Chapter 9 9 An Evening with Alaya

Her words made my mouth fall open and my heart drop straight into my stomach.

Oh, that's VERY reassuring!

"How?" I barely managed to choke out, my body and mind frozen with suffocating panic.

"I don't know everything," Alaya admitted sadly. "Six years ago, the watchmen came for Sariya. She was chosen as one of the brides... and she never came back. I don't know what happened to her, but I do know she never became a queen. No one ever did. The king is a sorcerer-he's lived for centuries-and still, there has never been a queen," the woman said gravely.

I stared at her, eyes wide, horror creeping through me.

Wait... a sorcerer?!

So their ruler is some ancient, sick old wizard demanding virgins for wives?!

Oh, that's just wonderful. Now I understand why Manar is so desperate to protect her daughter.

I need to run. Fast.

"Listen," Alaya looked at me with sorrow in her eyes. "You remind me so much of Sariya. I wouldn't wish her fate on you, but escaping from here is truly impossible. Between the roaming lone werewolves and the wild beasts, our valley is surrounded by mountains. There's only one road out through the gorge, and it's guarded. And even if you hide somewhere inside the valley, sooner or later the king's guards will find you."

"Can you read minds?" I asked in surprise-because honestly, at this point, anything seemed possible.

"No," the woman smiled gently. "It's just written all over your face."

"So what am I supposed to do now? Please... tell me everything you know," I pleaded, forgetting even to change my clothes.

"All right," Alaya said firmly. "Get dressed, I'll wait for you in the kitchen. We'll talk."

She stood up and opened the door to leave.

"Alaya!" I called out. She turned to me. "Thank you. And... my name's Isabella. You can just call me Iza."

She gave a faint smile and disappeared down the hall. For a few minutes, I couldn't move, just staring blankly into space. How did I end up here?

I have to learn more about this world-and for that, I'll need someone to trust. Alaya seems like the right person. Maybe I'm a naïve fool for trusting her so easily, but I don't feel any malice or deceit from her. And maybe, because of what happened to her daughter, she'll understand me even more.

Thinking about that made me remember my mother. How worried would she be if I vanished?

But... I did vanish.

Things with my dad had always been a bit tense, but I love them both with all my heart.

I just hope they aren't suffering the way Alaya does.

Maybe... just maybe... there's a way to go home.

Lost in my thoughts, I realized I'd been sitting idle for far too long. Snapping out of it, I quickly dressed in the clothes Alaya had given me and went to the kitchen, where she was already waiting.

"Alaya, please," I begged softly, "tell me everything you know about what awaits me... and about your world."

"I thought as much," Alaya smiled faintly, not the least bit surprised by my request. "You're definitely not from around here. All right, I'll tell you."

From her story, I learned that this world was very different from Earth-yet oddly similar in many ways. It didn't feel like a separate planet, but rather a parallel universe, somehow linked to ours. There were too many uncanny coincidences to ignore.

As we spoke, evening descended outside-or what they called evening. Here, a full day lasts twenty-seven hours, and the nights never turn completely dark. Instead, they glow with a soft twilight, thanks to several moons and a sun that never quite sets.

The brighter celestial light, which fully disappears beyond the horizon, is simply called the Sun. The dimmer one is known as Volar, and it never fully sets-it hovers just above the horizon even at night.

Their planet is also called Earth. The familiar moon we see in the night sky exists here too, but there's another satellite visible both day and night-Latz-larger and shimmering like a jewel in the heavens.

A year still has twelve months, though each month is forty-four days long. Thankfully, hours and seconds match ours perfectly, and the week still consists of seven days with the same names.

It was a strange world indeed, and I felt I had only begun to scratch the surface of it.

"As I told you," Alaya continued, lowering her voice, "our king, Karadeylis, is a great mage."

Now we had reached the part I dreaded most.

"For several centuries he has ruled these lands. Many generations have lived and died under his reign. How he came to power remains shrouded in mystery. Some say he slaughtered the previous royal dynasty and took their throne for himself. Others whisper that he's one of the last descendants of that very bloodline. And then there are those who believe he's cursed-bound to immortality by ancient magic.