Acclayne Book 1: The Game Begins

“You are Alaina, are you not?” The withered old man in front of me pulled down his spectacles and fixed me with an impatient look.

“Yes.”

“The Alaina Oakley?” He raised his heavy eyebrows and his forehead crinkled like an accordion. I was not sure what he meant by emphasizing ‘the’ but I was the only Alaina Oakley I knew…

“I suppose?”

“Then to answer your question child; there has not been ‘some mistake’. The admin on this one is perfectly precise, besides; I do not make mistakes.” The man who sat behind the huge wooden desk; who was clearly all about the italics, apparently had no time for me, or my ‘nonsense’ as he had referred to it earlier. I failed to see how my fainting spell was deemed nonsense when to me the whole damned situation was ‘nonsense’.

“Well there must be a mistake okay? Doors don’t just appear from nowhere, especially not in the ladies room, they do not get opened by some random door knob from B&Q, and they definitely do not lead you to some sort of mental breakdown place where people call you nonsense.” By the end of my rant I was hyperventilating. I could give this guy a run for his money on the italics front. He busied himself shuffling papers around his desk, aligning them neatly by tapping them against the table. Without looking at me he said:

“I do not make mistakes. I was asked to send someone to track you down specifically. This door did not appear from ‘nowhere‘, clearly it was drawn onto a suitable surface, besides it did not become a door until it connected with a magically infused doorknob. As for it coming from Bee and Queue, well I’m not sure what that is, but it certainly did not. It came from the Academy- as anyone in Glakyrie worth their salt would know.” It was at this point that he fixed me with a judgemental look. I found myself shifting guiltily from side to side as if I really ought to have known that one; not that I even knew what Glakyrie was. As if reading my mind he went on to say; “Though I shouldn’t expect someone from your dimension to understand. Glakyrie is the land in which we live and apparently we do things somewhat more efficiently here. As for where you are right now; you are in the Palace reception area.” He glanced at his watch. “You have a meeting with the King and Queen in exactly twelve and a half minutes. Oh and stop over emphasizing. It‘s irritating.”

Standing in front of the massive desk I felt as if all the blood must have drained from my face and somehow rushed to my feet; which now felt as if I couldn‘t move them. I looked up at the crotchety old man who was now gazing down at me as if I was something he was unfortunate enough to have trodden in. Barely anything he had just said made any sense to me. From what I could gather I had been brought here on purpose; to a Palace no less, to speak with the King and Queen. Scratch that. A King and Queen. I was beginning to think I was in some sort of drink induced psychosis.

“Oh dear.” He sneered down at me. “They were all expecting such great things from you, but it seems you are unable to even understand the most basic speech. Though what they expected from someone of your heritage I simply do not know. Still, who am I to question the Royal decision? Sit down girl and try to make yourself presentable.” He gestured towards a cluster of chairs across the room. Juney had lazily strewn herself across two chairs, which even given my current state of shock I managed to find impressive; on account of her relatively small stature. She had disappeared briefly when we had first arrived and now she had returned I felt some of my trepidation ease. She had changed her clothes since I had last seen her. Now she wore tight, black leather trousers which looked like they had seen better days, flat heavy boots and a few layered tops; all of which looked to be in the same state of repair as her trousers. The outfit was clearly well worn.

The clothes were not the only thing that had changed in her absence. The prim lady I had previously acquainted myself with had vanished and in her place sat the most boyish woman I had ever seen. She sat halfway down her seat with her legs akimbo, picking at an errant nail on her right hand. Sensing that she was being watched she motioned for me to join her.

“Ignore him. He’s a miserable old git.” She muttered without so much as looking up at me. The ‘Old Git’ coughed loudly and pointedly. “Yeah, you heard me.”

I sat down gently beside her and crossed my ankles. I wish I’d had the sense to wear some jeans instead of my teeny tiny dress. Not that cross-dimensional travel is something you often consider when planning an outfit for an evening of clubbing. If I’d have brought a coat with me I could have draped it over my somewhat exposed knees at the very least. It was as I self consciously stroked my knees it occurred to me that I had in fact been advised to bring a coat. The tall stranger hadn’t seemed a threat at the time but Juney had insisted that we hide from him. Surely that meant that he knew about this place as well- hell he probably even came from here. I sighed and leant forward, bending my head down as I tried to make sense of the situation. He warned me to bring a coat. That meant that he knew I was coming here, but how could he know that if Juney wasn’t to be seen with me.

“Don’t think too much about it, it’ll make your head spin.” Juney interrupted my speculative thinking by placing a small hand on my back. It was unnaturally warm. The heat crawled slowly over my back and soon I felt the comforting warmth envelope my shoulders; nowhere near her hand. It was as if she had wrapped me in a soft woollen blanket, my troubles seemed to ease. “There, nothing to worry about right now. Besides we’re in for a bit of a wait yet.” She smiled at me reassuringly; the first time she had looked at me since she’d returned. I saw nothing but sincerity in her eyes and felt the need to trust her despite my earlier want to run and hide. I felt an uncertain smile on my lips. Sated, Juney leant back and began to pick at her nails again. Her big eyes no longer on me I felt questions begin to surface.

“Hey, you said we have a bit of a wait?”

“Yes?” She didn’t look up at me.

“Well that crotchety bugger over there…” I paused as I heard him shuffle in his seat; disgruntled, “said twelve minutes or so.”

“Yeah, like I said; a while.” She stopped picking at her nails. I frowned. Twelve minutes; or very possibly five by now, wasn’t a ‘while’ at all. It was barely any time at all. “You’re still thinking Earth minutes. Sorry I should probably explain.”

“Earth minutes? We’re not still on Earth then?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s just on TV when people go to different dimensions it’s still usually Earth isn’t it? Did you ever watch Dr Who?” A poorly disguised laugh come from across the room.

“Television isn’t real life Alaina. We aren’t on Earth, we’re in Glakyrie, largest land on Acclayne of the Eighth Sun.”

“So you’re telling me that Dr Who can’t possibly be real but you expect me to believe that this ‘Acclayne’ place is?”

“Yes.” I sat back in my chair feeling entirely overwhelmed once again. “It’s okay, like I said, plenty of time to absorb…”

“I don’t care where we are Juney but twelve minutes is nowhere near enough time for me to absorb something like this.”

“Okay maybe not, I’ll concede to that one.” She shot me a small but dazzling smile before looking toward the ceiling. “How best to explain this. Time…” She started. And paused for what seemed like an eternity. “moves differently here.” I raised my eyebrow at her.

“You paused for that long and that’s the explanation I get? Bloody marvellous.” I crossed my arms over my chest and slumped a little in my seat.

“No, you don’t understand, you’re used to linear time. Your timeline is just that; a line. Completely straight. Ours isn’t.”

I laughed out loud, a short, sharp desperate laugh. It would occur to me later on that I sounded like a woman on the verge of madness; which I probably was. “Time is linear, that’s how it works: going forward.”

“Well, yes and no. Earth time is straight forward, in both senses of the term. Acclayne time moves in waves.” Juney drew a wiggly line in the air in front of us with her finger. “Like that. It still moves forward, ends up in the same place as a straight line; it just takes a little longer to get there that’s all.” Satisfied with her own explanation she slumped back in her chair and began to crack her knuckles.

I sighed. “It doesn’t make sense. It goes against all the laws of physics.” I muttered to myself indignantly.

The man across the room cleared his throat; “Your rules of physics do not always apply here child.”

…

“Nine thousand, seven hundred and fifty two green bottles hanging on the wall… Nine thousand, seven hundred…”

Methyn did his best to ignore Kaylaer’s enthusiastic singing coming from behind him. The child was completely obnoxious and ignored all of Methyn’s empty disciplinary warnings: there was nothing much he could do while they were travelling into the inner city of Corthus apart from grin and bear it, and like any child nuisance Kaylaer exploited their situation to the full. Malcolm on the other hand was using the trip as an opportunity to learn; unperturbed by Kaylaer’s constant jibes and threats of violence, he persisted in asking Methyn question after question:

“…so then if the magic sector is so important why isn’t the institute built in the inner city?”

“Ah now then, this is all to do with defensive strategy.”

“It is?”

“Yes, when the old part of the school building was first built it was built as a garrison to house the Corthean army; most of which was made up of skilled sorcerers. It wasn’t until later; when the need for a garrison was no longer necessary, that the school was formed. As you know the new building wasn’t added till much later when the curriculum was extended to include…”

“Er, Sir?” It wasn’t often that Malcolm interrupted and Methyn was on a roll so he didn’t hear him at first:

“…the more academical subjects; like the ones I specialise in, thus allowing for the…”

“Sir?” Malcolm tugged on his professor’s sleeve. Methyn was certainly not very tall by Glakyrian standards but Malcolm seemed to be impossibly small even to him. He looked down at the boys confused face.

“What is it?”

“I’m still confused about the placement of the school sir.”

“I told you, as a garrison it was meant to defend the…”

“No I understand that sir, Cortharen is to the North of Corthus.”

“Yes.”

“It is the only other city in Glakyrie that would pose a threat to us isn’t it?”

“Yes it is, but like I say the time for defence has long since past. There hasn’t been unrest between the two cities for quite some time.”

“I know sir, but I was wondering then; why was the Garrison built to the South of Corthus?” Methyn thought over the question for a moment. He had to admit that the boy had him with that one, there was no logical reason for the place being built where it was, as a defence strategy it had been useless.

“Because back in the day everyone was stupid. Duh.” Kaylaer pulled a face at Malcolm. “At least now, only some of us are.”

Methyn rolled his eyes, why Cartaisey had insisted on sending both students along he did not know. Malcolm would benefit from the educational value of the expedition; no matter how short lived it was going to be. Kaylaer on the other hand was proving to just be somewhat of a handful. Methyn glanced down to his side, he was sure that Malcolm’s lower lip was beginning to tremble.

“There is no need for that behaviour Kaylaer.” Methyn heard a ‘harrumph’ from somewhere behind him. “Though there is a little truth in it, ‘back in the day’ as you put it, the general grasp of geography was miniscule. Somewhere along the line the plans got confused and the Garrison was built on the wrong side of the city.”

Kaylaer laughed behind him and Malcolm looked up in awe. “And nobody realised?”

“No it wasn’t until much later; after Cortharen had successfully demolished half of the inner city for the third time that anyone noticed that the attacks came from the opposite side.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, what a bunch of morons.” Kaylaer kicked a small stone at Malcolm.

“Enough Kaylaer.” Methyn raised a hand to his temple. He envied the messenger walking ahead of them.

“Whatever. Nine thousand, seven hundred and forty nine green bottles…”

It was dark by the time they reached the inner city, and Kaylaer had made it as far as Seven thousand, four hundred and seventy five before giving up. Malcolm on the other hand had continued questioning Methyn for the rest of the journey. Though Methyn found the consistently unsatisfied curiosity wearisome, there was a part of him that envied Malcolm’s enthusiasm. With every turn in the road came a tirade of new questions. If the boy could retain all of his newfound knowledge then he would find the rest of the academic year a cinch; Methyn could only hope that some of the information was getting through to Kaylaer, who was still walking a few paces behind them sulking, or so Methyn assumed. It was such a shame, Kaylaer was not lacking in skill- far from it. Methyn hadn’t seen anyone so gifted in the physical use of magic for many years, he was sure that if Kaylaer were to put in the effort then they might even have a prodigy on their hands. Unfortunately Kaylaer was far too easily distracted, not to mention needlessly violent, for that.

The group followed the messenger through the city, taking many twists and turns until soon they were off the main path and deep into the residential areas. The buildings seemed to lean against one another for support and reached endlessly into the sky, blocking out any view of the stars from the street below. Narrow alleys meandered off in all directions from either side of the group as they walked, leading into darkness. Methyn gulped.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” he called to the messenger who was now just a little way in front of them.

“Quite sure, it’s not safe to take the main path straight to the Palace. We’d be far too exposed; what with all of those street lamps shining down on us, the open walk ways etc. We’d be like sitting ducks.”

“As opposed to walking through narrow alleys in near enough complete darkness?”

“Exactly. These roads are like a maze, no one is likely to find us here.”

Methyn looked to the sky but saw nothing but tall shadows looming overhead. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Excuse me?”

“Never mind. You’re certain that you know your way?”

“Begging your pardon sir but I grew up on these very streets, I know them like the back of my hand. Safest place in the world so long as you’re with someone who knows where you are.”

“Right.”

“Besides we’re almost…”

“Oh sir!” Malcolm visibly perked up beside Methyn, it had been a long trip for the small boy. “There it is!” He raised a small hand and pointed ahead of him. The palace appeared as if from nowhere as they turned what was the last corner. Aside from the Academy, Methyn had never seen a building as large as the mighty Palace that stood before them. It was simply built, but it’s smooth lines and symmetry only added to its grandeur as far as Methyn was concerned. It was the pride of every Corthean; no other building in the region was like it- not necessarily because there was a lack of funding but rather because they had built one unbelievably big building and that was quite enough hard work thank-you-very-much.

The road ahead of them stretched out into an open square in front of the palace, Methyn recalled the last time he had visited- when he was around Malcolm’s age. He had been even more awed then than he was now. The palace was beautiful at night- he could not dispute that, lit up majestically from below with bright lights, but during the day it was spectacular- stonework glistening in the daylight, the square filled with the bustle of traders and shoppers, smells of all kinds of foreign foods. Taking it all in he found himself hoping that they’d be staying long enough that he could show Malcolm and Kaylaer why they should be proud to be a part of all of this.

But tonight the square was empty and the wind whistled through undisturbed. It was as lonely as it was beautiful.

“Beautiful isn’t she.” The messenger had joined Methyn and was gazing up at the Palace walls. “I told you we’d get here in one piece didn’t I?”

Methyn smiled. Calmness washed over him and his worry sank back down into his stomach.

“Sir! SIR!” Malcolm’s voice rang out loudly from behind the two men. His footsteps getting louder as he ran to join them. “Kaylaer!”

Methyn sighed. “What has…”

“Kaylaer’s gone!”

Methyn’s worry shot right up from his stomach and laid itself out on the street for everyone to see. Apparently 'worry' came with a side of carrots.