Just when she's decided to leave the Town, Lady Cressida Belverst is forced to marry Lord Calan Haverston, the man who coincidentally knows a way out. Agreeing to marry for all the wrong reasons, can Cressida and Calan find out where their hearts tr...
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The story of Mr. Jones could not be found in any form of educational discipline in the Town. But it did not stop the children, even those in adulthood, to speak of him as if he was part of history.
Adults, titled and commoners alike, would spend countless hours debating how a man who lived all his life above discovered the Town, their world belowground, by accident.
The giant holes above the Town were well-hidden from those aboveground, making it almost impossible for anyone to find one. Unless they were looking for it. But no matter, because mayhap by accident or intention, Mr. Jones fell from one of the many holes scattered all over the Town and landed into a lake half a century ago.
Many believed that poor Mr. Jones was taken prisoner by the Town Guards until he died; while others said he was amongst the surviving lineage of the Town Founders who came down and built the Town, designing it to nurture and be livable, all in their great attempt to conserve history. The theory sounded farce, considering any surviving lineage of the great Founders had long faded into the background of polite society.
Perhaps the most acceptable theory of all could be heard from the readers of the surviving copies of the forbidden book, The World Above, written by one anonymous folk. Fifty years ago, the Town Leaders banned all copies of the book. Thousands of copies were burned, but the few surviving ones were kept hidden, passed from one trusted hand to another. Most considered it a work of fantasy, but there were those who believed every word.
Alas, after finishing the book and reading its contents of the stories aboveground—of carriages that did not require horses; of people capable of talking to one another across vast lands through magical devices—most readers were inclined to believe that Mr. Jones penned the book himself and died upon its publication.
Fragmented details from the book spread all over the Town and reached children's ears. They considered the world aboveground a place filled with magic that the stories themselves turned into fairytales. Most adults, particularly the Town Leaders, saw it as a threat because no one could enter the Town. Once they do, everything the Founders fought for shall perish.
Yet the myth of Mr. Jones was proof enough that the people of the Town were interested of the unknown and mysterious world above them. Service people would dream of escaping their dreary lives through the many holes over their heads. And despite their lavish gowns and balls, the affluent lords and ladies wondered what life above might be. Did they offer better fabrics? More products to paint their faces? And perhaps, a better selection of the opposite sex?
The World Above spoke of endless sunshine, mountains, skies, oceans and fresh air. It spoke of people of different other colors and languages.
But all of that was but a dream; for the Townspeople had always lived their lives hundreds of feet belowground, save for Mr. Jones, should he have existed at all.
The Founders built the holes too high aboveground. Climbing out was impossible. Attempting, even with the faculties to do so, would land one in a dungeon. And it was not as if many had desired to risk it, because most simply never found the idea appealing. As much as they wanted to believe the words in The World Above, the townspeople also knew that the world above them could be not as what they dreamed of. Surely, like the Town, they had problems too—and they may be worse.
