Disclaimer: I own only my ideas and imagination.
The entire journey had been harrowing. As Tristan and I had journeyed closer to the Emerald City, the villagers had become more and more hostile towards strangers. The fields and forests had disappeared, replaced by buildings and palaces. Tristan and I had taken to sleeping in taverns and alleyways. Every article of clothing except for one outfit each was dirty. We were saving our best clothes for our meeting with Shell.
When we had finally reached the Emerald City, Tristan and I changed into our best clothes. As we cautiously walked through the jostling crowds of the city, Tristan mentally mapped out escape routes. There weren't many alleys, just boulevards and avenues. Occasionally, there was a smaller street that ran next to a canal. We couldn't find any suitable hiding places either. This city was all about seeing and being seen. Tristan took my hand and pulled me gently through the crowded streets.
After a few hours, we still hadn't found a way to the palace even though we could see it plainly as it jutted across the sky. Tristan had attempted to ask directions from many people on the street, but they had all ignored him or shoved some product in his face. After Tristan had given up, I strode up to a teenage girl and asked her where to find Shell.
"Ya mean ya don't know?!" she asked as she smacked her gum. "He lives straight up this road heerah. Tahn right at this next road befah you go to the Palace dough. Rent a cahriage 'cuz he only lets in rich snooty people with cahriages. Believe me. I've tried to get in befah."
"Thank you so much!" I replied. I took Tristan to the stable and we rented the cheapest carriage. The only way we had been able to get it was through selling my shawl.
As we made our way to the palace, Tristan kept mentally mapping out escape routes. I on the other hand was thinking about who Shell really was. As we had traveled through the different towns, I had picked up different opinions of Shell. Some said he was a torturous fake. Others said he was a saint sent from the Unknown God to save their country. While others thought he was a puppet on strings while the Royal Advisor was the one calling the shots. I didn't know what to believe.
As we neared the palace gates, I felt Tristan stiffen beside me. I tenderly pressed his hand. He was so protective the 'bubble of protection' was almost palpable.
"Don't let go of my hand, Jacqueline. I don't want you to fall prey to this unknown man. Do you have the book?" Tristan inquired.
"Yes, dear. It's at the bottom of my suitcase. Remember, page 1463."
The gatekeeper motioned for us to halt. "What business do you have here?" he questioned.
"Tristan Daae and Jacqueline Tenbrook to see his highness, the Emperor Shell," our driver stated.
"Very well. Creole and Shune will show you to the Audience Chamber. Driver, follow the yellow brick road to the stable. Move along!"
Tristan and I gingerly stepped out of the carriage with our suitcases in hand. "You may not take those into the chamber. Leave them in the carriage," Creole said. He and Shune were big men. Muscular to the extreme, at least eight feet in height, and the deepest voices you ever heard. We stowed our luggage in the back of the carriage and warily followed the two men into the palace.
We followed a blue brick road to the center of the palace and then a green brick road to the Audience Chamber. These people liked colored brick! We waited patiently for his highness to appear. We waited… and waited… and waited. I sat down on a plush chair while Tristan skulked around the edge of the circular room. I presumed he was looking for an escape route until I tried to ask him to sit down and he shushed me.
"What—"
"Shush!" I waited for him to complete his round about the room. Tristan stopped abruptly next to a painting on the wall near the door we came in. He peered at it from every angle as if he was looking for flaws in the workmanship. He finally paused by one of the corners.
"Tristan. What in the world are you doing?!"
"One second." He tapped the painting lightly so that it bounced off of the wall just a minute bit. "Aha! Found it!"
"Found what, Tristan?!" I was getting frustrated. He wasn't telling me what was going on!
"I found the reason why we're stuck in here while we wait for Shell. There's a hidden bug underneath this painting. They're waiting to introduce us to Shell until they find out if we're a threat or not," Tristan said. "Please take us to see Shell now," he spoke into the recorder.
"Very good!" said a man from behind one of the chairs, clapping. "You've figured it out. Welcome to the Emerald Palace. I am Shell as you probably guessed. I called you here to discuss a dilemma of mine," he stated as he neared me.
"You will not touch her, Shell. She's not here for you," Tristan growled as he crouched in a feline-looking pose. "Get away from her now!"
"Oh Tristan! I'm not going to harm her you see. I just wanted to get to know her better… How old are you, doll?" Shell asked, creepily if I do say so myself!
"I turned nineteen three weeks ago. Please stand further away from me. You're invading my personal bubble." Shell had sat down next to me on the large chair.
"You're so impolite, but I will overlook it for now. How old is your fiancée?" Shell questioned.
"I'm twenty, thank you. Please address me when you are talking about me," Tristan whispered, barely masking his anger at Shell's being so close to me.
"Please, Tristan. I could kill you if I wanted to. Be polite. Now dear, please come with me," Shell commanded, holding out his hand to me. I stood up without his help and went to Tristan. I grasped his hand in both of mine. I was sure he could feel my heart beating rapidly because he caressed my hand with his thumb.
"Come along." We followed Shell through passageways throughout the entire palace, up colored brick stairs and finally to a bedroom. "Make yourselves at home. I'll be meeting with you each separately sometime today. I'll meet with Jacqueline first. Get freshened up. There are clothes in the dresser and your luggage is in the wardrobe. I'll be back in about an hour."
After Shell had gone, Tristan sank onto the bed. "Whoo," he breathed. "I can't take the suspense. I don't want that man anywhere near you alone! He had the crazed look of a man controlled by lust. Please tell me you'll be careful when he meets with you!" he pleaded, sitting up and gazing into my eyes with his soul-piercing eyes.
"I promise. Please don't kill him unless absolutely necessary," I begged as I sat down next to him. "I want you alive when I marry you!" I smiled. Then I leaned over and kissed his cheek first and then his lips. "You're worth a lot more to me alive!" I stood up and walked over to the dresser. I opened up my suitcase to get my amenities and found that the book was missing. "Tristan! The book's gone!"
"What?!" asked Tristan, walking quickly over to me. He took my suitcase from me and dumped the contents onto the bed. He got his suitcase and also dumped its contents onto the bed with mine. We rifled through them again and again but to no avail. The book just wasn't there.
"I bet Shell had his men grab it! Baronne said he wanted the book! Now how are we going to get home?!" I wailed. I collapsed into Tristan's arms, crying. I had been holding it in for so long. Ever since he had been kidnapped up until now, I had tried to be strong. I hadn't wanted to crack in front of him since I knew he was beating himself up on his own.
I felt Tristan slide down the wall with me in his arms, stroking my hair. "I'm here, ma belle. We'll get through this," Tristan whispered into my hair. I held onto his arms that encircled me.
"I'm so sorry, Tristan! I didn't—mean to—crumble in front of you! I know—how much you—wanted us to be—out of here by now! I—just can't take it anymore!" I sobbed. Then I realized something. I clutched Tristan's arm with a renewed vigor, probably not unlike how Christine supposedly must have grasped Raoul's arm when she thought of going back to Erik's lair. "Don't let me go in with him alone!" I nearly screamed. "He'll take me I know… Masquerade! Paper faces on parade!... Think of me, think of me fondly…" I sang, staring wide eyed and unseeing at the wall.
"Ma belle! Come back to me here, dearest! I'm right here," Tristan panted. He was getting really scared, I could feel it but I just couldn't stop myself.
"He'll do things I can't imagine… torture, coercion, something worse. Tristan, don't leave me! Be like Erik now and be in the walls, all around me, something! Don't let me go with him alone!"
Tristan didn't know what to do.Jack had never acted like this before. God! You see us here in this other world. Please give me the words to say to Jack! She's scared out of her mind! Please be with us now!
"Dearest. My dear, dear Jacqueline. You're not alone with that fiend. You know our Father will always be with you. He won't let you go through this alone. Be still and know that He is God, Jack. Be still… be still… be still…" Tristan whispered.
I drifted off into a fitful sleep where dreams of the things that would go on in that meeting drifted through. A few times I startled myself into consciousness but I went back to sleep because I saw Tristan finally sleeping. During one of the more peaceful moments of sleep, I awoke to the sound of someone knocking on the door. Tristan was already halfway to the door by the time I stood up. He opened the door and my worst nightmare came true. There in the threshold stood Shell.
"Now where to begin?" Shell thought out loud.
"How about letting us go and giving us the book back that you so rudely stole?!" I hotly suggested from my place, tied up in a chair!
"No, I don't think so. I'll find a use for the book and you of course. Your escort will have to go. I can't marry you with him in the picture!" Shell grinned sardonically. I gasped in horror. This man was even worse than the rumors that were circulating. He had hit me, mocked me, and even touched me where I didn't think he should. I had bit him once and he'd stopped touching me.
"You seem surprised! No doubt Baronne told you that I intended to hurt you. Silly Tiger. No. I won't hurt you physically. Oh no. I'll just rip your heart to shreds until you submit to me, starting with your fiancée!" Shell laughed maniacally.
"Don't touch him! Let him go! I'll be your wife, whatever you want but let Tristan go!" I begged.
"Wow! Such submissiveness so early on. How positively delightful!" He strode over to me. "I'm now going to touch your cheek that I hit. If you bite me, he dies." I had to sit through his caressing my cheek until he'd had his full of it. When he took his hand away, I turned my head towards the chair and scrubbed the feeling of his hand away.
"The guards will take you to see your fiancée for one last moment together! Then he'll be sent on his way."
Creole came and untied me from the chair. He guided me through a series of complex hallways until I was utterly and completely lost. We finally stopped in front of my door. Inside, I found Tristan pacing and muttering what sounded like a prayer. Creole left down the hallway but I suspected he'd be back any moment.
"Tristan! You're alright!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him.
"Jack! You're back! Did he hurt you?! We need to get out of here!" Tristan cried.
"Quickly! Before Creole comes back to get me. I have an idea of where Shell put the book. Hurry!" I whispered.
We blindly followed the green brick road back to the center of all of the colored brick paths and went out the blue path. We ended up near the stables. We followed the yellow brick road and found our driver waiting for us with the carriage. In his hand was the book.
"Thank you so much! I knew your swift hands would come to be a help! Please hurry us to the outskirts of the city! Shell will have his men looking for us by now!" I declared. We were almost out of the gate when we spotted guards pursuing us and gaining ground. In a few moments, they would be on us and we'd be dead. I opened the book to page 1463. The words made sense!
Read these now at time of peril
Think of where you want to be
Put these words to a musical carol
Something good is "Think of me…"
Tristan sang these words and everything swam before my eyes. I was getting dizzy. "Tristan! Where are you?" I gasped as I slipped into unconsciousness. Moments later I was being gently shaken awake.
"Jack! We're home! We're home!" Tristan sobbed. I looked around and saw he was right. We were sitting in the parlor as if we'd never left. We were home!