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The morning was far gone by the time Katerina awoke. Surprisingly she had slept well, nestled on one of the couches. Noah and Alice were waking up too and she realized Aaron had disturbed them with the noise of plates and cutlery. Somehow he had produced food for them, so they sat together trying to force down dry bread and cheeses. They were alone with Aaron now; the other men gone.
Once they finished, they re-settled on couches and waited. There was sweat beading on Aaron’s forehead as he took a seat too. He looked nervous facing them. Yet his voice was strong as he began, “First I would like an agreement out of you. No questions or interruptions until I am done explaining. Alright?”
They all agreed, Katerina reluctantly.
“There’s actually no easy way to explain what’s going on so I’m just going to say it. You are no longer on your world, on Earth...”
“What?” the word fled Katerina’s lips unbidden.
“No interruptions!” He stared her down. “You have crossed through a black hole, if you like, and are now in my world — Kainnan. Now I am only a simple priest...” this caused such a stir that he had to hold his hands up to ward off their questions. “Yes, I am aware that I don’t look much like your priests, but I assure you, I am one. There are some priests here who might fit your stereotypes, but I have no time for ritual and niceties, particularly not these days,” he sighed. “You are all here for a specific reason. You were chosen to be winners of the competition at the request of the king of Kainnan, King Wilhelm.”
This was just too much for Katerina and she burst out with, “I know you said we can’t interrupt but this is ridiculous! Another world! A fake competition! That’s so...so crazy!”
Noah muttered, “I certainly don’t remember entering any competition though.”
“What do you mean another world?” Caleb interrupted and then they were all talking at once.
Aaron sighed. He crossed to the map and pointed at it. “I don’t expect you to believe me yet. I know it sounds preposterous. I thought the same when I first found out about your world. But this,” a finger on the map, “is where you are now. Specifically,” he found a location in the north-east, “here. We are in fact in the region of Velcharn, controlled by Zeus. He’s the one who torched the buildings last night.” Noah immediately recalled the dark man in the library. “He’s also the one who caused your plane to crash. He will kill you if he finds you.”
Caleb gasped, his olive skin paling. “But he has Madeleine! Does that mean he’s going to kill her?”
“No, not yet. He knows there were more of you. He’ll hold her and Josiah until he’s found you, or found out for certain that you’re dead and no one else is able to get through. Which, unfortunately, is now the case — the way back to Earth is shut for now.”
“Do you mean there’s no way for us to get back home?” Alice asked. Astonished that Alice would go along with Aaron’s delusion, Katerina glared at her.
“No, there’s not, at present. I need you to understand something.” Aaron was silent then, waiting until they all focused on him. “I would have given you a choice to stay or go back. You are the third group I’ve brought through. The last two chose to go home and I didn’t stop them. I would have given you the same opportunity. But unfortunately, now I can’t...”
“Let me get this straight,” Noah interrupted. “You’re claiming we’re stuck in some alternate universe — indefinitely?”
Aaron nodded silently then sat back down. He waited a moment, but they were all too stunned or skeptical to speak. So he continued, “You see King Wilhelm has had a colored reign. When he took over from his father he did his utmost to rule well. However, as you will see he made a poor husband and father and he made a lot of enemies. He’s had three wives and his current, the fourth, is missing, perhaps dead. The problem is he’s very sick now and it won’t be long until he dies. Actually, this wouldn’t be a problem if he had an heir worthy of succeeding him, but his four children are far from that. They are not just young and foolish — they are dangerous. In fact, they are the reason you’ve been brought here. They are well into the process of carving up and destroying Kainnan. If they’re not stopped soon there’ll be nothing worth saving...
“King Wilhelm is a little like your King David of Israel was. Long ago he should have confronted his children and sorted them out. But he didn’t, and each of his heirs now has considerable power — and powerful backers too. Our king’s sickness has caused many of those who could’ve backed him to foolishly throw their lot in with one or other of his children instead.”
There was silence as they attempted to digest this. Noah asked the question they were all wondering, “But what does this have to do with us? Why did you bring us here?”
“Let me ask you a question,” Aaron studied them, one by one. “Has anything unusual been happening in your world in the last few months?”
They looked at each other. Caleb answered for them all. “Yes, there has, actually. There’s been a huge increase in terrorist attacks, a bunch of bombings — suicide bombings — and threats of more to come.”
Aaron nodded. “That will be because there’s been an increase in bombings here on Kainnan down in Alexandre’s region — one of the king’s sons. And a great deal of fear and suspicion.”
“Just like home. Are you implying there’s a link?” Katerina demanded.
Aaron favored her with a brief smile. “Yes, there is. Some of what happens here affects your world. Alice,” he turned his green eyes on the girl, “You are, I believe, a Christian?” To Katerina’s surprise, Alice nodded. “Well, it’s a bit like the interlinking of the spiritual and natural realms which I hope you understand?” Alice nodded again. “We are almost like your spiritual realm. For example, when we had a number of young people brainwashed into suicide several years ago, your world likewise had a rise in suicides among your youth. This occurrence was in fact when King Wilhelm began to think seriously about his successor because of the responsibility he felt for the deaths in your world. He realized then that he doesn’t just carry the weight of responsibility for Kainnan but in some ways for your world also.”
“Okay, it sounds crazy yet it kind of makes sense. But what has it got to do with us?” Noah asked again.
Aaron took his time answering, the gravity of his words written across his face, “We’ve brought you here because only one from your world can kill the king’s children. And that is what King Wilhelm has realized must happen.”
The words were like a physical blow. Katerina’s heart began beating overtime. Instinctively she put her hand to her chest to still it. Her voice sounded strange to her ears as she clarified, “You’re asking us to kill some...some, some...” But words failed.
“Not with poison or bullets. It’s actually much harder than that. We’re not certain why it happens — I’m sure the royal family would love to know — but when someone from your world simply touches royalty it can kill them. The physical connection instantly sends you home and that’s the key. Once back in your world, you all have issues and problems of some kind that you need to resolve, right?”
There were nods all around, though they avoided one another’s eyes.
“Well, this is what happens. If you succeed in resolving these personal issues, we’re not certain how or how many, but if you do succeed you will come back here and the ruler will die.”
“You're saying we have to face ourselves then?” Caleb asked.
“Right,” Aaron waited.
“Let me get this straight,” Noah said. “You want us to get close enough to these rulers to touch them despite all their power and bodyguards or whatever, then once we do — bam! We’re back home, we do some stuff there, though you’re not exactly sure what, then we’re back here again somehow and the ruler we’re touching dies?”
Alice winced at the sarcasm in his tone and Caleb shifted uncomfortably. Katerina hid a smile. Noah didn’t back down. He waited; body language confrontational.
The priest rose in response placing his hands neatly on the desk in front of him and looking calmly at Noah. “That’s correct...and I know what you’re thinking. I would be thinking the same if I were in your shoes. Tell me what it will take for me to convince you?”
“I should like to see for myself,” Katerina said promptly.
“See what?” Aaron walked out from behind the desk to stand in front of her.
She shrugged. “See what these people, these rulers, are doing here. See some proof that this is not just a tropical island we’ve crash-landed on and you a deluded man spinning us a crazy story. For all we know we could’ve ended up on an island where the government exiles deranged inmates. Perhaps you’ve escaped from some institution...”
“I think he gets your point,” Caleb interrupted. Embarrassed by her outburst, Katerina stopped short. But Aaron was smiling at her.
“That’s one of the reasons you were chosen Katerina. We liked your fervor.” He put his hand out to her. Surprised, she took it, noticing how rough and callused it was as he shook hers firmly. “You have a deal. As we travel from here to the south into Alexandre’s region, I will show you the proof you want.”
He returned to the desk, pulling a key from a hidden chain around his neck to unlock one of the desk drawers. As he did, he explained, “I thought we would start with Alexandre, Wilhelm’s younger son. He’s not as powerful as his sisters and brother. He hides behind the unrest in his land, for his only real interest is in himself and his own gratification. He’ll be the simplest to get close to.”
He had a stack of files in his hands and began passing them out. “These contain information on each of the king’s children — their mothers, their power-base, our guess at their motivations and intentions and a little about the areas they control. The more you know the safer you will be, so I ask you to read and memorize these thoroughly then share your readings with each other. Forewarned is forearmed as they say. Any questions?”
“Will we be safe, travelling around?” Noah asked.
“Did any of the men see your faces last night? The ones who burnt the buildings down?”
“As far as we know we were down here well before they arrived.”
“Well, it will depend then on how good a description David is able to give. Did he take any photos of you?”
“Not that I know of.” They all shook their heads. “Wait, are you suggesting David is with those people?”
“Yes. David was a plant. Some of my men were able to follow Zeus last night. He took Josiah and Madeleine as prisoners and David as an assistant. It was he who betrayed us.”
They were all silent as the full horror of his statement hit. “But I thought Claudia asked David to come?” Katerina said eventually, when it was obvious no one else was going to speak.
“He made sure she did. I imagine he planted the idea to invite him in her mind. She’s not the only person he targeted. There was another woman he tried to seduce in the second group we brought through, but she didn’t end up coming so David focused on Claudia instead...I need to go and get things organized. There’s more food in the other room and I’m leaving you a key for the exit for when you need the toilet. You’re in a tunnel once you go out through the wall. It leads out into a small cave which is extremely well-hidden. But be very careful when you leave the cave. We believe the area is clear now but Zeus will undoubtedly have left some men behind. You would be no match for them, so don’t be too modest — just go a few steps into the jungle. You’d best go in twos and keep watch for one another...Anything else?”
“When will you be back? When will we leave here? Where will we go next?” Katerina demanded.
“Hopefully I won’t be any longer than a few hours. I’ll answer your questions once you’ve read through these papers.” He waited for more but Katerina had subsided. He gathered a few things together then left them alone. In fact, Katerina reflected, leaning back on a couch exhausted, it felt as if they were now very, very alone. What would her parents be thinking? Would they have heard about the plane-crash? Were they in another world? Yet how could that possibly be? She had no frame of reference to even begin to get her head around the concept.
A sudden thought occurred and she asked the other three, “Do any of you still have a mobile phone? I lost mine in the crash.”
“I have mine but its flat,” Caleb shrugged.
“Not that we would get coverage on another planet,” Alice said.
“Come on Alice, you don’t really believe him, do you?” Caleb looked around at them all. “It’s pretty ridiculous.”
Noah answered, “I don’t know what to think. I’ve never been in a plane-crash, shot at, marched all day through jungle, found a secret tunnel and narrowly escaped being captured or burned to death before. I don’t know what to think,” he said again.
He caught Katerina’s eye. The absurdity of his commentary suddenly hit her and she started to laugh. After a moment, Noah caught on too and began laughing with her. They laughed until they had tears in their eyes and nothing left, while Alice and Caleb looked on uncertainly. Then, with that over, Katerina put her head in her hands and cried instead. Noah moved to comfort her but Alice gave him a quick look and patted Katerina’s arm instead. It felt rather like she was crying for all of them.
A short time later they took turns going out to the toilet. Thankfully, all was silent and still in the jungle.
Once back in their temporary refuge they settled in to read. An hour had passed in relative quiet when Katerina looked up and said, “This is so confusing. Four wives — what was he thinking!”
“I’ll say,” Alice agreed. “I can’t get my head around it. I need to see it or something.”
“Okay then,” Caleb offered, “Let’s draw it out.” He went to the desk and started rifling through the unlocked drawers. Once he found pen and paper he laid it out on the floor between them, dividing it in four. “Now, tell us what you’ve learnt,” he instructed.
