Sharla peeked inside the hut where the girl with the red hair lay in bed curled up fast asleep. The girl collapsed after bursting into manic laughter followed by tears. As though she hated the fact that what she saw was real.
What could have caused such a reaction?
Sharla turned to look to the sky, dawn was approaching but the Great Moon remained ever-present as the two smaller moons began to fade. They too would remain but would be fainter to see in the bright blue sky.
And yet as the day progressed, the girl remained under the blankets, Sharla didn’t bother her during this time. She knew that after a great shock a person needed time to process, but she would stay near and keep a silent eye on the child to be sure that she wouldn’t do anything drastic. As it was also a possibility. For she had dealt with it before.
When evening came Sharla entered the hut with a fresh bowl of water the girl hadn’t moved but when Sharla entered the girl sat up.
“How are you feeling?”
“How do you think?” Emma looked at Sharla with tears streaking her cheeks. “I’m in a strange land, with strange beings I’ve never seen before, and I don’t even know if I can even return to my home! Why would you even ask me that?”
Sharla didn’t answer, as her ears folded down and her tail swished between her legs. “I…”
“I’m sorry,” Emma said turning away as she wiped her eyes with the back of her arm. “I don’t… I don’t mean to sound harsh. I just…” she gripped at the woven blanket with her left hand. “I’m scared. This whole thing is confusing the more I think about it, I’m sure it’s the same for you and the man you’re with.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. well, not being scared, but the strangeness of it all and how they found this poor frightened girl as if she had been abandoned by the world.
“Do you remember how you ended up here?”
Emma opened her mouth to speak but her stomach growled loudly in protest.
Sharla chuckled softly. “Maybe we should shelve that conversation until you’ve eaten. Good food often helps in times like this.”
“Did someone say food?” Hemel announced as he entered the hut with two large platters with an assortment of foods and a barrel under his left arm. He then placed it in the middle of the room before looking at Emma and offering her a kind smile. “It’s good to see you up, are you hungry? There’s a lot to go around.”
Emma slowly got up from the futon and made the short distance in the hut to where the beast-man laid out a large platter with an assortment of foods. Some of it looked familiar but all looked edible to her. From what she could make note of there looked to be a spread of sliced meats, both fresh and dried, dried fruits, bread and some kind of drink.
“Go ahead and give it a try.” The beast-man told her. “We have meat from an Olarian Bull, dried fish from Tulsara Trout, dried Helken Lamb, fresh bread, dried fruit, fresh water from the river and mead made with honey from Orla Bees. The most important thing of all.”
“You always say that, Hemel,” Sharla said flatly with an amused stare.
“Because it is. You know that.” Though seeing Emma look uncertain, he tore a piece of dried fish and ate it, then did the same with the other meats, being sure only to take a piece off beside the dried fruit then tossed it in their mouth to show they weren’t tampered with.
However, what surprised Emma was the impressive sharp teeth he had. It made her glad that he and the other beast-woman were friendly.
She relaxed after he had, then picked up some meat from the bowl that was offered to her with shredded bite-sized chunks of meat and put a piece in her mouth. The taste surprised her. “There are spices in this?”
Hemel gave a hearty grin. “Indeed they are, all of our meats are spiced. We Tulmaks take pride in our spices.”
“Is it too much?” Sharla asked.
Emma shook her head. “No, it’s good. Really good.” Yet she couldn’t help but feel like she had it before. But from where?
“Well look at that, a human with high taste.” Hemel teased, and Sharla lightly smacked him. “What? It’s a compliment.”
Emma looked at them confused. “I’m sorry, Tulmaks?”
“It’s our tribe, well, Hemel’s tribe since I married him, it’s now my tribe too,” Sharla told her, then paused when she noticed Emma’s scowl. “You’ve never heard of that, have you?”
Emma shook her head. “No, I know of lamb, bull, fish and so on. But the names of those creatures don’t sound familiar to me at all.” she tore another piece of meat from the bull and ate it. “It all tastes a bit similar to what I’ve had in my life, yet there’s a distinct flavour that’s new yet somehow familiar to me too.”
“It might be the spices,” Hemel offered her a glass of water. “The spices in the southwest region tend to be a bit stronger than in other places. Unless you go to the Kingdom of Artha along the Eastern Peninsula. They have spices like no other.” This time Hemel paused when Emma’s scowl deepened. “You don’t know that either.”
Emma shook her head once more.
Sharla and Hemel exchanged a glance at one another before Sharla asked. “I know you’re very confused, but before we ask you an important question, there is another we need to ask. What’s your name? My name is Sharla, and my bonded partner is Hemel.”
“Emma,” she said to the two. “My name is Emma Circe Schützen.”
Hemel’s eyebrows rose. “You have a last name; you must come from a noble household. Though I’ve never heard of Schützen, maybe it’s further north?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not a noble. Though to be honest, I don’t know anything about my birth family besides my name.”
Sharla placed her clawed hand on her partner’s forearm to get him to stop speculating out loud. “Given your reaction just now that leads to my other question, where are you from? Even if you aren’t from this region, it should be familiar to you slightly, given the food. But your clothes… well, we’ve never seen the likes before.”
Emma broke eye contact, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. “You might not believe me if I tell you.”
“Emma please,” Sharla spoke softly. “If anything, we’d like to help you.”
Emma released a breath, her blue eyes staring at the ring on her finger that gleamed in the warm glow of candlelight before she looked at the two in question. They had given her shelter, watched over her while she was unconscious and given her food.
Even if they didn’t believe her, she felt like telling them the truth might be the right thing to do. “What is the name of this world called?”
Hemel and Sharla cast a curious glance at each other before Hemel answered. “Tierra.”
Hearing that weighed heavily on Emma’s heart, she knew this wasn’t a dream, that this was real, that she was here as much as part of her wished to deny it.
Stolen novel; please report.
“That’s… not where I’m from. I’m from a place called Earth, it isn’t a country or region here, but another world altogether. And that world is floating in your sky.”
Sharla’s eyes grew wide. That’s why the girl burst into hysterical laughter and cried when she saw the Great Moon.
“The Great Moon?” Hemel spoke up, astonishment deep in his voice. “How?”
Emma reached up and touched her head with her left hand. “I… I don’t fully recall. Just that… I was sent here by someone. Sent against my will.”
“But such a thing should be impossible,” Hemel muttered, clearly lost inside his thoughts. “Although there have been legends of old, those from the Great Moon came here causing havoc. That they were demons of distraction… but you… you’re just a kid.”
“I’m not lying to you,” Emma pressed, as her shoulders shook. “I know it’s hard to believe. Hell, I wouldn’t even believe it myself. But I am.”
“I’m not saying I don’t believe you,” Hemel answered her, causing the girl to go still and slowly raise her head. “Given what happened to you and Sharla when you first woke up, that you have magic and…” his gaze went from her face to her hair. “The colour of your hair. I’m far more open to believing it.”
Emma frowned. “What are you talking about? I don’t have magic.” Which caused Hemel to frown in turn.
Sharla spoke up. “You said you were brought here against your will, right? Do you remember the person who sent you here?”
“Their face was covered by a cloak from their robes. But I do remember they sounded like a woman, and their hands… they had scales on them with a bunch of rings and bracelets all made out of gold with strange markings.”
Scaled hands… Hemel thought. Could they be part of the Kai? But such a question could come later since he didn’t want to overwhelm the child. “They spoke to you, what did they say?”
Emma recalled what the person said as best as she could and answered as she ran her left thumb over her ring. “That I was chosen with a task, to save a Princess. When I do, I’ll be free, I can only imagine it means I can go home.”
Sharla shot to her feet startling Emma. “Do you mean Princess Rosa!?”
“Uh… I…” then realization filled her blue eyes and she shot to her feet next recognizing that name. “Wait, she’s real!?”
“Of course, she is!” Sharla proclaimed. Only to pause, how could the girl know of the Princess, if she wasn’t from this world?
“However,” Hemel remained seated as he poured himself another cup of mead. “No one has seen the Princess in the last one hundred years.”
That floored Emma. “Excuse me…? One hundred years…?”
He continued regardless of Emma’s mounting confusion. “Though the Princess looks human she’s been alive longer than any of us have been,” Hemel then poured Sharla another cup as she sat back down cross-legged. “Many believe a long-dead god granted the Princess this power, and as such, remained alive in this world.”
Emma looked to Hemel, confused. “Why is it only speculation? Surely someone has spoken to her about this.”
“If there had been, that would have been long ago,” Sharla spoke. “With growing conflict and countless wars, such things became lost to us. The Princess herself hadn’t been seen, many believed that she died, though if she had, then the Prince wouldn’t be alive.”
The Prince was new to Emma. “There’s a Prince?”
Sharla tore a piece of meat before tossing it into her mouth. “Prince Demos, he’s the Princess’s younger brother,” she took a large gulp of her drink before continuing. “His life is connected to hers. If she were to perish, so would he.”
“Why are their lives connected?” Emma asked.
“It’s been said that Prince Demos was very ill, so the Princess used her powers to heal him. When she had, the world became aware of her existence and desired her for themselves. So much so, that a great war erupted throughout these lands. Even their parents, King and Queen died in the process. Upon their deaths, Prince Demos became so enraged he slaughtered hundreds if not tens of thousands. He vowed to kill anyone who tried to claim his sister’s power for themselves. Or so the story goes.”
That seems pretty extreme to protect your sister. Emma thought. “Why is it that neither of them became King or Queen? Surely one of them should have become the next ruler?”
Sharla shrugged. “No one is entirely sure, but from what’s been believed is that it’s tied to the old god of this world. Either that or Prince Demos didn’t want such responsibility and the Princess was unable to ascend the throne.”
That made no sense to Emma.
“Sharla, there’s also the theory that Prince Demos couldn’t take up the role of King because of his lack of magical power.”
“But if that were true, the Princess should have ascended to the throne and become the next ruler.” Sharla countered. “As she was blessed with these powers from that dead god.”
He thought about it. “Hmm, that’s true. I can’t even recall if any of that is in the surviving texts…”
I am so lost… Emma thought blankly. But even though she couldn’t grasp all of what was being said, she could at least pick apart bits of the conversation that would be useful to her. “So, what of this Prince, Prince Demos? You both said Princess Rosa hasn’t been seen for one hundred years, what happened to him?”
Hemel folded his arms across his broad chest. “That is a little difficult to answer,”
“Why is that?”
“Some say that the Prince continues to rule and that he went mad from the constant fighting of those wanting his sister. In that madness he imprisoned Princess Rosa, keeping a strict eye on her so no one could misuse her powers. But there are other stories that the Prince died long ago. Killed by a warrior who went to rescue the Princess, but if that were true, there would have been stories of the Princess’s rescue.”
Emma scowled, eyes shifting to the floor as the words from that cloaked woman came back to the forefront.
“You must help the Princess, then and only then, will you be free.”
Did that mean the Princess was being held against her will?
“So, if I’m understanding this right; Prince Demos is the reason why no one has seen Princess Rosa in over one hundred years?”
“That’s what many believe,” Sharla said. “And in that time, no one has been able to get close to where the Princess is being held. Everyone’s pretty much given up and now speak of her as if she were a legend.”
“Well, there’s that, and those of red hair,” Hemel added.
Emma looked at him puzzled. That’s the second time he’s mentioned it. “Red hair?”
“Hemel!” Sharla snapped in a harsh whisper. “Don’t! You’ll scare her.”
“She needs to know Sharla,” he then looks to Emma, his gaze unwavering. “Throughout history, in this world, there have been stories of those who were chosen to save the Princess. Emissaries wielding great power of the likes that has never been seen. They were all young women, and regardless of where they resided, they were all gifted with the power to rescue the Princess. The most notable feature, besides being female, is that they all had red hair”
“But I’m not from here.” Emma countered.
“Yes, but I doubt others would care if they knew of your existence. You came here by unknown means. If anything, they might think you’re a demon from the Great Moon here to wreak havoc and destroy us all.”
Emma paused looking at this beast-man with a confused expression. “But you don’t think that I’m a demon.”
“I don’t, but others might. Besides, humans don’t come here often. And no one has seen someone with red hair like yours in a very long time.”
Even more confusion heaped on top of Emma’s mind. “You keep saying that, but what does that even mean to have red hair here? It’s rare on Earth, but people have it.” Although, she had never seen someone with the same shade of red as her, at least not naturally.
Emma could recall her brother getting into verbal fights with adults when they thought Emma’s hair was dyed to be that colour. Even now she still had people ask if she was lying about the colour of her hair.
“At some point in time in the last one hundred years, any child who was born with red hair was seen as an omen, and was killed on the spot,” Hemel answered candidly as Sharla closed her eyes at the grizzly truth. “Regardless of what the parents think or even want, such a child will be taken away and killed.”
That horrified Emma. “What? Why?”
“In fear of the Prince,” Hemel said as he drank the mead. “Many humans stopped having children in the past hundred years or so because they feared it meant their future child would be killed if they were born with red hair. It’s why the human race is in decline, especially after a plague swept the world in full sixty years ago. A lot of folks died, human and nonhuman alike.”
“Regarding what Hemel said about the Prince, it’s been said that those with red hair are a sign of being allied with the Princess, regardless of class or station.” Sharla continued as she poured Hemel another cup, followed by one for Emma and then herself. “That the Princess blessed a chosen person and their hair became red like a rose in response. Like yours. And they are given the title of Rose Guard. So that one day, they would rescue the Princess.”
Rose Guard… the cloaked woman said something about that too. Yet something about all of that felt wrong to her. “But I’m not some warrior, this Rose Guard. I’m just… me.”
“Some would think otherwise,” Hemel added. “We’re not trying to scare you kid, we just want to prepare you, in case someone says something.”
“Do you mean other humans or those of your people?”
“Not from us,” Sharla said. “We know it’s been difficult for the humans, especially after the war and plague, we do what we can to show respect.”
“Even if it’s not returned by those of higher standing,” Hemel muttered.
The room fell silent.
“We should stop here,” Sharla suggested. “I’m sure this is all very overwhelming for you as it is. So, for now, let’s just try and enjoy the food, all right Emma?”