Something Bigger Part 1

Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

         "Brett says he'll open a portal for us to go, then another for us to come back." Aden assured.

         But Iris was still unsure, still hesitant. "I'm sure Lady Lockwood is fine. She's a strong woman."

         "I'm sure, but I still need to tell her that I've found Catherine. I'm sure her and my father have lost hope. And then, with how long I'm sure I've been gone, I need to see them. And I," Aden stopped himself from mentioning Brett, "I would like to go home one more time, and I don't want to leave you."

         Iris nodded reluctantly. "Alright, then. I'll go." She smiled as Aden did. He embraced her.

         "Thank you." Then he gave her a sneakily guilty grin. "I suppose we should get to the the portal pretty quickly - Brett said he'd make it when you were supposed to met him. He said he'd be in the portal room, and that you'd know where that was."

         At the thought of seeing that magnificent ice room again, Iris smiled. "Yes. I know where to go." She took hold of Aden's hand, weaving her fingers between his, and pulled him down the hallways toward the first place she'd seen of this world. "You mentioned that they call this place the Obsidian world." She started hesitantly, not looking at Aden. "And when we, well, Eric's headstone." She formed her words carefully. "His last name is Obsidian. Does that mean anything?"

         Aden remembered when Eric had told him. "'The world was named for those who created it. Now, those who rule it are named for the world they oversee." He had to keep his grief in his stomach. "That's what Eric told me."

         Iris mulled that around in her mouth. "Do you think Eric was some kind of deposed king?" She asked, finally looking up at Aden curiously.

         "I don't know. He never said as much, but he never said much about anything." Aden squeezed Iris's hand. "You could ask Brett." He suggested, simply because he wanted to know if Brett would lie.

         Aden himself had worked out what Iris was wondering about. He'd noticed the name. But he had even more information. You see, he knew about Eric's hatred for Brett, which made even more sense if Brett wrongfully ruled a place supposed to be his. So Aden had come to the conclusion that Eric was in some way a rightful ruler of Brett, perhaps beside, perhaps above. Because if there was a man Aden pegged as the type to grow hungry for power, it would be Brett, even if he was only listening to his gut.

         Iris nodded to herself. "I suppose I could."

         It wasn't long before Iris pulled Aden to a part of the castle he hadn't yet been to. It wasn't remarkably different from the parts he might have recognized, but it was still different. And even he could feel the gentle pull, almost a vacuum, that coaxed them into the room Iris most certainly led him to.

         She didn't bother to knock when she reached the door. She merely pushed it open to reveal the sparking white-blue ice crystals hanging and protruding magnificently from every direction. Aden kept his mouth closed tight, despite the urge to let his jaw fall loose in astonishment. Still, the vacuum he felt sent nervousness through his senses.

         "You decided to go?" Asked Brett, who already waited inside.

         Iris nodded. "One last goodbye." she said, smiling up at Aden.

         Brett nodded then waved a hand toward the wall. It took a moment, but a black portal unfolded from nothing into a silver-lined oval that hovered perfectly between a pair of icy stalactites. It seemed far too easy to simply conjure a portal, especially after the trouble Aden had gone through to do so. He suddenly found himself again angry at Brett, but this time for being entirely too free with his magic.