Fantasyland 03 Fantastical (36 page)

Phoebe was curled in my armchair. And I was
tucked tight to Tor’s side on the couch, the soles of my feet to
the cushion, my legs having fallen into his thigh; his arm was
curled around me holding me close when it occurred to me.

And what occurred to me was that my best
friend was definitely crazy, a certifiable nut, but, even so, she’d
bought our equally definitely crazy story really easily.

And that was weird.

“Uh… Phoebe,” I called when she’d taken a
break from updating me on her life (doing so at the same time
educating Tor to the fact she was definitely crazy and a
certifiable nut) and was sipping from her cup.

“Yeah, babe,” she replied.

“Not to look a gift horse in the mouth
because I’m glad you believe our story but
why
do you
believe our story? I mean, when we told him, Dad freaked as in
totally
freaked. He accused Tor of being the leader of a
cult and tried to kick him out of the house. You didn’t even
blink.”

Well, she did blink, repeatedly, but she
didn’t freak.

She grinned at the cult comment then threw
out a hand and, as if she was not rocking Tor and my worlds, she
blithely said, “Because Brianna’s friend Marlene’s friend Circe
lives in an alternate universe.”

This time I blinked and I also felt my mouth
drop open.

Tor’s body went solid at my side.

“What?” I whispered.

“Pardon?” Tor growled.

She studied us, eyes going back and
forth.

Then she repeated, “Because Brianna’s friend
Marlene’s friend Circe lives in an alternate universe.”

Tor leaned forward and since his arm didn’t
move from around me, he took me with him.

“Explain,” he ordered, his voice low and
commanding.

Phoebe’s eyes didn’t move from him as she
whispered, “Well, I mean, I don’t know Circe and I’ve only met
Marlene once at a party. But everyone in that circle knows Circe
went to bed one night and another Circe was there the next day and
the here Circe was
gone
. The here Circe also came back home
so for awhile there were two Circes then the here Circe went back
there. She’s there now, as far as I know.” She tore her gaze from
Tor and looked at me. “She was also knocked up when she got back,
by the way.”

I stared at my friend.

“More,” Tor demanded, his tone not having
changed and Phoebe’s eyes shot back to him.

“I… well…” She sucked in breath then she
looked at me and went on, “I don’t know the whole story and from
what you said while you were making breakfast, Cora, it seems her
other world is different. Maybe it’s another one. I mean, birds
don’t talk to her, I don’t think. The air didn’t glitter either.
Definitely. From what I heard, it was primitive, savage even. The
place she went to was barren with rocks and stuff, they lived in
tents and a lot went down when she was there, like, serious stuff
and when I say that I mean, like,
NC-17 rated
stuff. She’s a
queen, though, married to the king of what I think Marlene called a
horde.”

“Korwahk,” Tor whispered.

I looked to him and asked, “What?”

He sat back (again taking me with him) and
turned to me. “She describes Korwahk.”

“That sounds familiar,” Phoebe put in and we
looked at her. “She’s, like, the Golden Queen?” she asked as if we
could confirm then she shook her head and muttered, “I don’t know,
something like that.”

“The Golden Warrior Queen of The Golden
Dynasty,” Tor stated and I looked back to him to see he was looking
at Phoebe. “Is she fair with golden eyes?” he asked.

“I don’t know about her eyes but yes, I
think she’s blonde,” Phoebe answered.

“Honey?” I prompted Tor and his eyes came to
me.

“It was reported through diplomatic
dispatches while you were with me in our other world that Dax Lahn,
the king of Korwahk, they are known as Dax in their language, has
finally claimed his queen. She is known as the Golden Warrior Queen
and it is said he’s also claimed their union begins The Golden
Dynasty.”

Wow. That sounded cool.

“That sounds cool,” I said quietly but a
strange flash in his eyes made me think it was anything but cool so
I asked, “What?”

“It is nothing,” he muttered, turning his
attention to his coffee cup and therefore I knew he was also
totally lying.

So I repeated, “What?”

He took a sip and his eyes came to me. “It
is nothing, my love.”

But his eyes were troubled.

I didn’t need troubled eyes. We had enough
trouble.

So I repeated, sharper this time, “Tor,
what?
”

He held my eyes a moment then he looked to
Phoebe, “She returned?”

I looked back to Phoebe to see her nod but
she replied verbally too, “Yep.”

“Did she
wish
to return?” Tor
asked.

This was an interesting question and his
stress of “wish” made it more so.

Phoebe shook her head. “I don’t know, I
mean, I’m not sure.”

“Do you know
how
she returned?” Tor
went on.

Now that was an
excellent
question.

Phoebe shook her head again. “No, but I can
ask Brianna to ask Marlene.”

“Please do so,” Tor murmured then, eyes
locked on Phoebe, he finished, “Immediately.”

“Righty ho,” Phoebe whispered because my
friend might be a nut but she was far from stupid but even an idiot
could read Tor’s intensity. So she immediately pushed herself up,
put her cup down on the coffee table then turned and then twisted
to hang over the arm of the chair to grab her bag from the floor
and get her phone.

Tor took another sip of coffee and it wasn’t
hard to read that he was doing this to avoid me even though I was
pressed to his side.

“Baby,” I called.

“Mm,” he murmured.

Totally avoiding me.

“Uh, Tor,” I called again and he turned his
head to me. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Finally, he answered, it was just not the
right answer.

“What it is is not for your ears.”

“Tor –” I started warningly.

He put his mug down on the side table,
twisted his torso so he was facing me and placed his other hand
light on my hip. “Cora, it is not for your ears. Trust me.”

“Uh, big guy, do you think there is anything
that has to do with any of this that I shouldn’t know?”

“Yes,” he replied immediately. “This.”

“I’m a big girl, I can take it.”

“My love, I don’t
want
you to take
it.”

“I’m not certain that’s your choice,” I
returned.

He held my eyes and I held his right
back.

Then he sighed.

Then, as Phoebe got up, murmuring into the
phone and moving toward the kitchen, Tor spoke.

“If this world your friend’s friend’s friend
knows is, indeed, Korwahk and this Circe was claimed by the king of
that nation, I have concerns.”

“What concerns?”

“Korwahk is in the Southlands, far away from
Bellebryn and Hawkvale. Things are very different there,
uncivilized, some would consider it primitive but it actually
isn’t. It is only different. What it is, is
savage.
”

I sucked in breath.

That didn’t sound good.

“Do you think she’s been –?” I started.

“What I know is, any warrior of the Korwahk
Horde, most definitely their king, gets his wife one way.” He
paused, I leaned in closer, he saw he wasn’t going to get away with
not telling me the whole story so he finished, “He hunts her.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered, leaning back.

“Yes,” he muttered his agreement.

I just stared at him.

On a sigh, he kept talking.

“This Wife Hunt is well-known, my love. It
is even attended by spectators who travel far to watch though I
cannot understand what they would get from this. To my culture,
this practice is sordid although it is perfectly acceptable in the
Southlands and has been happening for centuries. Women are
gathered, paraded through the warriors of the Horde, let loose, the
warriors hunt them and claim them by fighting their
brothers-in-arms for them and then, if victorious, they take the
women on the spot.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered again. “Take them
as in…?” I trailed off, hoping he got me without me having to say
it and I knew he got me when his fingers squeezed my hip and he
nodded. “Oh my God,” I breathed it this time.

“I would assume this is also not common
practice in your world,” he stated.

Hunting women and raping them?

“No!” I cried.

“It is not in my land or any of the
countries of the Northlands,” he muttered then his eyes caught
mine. “She, this Circe of this world, if she was switched before
the Hunt, would endure that, love. I’ve no doubt about it.”

Oh my God!

I looked away and closed my eyes, now
worried about Circe, a woman I didn’t even know!

“Cora,” he called and I looked back, opening
my eyes. “As I explained, this concerns me but Dax Lahn has
declared his union with this Circe is the beginning of The Golden
Dynasty. He is said to brag greatly of her beauty and spirit. It is
said he cares deeply for her. He is known and what he is known for
is being brutal, unforgiving and that he has the strength of ten
men. There are many who think he is a god on earth, an unbeatable
warrior, a formidable ruler, a cunning leader. He has great
strength but he also has great intelligence. Even so, he rules a
savage land with savage practices. Yet, the reports state his bride
is adored, not only by her king but by his people. It is said she
holds noble magic and is goddess to his god. He is said to display
tenderness toward her, even publicly, which is not always the
practice of the warriors of that Horde but definitely not a
characteristic he has ever shown. And it is said she brings him
humor.” He leaned closer to me. “Perhaps it is somewhat like us.
Perhaps, sweets, he or she has found a way to break through.
Perhaps she is pleased she carries his child and wished to
return.”

“I hope so,” I whispered.

“As do I,” he whispered back.

“Welp!” Phoebe called from the doorway from
the kitchen. “The gig is, Circe’s alternate universe guy, who,
Cora, by the way,” she looked at me, “apparently is also
way
hot.
” She took us both in and continued, “It was him that
found a way to get her back. She was at a party and just,” she
lifted her hands and even with the one holding her cell phone, she
wriggled her fingers, “melted away.”

“Bloody hell,” Tor muttered.

But all I could think was,
melted
away.

I didn’t like the idea of the blue mist and
I wasn’t conscious to see that. I certainly didn’t want to
melt
away.

“That’s the bad news,” Phoebe announced then
stated, “The good news is, when she was gone, her Dad and the
alternate universe Circe found a witch here who knew how to bring
her back. They just never got the chance since the here Circe came
back on her own somehow.”

Both Tor and I straightened but it was me
who said, “Really?”

She nodded, coming to stand behind my
armchair and putting her hands on the back of it. “Yep, Brianna is
calling Marlene now to get the full scoop and to tell her about
you. Brianna’s gonna sort it all out and we’re gonna meet them for
coffee later.”

“Excellent,” Tor stated and my head shot
around to him.

“Excellent?” I queried.

He looked to me. “Of course. This is
good.”

“How is this good, Tor?” I asked. “We don’t
have magic in our world! This witch is probably a charlatan or
something!”

“Uh, we so totally do have magic, girl,”
Phoebe put in. “You were at Selena’s party with me when that chick
put the whammie on that other chick for flirting with her boyfriend
and she fell down the stairs.”

“Her ‘whammie’,” I lifted my hands and did
quotation marks even around my coffee cup before dropping them and
reminding my friend, “consisted of her
pushing
the flirting
chick down the stairs.”

“She wasn’t anywhere near,” Phoebe
returned.

“That was what
she
said but the other
girl said she was totally there because she felt her hand in her
back
and
she saw her at the top of the stairs when she was
on her way down,” I fired back.

Tor (wisely) cut into this exchange stating,
“There is no harm speaking to this Marlene and then to this
witch.”

I looked to Tor and told him, “Okay, you’re
right, honey, but what if we find out there
is
magic in this
world. This woman is untried. What if she messes it all up? What if
she sends us to, I don’t know, some other place? What if she sends
you someplace and sends me someplace else? What if Circe isn’t in
Korwahk but some other savage, barren place with primitive hordes?
What if one of us gets sent
there?
I don’t want to go to a
savage, barren place with primitive hordes!”

Sensing my rising panic (though it was hard
to miss), his arm around my back shifted up and his fingers curled
around the back of my neck as he leaned close and said gently,
“There are many what ifs, my love, but this is also the only hope
we have. Right now, we are powerless. But if there is any
possibility this witch can control the blue mist then we must speak
to her, ascertain if she can control it and, if she can, convince
her to use it to send us home.”

I stared into his eyes thinking he was right
at the same time thinking that sucked.

Therefore I sighed, Tor knew that meant I
was giving in and he grinned, giving my neck a squeeze and pulling
me to him until my cheek was resting on his shoulder.

“You guys are totally cute,” Phoebe
announced, smiling brightly at us then her eyes slid to Tor. “Dude,
you are, like, crazy hot in a scary macho way but, still, you know
how to work the cute.”