"Don't move." he ordered, the blade moving closer to her.
"Connor? There's only one of her." a girl's voice said. Will looked over the man's shoulder and saw a girl about her own age. She was standing in front of three girls with a broom clutched in her hands, and it was obvious she could and would use it as a weapon if need be. He looked as if he was about to lower his weapon when Irma came through the portal. Will blinked at the shape the portal had taken it. It wasn't the glowing shape they were used to; it was a mirror showing New York.
"Man that was a - oh sword." she said, straitening up. The man looked at them through narrowed eyes.
"How many of you are there?" he asked Will.
"Six." Will replied honestly. The man looked at her warily.
"After six come through we close it." he said finally. "If any of them are armed we close it as soon as they step through." Irma stared at him.
"You have the power to close the portal? How is that possible." she asked.
"How did you open it from the wrong side?" he shot back as Hay Lin came through.
"Uh, Will?" she asked. "What's going on?"
"We're being held at sword point. Other then that, no idea." Will replied.
"Ah. Ok then." Hay Lin said, scooting out of the portal's way.
"Go get Mom." the dark haired girl holding the broom whispered to a small girl of six or seven. The little girl ran to the right and up a set of stairs just as Taranee came through.
"Wha-?" she began but Irma answered her quickly.
"No idea." she said. Will only now started looking at her surroundings; she had been occupied with identifying who was there and how big of a threat they were. It seemed as though they were in a cellar. There were some dusty shelves filled with what looked like jams, pickles, and other canned items. There were a few shovels and some other tools, but nothing very threatening. Will heard Cornelia come through, saying "Elyon's right behind me." as she arrived. She was right; Elyon came through just as Cornelia was straightening up.
"That's six; close the mirror." The man ordered. Cornelia and Elyon threw questioning glances at Will but Will only shrugged in reply. She didn't know what was going on anymore then she did. Elyon turned to look at the mirror.
"I assume this is the 'mirror' you were talking about. I do ask though, how do you close it?" she asked, using her polite queen voice. It was a trick; they all knew it. Only those used to working with politics would recognize the 'polite-royal-what-are-you-talking-about' voice. The man's eyes flickered for a second before he spoke.
"Turn that circle on the left hand side into place." he said. 'He doesn't want us to know he know's the trick.' Will realized. Just then a lady holding the hand of the little girl came down the steps.
"Who are you?" she asked, reveling nothing of what she truly thought.
"We are Guardians of the Veil from Earth." Will said, bowing. "And she," she added, letting Elyon step forward, "Is the Queen of Meridian." Elyon curtsied, and the woman returned it. After watching the lady's reaction, Will guessed this was the mother the man had mentioned, the children followed suit. Will watched their bowing. 'They are used to being around royalty. Yet they live here.'
"I've never heard of Meridian before." the lady said. Elyon smiled sweetly up at her.
"I had never heard of the Nine kingdoms before." she replied.
"Then how did you hear of it and find a portal here?" The man asked.
"A dream. A lady, we think it's Snow White, told us to find her heir in the 3rd kingdom so they could bring us to the ruler of the 3rd kingdom, because all the kingdoms are in danger." Elyon explained.
"Snow White, you say?" the lady said, before nodding to the man.
"Lower your sword, Cullen. I think they are on our side." she said, coming down the rest of the steps. The man, Cullen, Will guessed, lowered his sword.
"Are you sure, Mom?" Cullen asked. The lady nodded.
"They might have information for your father." she said before turning to them.
"You said you were Guardians? Of the Veil? What is that?" Cullen asked them.
"The Veil is a barrier dividing Earth and Meridian." Hay Lin explained.
"And Meridian is your land?" Cullen asked Elyon. Elyon nodded.
"And you're wearing clothes from Earth why?" he asked. Will noticed for the first time that although their clothes were clean and well made, they people facing them had what could be called peasant clothes. Elyon looked at him, a bit surprised.
"Well I wouldn't wear royal clothes traveling unless I had guards. Which I technically do," she added, waving her hand at the Guardians, "But you can't tell that they are. Also, I think it would be a bit attention grabbing if I wore Meridian clothes on Earth." Cullen nodded at that.
"Alright, girls. Come up stairs." The lady said, pushing the little girl up the stairs.
"Can you and the twins handle the rest of the cleaning, Tala?" she asked the eldest girl holding the broom. Tala nodded.
"Come on, girls. You come to Cullen, you know more about the protocols than I do." she said, and as Will came up the stairs she saw more wrinkles on the lady's face. Not that it mattered much, she really did look the picture of a mother. Her dark hair was about the length Will's used to be, and her skin was relatively pale. She had many wrinkles, but if all those kids Will had seen downstairs were indeed hers, then she would have had five kids; that would have put wrinkles on anyone's face.
"I'm Virginia. Sorry for the welcome, but the 3rd kingdom is in unrest and you never know how people will come after our family." the lady said, indicating a large table. There was an infant asleep in a little cradle in the corner. Six children then. There were at least fourteen chairs at the giant table.
"Giant family?" Taranee asked as they all sat in some chairs.
"Oh, there's eight of us. One more on the way." Virginia said, patting her slightly bulging stomach. "And with my father's and husband's line of work we just never know when we'll have company."
"Line of work?" Will asked.
"My father and grandfather work for King Wendell. I'm due to be a captain in the army next year." Cullen said. Will looked at Cullen. His father must have had dark hair. Will had just realized all the children in the family had dark hair. His eyes were brown, and although lean, his build was solid.
"King Wendell? Is he the ruler here?" Elyon asked as Virginia passed out cups of cider.
"Yes. He was appointed just after I first came here from Earth." Virginia replied.
"You, you come from Earth, too?" Hay Lin asked.
"I thought you come from Meridian." Cullen commented.
"Only Elyon comes from Meridian. The rest of us come from Earth." Cornelia said suddenly. Will glanced at her; it was the first thing she had said here.
"Ah. Now, we know this is sudden, but there is a problem here that we haven't heard from. I know it's not an Earth-based problem; there's to much magic involved. We had no idea where this started. But now that we know that there's another kingdom, it is a magical kingdom, right?" Virginia asked Elyon. Elyon nodded.
"What is the problem? Maybe we can help." Elyon said.
"I hope so." Cullen sighed. Virginia leaned forward and asked them a question that left them wordless.
"Do you know about a man called Phobos?"