The Otherworld

Earl's hair flew around him wildly, his whole body in the exquisite sensation of free-falling. The sound of flapping emitted from his clothes and his suitcase was flying somewhere above his head. The earl sighed and opened his eyes. Staring back at him was a new and unrecognisable world. He had heard stories from recent inferi about what Planet Earth is today but beholding such a sight was a completely different understanding.

Earl placed his awe on hold and paced a few steps closer to a tree and stood by it. He was here for one reason and one reason only. He had to bring back the king's son and any possible heirs.

As the Orbis Alia's most loyal and trusted servant, he had the ability to track the blood of a relative by the means of telekinesis. He shut his eyes and concentrated hard on the blood of his king. He search for the smell and the taste until he finally pinpointed the pulse of a heart, pumping the royal blood through its veins and arteries. He held onto the pulse until he felt it quicken, his own heart matching the bearer's. It was when he started to feel the blood boil that he panicked and teleported directly to the source.

Upon teleportation, he found himself facing a young girl at the ripe age of 15, looking faint and pale. A trail of blood ran from her nose down to the tip of her bottom lip. She looked up at him before she passed out and he pressed his fingers against her temples in an attempt to send her his telekinetic energy to calm her heart rate down.

When her heart rate returned to normal, Earl knelt down by the young girl and stared at her sleeping face. She looked nothing like an Orbis Alia. Her grandfather would be disappointed. There was no discreet indication that she was truly part of the royal family, but her eyes told him otherwise.

Like so many of her family before her, she bared the same icy grey eyes that stared up at him from generation to generation.

Earl stood up, his spine and legs straight out as he heard a vehicle park by the house. He heard a door open and then slammed shut hastily. His blood pounded in sync with the new arrival and he walked towards the front door, opening it for his master. He bowed at the waist, his torso parallel to the floor, and straightened to look at his master.

“Master Aodren, I hope you have been well since our last encounter.”

Aodren stared back at the demon that raised him and the rest of his family since birth. He had been both like a father and a mother to him. He then became a brother as he neared his teens and after that he had become his servant and nothing more. Their contract forbid any emotional attachments between the family and the Earl after the age of 20, but Aodren never could keep his emotions in control.

He threw himself on his old friend and sniffed as his eyes filled with tears. “It's been so long, Earl! So long!”

“Yes, Master, it has been very long.”

Aodren released his servant, who had gingerly embraced him back before looking over to the couch that his daughter slept on. “I came here when I felt an abnormality in my blood pulsation. Were you trying to find me? Is she alright?”

Aodren's worry puzzled the Earl who had never seen a member of the royal family in panic over one of their heirs due to something as tedious as this. “She seems to be fine. I gave her a portion of my energy to calm her heart beat and lull her to sleep. It seems she was ill before I arrived.”

Aodren nodded as he walked over to his daughter's side. “Yes, she had a fever after carelessly falling asleep with the window open.” He brushed a few used tissues off the couch and felt his daughter's forehead. “She should be alright within an few hours. It seems that she has sweated out her fever,” he said. “Earl, would you please carry her upstairs to her room. My wife will come home soon and start to panic if she sees Cecilia with her nose bleeding.”

Earl closed the forgotten front door and bowed to his master before picking up his new lady and gliding her up the stairs. Aodren beckoned towards a close door at his right and he quickly opened it before sliding her arm back under Cecilia's knees. He placed her under the soft pink sheets in her room and gently slid his fingers over her forehead again. Lightly, he patted the blood off her upper lip with a handkerchief from his pocket. Despite his stoic exterior, he was very excited to meet the newest edition to the Orbis Alia family. He was only slightly saddened by the fact that he was not graced with the responsibility of raising this child and teaching her centuries worth of knowledge, but he knew that as soon as she awoke, he would get to do so anyway. There were many things that a member of the royal family must know and from what he could tell, her father had done little to make her aware of her linage.

“Come join me downstairs for tea, Earl. My wife will be here soon and I'd like to speak with you before she comes.”

Earl left the girl's side and closed her door behind him before following his master down to the kitchen. He steered him away from the kitchen and into the dining room. Expertly, he boiled a pot of water over the stove and cleaned up the living room in the mean time. After the last tissue was thrown out, the pot whistled and he filled two tea mugs with water after dropping in a few bamboo leaves. He slid the mug under Aodren and bowed before taking his place at his master's side.

“Earl, sit next to me. Here, in this world, or at least this part of the world, there are no masters or servants.”

The corners of Earl's lips pointed downward. “I am still tied as your servant by a blood contract.”

“Yes, I have not forgotten, but as your master I command you to sit with me as with an old friend.”

Earl held in his sigh and sat down in the seat beside Aodren. “I assume you know the reason of my being here.”

Aodren stopped blowing on his tea and looked up at Earl, eyes glassy and wide. “To visit me, right?” he innocently asked.

Earl's amethyst eyes betrayed his slight amusement as the rest of his expression darkened. “Young master, I was sent here by your father to retrieve you and you heir.”

“Cecilia?” Aodren's eyebrows furrowed and he angrily stared at his mug. “My daughter has nothing to do with this. You leave her here, you hear me?”

“Sir, I can't do that. I am under strict order-”

“I don't bloody care!” Aodren snapped, his anger shaking the table. “You are not to lay a single hand on her, Earl!” The tea at the very rim of the mug spilled and Earl was already up and cleaning it with a towelette.

“I have no intention to hurt you daughter,” he finally said, using the word daughter and not heir. He realised that the years spent in this new world have changed his young master's outlook on life. He was never one to care much for his father's kingdom but he was never one to feel so passionate about family either. Earl had always thought that he was the only one that cared for the Orbis Alia family members wholeheartedly. Though he would never let anyone know this, in fear of having to resign his position.

“I know, Earl,” Aodren finally sighed after he collected himself. He took his servant's - no, his friend's – hand and pulled him closer to reach his eyes. “Please, Earl. Please protect my daughter with your life. No matter what happens. All I want for her is to be safe, healthy, and happy.”

Earl stared into his determined eyes, seeing the same boy from many years ago. “Of course, My Lord.” He bowed at the waist and turned around swiftly to open the door for his new Mistress. “Good afternoon, Milady.” He bowed to her as well before standing up straight. The short, beautiful woman stared at him with wary eyes. Finally, she looked over to her husband who sheepishly smiled. “Honey, you've got a whole lot of explaining to do.”

“You won't believe me.”

“I'm sure it'll be more believable than your made up stories,” she argued back as Earl shut the door behind her.

“Allow me to take your coat, Milady,” he said, slipping off her black pea-coat and folding it across his left arm. “Would you like some white tea while you discuss matters with your husband?”

“Just call me Candace, Sweetie,” she smiled widely, shocking him slightly. She turned back to her husband. “He's a real sweetheart, Honey. Where'd you find him? Can we keep him?” she enthusiastically asked, taking a seat at the table. She turned back to Earl. “I would love some tea, thank you. What's your name?”

He bowed to his lady after hanging her coat in the closet and smiled politely. “Earl.”

“Just Earl?” she asked. “What's your last name?”

Earl pulled on a puzzled expression. Truth be told, Earl is not his name at all. It is his ranking in society. One of the highest, but the royal family's closest servant was even higher. Earl had no name. He never had one. On Earth, in his first life, or now. He simply went by whatever one called him.

“Earl is neither and both my last and first name,” he finally answered, believing it was an agreeable enough answer.

Candace looked over at her husband quizzically. Aodren held up a hand. “Everything will be explained in a moment. I just need Earl to sit down with the tea.”

And on cue, Earl slid another mug of tea under Candace and cautiously took a seat next to his master. He would normally get reprimanded if he ever showed a sign of familiarity with the royal family in front of their spouse or guest, but Aodren instead beckoned him to sit closer and looked at his wife solemnly.

“This is going to take a while to explain....”

“I've got time,” she said. “But first, tell me where Cecilia is. Is she still sick?”

Aodren smiled. “She's sleeping in her room. Her fever has considerably gone down and she should be up and dancing again in a few hours.”

Earl watched the two happy parents smile and felt a jolt in his stomach. It was a feeling he usually got when he saw two people in love share a personal moment. But now he also felt jealousy. What is was for, he did not know. Instead of pondering on it any longer, he turned his attention back to his masters and listened to Aodren recall his life intently. From what he's gathered, Aodren has never told anyone the truth and now he would sit through and see if his wife believed his tale or not.

Earl's heart slightly quickened and he listened for the heart beat upstairs. Aodren's daughter was slowly coming to. She would be up within another hour.

He felt his stomach flutter with excitement. He raised very few female Orbis Alias, and he would be delighted to meet Cecilia. She was a beautiful girl; the spitting image of her mother. He couldn't wait to speak with her and learn about her life. His master's orders could wait for now. In this world, he has a different master and this particular one instructed him to keep his daughter happy, and happy he will make her.