stand up.
His first thought on seeing the woman was that she didn't look like a princess. She wasn't ugly, but she wasn't beautiful either. She was rather short, with a simple-looking face, brown eyes, and short brown hair pulled back behind her head in a ponytail spread carelessly across her shoulders. She did look rather light; he could have picked her up if he expended enough strength. She was dressed all in black too. There was a simple silver crown on her head, barely an inch from top to bottom.
The second princess was a little girl, and she was prettier. She also had pale blond hair, which was common in Belor, and from the people John had seen, in Lin as well. It was common for hair to either be dark or pale, but not in between. The woman's brown hair wasn't too common, but, John reminded himself, it might have come from her mother. By their ages, the woman was the daughter of Neslia of Terens and the girl the daughter of Elise Roning. The girl wore a dress and crown identical to her sister's.
"So." said the woman. "The entire building is abuzz about you, if you did not know. The Lady Herlo would not tell me who you were in front of everyone. What is that by your side?" She was pointing to the jeweled sword. Apon using the Liquid Network, he had tied it there and forgotten about it with everything else that had been going on.
"This," said John, and then, deciding to be dramatic, he drew the sword out and swung it through the air. The girl bolted back. It wasn't a very good swing, as he had no idea how to use a sword, but he continued, "Is the Holy Sword of thy Holy Kingdom...of Belor."
"Belor." She'd had an expression of amusment which had given him the feeling she knew more about swords then he did, but she did look unnerved.
"And I...," he added, "Am Johnathan VII, newly crowned King of thy Holy Kingdom of Belor."
Like the Lady Herlo had, the girl fell to her knees. "Your Majesty!"
The woman frowned. "Don't do that, Jennifer." Jennifer rose, was continued to stare at John in awe, making him feel rather uncomfortable.
"Look," said John, "I'm no threat. In fact, your highness, if you'll just send me back to Belor, I won't even mention the existance of Lin, and you can continue to-"
"Wait," she cut in, "you said, 'if we send you back.' That implies that we will have the ability to."
"What?" said John. "But surely, within your 7 centuries here, you've wanted to know how you got here, and found out..."
But Karen, the woman, lowered her head, and said softly, "We feared that if whatever took us here took anyone back to Belor, they would take control over us again. All such research has been surpressed for that reason. I'm sorry. We cannot get you home."
"What?" Suddenly John felt the world fall away.
His life swirled before his eyes. Belor. His land. His kingdom. His home.
"Your Majesty?" he heard Karen ask. He ignored her. Fool. She hadn't been wrenched from everything she knew, just when everything she had waited for was finally occuring. All his life, John had waited to be called King. Okay, there was no power attached to it, but he didn't even care. And now...
"You can live here with us for the time being." Karen was saying. "We'll decide what to do with you after my father is gone and I am crowned."
There was something wrong with the way she spoke. "No emotion in your voice."
"I have mourned for my father already." answered Karen. "He is as good as dead. I wear the garb of mourning now."
"I assume, of course," she continued, "that you are telling the truth of who you are."
"Oh fine of you to start acting unfriendly now that you've dropped a bombshell on me!" John snarled at her. "I sure as aari wish I wasn't telling the truth!"
"I believe you." said Karen, and it looked like she did. This calmed him down. "It's nessecary for me to develop the instinct of when people are telling the truth and when they're not, and I think you are. Though please, do be careful of your language around my sister."
"Oh." He looked down at Jennifer. "How much does she know about what's going on?" he asked suddenly.
"You could ask me." Jennifer said irritably. "I'm old enough, and my parents are dead."
Then Karen laughed. John smiled weakly. At least people laughed here. If he hadn't heard them, he might not have been able to assume it.