~~~~~
The first thing Rob noticed when he woke up was the smell of pine
trees, they didn't grow in Italy. He hadn't seen, or
smelled for that matter, a
pine tree since he had last visited Montana, his home. He opened
his eyes
and saw trees all around, the ocean was nowhere in sight, but
there were his
friends laying on the ground around him, and their stuff was
there too. He
ruled out sleepwalking, and he wasn't dreaming -You don't
smell pine trees
in dreams.- The sun was high in the sky and he decided to just
sit and try to
sort things out for a moment. Rob sat there, trying to puzzle it
out until he
heard the sound of people approaching. Thinking wasn't
exactly his thing,
anyway, better leave that to Marco and Raecla, but now he decided
to wake
the others up.
Marco slowly opened his eyes, rudely informing Rob that it was
much
too damned early to get up, but when he saw their surroundings,
gave a start,
and cried in shock, Mi Dio! Dove siamo? The others
answered with a
chorus of, Non lo so, and Search
me!
And I think somebody's coming, Clay added.
All four of them stood
up, Raecla's book falling to the ground from where it had
been resting on her
stomach all night.
A moment later, three teenagers walked out of the woods and
into the
clearing, each leading a mount. Rob, Luisa, and Marco were in a
severe state
of shock, first they wake up in a strange place, then three
people come out of
the woods looking like they belong in a history book? It was too
much.
Marco just kept blinking, and asked incredulously, C'รจ Carnivale?
Luisa was biting her lip and wondering if there was something
seriously wrong with the calzoni they had eaten last night, and
Rob thought
he might faint.
Raecla, on the other hand, was positively elated. She glanced
down to
the book that had fallen and bent to pick it up. Cradling it in
her shaking
hands, she looked again at the people standing before her. There
was a tall
green-eyed boy with a widows peak, a girl with short brown hair
and a
sparrow on her shoulder, and a very large boy with bright red
hair(I think that's what he looks like, sorry if I'm wrong) . Her
eyeswidened as she realized who they were.
Identify yourselves! Page Keladry of Mindelan called.
You are not of Tortall, the dark one speaks a strange
tongue. Where
are you from? Neal asked.
While Rob and Luisa were mouthing, Tortall? We're
in Tortall? to
each other, Raecla took a deep breath and stepped forward.
Kel, Cleon, Neal, umm.. we're from another world,
possibly
transported here through sorcery or some such. If you would be
kind enough
to escort us to the palace, we will be able to explain more fully.
And the dark one' here wants to know if you've
got a problem with
his language, capisce? Marco said ominously.
Raecla kicked Marco, this was not the time to mouth off to a
couple of
armed pages.
You know our names, Kel said, But we don't
know you. We have
orders from Master Numair to bring you to the palace, he saw that
visitors
would come, but he thought that you'd just be from another
country. then
she added with a smile, Seeing the future isn't
exactly his thing.
And why is that one so strange? Neal muttered.
Uhh.. One moment please. Raecla said, and pulled
her friends away.
The last thing she needed was for Neal to cut Marco into little
tiny pieces.
Um, you guys remember that book I was telling you about?
The one
with the knights and a girl page, and stuff. Well, I think we're
in Tortall.
Silence for a couple seconds.
Wait a minute, Rob said, his voice rising, You're
telling us that you
got us stuck in one of your damn BOOKS?!?
I didn't get us stuck here, but that's pretty
much it. Raecla answered
in a small voice, Let's just go to the Palace, explain
everything to King
Jonathan and Numair, and see if he can use magic to send us home.
He is a
powerful mage, after all.
Mages, Kings,knights, magic, palaces, what next? Luisa muttered
Great, just great. Marco said under his breath.
They walked back over to the pages, and started getting their
packs
together. Cleon and Neal were studying the girls' spaghetti-strap
tops and
shorts with great interest, ^_~ , and Kel was completely
confounded by
Rob's sneakers.
They set off through the Royal Forest, putting their backpacks
on the
horses, and talking while they walked. Raecla was telling her
friends
everything she knew about Tortall, and the others were listening
with great
interest, suprised at how much she knew. They finally got to the
palace, as
they stood on a hill overlooking the entire city, they were all
thinking Wow!'
and Luisa ariticulated what they were all saying to themselves,
"This is nothing like the history books!"
~~~~~
"...And that's pretty much it, Your Highness. I don't
know how it
happened, but we're here." Raecla finished nervously.
King Jonathan sighed and turned to Numair, What do you think?
I don't know Jon, Numair answered hesitantly,
This is quite a bit
different from what I expected. I may have read a few things
about world
breaching, but I'd have to go back and search the ancient
scrolls for the
information. In the meantime, He smiled at Raecla, I
think we should make
them comfortable, I'd love to find out more about their
world.
That's it then, the King declared, You
may have rooms in the pages
wing until Master Numair can find out how to send you home.
That would be wonderful, Your Highness, thank you.
Raecla said,
greatly relieved. Kel and Neal are waiting just outside, I'm
sure they can
show us to suitable rooms.
So they will, goodbye then.
Numair added, I look forward to talking with you again.
All four of them smiled, thanked them both and paused for a
moment,
unsure if they were supposed to bow or something, then made a
quick exit.
I'm glad that's over with, Luisa said,
when they were out in the hall
with Kel and Neal. The others chuckled, because they were all
feeling the
exact same way.
