The Lost Knight (Volume III) The Lost World

Chapter 5: A Pinch

I wake up sometime in the night to the sound of singing. A choir of low male voices is chanting a hymn of some sort, somewhere in the castle.

Lenox isn't here. He's never left me alone at night before. I should track him down, but first, I need to find out who's singing at this late hour.

I follow the sound down several flights of stairs and around maze-like corridors that I haven't been in before. The hallway dead-ends at an enormous door. The chorus is singing loudly on the other side. I want to peek in, but I don't know how to open the giant, heavy door without drawing attention.

Maybe I should leave. This could be a surprise for the Queen or something. These men might have to rehearse at night so she doesn't find out. But I have to see. I push gently on the door, and it swings wide to reveal a huge white buffet hall. I had no idea this place existed. I thought I knew every square inch of the castle. Well, not every inch; I mean, the castle is the size of a small city, but this room is gigantic. You'd think I would've at least heard about it.

I carefully step inside. There's no choir. It must be a recording or something because the music is definitely coming from this room.

It's obvious why the elves want to keep this room a secret. Everything is a glistening pristine white. It's so glaring it's almost glowing. There's not a splash of color anywhere. Why would they choose this decor? It's so boring compared to the flamboyant elves. I spin in a circle. Along the upper part of the walls are massive carvings of people and creatures. My eyes refuse to focus on them. They give me a bad vibe, so I turn away.

I walk the length of the large empty hall until I reach the only table in the room. On it is an array of familiar snack foods, name-brand stuff that I haven't seen in years. I know it's rude, but I don't think twice about digging in.

I try everything on the table but keep coming back to the popcorn. I can't recall the last time I ate it. I'm not sure why I like it so much now because I've never cared for it in the past. Probably an Ashra thing; everything always tastes better here.

I'm eating the delicious popcorn by the handful. I can't get enough. Then someone grabs me, and I choke. I swing around and try to punch my attacker, but no one's there. I yell out in a strange guttural language that I've never heard before yet know fluently. I know I'm not speaking my native tongue, but I can't remember what language I usually speak.

An invisible force wraps around me and firmly locks my arms at my sides, like a vise. I thrash wildly, screaming in my new language.

I'm forcibly lifted off the ground. I kick wildly. Whatever grabbed me lets me go. I spin around, but I'm seized again, this time by the upper arms. I scream so loud my vision goes black.

"Agatha," Jonah says. My vision returns. He's in front of me, holding me. I look into his round, concerned eyes. Lenox is behind him with a few bewildered elves.

"Are you awake?" Jonah asks.

"Yes, someone—something attacked me," I say as I scan the room for my assailant.

I'm in the kitchen. Jonah's holding me. There's no white room. No singing. I was dreaming. And walking. Jonah was the unseen thing that grabbed me. I was sleeping, and I assaulted him or possibly one of the elves trying to wake me.

"Did I hurt anyone?"

"Nothing we can't handle," he says with a glance at an elf guard holding a bloody rag to his nose.

He hands me a glass of water and orders everyone to leave the kitchen. As if the Queen doesn't have enough reasons to hate me, now every resident of the castle will have a late breakfast because I'm losing my mind.

"What happened? Why am I here? How did I get here?" I ask. My muddled brain is slowly coming back to reality.

"You were sleepwalking. You said something. Do you remember what you were dreaming about or what you were saying?"

My dream flashes through my brain, but I'm already losing the images. "I was in the ballroom. The white one. White, like the buildings the Orb showed me."

"Can you recall anything else? Any people? Where the building was? Did anyone say anything?"

I concentrate on the dream. "No people. Some things were carved in the wall. I didn't like them. They made me feel...bad. I don't know. Those carvings were the only disturbing part. There was singing: a hymn or something. There was no one in there, but I was eating popcorn. My mouth is on fire. Can I have more water?"

"You were eating out of the spice jars," Jonah says as he offers me a glass of yellow liquid. I gulp it down while he continues. "Albína heard you and Lenox leave and tried to stop you. Do you remember that?"

"No. I didn't hit her, did I?"

"No. When she couldn't wake you, she sent for me. I've been following close behind. I didn't want to disturb you, but I became concerned when you started eating large handfuls of spices."

"Why would I do that?" I ask, truly hoping he'll give me an answer. "Why would I walk in my sleep? I never do that. Why would I eat spices and speak in a language I don't know?" I beg of Jonah, desperate for him to tell me that it's okay and that I'm not losing my mind.

"You were talking, but I didn't recognize the language. I'm sure the Orb is just trying to help you figure out where you need to go next," Jonah reassures me. "All of these things will make sense and will probably go away once you're able to answer the question you keep asking it."

I believe him because I want to. I don't want to face the fact that there might never be a normal for me again.

After everything settles down and the guards go back to wherever I took them from, I decide to just go read the Orb because I'm too afraid to go back to sleep. I pray that Jonah's right, that once I understand what the Orb wants, it will leave me alone.

When we arrive, Sarpedon and Dathid are at the table, and Gurador is serving food. "I guess we're all getting an early start," Jonah says.

Did they hear about my sleepwalking? Of course they did. Add this embarrassment to my growing list of failures: Eats spices without permission.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to begin. My stomach is upset," I say. I'm hungry, but I don't want to face them, and I definitely don't want to talk about my midnight stroll through the castle.

I sit in front of the Orb for about an hour, trying not to get distracted by the friendly conversations going on around me. Usually, they remember to stick to English, but sometimes, like now, they forget. Three days of nothing, and everyone has grown bored. I work for another hour, then stop because my hunger needs to be addressed.

I'm salting some of Sarpedon's leftover cold soup when Dathid asks, "Have you noticed that your appetite has increased dramatically?"

"Of course," I say defensively. Sometimes he's so annoying. "I've been eating like a pig lately, but I can't stop myself. Apparently, I'll even saunter down to the kitchen while I'm sleeping to get a bite."

I force myself to calm down. He's only trying to be helpful. I need to explain myself. "It's like I'm craving a food, but I don't know what it is, so I'm eating everything. But I only want to eat that one thing. I can't explain it. I want this one unknown food. I crave it. I dream about it. But since I can't find it, my brain wants me to keep eating to make that feeling go away. But it never does. I can't stop eating."

"You also want spicy foods," Jonah adds.

"Not spicy foods, salty foods," Dathid corrects him.

"Yeah. Salty foods," I agree. "I'd seriously kill for some salt and vinegar potato chips right now. Or maybe some fries.

"Salty foods," Dathid repeats to himself. "Salt!" he shouts. "The salt, in the pub. Salt! You want salt. White salt. That's why the sky is white!" he says as he jumps to his feet. He looks around at his confused audience and shouts, "It's in the Salt Mines!"

Sarpedon nods to Jonah. "Yes, that makes sense,"

"Wait," Gurador says. "The Salt Mines are a myth."