Terrin worried as they all went to their rooms to get dressed for supper. Ordinarily he would trust Quin to be able to take care of himself, but he was still in pain, no matter how much he insisted that he was all right, and he worried that the other students would jump him if he wasn’t there to prevent it. On the other hand, if the other students wanted to have any sort of chance at getting back into his good graces they would leave Quin strictly alone, and he smiled. Sometimes, he thought, being the Crown Prince wasn’t so bad after all.
Terrin was already seated when the others filed into the dining room. For the first time since the opening banquet none of them approached him or spoke to him and he wasn’t quite sure if he was amused, hurt, or relieved, so he fell back on his training, keeping his expression carefully neutral, keeping his thoughts and his feelings strictly to himself.
“May I join you, Your Highness?”
He looked up and smiled at the teasing glint in Quin’s eyes. “If you wish,” he replied, “although I should warn you that I seem to have become some sort of pariah this evening.”
Quin shrugged and sat down. “After dinner,” he said softly, “come to my room. You have questions that I promised to answer.”
Terrin felt his heart beat faster and he could only nod. He felt as if he was on the verge of discovering great secrets – at the very least he was going to learn more about the mysterious House Eldoran.
And, even more importantly, he was going to be spending the evening with a friend, and he suddenly realized that he had spent most of his evenings alone, that the others had split up to study or to visit each other. He had never been truly included, never invited to their rooms. Quin was the first to do so – and he was also the first person that Quin had ever invited to his room.
Dinner was unusually quiet, the others barely speaking to each other and not at all to him, although, as at breakfast and lunch, many looks were exchanged and Terrin could not help but wonder what they were thinking.
But, as at breakfast and lunch, Quin paid no attention to them and gradually Terrin ignored them as well. Only, he realized, Quin was not ignoring them. Quin, he had a feeling, was noting every nuance of their eyes and body, every inflection of voice. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he found the thought reassuring, comforting.
“I’ll be there as soon as I change,” Terrin promised as they left the dining room.
Quin nodded. “Take your time,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know, but…” Terrin hesitated, suddenly feeling shy. “But I… I like spending time with you. It… feels good.”
Quin smiled and touched his arm lightly before leaving him to go to his own room.
Terrin changed out of formal clothes and made his way to Quin’s room. He knocked nervously, then hesitated, suddenly realizing that the others had gathered and were watching him.
“Come in, Terrin.”
“I… I can’t,” he said quietly, hoping Quin was close enough to hear him. “The others…” He looked toward them, wishing he had never gotten caught up in their group.
Quin opened the door. “What about them?” he asked.
“Your room. You didn’t want the others to know…” Terrin’s voice trailed off as he turned to look at Quin and past him into his room. There was no forest, just a normal room and he turned bewildered eyes to Quin.
Quin opened the door wider and stepped aside, grinning as he bowed low, one arm sweeping out in invitation.
Puzzled – and slightly disappointed – Terrin entered… a forest.
Quin closed the door and Terrin turned slowly, looking around in wonder. “I – I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t. I haven’t explained it yet.”
Terrin laughed in spite of himself.
“Which… which is real? This or the room I saw?”
“Both,” Quin shrugged. “Which would you be more comfortable in, this or the other?”
“This, I think,” Terrin replied. “I – I like this.”
Quin smiled and led him to a pair of moss covered stones and gestured for him to have a seat.
Terrin sat down and drew in a deep breath of forest air, letting it out slowly and feeling tensions leaving him along with his breath.
“So,” he said, after a moment’s silence. “How do you come to have a forest in your room?”
Quin shook his head. “It’s more like I have a room in my forest.” He thought for a moment. “Terrin, how much do you know about House Eldoran? Or the history of the Houses and how the kingdom came to be?”
Terrin frowned. “About the same as everyone else, I guess. Almost nothing about Eldoran. But the rest – so far I haven’t found that I know any more about the history than what is being taught in our classes. The Houses are pretty much autonomous, and although the King is the ultimate authority he makes most decisions for the kingdom with the help and advice of the Council, which is made up of the heads of the Houses.”
“Do you know how it came to be that way?”
Terrin shook his head. “Not really. My tutors focused more on what I would need to know in order to govern the land as it is now.”
Quin nodded, lost in thought for a moment.
“The kingdom you will one day rule,” he said slowly, “is not one unified country. Each House…” He frowned, thinking, then rose. “Come, I want to show you something.”
Terrin followed him to a stream. A stream? Terrin started to ask about it but sensed that he would get an answer in time, and watched as Quin knelt next to it, smoothing a section of sandy bank. With deft motions he drew a rough map of the realm, indicating the location of the Houses as well as the area set aside for the Crown. That Crown’s territory was bordered to the north by sheer mountains that no one had ever successfully traversed, and surrounded on the other sides by the eleven Houses.
Terrin looked at the map and frowned. “Where is House Eldoran?”
“I’ll get there,” Quin smiled. “But for now, what do you notice?”
Terrin studied the rough drawing. He was familiar with the geography of the land but there was obviously something that Quin wanted him to figure out.
“Each House’s territory is about the same size,” he said slowly, “and only a little smaller than the territory that belongs to the Crown.”
Quin nodded. “Because each House was once a kingdom in its own right. They began forming alliances, banding together against common enemies.”
“Like the Jihdathians?”
“Yes. They have been a threat for generations, as have the Nefthals, the Deraevians, the Revylians, and others.” He added lines to indicate the territories of the enemies of the realm. “There only reason that there is any sort of peace now is because of the alliance.”
Terrin nodded. He was aware that troops patrolled the borders of the land, troops that were primarily supplied by the Crown.
“What you probably don’t know,” Quin went on, “is how they all came to be ruled by one Crown.” Terrin shook his head and Quin studied the map for a moment. “The first alliances,” he said, “were made by neighboring countries to band against common enemies. The Revylians, for instance – their territory touches on both House Meddis and House Aedoen.”
He pointed to the areas and Terrin nodded. “So Meddis and Aedoen banded together against the Revylians, and then Aedoen banded with Faelsirj against the Deraevians…”
“Right. And because of the agreement with Aedoen, Meddis helped Faelsirj. And so on, all along the chain of nations.”
“But what of the Crown?”
“Even with help from the neighboring kingdoms, the troops were spread thin, so they were hard pressed, especially as they seemed to be fighting on so many fronts. In many ways, the alliances served to weaken the individual countries. So Valderryn, the original name of this kingdom” – he pointed to what Terrin had always believed was the territory that belonged solely to the Crown – “sent troops to help them. They realized that if the other kingdoms fell, their enemies would be at their borders, so it made sense to stop them before then.”
Terrin nodded, still studying the map, turning things over in his mind.
“And in exchange for Valderryn’s help,” Quin continued, “they swore allegiance to Valderryn, that they would never turn on it, and that as long as at least one House stood with Valderryn, Valderryn would rule.”
Terrin nodded, his eyes troubled as he thought of the other students, the ones that would head their Houses, the ones that he had alienated. “What happens if they all turn against the Crown?”
“If all Houses agree to break with Valderryn – and it has to be unanimous – they choose a new leader for the Alliance. But as long as one stands with Valderryn, Valderryn will not fall, even if individual Houses choose to leave the Alliance.”
The… the others…”
“Not to worry, Your Highness. Eldoran will stand with the Crown. Besides, they would be fools to break the Alliance.” Terrin looked at him, a question in his eyes, and Quin smiled. “If they break with Valderryn, then Valderryn pulls its troops from their borders.”
“And Valderryn’s troops make up the majority of the forces.”
Quin nodded.
“But if Valderryn pulls back its forces and they fall, what is to stop their enemies from taking Valderryn?”
“Eldoran,” he said easily. He smiled as Terrin stared at the map. “We withdrew, Terrin, but we have not stopped watching over Valderryn, or making plans for its defense. Should the need arise, you and your people will be safe.”
“So where is Eldoran?”
Quin smiled and leaned back against a log. “Here.”
“I… I don’t understand.”
Quin laughed and pointed to his map. “Where is Eldoran? Draw it in.”
Terrin stared at Quin’s map and thought back to the maps he had seen at the Central Palace. “I… I don’t know. I… I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eldoran on a map. I know it exists because it has a place at the Council Table…”
“Eldoran withdrew,” Quin reminded him. “We left the world that you know as reality. We… shifted… to a different plane.”
“So your whole House is… gone?”
“From the reality you know, yes.”
“Where was it?” he asked, staring at the map. Something nagged faintly at the back of his mind and Quin waited as he studied the lines in the sand. “I’ve seen it,” he said. “I had to study maps because I was really bad at geography.” His frown deepened. “The earliest maps don’t show it, but then there were a few that had another section marked off.” He drew another line that ran along the border between Valderryn and the other countries, forming a buffer between them. “The newer ones don’t have it, though. It’s not that it’s divided among the others, it’s just that it’s just not there.”
Quin nodded. “Very good.”
Terrin shook his head. “I still feel like I’m missing something. It wasn’t there, and then it was, and now it isn’t.”
“Eldoran withdrew.”
“But why? Why did they leave and where did they go?” Quin waited for Terrin to sort things out in his mind. “You… You said that Eldoran withdrew because they weren’t wanted, weren’t needed.” Quin nodded. “But, why…? Why were they there in the first place? And where did they come from? They aren’t on the earliest maps.”
Quin nodded again. “Eldoran was not one of the original Houses, yet it was.” He grinned at the confusion on Terrin’s face. “When the Alliance was being formed,” he said, sobering, “there was a great deal of mistrust, both from the original nations and Valderryn. The eleven…
“The eleven already knew each other, already had ties. Just like now, at school.”
“Yes,” Quin said softly. “Just like now.”
“So, what happened? Eldoran appeared to keep Valderryn company?”
“Not quite,” Quin laughed, “but close. The eleven were afraid that Valderryn would take over, that they would lose control over their own lands. Valderryn was afraid that the eleven would turn against it once their other borders were secure. So Eldoran came forward and offered a solution.”
“A solution?”
“Eldoran became a buffer between the eleven and Valderryn, first as a physical presence, then as something more.” He paused, considering his next words. “You are familiar with the Council Room?”
“Of course. I’ve never sat in on Council but I’ve been in the room when it’s not in session.”
“Eldoran created the table.”
Terrin tilted his head at Quinn’s. “Created, not built?”
Quin nodded. “The table is tied to the bloodlines of the Houses and to the oaths made for the Alliance. If a House breaks the bond, their part of the table disintegrates.”
Terrin shuddered at the thought of the ancient stone table turned to rubble, and tried to draw reassurance from Quin’s words that they would be fools to break the Alliance.
“There’s more,” Quin said with a smile. “Where is Eldoran’s seat?”
“Right in front of the throne, directly below it.” Quin waited and Terrin drew a deep breath of realization. “Eldoran is a buffer there, too.” Quin nodded, smiling. “Can it come back, physically?”
“If needed.”
“But I still don’t understand where Eldoran is. I know where it isn’t,” he pointed at the map, “but not where it is.”
“Eldoran withdrew.”
“But where? How?”
“You asked about my room and the forest, about which one was real.”
Terrin nodded. “And you said they both were.”
“They are.” Quin rose and paced. “There are… different realities. Different… planes of existence. They are separate, but interconnected.”
Terrin frowned, trying to understand.
“It’s going to be a hard thing for you to grasp,” Quin said, “so for now, just pretend that everything I’m telling you is true, because it is.”
Terrin laughed and relaxed: this was the Quin he had come to know, the Quin he had been missing since their return from town the night before.
“All right, so there are different realities. How do you know which reality is real?”
“They all are. That’s why they are realities.”
Terrin rubbed his temples.
Quin laughed. “All right, back to the example of my room. When I opened the door, what did you see?”
“A… a normal room. It wasn’t until I walked through the door that it became… this.”
Quin nodded. “That room was real. We can go back to it if you’d like. But this is also real. The door to my room… it acts as a gate to this reality – if I let it.”
“If you let it?”
“Yes. If any of the others had come through the door, they would only have been in my room. I do not permit them to access this reality.”
“And if they had come through with me?”
“It would still have been the room, not this, even for you. It is possible to hold two realities together, but it requires a lot of effort.”
“When I came in and was in forest instead of here, what did the others see?”
“They just saw you enter my room. You weren’t in Eldoran until you entered and they weren’t in it at all and couldn’t see it from outside my door. I was holding both realities but I can only do that for a few minutes.”
Terrin nodded. “You – you – aren’t rea – aren’t part of this reality?”
“No,” Quin answered softly. “We are not part of that reality.”
“But you’re real,” Terrin protested. “I can touch you and…”
Quin was laughing. “Of course I’m real. I’m as real as you are.” He sighed. “This is harder to explain than I thought it would be.” He thought for a moment. “Once,” he started, then stopped and shook his head. “Terrin, there aren’t any mystics in your world anymore, are there? Any priests?”
Terrin shook his head. “There are some places that the oldest maps mark as temples but they are just ruins.” He looked at him. “In my world?” He shook his head. “You aren’t part of my world.” He felt a stab of deep sorrow at the thought.
“Eldoran exists outside of time and space as you know it. We came forward to help with the Alliance, and then when we were no longer needed we withdrew to another plane of existence, away from what you think of as the physical realm.”
Terrin looked at him. Quin wanted him to understand something but he couldn’t figure out what he meant. “I – I’m sorry, Quin. I know you’re trying to make me understand something, but… “
“Eldoran is wherever it needs to be,” Quin said quietly. “It was needed there, so there it was.” He pointed to the map. “And now it is needed here, so here it is. ‘Here’ being the school.”
Terrin looked up at him. “You think you’re going to be needed,” he said. “You think that the others…”
Quin sighed. “There have been… indications.” He shrugged. “Whether it actually happens or not, I’m glad I got to make a new friend.” He rose and stretched. “Come on. We’d better get back to your reality.”
Terrin looked around him. “I like this one better,” he said softly. “Quin? Is this… This is Eldoran?”
Quin bowed.
“Where… where are the people?”
“Another time, Your Highness,” Quin smiled. “Shifting time is hard and I’m hearing the curfew bell.”
Terrin sighed and nodded, looking around one more time as they walked back to where he had first entered.
“You can come back,” Quin promised. “You are welcome here anytime.”
Terrin smiled as Quin shifted them back to his room.
“Do you sleep in this world or the other?”
“Eldoran, usually, but only because my rooms here are set up as a gateway so I am able to hear the bells and such.”
“What is a gateway?”
“The realities are separate, but they are also intermingled. There are some places where it is easier to shift from one to the other. My rooms – the rooms held by House Eldoran – are one such place.”
“Thank you, Quin. For showing me Eldoran, and for telling me about it.” He frowned. “Why…?” Quin tilted his head, waiting for Terrin to sort it out. “Why… how… do you know all of this? And can do… this?”
“Because Eldoran is the keeper of the ancient ways, the ancient lore, the ancient knowledge, the ancient secrets. The ancient everything, actually,” he added, laughing. “Eldoran was formed long, long ago, long before the Alliance or even the existence of the nations, by a group of people from your reality – seers, mystics, people who, by their very nature, did not quite fit in.”
“Like you,” he said softly, remembering how Quin always seemed to be on the outside, how the others had dismissed him as being of no importance.
Quin shrugged, his smile saying that it didn’t bother him.