Rising Smoke

Chapter Three

The twin brothers stand side by side. I can only differentiate them by their eyes. And their clothes. The king looks at me with amusement and something else in his eyes. Arlen has dropped the happy go lucky face and is now looking at me with a warning. What is he warning me against? He said I wouldn't be hurt. Right?

"First let me tell you who I am," the king began, "I am King Conran James Augustan. Welcome to my humble abode."

Humble? Really? Out of all the adjectives? He picks that one. His castle is neither humble nor an "abode". Focus Leila. Don't get distracted.

Before I can comment, Conran continues, "I am sure you have many questions, and I want to answer them as quickly and honestly as possible."

I quickly interject with, "Yes, that would be nice." I say this with defiance, keeping my back straight and my voice even.

Conran peers down at me with a smirk on his face. But it doesn't quite reach his eyes. Arlen has been watching us talk with calm silence.

"You have changed into a remarkable young lady. Wouldn't you say, Arlen?" the king stated as if I wasn't there. What game is he playing at? When is he going to tell me everything?

"Yes, she has, Conran," Arlen says in a deadpanned voice. Conran is still smiling, Arlen is not. Weird, I figured Arlen the happy one. But as I go back through our discussion, I don't think I saw Arlen actually full on smile.

He was just trying to calm me down.

Probably from the fact that they knew me when I was little. They probably have known me their whole lives. And I have been in the dark about everything. But I don't remember them from my childhood. I would have definitely remembered these boys.

By now my expression is defiant and confused. And maybe a tad angry. Who are these people? Why do they know so much about me?

I am about to scream. Conran seemed to sense that since he said, "I feel, my dear, that we haven't elaborated enough."

"No you haven't." I say, my eyes bouncing back and forth between the twins. "What I have deduced is that you two are twins," I point to Conran, "He came out first, so he became king, but what I haven't figured out is how you know me and why you kidnapped me. And I think why you kidnapped me has something to do with you knowing me."

There, I took matters into my own hands and said what needed to be said to get this process of explaining started and moving. Phew, that was a long speech.

I must have shocked them into silence. Because they aren't talking. Conran is looking at me with a shocked and amused face, which by the way I have no clue how he pulled off. Arlen isn't necessarily shocked more like expectant, like he knew I was going to combust.

Well, I did. I did combust. Right in front of two extremely good-looking guys. Who probably are just a couple years older than me. Whatever. I'm tired of being ignored.

"Leila," the king began, his smile gone, "we didn't mean for you to be brought here so brutally. We wanted to peacefully bring you here on your own terms, after we explained our situation to you."

"Where is here, exactly?" I asked this question to Arlen before but now I'm asking his brother, hoping he will give me the answer. He does.

"Here is a relative term, Leila, there are many dimensions that make up the universe and the biggest ones have many tinier dimensions, called vortexes, in them. Right now, we are in a very big dimension, called Aurila, which holds more than a thousand vortexes. I can't tell you the precise vortex we are in, because they shift and move so quickly that it's impossible to keep track of. But there are many, maybe more than a hundred. Are you following me?"

I nod. I think I get it. So we are not on Earth anymore. Interesting. "Where is Earth in these dimensions?"

"It's in another dimension, called Loli, but not as big as Aurila." He states. "I am sure you are tired and want to get out of that get up. I don't know why they put you in it in the first place." He finished this with a sigh and a roll of his eyes. I tried not to chuckle. What? The ole-mighty king is rolling his eyes! Like a teenager. Well he looks like he just got out of them. The teens I mean.

This time Arlen speaks up, "I actually ordered for the maids to dress her in it. I hoped it would bring about her memories."

Well, that was a mood killer.