Through the Archway

Chapter Three - Part Two

James

"James, don't you think this dress looks better on me?" Diana demanded. She twirled around to show him. "Why is your room so messy?" "Is it because you're a slob?" She asked sitting on his bed. Charlotte sat next to her.

"I don't have time to clean it. Besides, I know where everything is. It's easier to find stuff," he replied while Charlotte was asking if he thought stealing dresses was acceptable and if Diana should go to jail. They were always like that. They asked so many questions, it was hard to keep up.

"That doesn't make sense," Charlotte said, matter-of-factly, forgetting her questions.

"It stinks in here," Diana added, pinching her nose. Charlotte pinched her nose too. Then they were back onto the dress. James grinned and crept out of his room as his mother settled the dispute over whose dress belonged to whom.

He walked down the hall, passing his brother's room which would never again be occupied. He still hadn't gotten used to the silence. He supposed that he never would. Will was dead, and he was alone.

He decided to skip breakfast regardless of the consequences and make for the surface. He ran through glass walled corridors which looked out over a vibrant corral reef. Schools of fish swam by, darting and regrouping in reflective flashes. Clown fish drifted in and out of anemones.

The kingdom of Oceanus was concealed from the world above, its location known only to its inhabitants. There were people who lived on the surface, those who had business with the surface realms, but they remained close enough to Oceanus that they could still smell the sea on the breeze.

The people had adapted to the increased pressure, and were capable of holding their breath for several minutes. James, being a royal endowed with powers, could hold his breath for several hours and swim to the greatest depths imaginable. However, he preferred the surface.

James came to an airlock chamber with sliding doors to the outside. He stepped in, and the doors slid shut behind him. The fronts doors opened and the room filled with water. James drummed his fingers against his leg and waited for the pressure to equalize, then swam out, kicking powerfully with his arms and legs.

He swam straight up without stopping, a feat that would have been impossible for most people. The water bubbled as he broke the surface. He didn't gasp for air or pant - but it took his lungs a moment to adjust to the salty air.

James swam over to the beach. His clothes were soaked, but he didn't mind. He trudged over the dunes, kicking bits of petrified wood out of his path as he walked. The acacia trees began to thicken. He followed the scent of pine, letting the sea fade away into the distance.

He boarded a short-range, ten passenger airship headed to Sylvain in the first town he came to. It was easy enough; he just paid the pilot and said he was on official business. It would get back to his father that he'd left, but not before he was well away.

His wounds seemed to dissipate the farther away he got. The acacia turned to pine. The pine turned to redwoods, at last.

The kingdom of Sylvain lay before him, untouched and unwounded. James got off the ship and headed into the trees. He passed a little girl, no older than three. She giggled and hid behind a shrub. James shoved his hands deep into his pockets, walking aimlessly down a dirt path, hoping that his memory would lead him to where he needed to go.

He trudged on, leaves and pine needles crunching underfoot. His thoughts nagged at him. The face of his brother swam in and out of his vision. The world around him became watery and blurred.He blinked rapidly until his vision cleared. Next, and most-horribly, came his father's face, leering. He remembered the look of disgust on King Merrik's face, before he had grabbed James's arm and shoved him into a wall.

The trees capped out to form a tunnel, reminding him of the subject he and Evelyn had discussed the previous night. Archways. They had arranged to meet in a clearing just west of the castle. He wandered off the path, skirting around trees and thickets.

James found her standing before two intertwined trees; one silver and one gold. She was holding her journal and muttering to herself - almost frantically. She paced back and fourth, flipping through pages.

"Evelyn?" She looked up, her eyes a little wide and crazy, then blinked, snapping the journal shut and wrapping the faded leather cord around the bind.

"James," she said and turned away from him, running a hand over the trunk of the gold tree. "I wasn't sure you'd come."

James stood next to her and grinned. "Why wouldn't I?"

Evelyn huffed. "That isn't important... I wanted to tell you something. Something much too sensitive to go into detail over the phone." James rolled his eyes. That was Evelyn, business as usual. She plucked a silver leaf, studied it, and crammed it into the yellowed pages of her journal.

"So, what is it?" he said. Evelyn sighed. Her gaze fell somewhere on the horizon, far off and distant; as if her mind was miles, even years, away.

"Prince Thomas and I had an... unsettling encounter the other day," she said. "He asked me about the archways, and I -"

James held up a hand. "Thomas? That sniveling little moron... what does he know?"

"Apparently a lot," she said coolly. James found that hard to believe. "He wanted to recruit me. He asked for my help and said something about a secret past the desert..." she trailed off, biting her lip and gripping her journal so tightly her knuckles turned white.

James narrowed his eyes. "You didn't... accept, did you? I swear if we're going to have to start hanging out with that loser, I may just drown myself."

Evelyn looked as though she was bursting not to laugh. "You can't drown yourself, it's impossible," she reminded him, giggling. "Besides, why would I need him when I've got you?" James flushed. Luckily, she had turned away.