Chapter 6

Valdamor

As I began to discover my own truth and endeavored to possess it with clarity, I became more and more alienated from that which my companions held, or professed to hold.

-Juan Goytisolo

For a couple minutes I just sat there startled. It wasn't until I heard footsteps that I jumped up. I stood there too scared to move but staring at where I thought I hear the footsteps. They came again but heading towards me. As the footsteps came to the stop at of the long grass and next to my clearing, I started stepping back getting faster with every step. Then William stepped out.

"William," I said relieved. He nodded at me then looked around.

"Do you have any clue of where we are?" He said coming over to stand next to me. I shook my head expecting him to answer but he just looked around. He muttered to himself then he looked around and back at me then back towards the way he came, clearly deciding if he should go find the others, leaving me the air mage who currently had no clue what her power was defenseless or stay with me. He looked like he was about to say something when we heard footsteps behind us. I quickly turned around and out of the corner I saw William do the same but he got into a position to run if he had to. I gulped; would he really just run away like that leaving me here?

"Relax, it is just me," Joseph said stepping out.

"Good then we are all here," said another voice making me jump so high I swear I could see over the grass.

"Would you PLEASE stop doing that?!?" I yelled.

Joseph laughed and I glared at him, "Don't take it offensively but another jump like that and you will be able to just fly back home." I tried to keep a serious face but failed and smiled giggling slightly before pulling back my serious face as I remembered the situation we were in.

"Do you have any clue where we are?" William asked Kelly.

"You are in the Portal field, in the Western kingdom, in Voldamor," said a voice that was again behind me. And I can truthfully say that this time I wasn't the only one that jumped. It was a woman with dark brown hair and light green eyes. She wore a beautiful silk dress and her hair was up in a bun. "What is your name, kind, rank, and where are you from?" She asked.

Joseph automatically stepped up, like he had said before, he did most of the talking when it came to dealing with other people. "I am sorry, I don't know what you mean," said Joseph.

The lady was mumbling something then Kelly stepped up, "I am Kelly, I am an Earth mage with the power of transportation and I believe I am descendent of The Protectors." I couldn't see Joseph's face but I saw William's. He was bewildered, surprised, and angry. I felt the same way. Why did Kelly just blurt that out to a total stranger?

The lady seemed pleased though. She gracefully walked up to them. Then she smiled and said, "I am Queen Rosalie. We have been waiting for your arrival. Come right this way," She said gesturing for them to fallow her. And she personally didn't want to fallow this lady, even if she was a queen. Joseph and William seemed to feel the same way but Kelly walked off without them, oblivious to their fear. At first they just stood there but then Joseph went after Kelly and William nodded at me then in a blur he appeared next to Joseph. I hurried to catch up not wanting to be left alone.

They didn't have to walk far to get to another clearing. And in the edge of the clearing there was a castle. I suddenly wondered if I was dreaming. It was defiantly possible; maybe I had even dreamt of my dad's death or maybe just of my mom going crazy. I would just be happy if I had just never walked up and went to that first day of school. Whenever I had fallen asleep it didn't matter, this was just too crazy. Or perhaps I was dead, did you go somewhere like this when you were dead? Not that I had thought about suicide but everyone gets close to almost killing themselves every once in a while, right? Maybe I just ate something I was allergic too…nah with my luck I probably just fell down some stairs and killed myself by bumping my head too hard.

"Welcome to my home," said Queen Rosalie, "we will have a meeting the second the other queens and kings get here. You did invite them, right?" she asked.

"We haven't seen any royalty other then yourself," it was Joseph that spoke this time. The queen was staring at me though as if she had expected me to be the one to speak. I tried to ignore it, I was being too paranoid. The queen eyed him then said, "Farewell, I will have one of my messengers call to them," She turned, "I'll be right back." I took the moment of silence to study the room I was in. It was just a big hallway. Behind me was the large wooden front doors with golden door knobs and the hallway had red carpet. The walls were a yellow and either side there were picture of what I guessed where past Queens and Kings. It was all what I knew I would be able to makeup in a dream. Then I turned to see that Kelly was being glared at.

"Why did you just tell her about yourself like that? I mean that was seriously out of character for you," Joseph said when William opened his mouth. I had to admit that was kind of mean but from what I had seen so far it was for the best, William would probably has started screaming at her and the Queen would be back soon.

"I don't know," Kelly said and she actually sounded sad and confused. Joseph stared at her for a long moment then turned away as the queen came in.

He looked like he was going to accuse her of putting a spell on Kelly so I stepped in before he could, "well we should probably all introduce ourselves. I am Claire, I am an air mage and I believe I have the power of telekinesis but I only learned of my powers just recently," I said. Then I waved towards William, "this is William he is a fire mage with the power of speed," then I turned towards Joseph, "and Joseph, he is a water mage with the power of healing." Then I turned back to her smiling.

"Like I said I am Queen Rosalie, queen of the Western Kingdom. I hope you don't mind me asking but how did you get here?" she asked.

The question was directed at me but Joseph answered it, "We all received a prophecy in a dream and used it as a spell. We didn't expect it to bring us here so we just need to get home now."

"Oh don't be ridiculous, please stay. And can you tell me what the prophecy is?" asked the queen, who only glanced at Joseph. Again she seemed to be asking me the question. So I recited the now well memorized prophecy then explained how the air would be removed and each one of us was told it with our element. Then once I was done Joseph joined in telling her about our discovery that the prophecies were different and what Kelly had figured out so far about Jerold and The Protectors.

After we were done it was silent. The Queen looked surprised then she started muttering something under her breath. That is when Joseph told her about the people that had tried to stop us from completing the spell. Then it was quiet again but this time the queen was shocked into silence. And she looked at me desperately, "Please tell me you know someone in your family who is also a mage, or someone on Earth who is a mage," I shook my head. No one that I knew of was a mage. She looked at Kelly, Joseph, and William and in turn they all shook their head no. The queen fell to her knees crying, "Then this is worst then anyone could ever have imagined. Oh Audra, I hope you see what your actions have caused!"

I stood there surprised. We all looked at each other, uncertain as to what we should do now, as Queen Rosalie got up. For a second she stared at us then she turned heading back deeper into the castle telling someone who was around the corner and out of sight to show us to our rooms. Then a young looking girl with light blonde hair and graying blue eyes came around the corner heading towards us after bowing to the queen and saying a "yes, your majesty." Then she came to us. She bowed then took my hand leading me towards the door. She had to be only about 10. William walked beside me and Joseph and Kelly walked behind me creating a small square as we walked.

The girl had quietly led us to a small cottage looking house that had four rooms, a kitchen, and a living room. Outside it looked as if there had once been a garden but it was now just a large patch of dirt. Once we had gotten inside the girl left without saying a word leaving us there. Now we were all exploring the rooms. We were all unsure of what to do. Kelly seemed to be still getting over the fact she had basically blurted out everything to the queen without getting to know anything about her first. Joseph seemed weirdly quiet, I didn't quite understand why. William seemed to be just kind of mad.

"Okay enough of this!" William yelled.

"What?" Kelly said.

"Enough walking around doing nothing, we have to get home. You should be in the library," he turned towards Joseph, "You should be talking to the Queen," and then he turned to me, "and you should be trying to figure out all of this magic stuff so you don't misuse your powers." Kelly stared at him then started slowly nodded.

"I should actually see if I can transport back home. If I can I will come back and pick-up everyone," Kelly said disappearing.

"Kelly, you shouldn't-" Joseph began, but he was too late she was gone. I looked at her spot worriedly. Then after a moment he said, "I will wait for her to come back, if we aren't even on Earth she probably can't get that far."

"Okay, I am going to go spy then," William said. I must have looked as confused as I felt because he said, "I can get in and out of the castle without anyone seeing me. I will just go in long enough to figure out what is going on." Then he was gone too. I stared at where he had been I really hoped he didn't end up getting caught. I knew we could probably escape if someone came at us but I didn't want to upset a queen in the first hour of me being somewhere. Actually I didn't know if it was still my first hour. I looked over at Joseph.

"What time is it?" I asked. He glanced at his watch, and then his eyes flew open. He shook his arm with the watch on it then tapped the glass.

"It is the same time as it was when we…transported here," Joseph said looking at the watch again, "thing's batteries are probably just dead."

"No, time is off here. One day here is the same as one second on Earth," said a voice. This time it was luckily not behind me but by the door that William had apparently been in too big of a hurry to close. This was good because I had, had enough weird voices behind me today to last a lifetime. It wasn't the queen but it looked enough like her to be her son. He was no older than me, which explained why he hadn't taken her position as ruler; a sixteen year old king wasn't such a good idea.

"Oh so kind of like Narnia," I said. Only a moment to late I noticed my mistake and blushed, they probably didn't have that book here. "Narnia is just a place in a book," I explained still blushing. The guy brushed it off with a shake of his hand, it didn't matter.

"So I am Charles, oldest son of Jennifer, the queen of the south. I am here to escort you to the castle," said the prince. I nodded then jumped as a voice sounded beside me. Again it was luckily not behind me.

"Okay, but can we wait a second for Kelly who is in the bathroom," said William just a little bit louder than necessary.

"Very well," said the prince bowing his head to William who he didn't seem to notice just appeared or didn't care. He turned back to me, "I am sorry but I don't think I know all of your names yet."

"I am Claire," I said, "I am the air mage."

"Ah yes, that is what I though. The air mage is always the prettiest," He said kindly making me giggle. He lifted my hand and kissed it, "It is nice to meet you Claire." William twitched beside me pushing me slightly and I pulled my hand from Prince Charles hand and waved it towards William, "this is William, he is the fire mage." Then I swept my hand over towards Joseph who was standing glancing at the bathroom occasionally, waiting for Kelly, "this is Joseph the water mage." Then Kelly came out of the bathroom, "and that would be Kelly. Let's go."

The Prince nodded his gaze still on me which was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. But he turned without saying anything and led the way out of the house. I fell back to talk to the others.

"I couldn't find anything," Kelly was explaining, "it must be too far away."

"Yeah, I had guessed that," Joseph said turning his gaze away from Kelly, who he was walking closely next to, and onto William.

"I didn't hear much, I was listening to the Queen welcome the other royalty when I heard them say they had sent Prince Charles to get you," He said his gaze staying straight on the path. He walked on my left side, the opposite side of Joseph and Kelly.

"Claire," called Charles. I looked up at him he was standing next to a women who looked like his mother and possibly Queen Rosalie's sister, which explained Charles resemblance to the queen, "come meet my mother."

I reluctantly came forward and bowed slightly to the queen. She smiled, "I am guessing you are Claire, the air mage. I wish I could say I have heard a lot about you but I haven't."

I smiled, "and you are Queen Jennifer, queen of the south. Right?" I said.

"Yes, very good," she smiled; her smile seemed to cover her whole face. Her dark black hair swirled around her face as she turned her head, glancing over at Charles as if trying to direct my attention over to him but I felt his gaze on me and didn't want to look over at him.

"The Protectors are here," I heard a guys voice say from over by the castle entrance, saving me from my small awkward moment.

A man stepped out heading towards us followed closely by a small woman, a younger looking man, and Queen Rosalie. They then all turned and headed towards what looked like a garden surrounded by solid, tall fences.

"Come along," said Prince Charles who turned. I was able to look at him when his back was turned. His face had been handsome, the perfect face for a prince. He wore a long dark blue robe that matched the queen's very elegant blue dress. He was about half a foot taller than me and Jennifer was only slightly smaller than him.

"Wow," William gasped. My heart stopped slightly, I hadn't noticed him walk up next to me but his gasp brought me to where we were. We were in the garden, and it was beautiful beyond words could describe.

The man who had been in the entrance of the castle had stopped and turned towards me, as soon as Kelly (who had been in the back of the group) came in he called "Now, let the meeting begin!"

Prince Charles: You make me sound wierd.

I know MOL

William: Claire is startled too easily

Claire: Hey!

CLAIRE!!!!!!!!!!!! Where were you?

Claire: In Valdamore.

But you just found Valdamore...oh well. Please review.

Claire: maybe I just have magic powers!

You do, but you don't know how to use them.

Claire: true...

^..^*Crystalpath*^..^

William: You should really get that copyrighted or something.

LOL Agreed! It is a nice signature isn't it.

William: Yes it is.