Chapter Two
The first thing that Christa was aware of was feeling like she had been run over. Almost every muscle was sore. The other thing she was aware of was a sense of being in a strange place, like she wasn't exactly in Kansas anymore. Her eyes fluttered open, taking in a vaulted stone ceiling. She took note of the fine linen she was laying on and the red leather clad behind of a woman standing by her bedside. Her surroundings were completely unfamiliar.
She knew a moment of complete disorientation. She was on a flat bed in a room full of white fabrics and what looked like medical equipment. Several horror movies raced through her head, scaring her, until she realized that other than being sore she was unharmed. There was a mousy looking female in a severe white apron at the other end of the room, rummaging through what looked like a very old book. She sat up slowly, groaning as her muscles protested the movement. The woman clad in red leather turned to look at her holding up what looked like some sort of leather beating stick. Her long braid swung behind her, eyes taking her in.
Christa stood up and looked around warily.
"Hello. Where am I?" The woman looked her over and, seeming to reach some sort of internal conclusion hung the beating stick on her leather belt.
"You are in the healing center of the People's Palace in the great land of D'hara." Christa blinked. Yup, definitely not in Kansas anymore.
"How did I get here?" Asked Christa. The woman raised an eyebrow.
"That is a question better answered by Master Rahl. Come, I am to bring you to him now that you have awakened." The woman turned around and began to saunter off, obviously expecting Christa to follow her. For lack of knowing what to do, Christa did. The halls they passed through were highly reminiscent of a castle she had seen when she'd gone to Germany on a school trip a few years ago. There were no tapestries though, only banners that all bore the same mark. She assumed it was like a coat of arms.
One thing she noticed was that she seemed to be taller than most of the women they passed, and that everyone was looking at her strangely. Of course, she thought, that might have been because of her clothing which was not only more revealing than theirs, but also made of very different material. They passed a hall where people were on their knees praying. She caught some of the words.
"Father Rahl protect us. Father Rahl guide us…" Christa raised an eyebrow. They were praying to their king? She had a feeling this guy wasn't exactly rainbows and daisies, especially after a second look at the dominatrix guard she was following. People gave the woman a very wide berth and no one met the woman's eyes. Christa ran her hand through her long red hair, and took a deep steadying breath as they paused outside a set of huge stone doors which were guarded by a pair of huge; muscle bound guards, also clad in red. They nodded at the woman and opened the doors, admitting them into the huge hall behind them. Christa looked around in wonder at the sheer size of it.
The large domed room gave off the impression of being absolutely vast. Maybe it truly was or maybe the many windows afforded it a size it didn't truly possess. Her feet were a tad cold on the stone floor despite her socks and she was suddenly very preoccupied with the tall man standing in the back of the room on a raised dais. He seemed to be discussing something important with an older man who had a distinguished look about him. She stayed quiet as the woman brought her in front of the dais.
"My Lord Rahl. The female has awakened." The tall man with the shoulder length mahogany hair turned, his red and gold embroidered robes swirling about his feet, to fix Christa with a piercing gaze. Even if the woman hadn't referred to him as Lord Rahl, Christa would have known him for a leader.
"You may leave us Nadia."
"Yes Lord Rahl." Nadia saluted with a leather clad fist over the heart, and walked off with alacrity. His eyes had not left her the whole time. If she were honest with herself he was really rather intimidating. Yet for some reason she felt an inexplicable safety infuse her being. Somehow she just knew he wouldn't harm her. Christa kept her face carefully neutral, thinking it would be better to let him speak first. She did not drop his gaze. Finally he moved forward, fiddling with a ring on his pinkie finger.
"So, the sleeper wakes finally." She nodded, to let him know she had heard but wasn't sure how to respond, so she didn't say anything. She was under the impression that he was analyzing every breath she took. "Well, what is your name girl?"
"My name is Christa sir. Christa Lynn Jones." He nodded and walked around her, circling like a shark. Again the feeling that she should be afraid struck her, and yet she wasn't.
"Do you know where you are Christa?" He asked, his voice gentle, yet hard like steel.
"The woman, Nadia, told me that I was in the People's Palace in a land called D'hara." She said, stumbling a little over the unfamiliar words, trying to remember them. He nodded.
"And did Nadia inform you as to the way you arrived?"
"No, she didn't."
"Then you may be interested to learn that your entrance was rather an extraordinary one. Can you tell me how it is that you managed to appear out of nowhere in the vicinity of the roof of this room and fall to the floor?" Her eyes widened in shock. Well that explained the sore muscles. His sharp eyes took in her bewilderment.
"Honestly I have no idea. One minute I was going to sleep in my own bed. When I woke up I was in your healing room." He seemed to accept her answers for the moment.
"And how is it I wonder that your internal organs are placed differently than ours?" Christa's brow furrowed in consternation, her analytical mind taking over.
"What do you mean placed differently?" He halted looking surprised, but only for a split second. Christa guessed that he wasn't used to being questioned. The older man walked forward.
"He means miss Christa that your organs are placed several centimeters differently than our own, and even your very bones are denser." Christa blinked and bit her bottom lip as she thought it over; going through every possible solution in her mind, but none of them made sense of this inexplicable event. She sighed.
"KISS!" Her sudden outburst startled the two men. Lord Rahl raised an eyebrow at her.
"Excuse me?" She didn't even hear him, but instead started pacing.
"Keep it simple stupid! It's practically a scientific theory. When all the possible options for explaining something are proven invalid then the impossible must be possible. So then it must therefore be possible, since no other explanation makes sense that I have somehow traveled either through time, or through both time and space. The first seems unlikely given your different physiology, so then it must be that I have somehow traveled through space and time and ended up here. But how? I was just sleeping. Someone must have sent me here, but then that raises the question of who and why, not to mention a resounding how. Such technology doesn't even exist yet." She was pacing as she muttered to herself, her brain working double time. It was about three minutes into her musing that she remembered she wasn't alone. She glanced at Rahl, whose eyebrow was still raised, and Egremont who was suppressing laughter. Chagrined she stopped her pacing and smiled apologetically.
"It is safe to assume you have some education."
"Yes." Christa nodded. Egremont smiled at her.
"So you are of nobility then? Are you a royal?" Christa laughed, earning her a minor glare.
"No, where I come from there really is no such thing. There used to be, and those families still exist but they have roughly the same privileges as everyone else; more money perhaps, but no real power."
"You mean to tell me there are no monarchies who hold power?"
"Well I'm sure there are but not in any of the powerful countries." She sensed that power was a big deal with this guy. He nodded as he watched her. Finally he sat in his throne.
"Egremont will take you to find you some less…. Revealing clothing, and inform you better of where you are. Then you and I will speak." Christa nodded, and looked expectantly at Egremont who stepped forward and offered his arm. Raising an eyebrow at the old fashioned gesture, but otherwise saying nothing she let him escort her out of the hall; the eyes of Darken Rahl on her back the whole way.