A Journey to a Hundred Worlds

That night as they let their horses rest and laid out on the ground for the night, Michelle found her thoughts continually shifting to the question of why in the first place she had ever suddenly found herself in this world and why Vale too was now traveling between them. Also, why was it that her brother had just disappeared? These were questions she didn’t think Vale would know the answer to, so as much as she was looking forward to tomorrow when they should reach the castle, she was looking more forward to the time when these two questions would finally be answered.

As she lay there, she noticed that Liam had already fallen asleep. She wasn’t sure about Vale, though. He was always a mystery in all things he did, it seemed. When she was close to falling asleep, the rustling of leaves somewhere near them made her eyes snap wide open. There had been no breeze at that moment, and it sounded too big to be something harmless like a rabbit or a bird. Fear started to take over her. She knew both she and Liam were weaponless, and it was too late for them to attempt to flee. All that left was Vale, and she had no idea if he was asleep or awake. The only thing she could do was to continue to pretend like she was asleep in case her movements to wake someone up would cause whoever or whatever was out there to swoop in quicker.

She strained her ears for any further sounds. Her heart rate ratcheted up a notch when she thought she heard a soft footfall right on the ring of the small clearing they were in right now. For a few painfully drawn out seconds nothing happened. And then she heard someone running. There was the sound of something pushing up out of the ground, she thought, and then a scream of terror before she could clearly hear someone making a mad dash through the woods.

Michelle sat up, turning to face the direction the sounds had come from. There stood Vale, back turned to her. The ground around his feet looked slightly cracked and like freshly turned dirt, but other than that, there seemed to be nothing remarkable. Before he could turn around and catch her staring, she returned to her sleeping façade.

‘Another question to ask him,’ she thought before finally drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Michelle stared in awe at the huge castle that they were now riding towards. It now occurred to her just how absurd it was that they were just going to ride up to it and demand to see Elizabeth, a princess. Why did Vale think that his plan—if you could even call it that—would work? If the plan were a boat it would sink within the first three seconds of being on water with all the huge, gaping holes it had.

Anxiety spread throughout her as they grew nearer and nearer to the looming hulk of the castle. How were they to get inside of it? There were guards patrolling the ramparts and keeping watch from them, adding to her nerves.

None of them spoke as they completed the last leg of their journey. However, Michelle noticed Liam stiffening up slightly as they entered the shadow cast by the castle. She had no idea what must be running through his mind as he prepared to try to prove himself the true heir to the throne, Prince William. He might be subjected to ridicule or worse for making such a bold claim. Also, because he was going to be king, it meant that both his parents were now dead, something that must have come about while he was gone with amnesia living as a street kid. Now, all of a sudden, he was thrown back into his true life where he would start ruling this country.

They slowed to a walk once they reached the gateway, and by then Michelle was digging her fingers into Liam’s shirt. The moment of truth would soon be upon them. She could just imagine the hostile stares that would soon be directed towards them. What would happen if they were just sent straight to the dungeon? What if the guards attacked them? What if they did see Elizabeth, but she didn’t recognize William?

Her what-ifs were cut short when a guard held up his hand in a stopping signal. Both Liam and Vale made their horses stop at the same time. Michelle noticed Liam gently patting Cinnamon on the neck as he faced the guard.

“What business do you have here at the castle?” the guard asked in a gruff voice, staring at them through narrowed eyes.

Liam spoke up in an elegant, “We are here in order to request to see Princess Elizabeth if she be here at this time.”

“And what makes you, a mere commoner, think you can just request to see her?” the guard scoffed.

Vale urged his horse a little closer to the guard so that all Michelle could see was his back. “I would let him see Princess Elizabeth,” he said in a voice so low she barely could make out what he was saying. “Otherwise…” Vale’s voice became impossible for her to hear. Whatever it was that he had said, it made the guard’s widen in what looked to be…fear?

“Um, right this way. I will go send for someone to ask for the princess to come out and meet you right away.” The guard then turned, and Liam and Vale followed him.

When the guard left to go find someone, all three of them dismounted. Michelle winced as she landed on the ground; her legs were so sore from having to ride a horse all day. It was very late in the afternoon and they had only stopped once on their way here.

No one spoke a word, and the silence strung her nerves out even more. They had made it inside fine, but that might not necessarily be better for them. Now they were potentially in enemy territory. It all came down to Elizabeth now.

Michelle gasped when she saw the guard coming back with a girl who looked to be around seventeen, her own age. She had long, straight, blonde hair and blue eyes. Except for the fact that she was somewhat prettier and her hair was a lighter blonde, she and Michelle could’ve been mistaken for each other.

‘No wonder I jogged his memory so much,’ Michelle thought to herself, watching Elizabeth examine Liam with a look of concentration in her eyes. Liam was staring at Elizabeth so intently, for a horrible second, Michelle wondered what would happen if Elizabeth wasn’t able to recognize him. How would that make Liam feel? But then, recognition lit Elizabeth’s eyes up and soon she was running ahead of the guard before she launched herself at Liam in a most un-princess-like manner.

“William!” the princess cried, hugging him tightly.

“Elizabeth…” Liam breathed, hugging her back and resting his head on top of hers.

Not wanting to intrude upon the moment any further, Michelle diverted her eyes and noticed disgust in Vale’s. She realized that Vale didn’t care about what happened to Liam—or really to her—at all just so long as he could move onto the next world. Suddenly she felt more isolated than ever and started to dread the moment when she would leave this world behind. She would no longer be able to rely on Liam to help her out and would be alone with Vale.

She was broken from her thoughts by Elizabeth’s voice, “You, guard, please take these people’s horses to the Royal Stables and see to it that they are cared for. They will be coming inside the castle with me now.”

The guard bowed to her and silently grabbed Cinnamon and Thunder’s reins before leading them away. With him gone, Princess Elizabeth turned to Michelle and Vale, standing near Liam who kept an arm around her. “So you are acquaintances of Will?” she asked in a polite tone.

“You could say that,” Vale answered before Michelle even opened her mouth.

“Well I thank you for accompanying him here,” the princess thanked them formally, curtsying slightly.

“Uh, it was nothing,” Michelle said hurriedly, taken aback by the fact that an actual princess was curtsying to her.

“But Will,” Elizabeth started, turning to Liam, “what happened at that time three years ago that prevented you from returning?”

“I was out in Maenurr like I tended to be when I could sneak away when I was kicked in the head by a horse,” Liam explained. “I lost my memory, but the other kids I was hanging out with told me about the life I had created around them in Maenurr as Liam. So all I remembered was that and not my actual life as Prince William.”

Elizabeth grasped his hand tightly. “I missed you so much. I am so glad that you are back.”

“It’s all thanks to Vale and Michelle. She jogged my memory and he helped us to get here.”
Again Elizabeth curtsied, this time even deeper. “I cannot say just how grateful I am to the two of you.”

“It was no problem,” Vale answered smoothly. “I just thought it was time for the rightful king to take the throne. Thanks to Michelle’s help, we found him. So really, you do not need to thank us any further.”

“Still, thank you,” Elizabeth said one last time. “Now, it is time to present you, William, to the royal court so a coronation date can be set and your aunt and uncle will hand over the crown.”

“Will you the two of you be fine on your own?” Vale suddenly asked. “His aunt and uncle will just hand over the crown when he comes before them, right?”

“Of course,” Liam assured him.

“Well, this will be where we part then, if you’ll just allow me to first go onto the rampart to get a quick view…” Vale trailed off.

“You can do whatever you like,” Liam said quickly. “And are you sure you don’t want to stay so I can properly reward you after the formalities are taken care of?”

“I am certain,” Vale replied.

Michelle stared at Vale for a second, indecisive, before saying, “I will be going too.”

“Well we wish you safe travels wherever you end up going,” Princess Elizabeth said.

And so Vale and Michelle turned leaving Prince William and Princess Elizabeth behind.

* * *

As Michelle stared out at the view granted her by being on top of the castle’s rampart, she was suddenly overcome with the feeling of homesickness. It had already been three days since she had first come to this world all of a sudden. Even though there wasn’t much difference between this world and her own, it still felt nothing at all like home. She had no idea what she was doing and missed her parents and her brother. Vale was not an ideal traveling companion; he wasn’t someone you could go to when you were troubled or a shoulder to cry on.

A push made her scream as she fell forward towards the ground which was too far away. She was going to die… And, she realized, it had been Vale who had pushed her. So he really was just going to kill her…