Frake

The King

"What happens to a planned destiny's person once they leave the realm?" I question as we walk to Clemance's stable. I can't believe I've already met the king. I wonder who it could be. So far I've narrowed it down to Steve my lawyer or Nate the nerve.

"Nothing, it's as if they never leave. The person will act exactly like you and do things just to keep you alive or stay practically in the same position in life as you were when you left." She says harnessing up two horses. She attaches them to a small carriage for two, just the perfect size for us.

"So they won't go and gamble away all your money or have sex with your sworn enemy?" I say trying to make light of my current situation.

"Nope... well er... to tell you the truth, I actually don't know how it works when someone leaves the realm." She says motioning me to climb up. Well that's reassuring. I take a leather seat next to her as she starts the horses at a trot. Cloud sits a little further up and as we pass her Clemance does three high whistles, Cloud shoots into the sky like a comet.

"I told her to follow from a distance and not to be seen, we can't draw any attention to you." She says steering the horses onto a dirt road. She told me if we pass someone on the road to let her do the talking and to not look at them. I don't think people like me here that much. No, I know people don't like me here.

"So Clemance, are you a native here or did you go through a shrimming?" I ask uncertain and mainly curious to her answer. She stiffens. Oh no, dang my social skills. That's obviously something you don't go asking people.

"I was one of the unlucky ones and stumbled onto the portal by accident. You took my place at Stella's. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather live here than be on Earth, but I miss being up to date on the news of the world, I often feel lonely here." She says sounding depressed.

"You were the butterfly." I remark softly remembering back to the conversation I had with Felix. Deciding against poking and prodding I end the conversation with a simple elegance. "You have me as a friend." And I swear as soon as I said that, I almost felt like I heard her scoff. But she quickly coughed and made the horses go faster. Shrugging that off, I try to think of all the possible roles Felix could have in this society. We start passing through more and more neighborhoods and villages, we must be close to the palace.

As the center of the city draws near my nerves start bunching up in my stomach. I'm about to meet royalty! And someone that's the ruler of a magic land. But I've already met them so I have nothing to worry about. We stop at a gate outside the city and Clemance shows a guard some papers, which I assume is to permit us to enter. My jaw drops once we canter through the gate. Below us in a pleasantly beautiful valley is the biggest castle I have ever seen. It looks like a fairy tale castle. Its blue stone with two wings, a west and an east. Eight towers seem to jut out at random giving the castle a whimsical character. We follow a path down through gorgeous gardens, with all kinds of flowers I've never seen in my life. My eyes catch on to a species of blue flower that seems to be sparkling. Once we reach the inner courtyard, we are escorted out of the carriage.

"I assume she has gone through the shrimming. Please follow me ladies." A man in a maroon butler suit comes out to great us. We follow him across a courtyard with nicely dressed people walking around it, some of them stop to glare at me. Others walk by as if I were dirt and taking up too much space. I'm overwhelmed by all of the new sights and sounds. The sandals Clemance gave me are really starting to cut into my feet now, I have a hard time keeping up with them. My leg is still hurt badly, Clemance says that we will visit the castle's nurse after meeting with the king. I notice the castle is shaped like a horseshoe, we are walking into the direct middle of it.