BEYOND

9

 Gienne {24th day of first moon 754Q}

Why is this carriage ride so bumpy, I would rather prefer walking compared to this, I hope we could stop somewhere, it's been four hours that we have been travelling in this carriage.

"Mrs. Higgins, can you please stop the carriage, my back hurts"

"We will stop when we reach the next village, Gienne, we can't stop here it's in the middle of nowhere, we must be careful or else there are chances that we may get attacked"

"Attacked, why?"

"Burglars of course, we are after all traveling in the Cavendish carriage, there is high chance we may get robbed, well it's not like we are carrying anything valuable, but still its better we don't stop and go as fast as we can so that we may reach port Oting, the journey from there is safe, as there are royal guards and soldiers guarding those regions" said Mrs. Higgins.

'Getting robbed, well now that's something I have never anticipated, out of all things that could happen to me in this world, I would never want to get robbed, not when I have nothing to be robbed off.' ,thought Gienne

"How many days before we reach Ottingel?" ,asked Gienne

"Three maybe four. I am sorry Gienne but you will have to stay there with Jane, I have to return to Skinera as soon as possible"

"Why, Can't you stay there a few days, I am not familiar with any one there" said Gienne.

"Your friend Jane is there, I am sure she will help you a lot, I would really like to stay with you in Ottingel, but Lady Cavendish has assigned me other duties"

"What duties?"

"Oh nothing dear, you don't want to know"

'I better stop asking her about what she was asked to do, whatever it is she is clearly not willing to tell me' 

"Gienne, do you want to know anything, about your family, about Ottingel, you can ask me anything"

Ask her anything, maybe I should ask her about this place, this world, where the hell I am.

"Well anything, I can ask you anything"

"Yes dear"

"Where am I?"

"Where you are?"

"Yes, what's the name of this place, the name of this country?"

 'if I ask the name of this world she will clearly think that I have gone mad. She must now think that have gone crazy, whatever she thinks, I don't care I need to know where the hell I am.'

"The name of this country, oh dear you have completely lost your memory. Why dear, you are in Spacia."

"Spacia?"

'what is Spacia ?, I haven't heard of such a country in my entire life, is this fantasy, have I got sucked into some novel, maybe I switched souls with a person from a different dimensions, this is weird, things like these only happen in books and movies not in real life. Either I must be dreaming a weird dream or I must have gone mad, maybe I died in that bus, while I was returning home. What in the world is happening to me?

"Can you please tell me the year?"

"It's the year 754Q, the reign of King Black, the strong holder"

"754Q?" 

'what is this, and I haven't heard of King Black when I was learning history. So one thing can be confirmed, I did not travel back in time.'

"Can you tell me a little bit more, Mrs. Higgins?"

"You want to know more? Is it about the king?"

"Yes?" 

'maybe I should stop asking her questions; if I go on like this she will clearly suspect me.'

"Well dear, he started ruling this country on 714Q, he has two sons, and ever since the death of Queen Helen, he has become more secluded, some people tell that he had gone 'mad', but I think he is just sad and lonely after losing his mate."

"Mate? You mean his wife"

"Wife? What's wife? Asked, Mrs. Higgins.

Oh no I screwed up, "It's nothing, I heard some maids using that word", I better keep my mouth shut.

"Mate, is like your other half dear, like your soul mate, your partner, someone with whom you live, start a family with"

"Oh", so it's basically like wife or girlfriend in my world, I get it.

"You have changed a lot, ever since that day, when you poured tea on Lady Lisa's dress, it's as if you are a different person"

"It must be due to my memory loss".

Handing over a small cover Mrs. Higgins said to Gienne, "this was your mothers, keep it with you and do not lose it"

Gienne opened the small clothing that covered whatever was inside it, it was a small ring with a beautiful clear gem on its top.

"Its shivel tear, your grandmother gave it to your mom, and now it belongs to you, it's more like your family heirloom, keep it safe, shivel tears are hard to get, and some say they even have special magic in them"

'Magic' that word struck Gienne's mind, was there magic in this world? thought ,Gienne. If there is magic here, maybe I can find a way to go Back, Back to my world.

"Gienne, I need to tell you one more thing, its better you keep a safe distance from that old witch, Liera, it's not that she is bad, but its better to not involve with her too much"

'First magic now a witch, maybe this Liera can help me. Whoever this Witch is she is my ticket back home.'

"Well I don't know this witch, but if I ever happen to see her I will try not to interact with her too much" said Gienne

'Now I am getting more and more good at lying.'