Chapter 22 – The Other Door
“So…ready to answer our questions?” Alye said in a hard tone as we sat in the cold courtyard of the castle. Several hours had passed since I’d extracted his magic, enough to allow me to recuperate from the incredibly taxing process.
Aubrey lifted his head and gave Alye a nasty look, but because he no longer had any special powers, the glare was about all he could do. When he shifted his glower to me, I responded with a cheeky grin. He shook his head at my smile and looked back at Alye.
Sighing, he spoke in a broken voice, “I suppose I have nothing to gain or lose by this anymore.” His tone struck me; he sounded completely and utterly hopeless. “What do you want to know?”
“First off, did you kill your dad?” Philipia demanded.
“No…not exactly. He was failing in health and growing sicker by the day. I merely…eased his passing.”
“So you basically wore him down with poison or some other underhanded method,” I snapped.
His only response was a soft but mirthless laugh. “You could say that. But he was too soft; he wasn’t willing to crack down on Glovebern, to really rule as he had authority. Instead, he spouted rubbish about treating the villagers as ‘equals.’ They aren’t equals. They’re worse than mud.”
“They still kicked your butt,” Philipia growled angrily.
Again, Aubrey laughed without any humor. “True, true. But that is beside the point.”
“Another thing,” I broke in. “When we were fighting, I was nearly killed with a grenade and several people were injured by a land mine. Where did those come from?”
His answer nearly sent me into a faint.
“From the future, of course. Remember that old man at the library where you three originally found the door?” Definitely, but how did he know about that…unless… “I was that old man. When I was a boy, a story circulated around that there was a mystical portal somewhere in the castle where people vanished through and never reappeared from. One day, I found it and stumbled into it, landing myself in your time. Thankfully, my magic stayed with me and I concealed my appearance under the guise of an older man. I realized that I could use this situation to my advantage and obtained employment at that library, amassing knowledge of the technology so I could use it back home to…keep better control of the populace.
“And then you three found the door and tumbled into Glovebern. When you walked into the Candlebar Inn, I didn’t know what to think, but I decided to befriend you, possibly gain more information. That didn’t work very well since if I attempted to interrogate you, you’d become suspicious, but when you formed the rabble to oppose my rule, I realized I could utilize my relationship with Alye to control and crush it.”
A flame had leapt into Alye’s eyes and I thought she was going to attack him right there. But she restrained herself and settled for fingering the handles of her blades.
“Of course…” he continued, “I knew it was only a matter of time before you outright tried to storm the castle, so I set up the ambush in the study to capture you and kill you. Unfortunately, I’d completely overlooked the tunnel underneath that cell. A pity.
“I decided to draw every last one of you out with a battle and use the resources I’d gathered from your time to destroy your forces. But I was foiled by your infernal dragon,” nodding coldly to Philipia, “and your magical abilities. And the fact that most of the mines I’d built and planted were not assembled properly and would never work. The one that did go off was a lucky chance.” He sighed heavily. “That is all I can tell you. Now what are you going to do to me?”
“Well…” I paused for dramatic tension. “We’re going to tear down this castle. And we’re going to get you and every single last one of your soldier boys to help out.”
His jaw dropped and I felt a surge of glee. “After that, we’re going to kick you out of Glovebern. But not until you help us demolish the castle.”
“Heave! Heave! HEAVE!!”
With an enormous crash, the bricks and stones tumbled into the slushy snow and grass. I leaned back with a sigh and a smile, back aching but heart light. The rope in my hands burned against my skin from the stress of yanking down that wall. Turning my head, I laughed at the sight of Philipia in draft horse mode, helping to pull down the next row of rocks. Further down the line. I caught a glimpse of Aubrey sweating and straining at the ropes. The only reason he was trying was because Alye was at his back, ready to smack him if he didn’t work. And she had very strict standards as to what defined work.
“Okay everyone, water break!” someone called and I joined the line of thirsty workers. Running my eyes down the line, I saw Matthew, still limping but I was glad to see he was making a recovery. In addition, I noticed Aubrey being regulated to the very end of the water line, although some of his former soldiers were allowed to move farther up. When the wooden ladle was passed to me, I drank thirstily, thanking the bucket carrier after taking a long gulp of the cool water.
It’d only been a few weeks since we’d taken away Aubrey’s magic, and already we were making huge amounts of progress against the castle. It was such a joy to see the bricks come tumbling down at regular intervals. Every time we demolished a wall, a rousing cheer would erupt from the workers. And today was no different.
“We’re taking down the study next!” Harmon called above the babble of talk that arose with every pause. Another cheer split the air; everything in the castle had been cleaned out beforehand and would be distributed between the villagers, while the actual stones were for building better homes. When faced with a choice of mud and brick or stone, which one do you think a guy trying to keep his five kids and wife from freezing during the winter would choose?
Back to the blissful destruction of the castle. The hours flowed by swiftly as we systematically dragged the stones down. Sometimes I used my magic, but usually only if we couldn’t get the rocks down any other way. I didn’t want to risk destabilizing the whole thing and sending it all crashing to the ground. The stones wouldn’t be any good in that case.
“Alright, we’re done for the day!” It was getting dark and I sighed heavily, wiping my sweaty forehead. Chilly breezes were starting up again, and I was reminded of the fact that we were still in the middle of winter…ah well, nothing like pulling down castles to warm you up.
Taking another gulp of water, I looked up at the castle and decided not to join the groups going back to their homes or to the Candlebar Inn. Instead, I felt an urge to go through the castle one last time while it was still somewhat intact. The library, specifically. I wanted to peruse the dusty old volumes while I had the time. Thankfully, after we finished the deconstruction, we were going to rebuild the library up, restock it, and start trying to teach some of the villagers how to read fluently. Some of them could sign their names but that was about it, and I definitely had hopes of helping them out.
The cold gusts of wind shoved me through the main door and I walked without seeing down the hallways until I finally got to the library. Pushing open the door, I stepped through and grinned at the librarian, whose name I STILL didn’t know. Shrug, move on, not that important.
He left soon to get a bite to eat and I was alone, surrounded by the tall stacks of gilded books that hadn’t been read in ages. I wandered around, picking at random and shelving them back after perusing for a few minutes. Soon, I found myself in a section I’d never come near before and examined the books closely. I could see why I hadn’t touched these yet; they were all about horrifically boring things like moat-building and other construction projects. As I kept walking, I suddenly smelled something I hadn’t scented in a very, very long time.
Pencil shavings.
Medievalists didn’t have pencils.
I turned slowly and looked closer at the stacks of books, trotting quickly over towards the back wall. And when I approached, I nearly felt my heart stop.
Rich brown wood with red and green carvings, exuding a smell of pencil shavings and cold plastic and with the faint sound of…of machinery.
This was it. I felt my knees give way and braced myself against the wall, running trembling fingers over the door. This was the link back to our present. Remembering Aubrey talking about falling through to our time, I realized that I’d found our way home.
I burst into the Candlebar Inn, slightly out of breath (I’d sprinted the whole while, not fun!). “Philipia, Alye!” I shouted. My two best friends popped up from the counter, Alye clutching a mug full of something I didn’t want to identify. “You have to come! Now! I’ve found something you HAVE to see!”
It didn’t take long for me to lead them back to the library, and both stopped and stared at the door.
“Wha…” Alye gasped out, vocal cords vanishing.
“Is that…” Philipia added, similarly breathless.
“Yeah…that’s our way home!” I replied, barely managing to keep my emotions under control. “We can just…we can just walk right through and we’ll go home! Back where we belong!”
Silence.
I looked over at my friends. “What? D-don’t you want to go back?”
Alye looked down at her black boots. “Well…I mean…I kinda…I kinda like it here.” She grinned sheepishly. “Heck, I can get away with wielding a sword and I’ve made a lot of friends…and we’re setting up a government here and I just…” She was running out of words and I waited for her to continue. “…I want to stay,” she finally said softly.
Philipia gave a guilty smile. “And you know that I can’t leave her behind,” she pointed at Alye. “She’ll cause mass havoc and mayhem without me there to get her under control.” Alye frowned and punched Philipia hard on the arm, something that normally would’ve made me laugh.
But not now. Not with what I was hearing. “But…remember, Philipia, when you said we were screwing up history? We don’t belong in this timeline! And…and I want to go home…” The tears were starting to come and I wiped them away quickly, trying to stop more from coming.
Philipia stepped forward and looked me in the eye. “Tanya, we can do a lot more here than we could back in the present. If you want to go home, that’s great. But we…we like it like this. Tell you what, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, but right now, let’s get cleaned up, eat something, and go to bed. Okay?”
“Alright…” I murmured. My head felt as though it was spinning. Go back without my two best friends? Go back without the people with whom I’d laughed and fought and cried for months? Now I really couldn’t stop the tears. Turning around, I bolted out the door and raced down the street. I wanted away. I’d seen death and pain and I wanted to be home, but how could I when it involved leaving behind people I’d trusted with my life? Run, run, run, trying to outrun reality. Finally I stopped, out of breath, and dropped onto my knees into the snow-soaked grass. I was shivering slightly but didn’t really notice.
“Why won’t they come?” I groaned, staring at nothing. “Don’t they want to be home?”
A light footstep made me jerk into alertness. I whirled around, ready to fight. But it was only Kymber, approaching slowly with a concerned look on her face.
“Are you alright?” she asked, putting her hand on my shoulder. “I saw you run out of the inn. What is wrong?”
Shaking my head, I pulled my thoughts together. “I found a way to get home…but Philipia and Alye want to stay. They don’t want to come home…and I don’t know what to do!” My voice choked slightly. Kymber was silent, sitting down on the cold ground with me.
“Well…” she finally said, “maybe it’s because they feel responsible for the village. Maybe they’ve accepted it as their home now.” She cocked her head, listening to the faint whisper of wind. “But if you don’t feel that way, it isn’t fair for us to keep you here. Not if you won’t be happy.”
I had to admit, that helped. Brushing away the wet from my eyes, I stood up, conscious of the cold. Kymber walked back with me to the village; we said nothing, but we didn’t need to.
My decision was made. I would stay for another week, help demolish the castle and see Aubrey’s exile. And then I would go home.
The week flowed by faster than I could believe. It seemed as though everyone was working five times as hard and I poured every ounce of my energy into the demolition of the castle, keeping any thoughts about my departure buried. At last, the day came when we had nothing left of the castle but the library. Every single other stone was already being delegated towards improving the homes and even building a couple entirely new structures. The furniture and paintings were distributed to everyone; life would be much easier for the villagers now. They deserved it.
There was just one last task to take care of before I left.
It was a sunny day, I remember, with few clouds and a cooling breeze. The entire village was out, every man, woman, and child, along with all the soldiers who’d defected to our side. I stood with the Rebellion Council on the end of the village main street. Standing several yards in front of us, carrying only a sack of some bread and water, was Aubrey. His face was stony and he didn’t bother to hide his hatred.
Harmon stepped forward. “Aubrey, you are officially exiled from Glovebern. If you ever return under any circumstances, you won’t live another day.” He thrust out his hand in a dismissive gesture and the entire village starting shouting.
“GO ON!” “LEAVE!” “DON’T YOU EVER COME BACK!” Aubrey’s face twisted further as he swung his pack over his shoulder.
“We’ll meet again someday,” he snarled so that only Alye, Philipia, and I could hear him. Alye was shaking, her swords dangling from her belt. Suddenly, she stepped towards him, face blank. Before I knew what was happening, Aubrey was reeling back in pain, pressing on a long cut between his eyes going past his nose. Alye stepped back, one of her swords in her hand, the very tip of which was dripping with blood. That would leave one ugly scar, my shocked brain realized abruptly. With a curse and a last glare back, Aubrey turned away from the jeering villagers and set off through the grass. Soon, he had vanished into the trees. I breathed a sigh of relief and glanced over at Alye. A small tear trickled down her face but her fists were clenched.
Now, I realized, I can go home.
I stood in front of the door. Queasy feelings were boiling in my stomach and I felt myself shaking. Turning my head, I saw all my friends…Philipia, Alye, Kymber, Violet, Elspeth, Selene, Lunae. All founding members of the Rebellion who’d been with me through everything, and who I’d probably never see again.
Still, as I focused my gaze back at the door, an incredible sense of longing that I hadn’t experienced in months welled up within. I wanted to go home…this had been a wonderful, life-changing event, but I needed to get back. Swallowing hard, I placed my staff in Philipia’s hands and exchanged hugs with everyone. Then I faced the door again, put my fingers on the handle, and looked back one last time.
“Well…goodbye,” I said softly.
And then I stepped through.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but it’s closing time,” an unfamiliar voice said in my ear. I lifted my head groggily and stared into a pair of puzzled eyes that suddenly shifted to pure shock.
“Hey…” he gasped, astonishment all over his face. “Hey…you’re one of those missing girls!” Say what…my exhausted mind wheezed. The guy grabbed my shoulder. “Are you okay? Come on, we’ll call your folks and get you home! You’ve been missing for over three months!”
Come to think of it…had it been that long?
As the man raced off to a telephone, I looked around and smiled faintly. I was back in the Princess Anne library, slumped over at one of the study tables. I stood up slowly and looked down. My vision was still perfect, but I was wearing the same clothes I’d worn when we’d first stepped through the door. As I glanced around, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror left on another table.
No longer did my eyes have streaks of azure. They were back to a plain dark brown.
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