My eyes fluttered open, my mind embracing the peace my heart felt.
“Cassandra…” I heard my name being called in a quivering voice that could only belong to my younger sister. My sister called out again, and I instantly snapped out of whatever feeling I had to focus on her.
“Where are we? What just happened?” Kateya questioned as her voice squeaked. “There were sparks and mist, and then POOF, you just disappeared.”
I began to look around and fully take in my surroundings for the first time. We lay in what appeared to be a field, where wheat softly swayed with the wind, a few aged oak trees huddled a little way off, the sun’s light reflecting on their leaves. The vibrancy of the hues distracted me as a few sparrows flittered by, singing with glee; a fleeting smile graced my lips. I glanced around Kateya, trying to gather my surroundings, only to do a double-take as panic set in.
This wasn’t right; what had happened? How had we arrived here?
Then it all slammed back into me. The burning pain of my necklace, the chilling feel as the mist had surrounded me at the airport, the unsettling peace I had felt right before the realm went dark. Something had occurred because as I looked around, the land we were sitting on was not familiar in the slightest, and it certainly did not look like the sandy shores of Estaire. Had we been kidnapped? Was this an act of the Nordak? Did someone spike our drinks without us knowing? But wait. We didn’t even have drinks! What had just happened and how? How on Vanaiyer were we in a field in the middle of I don’t know where… they don’t even have fields like this in Estaire.
“Hello! Cassandra!” Kateya called out, her hands waving in front of my face. “Any idea what the heck just happened?”
“Honestly. I’ve got no clue. I just—it really doesn’t—I don’t understand,” I stuttered in response as a knot of panic began to rise. “One minute we’re at EEI saying goodbye and now we are in the middle of a glittering field? There’s got to be some sort of logical explanation.”
“Yeah. Sparks flying and dark mist appearing out of nowhere in the airport… that totally sounds like logic to me, Cass,” she mocked, in a higher pitch than usual. “Maybe we got kidnapped? Or drugged?”
“I thought the same thing.” I paused, my mind racing through a multitude of scenarios, none of which calmed me in the slightest. “But how could we have been drugged? And if we were kidnapped, then why are we all alone in a field? I mean, you’ve got to admit that doesn’t add up at all. Who would kidnap someone and leave them unattended, not tied up, and in a field, of all places?”
I froze, my hand shooting up to my neck. My necklace. The golden chain weighed heavily around my neck, then a lightly heated sensation circled me, but in place of the pendant was a void. An emptiness, as though a part of me was missing. “I didn’t buy the necklace. Remember, Kat. I got it in Verastarr that night before we left. The wrinkled old crone handed it to me by the fountain.” My mind drifted to that night. How strange it had been. The feel of her cracked hands over mine made me shudder once more as the memory flashed by. But what was it she had said that night? Come on, Cassandra. Think. You gotta remember what that crazy lady said to you. Something about when you desire it the most. But desire what?
“Do you think your pendant had something to do with where we are? Maybe that lady was in some sort of cult or part of a secret society that plays pranks on people? She couldn’t have been a Cordial, but could she have been a Nordak? Did we use magic? Are the Seefers going to hunt us now?” I could hear the worry in my sister’s voice as she tried to think of an explanation, and to be honest, I had no idea.
I thought back to that night in Verastarr. Life had an air of freedom back then, the Cordial ruling together as a unit from four of the realms. Even then, the Nordak had sought power, subdued as it was. Trying to keep fear out of my voice, I responded, “Yeah, it probably had something to do with the pendant on my necklace because whatever happened definitely should not have happened; it felt dark. But remember how we yanked on my necklace and the pendant hit the ground?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, it hit the ground near us, so maybe it’s around here somewhere.”
“You really want us to look for a stupid necklace when we don’t even know where we are?”
“Unless you have a better idea? Huh, Kat?” I snapped, frustrated at the circumstance, my lack of answers, and the unknowns.
“Of course.” She huffed, pushing off the ground as she began looking. “My sister would be the one to wear a necklace given to her by a stranger. Wearing it like a prized possession given to her by someone who cares. Now look at us, here, in this mess. Sure Cass… I’ll drive you to the airport. No problem at all,” Kateya mumbled out loud to herself. “Where even are we?!” The frustrated scream escaped her lips as she stared hopelessly at the sky.
Standing up, I took in more of our surroundings—it really was a beautiful field. Beyond the wheat that surrounded us, I could see green grass swaying in the warm breeze and the oak trees lining the field, almost as if it led into a forest. There were so many trees; it honestly surprised me as the East Engles were bare, scarcely a tree insight. These trees were dense, many had thick trunks and full branches of emerald green leaves reflecting in the glimmering sunlight, with luscious bushes and thickets surrounding them. The land felt alive. Had the situation we were in not been so stressful, the forest would have appeared quite peaceful. I focused then on the task at hand and started looking where we had been laying for any sign of that red glass pendant typically around my neck.
After scouring the ground for another half hour, a groan made me glance up. “Can we try to find the closest town to see where we are? Do you think we’re even still in Estaire?”
“I’ve got no clue, Kat. I mean… Estaire doesn’t have fields like this.” My mind drifted back to our home, the Capital of the East Engles. The island was expansive compared to Reggeon, one of the four kingdoms surrounding us. Yet our city-state of Estaire was the picture of the coastal East Engles. Sandy dunes faded into golden coastlines; the waters were opaque as they silently lapped at the shorelines. Our home, our region, was a coastline that ebbed into urban cities of gray skyscrapers as the hues of life had dimmed following The Fall. “Yeah, let’s try to find the closest town, give Mum and Dad a call and figure out where to go from there.”
We decided to head over to the large oak trees in hopes of spotting a road that would lead us into town, or better yet, a highway sign that would tell us where the fuck we were. I still couldn’t quite wrap my mind around the fact that my pendant had produced sparks, a mist, and seemed as if it had transported us somewhere. It was almost as if we were living in a fantasy book or dreaming. Except fantasy books were just that, fantasy. And what we had seen looked way more like actual magic. Magic that had been banished during The Fall.
I kept pinching myself, for the pain was my only sense that this was not a dream. It had become my reality. My mind flitted to a childhood folktale, one that parents shared at bedtime to keep us in our rooms. A tale of magic that once graced the five lands before a pursuit of darkness shattered the realm in The Vanquishing and magic drizzled away. Even then, with The Fall of the Cordial, the last remaining leaders with any drops of magic flowing in their veins had been hunted by the Nordak, and magic no longer flowed.
I’m such a terrible person, I thought. I mean, what sort of person takes a necklace from an unknown wanderer late at night?
Great. Just great.
Kateya and I slowed ourselves to a dawdling walk as we approached the trees. My body was on full alert as I scanned the perimeter. Peaceful as nature should be, it held the unknown dangers of ancient creatures. The Seefers lurked in every region of The Vanaiyer Realm now. The harrowing experience we encountered with one of the beasts in our home during The Fall would be forever etched in my mind and written across my skin. A shudder coursed through me as we took in the oaks’ towering heights, their majestic, smooth trunks, and their full canopies of emerald-green leaves that hung from the branches like gleaming gems. We searched for some sign of civilization, but the closest we got was a beaten-down path, if you could call it that. Since in all reality, it appeared to be little more than grass rubbed bare from people walking on it.
“So much for that idea,” Kateya muttered under her breath. “What now?”
“We can sit and wait for someone to drive by, I guess.”
“And what, wait a couple of months? You’ve seen this path… it hardly looks used—let alone used by cars. No thanks! Why don’t we pick a direction and just start walking?”
“Yeah, we might as well. Any thoughts on which way to head?”
After deciding to follow the worn-down dirt path north, we set off walking. “We should call the emergency patrol once we make it to town. Maybe they could help, or at least track down the crazy lady that gave you the necklace. I guess you missed your flight too. What’s gonna happen with your job?”
The truth was, I had no idea. But one thing I knew for sure was that Madelyn LeRoisé did not take too kindly to journalists not showing up promptly to flights and events. “Yeah, Kat,” I laughed. “I’m sure the emergency patrol will be able to track down the lady who gave me a necklace 12 years ago in Verastarr. Not to mention that if the pendant was indeed magic, we can’t even tell them about it or else we will be punished.”
We were so focused on our thoughts and prayers to the God regarding what to do next that we didn’t hear the rumbling that pulsed through the ground until it was two or three hundred meters out. I urgently yanked Kateya back, pulling us back into the thick bushes and crouching. Branches clawed at exposed skin as I pressed us into the darkness.
“What are you doing?” Kateya hissed, attempting to go back out into the open.
She hadn’t seen what I had. While I had been excited to see other people, my excitement had soon faded to terror as I had seen them approach. There seemed to be ten horses riding at breakneck speed, their riders covered in full armor as they headed straight toward where we happened to be standing. Taking chances wasn’t an option, not with Nordak and Seefers lurking in every region, not without any form of protection. A silent curse slipped my lips as I wished I could have brought my knife with me to the airport. Leaving my apartment without it was rare, as one never knew if a Seefer would show up. The thunder of hooves shook the ground as they sped by, oblivious to the fact that we were hidden behind the trees.
I softly breathed a singular sigh of relief that the rapid rush of horses had not trampled us. Rising, I began to tell Kateya that I believed we ought to head in the direction the men had come from when I heard it again. Only this time, the returning noise was not quite as loud; it was more a dull roar than the deafening one like before. As I shoved her back into the cover of the trees, I shot Kateya the same glance I gave her when we often got in trouble with our parents, telling her to be quiet. I could hear the horses’ hooves clopping against the dusty path at a slow canter before stopping no more than five meters from where we stood. I felt Kateya stiffen beside me and grew suspicious myself. They’d stopped much too close to us, which led me to believe that the fully armed riders had indeed spotted us as they passed by.
“Montrez-vous!” an authoritative male voice stated with a hard tone that lacked enthusiasm.
“French?” I mutter under my breath; that didn’t make any sense unless—unless we had found ourselves in Verastarr.
“Je répète, montrez-vous!” (I repeat, show yourself). The voice stated again, using the same tone my father did when he was slightly agitated. Glancing at my sister, I realized she wasn’t moving; a look of pure terror had crossed her face, freezing her. I hesitantly rose from where I was squatting and stepped out from under the cover of the trees on shaky legs. Clearly, whoever they were expecting to appear from under the cover of the trees, they had not expected a woman.
“Qui es-tu? Où habites-tu?” (Who are you? Where do you live?) I realized then that I was standing before a tight group of ten warhorses, each carrying an imposing male dressed in deep red and gold tunics beneath black armor, weapons poised and at the ready, pointed in our direction. I swiveled my head in the direction of the voice, settling my gaze on the speaker. I took in the man in front of me, who clearly seemed to be in charge, based on the air of authority in his voice and the deference the riders seemed to show him.
My breath caught; heat rushed over me as my eyes widened. Seated upon a horse, he towered over me. After a brief glance, I could tell he was not the type of man who took jokes lightly as he held his lips together in a pale line. He seemed to be in his late twenties, give or take a year. An outline of bunched muscles hid behind a thick wall of chain mail and armor, and his luscious, black hair had the kind of slight wave that had always made my heart drop. But his eyes. They had me frozen in place, forgetting the existence of the realm around me. Those deep blue eyes looked me over with a gaze that seemed to perceive every single detail, one that I knew meant I couldn’t keep any secrets hidden from him.
What I couldn’t quite get past was the fact that he was covered in what appeared to be a form of armor and was riding atop a chestnut mare. He gave me a quizzical glance that instantly reminded me of the question he had posed not a moment before.
“I’m Cassandra,” I replied in steady French, “and where I live is not of importance. But what I find to be important is who you are.”
“I am Commander Sébastien Capetian, second son of Adrastan Capetian, King of Verastarr,” he said back crisply, showing an air of authority as he spoke to me. “And it is of importance as to where you reside, for that determines where your loyalties lie.”
“Very well,” I forced out, while struggling to appear calm. “And what year is it?”
The Commander’s eyes narrowed at my question, probing to discern why I wanted to know. Even as he responded, “578.”
Oh no. I nearly fainted at the words 578. If we are indeed in 578, that would mean... No. It was not possible. They must be part of some reenactment group. Didn’t people still do those? Yeah, that would make sense. Guess I should just go along with it—they must end their reenactment at some point, right?
I searched through my mind, urgently trying to think of a story to tell the Commander that would make sense in the timeframe they were reenacting. My mind traveled back to my history classes, trying to remember what happened in the 500s. As much as I loved the ancient history of The Vanaiyer Realm, there wasn’t expansive detail in the Archives, and it was harder than it would seem to come up with something right on the spot, especially when everything that had happened so far was so stressful.
At that moment, my sister cautiously crept up behind me since she was as hesitant as I was about the group of roughly ten armed men standing around me. “We are just passing through Verastarr; we live in the East Engles.”
“The East Engles, truly? How did you come to speak French? And why are you here in Verastarr, clearly without any male relatives or guards? It’s dangerous for two young women to be traveling unaccompanied, especially two foreign females,” Sébastien calmly answered me.
Dang, this commander is good. I grimaced. But my dad had taught us better. As the father of two girls, he taught us to imply that we were not alone, even if we were, for safety. “What makes you think we are unaccompanied?”
He casually glanced around the perimeter, then back at me. He definitely knew we were alone.
“How do I know that my sister and I can trust you and your men?” I retorted.
Commander Sébastien Capetian’s eyes narrowed slightly. Anger flared up in his icy blue eyes, matching the mood with his voice. “Perhaps you do not understand the circumstances. I… am Prince Sébastien Capetian, Commander of the wolvyn guard, second son of Adrastan Capetian, King of Verastarr. Presently, your only option is to trust my men and I.”
“We were accompanied, yet we ran into some complications. My father is a wealthy man in the East Engles, and my parents decided to go on a trip. My sister and I, along with our guards, were to go stay with our uncle, who resides here, in Verastarr. Upon arriving, we soon learned it would be unsuitable to remain with our uncle and so ventured to return home. Two nights into our trip, our guards took off at twilight with our belongings. The following morning we noticed and yet no one had returned. As you can understand, we were accompanied, just not at this moment,” I finished, smirking. Relieved to have thought of something that quickly, yet still hoping he believed my story.
Sébastien’s eyes narrowed as he studied me. “Very well. We shall speak more on the subject later. These are dangerous times for anyone. Please, come stay with us for a week; we will do what we can to see you returned to your parents or relatives as soon as the God allows,” he said in a way that let me know the offer was non-negotiable.
I looked over my shoulder at Kateya to see her opinion. She whispered, “What other choice do we have? Maybe these reenactors will take us to town and then we can call Mum and Dad.” She then walked away to sit on a patch of grass nearby.
Sighing, I cautiously turned around and replied to the armed men on alert, “Very well, we shall accept your offer; thank you.”
Sébastien signaled with his hand, at which point two men galloped off in the direction they had been heading. His gaze returned to mine before stating, “Two of my men are returning to Château Comptal de Capetian, a short ride from here. They shall return shortly with two day dresses so that you may make yourselves presentable.”
“Thank you for your generosity,” I replied, sensing I was dismissed. I turned to comfort my sister, glancing down at my designer white-washed blue jeans and casual yet oversized olive-green t-shirt. I wondered why the reenactors wanted us to change into dresses. What I wore was casual for my time as I was supposed to catch a flight shortly. But yet, here I was, supposedly in the 500s. They must consider my clothes to be odd-looking in comparison to their outfits. As I glanced at Kateya, her eyes were watching the eight men in front of us with fascination. As she heard me approach, she looked over in my direction with a worried look on her face.
I reached her and settled down on the soft grass beside her. “It seems that we have stumbled upon some weird group of reenactors, who think they live in the 500s. That or the pendant around my neck somehow brought us back in time to 578 in Verastarr.” Kateya chuckled slightly beside me. “What I don’t get is why the reenactors care about us changing into less modern clothing.”
“Wait… did you say Verastarr?” she inquired softly.
“Yeah. Kind of an odd time and land to choose, right?”
“It really is. I mean, I thought most reenactments were of, like, The Vanquishing, but that is still a few years off, right? I mean, there weren’t any major battles at this point in history, were there?”
I paused for a moment, trying to draw on all the history lessons I had half paid attention to in class. “Not that I know of. I mean, ten years off or so, I would say. But again, the Archives don’t have much in terms of The Vanquishing, so it may not be accurate for all we know.”
“You don’t think it’s possible that…” She didn’t finish her sentence, but she didn’t have to. I knew what she was getting at. Time travel. But no, that wasn’t possible. I mean maybe, but no magic ever documented spoke of time travel. Healing, strength, speed, some shapeshifting was mentioned, but never time travel. “I mean, you must admit, Cass, the whole sparks flying and mist circling following a pendant hitting the floor is kind of crazy. It has no explanation other than magic. Magic that, need I remind you, hasn’t existed since The Fall a few years ago.”
I eyed my sister then, her light green eyes staring back at me with concern. “Okay. Let’s say that hypothetically, hypothetically, we traveled back in time, which somehow happened because of the pendant. Why did it happen? And why did we end up here… in what, according to Commander Sébastien, is the year 578 in Verastarr?”
“I dunno,” she whispered. “I mean, right before the pendant burned you, what happened? Did you say anything crazy?”
I stared at the grass and played with it between my fingers as I thought back to those moments, the burning sensation that happened, trying to replay this morning in my head. “I don’t think so, Kat, I remember holding my necklace, you know how I typically do when I’m anxious, and then you saying you wished you were coming with. I think I responded by saying I wished we were both going back to Verastarr, and I remember really meaning it because we always got along and had fun back then as kids. Then you hugged me, and my necklace got hot.”
“Maybe it’s like a magic lamp. You know, you rub it and make a wish. Except you touched it and made one?” Kateya said inquiringly.
Laughing slightly, I looked at her again. “Yeah, Kat, because a magic genie necklace is totally a thing.”
“Well, I’ve got no other explanation. It’s either some crazy reenactors content to pretend they lived in the past or time travel. Either way, you’ve got to admit they are a pretty hot group of guys. I mean, they’ve got to work out at least every day to get muscles like that. They don’t even compare to the unwashed barbarians on campus, do they?”
Glancing back over, I stared at the eight men a little way off from us on the path. I had to agree with my sister. No matter what odd situation we had gotten ourselves into, these guys had it going for them. Tall, muscular arms were visible underneath dark chainmail, and an air of authority and control surrounded them. They could easily take any of the half-drunk boys my sister frequently talked to down in a fight.
“Sooo,” I heard myself draw out. “I’m thinking that since neither of us has any clue where we are, no cell phones, and it's quite evident that there is no way we can outrun these guys, that we should go along with this act until we make it into town. And then we need to call an emergency patrol as soon as we can. It is probably best that we share as little about ourselves as possible, since we don’t really know who they are.”
“And what if this isn’t a reenactment? What then, Cass? We don’t have that necklace anymore.”
“I don’t wanna think about that,” was all I replied, for at that moment, the two riders who had gone off rode back up. After speaking with Sébastien for a moment, they unlatched a saddle pack and handed it to us. I automatically accepted the worn leather sack and politely replied, “Merci beaucoup,” before returning to my sister’s side.
We headed off in search of a concealed location to put on the dresses. Once out of view, we cautiously opened the sack and peered inside. On the top, there were two dresses with thin straps, the entire garments were made from soft, sheer white silk, with lace edges that would fall to mid-calf. I could see that this was some form of underdress, and the beauty of it was lovely, yet nothing compared to the ‘casual’ day dresses we had been given.
Mine was an evergreen gown with gold intertwined. The seams were cross-stitched by hand, and the material was softer than any I had ever felt before. I marveled for a minute at the intricate design and wondered how this reenactment group had managed to get dresses that, as far as I could tell, were so well designed, they could have been worn in 578.
The design of the dress was complex compared to any zip-up dress or sundress I had ever worn, so I took my best guess on how to button it up. I finished dressing, and, remembering reading that it was considered proper to wear your hair up, quickly braided my hair off to the side. May as well play the part if it meant getting back to civilization and a phone. After helping Kateya with her hair, we slowly trekked our way back to where we had started. Walking in the dresses had a unique feeling to it, almost as if every step we took mattered greatly.