Through the Portal

When William awoke, the first thing he noticed was that his back hurt. The second thing he noticed was that his shirt was gone. He sat up, holding the blanket over himself, protectively. He winced as the sudden movement increased the pain in his back.

“You’re up. Good.” Katherine smiled at him, holding out a piece of black fruit. “You must be hungry.”

William stared at the food, unable to speak for a moment. He cleared his throat, uneasily. “Where’s my shirt?” He realized the rest of his group looked equally uncomfortable. Katherine seemed to be the only one making eye contact.

“It was ruined and we had to treat your wounds. I’m sorry.” The apology seemed to be for more than just messing up the tunic. She picked up a fresh one, which she had taken from his bag while he slept. “Here. We couldn’t put it on you, ourselves.”

William hesitated, knowing it would be difficult to put the shirt on without dropping the blanket. “You all saw?”

Katherine frowned, but nodded for the group. “It couldn’t be helped.”

He swallowed, not responding.

“There is nothing to be ashamed of.” Valda looked at him. “You have been through battles. That is not something to hide.”

“They weren’t really battles.” He didn’t look at anyone.

“You survived,” Valda replied, simply. “There is honor in that.”

William didn’t have a response to that statement. Sighing, he took the shirt and pulled it on, quickly, which set off another bout of pain in his back.

Jake walked over and held out a nimbus leaf. “This will help with the pain.”

William took it, gratefully. He slipped the plant into his mouth, quickly feeling better. Katherine held the fruit out to him, again. “You need to eat. We have a long day ahead of us.”

He accepted the fruit and bit in. It tasted like salted watermelon. He couldn’t bring himself to look at the group, so he took in their surroundings, instead. It was late in the evening, but there was still enough light to see by. The grass here was dark green. Nearby was a bush full of the fruit he was eating. The leaves of it were green, as well. He noticed they were next to a stream, flowing with gray water. Straight ahead was a forest of trees with dark trunks and green leaves. The area seemed more familiar than any other they had come across in Mirra.

“Where are we?” He grabbed his water bottle and drank some of that, noting it had been refilled with the gray stuff, which tasted like licorice.

“The Meadow of the Wisp,” Katherine replied, not sounding particularly happy about the fact. “We’re just outside the Starlight Forest.” She sighed. “All that trouble and we’re going to have to pass through, anyway. I’m sorry.”

“You couldn’t have predicted it,” William tried to reassure her. “You were doing what you thought was best.” He looked back to the forest, wondering what was so frightening about it. “Are we going in, tonight?”

Katherine shook her head. “It will be safer if we enter with daylight.” She gave the trees a wary look. “I’d rather not spend more nights in there than we have to, so we will wait.”

“How long will it take us to pass through?”

“A few days.” Katherine looked back at him. “It should bring us fairly close to the palace, though.” She bit her lip as she looked him over. “You should get some rest. You’ve lost quite a bit of blood.”

He nodded and lay down on his side, since lying on his back brought on a dull pain. He didn’t want to see the others, so he closed his eyes.

Katherine knew he wasn’t going to sleep any time soon, but she moved away, wanting to give him the space he needed.

Meredith looked at William, not sure how she should feel. While he was unconscious, nobody had worked up the nerve to say anything about the scars and she wasn’t certain she could talk about them, even now. They had all suspected such a thing, but seeing it was worse. She had been taken away from her drug dealing father a few years before. The twins had been given up as babies and Josie’s parents had died in a car accident. They were all fosters, but none of them had endured abuse, except, apparently, William. It was a hard thing to talk about and he had never said a word about his parents. Even Josie seemed hesitant to say anything.

Finally, Kaelen took the initiative, speaking softly enough that William could not hear. “Your friend has endured a great deal, hasn’t he?”

The children looked at each other, uncertainly. Meredith was the first to speak. “He never talks about it. We don’t ask.”

Katherine frowned, seeming to be lost in her own thoughts.

“He is rather young,” Valda commented. She had always known that, but it seemed truer, now. “How could something like that have happened?”

Jake shrugged. “Probably his parents.” He glanced at William, half-afraid he might hear, despite their soft tones. “He was taken away from them, after all.”

“Taken away?” Valda looked at him, not understanding. “By whom? Was he kidnapped?”

Jake shook his head. “Not exactly. In our world, if your parents are not taking care of you like they should, sometimes, an organization comes and finds new people to look after you. They’re called foster parents. Sometimes, they’re nice, but not always.” He looked around the group. “We all met in a foster home. The foster dad yelled a lot, though. We didn’t like it, so we ran away.”

“So, you are alone.” Valda had wondered where their parents were and if they were missed. Now, it seemed, she had her answer.

“We have each other,” Meredith replied, looking at the she-elf. “That has been enough.”

Valda nodded her understanding. “You are survivors. That is good. Perhaps, you will survive what is to come.”

“You mean in the forest?” Henry looked back to the trees, uncertainly.

Valda followed his gaze. “To start, yes.”

As the light began to wane, little glowing orbs appeared out of nowhere. They floated around, seeming to be playing. Josie giggled as one came close to her face. At the sound, it darted off, like a frightened animal.

“Wisps.” Meredith looked around with wide eyes. She’d read enough stories to recognize the creatures. She looked at Katherine. “They won’t hurt us, right?”

The guardian shook her head. “In this field, with the ward we set up, you are all safe.”

Meredith nodded, fascinated by the lights which were increasing in number and flying around them. Occasionally, they would chase each other around for a bit. Some seemed curious about the group, but none was brave enough to get especially close.

“Get some sleep,” Katherine told them. “We will want to cover as much ground as possible during the daylight hours, tomorrow.” She lay down. “We don’t want to be in that forest any longer than necessary.”

The children looked at each other, their eyes filled with concern, but none said anything. Instead, they followed the elves’ lead and obeyed the guardian, laying in the soft grass, and trying to sleep. Katherine hummed, helping the humans to drift off, peacefully.

However, she heard a sound and sat up, realizing that Tristan had moved away from the group and was kneeling in front of the stream. She walked over to him and spoke softly. “What are you doing up? You should be resting.”

“I was just rechecking the protection spell, my lady,” he replied over his shoulder, keeping his eyes fixed on the stream.

“The spell is fine and you know it.” She knelt beside him. “You have been rather quiet since we left the tunnels. Is there something troubling you?”

He was silent for a moment, thinking of the best way to respond. “Do you remember when you first came to Mirra?”

She smiled and nodded. “I was just a child when mother found me. You were very kind. It helped me adjust to this place.” She looked at him. “I’m not sure if I ever thanked you, properly, for that.”

“I was happy to serve the guardian, as I have always been.”

She nodded. “Mother was an excellent guardian; much better than me, I think.”

“You underestimate yourself.” He paused. “However, perhaps it is not the guardian that the Dunyan boy needs, now.”

She blinked in confusion. “You mean William? What do you think he needs?”

He looked at her, at last. “I remember a young girl who had suffered much before she came to Mirra. She was frightened and ashamed of what had been done to her.”

Katherine looked down at the water. “That was another life. There is no need to talk about it.”

Tristan watched her expression, knowing the memories caused her pain, but knowing, also, they might be what was needed. “It seems to me, he might say the same thing about his scars.” He glanced back at William. “Perhaps, it would help him to know he is not the only one who has suffered in such a way.”

“I don’t even know, for sure, what happened to him,” she insisted.

“Do you not?” He gave her a long look. “Because I saw something familiar on his face, today. His expression was very similar to yours when you first got here. I believe that girl could help him, now, much more than the guardian of Mirra.”

She considered the suggestion, but didn’t reply.

“Of course, what do I know?” Tristan stood. “I’m just an old elf who forgets his place, sometimes. Good night, my lady.” He walked away and lay down in a spot a bit away from the group, leaving Katherine to think about what he had said.

William rolled onto his back in his sleep and the pain of that pressure on his wounds woke him. He winced and sat up, feeling like an oaf for having gotten hurt a second time. It was a wonder they didn’t just leave him for dead.

“You’re awake.” Katherine’s soft voice came from nearby. “How is your back?”

He looked at her, a little surprised. He realized he should have known she’d be awake. “It hurts, but I’ll be fine.”

She nodded and took a seat beside him. He had lain down away from the group, not wanting to be near them. Katherine was silent for a few minutes before she took a deep breath and found her words. “Remember how I told you I was from Dunya?”

He blinked, thinking that was a little random. “Yes. You said you lived there about three hundred years ago.”

She nodded, seeming hesitant to go on. “Well, I lived there until I was thirteen. That was when mother brought me here.” There was another long pause. “My Dunyan father…he wasn’t a very nice man or a patient one.”

William looked away, realizing where the conversation was going. “You don’t have to tell me anything. The past is the past.”

“The past makes us who we are.” She looked at him. “My father in Dunya managed the slaves on a plantation in Carolina.”

William stared at her. “He was a slave driver?”

She nodded. “Please, do not judge us too harshly. It was a job and he was good at it.” Her expression didn’t indicate that she was proud of the fact. “He had a temper, but I could usually handle whatever he did. My mother died in childbirth, so there was no one to protect me, anyway. He could be kind, at times, though, and he was my father, so what could I do?” She gave a sad smile, then took a breath. “There was a girl on the plantation, Bethany. She was a year older than me and she was a slave. Even so, we tried to be friends. I really liked her. I taught her how to read, secretly, of course.” She looked down, seeming to be lost in the memory. It had been a while since she’d thought about her old life.

“What happened?” William asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Katherine took a minute to respond. “When I was ten, she told me she was going to escape with her older brother and she wanted me to go with them. I agreed because I was very afraid of my father, even if I did love him. She promised they would look after me.” Katherine swallowed. “I tried to sneak out of the house to meet them that night, but my father caught me. He demanded to know why I was sneaking out and became enraged when I wouldn’t tell him. He beat me until I couldn’t stand, but I said nothing.” She stared ahead, her face set. “The next day, he found out about the slaves disappearing. He was scolded by the plantation owner, but he realized I had known about it.” She took a deep breath, pulling her legs close to her chest. “It was the first time he used his whip on me.”

William stared at her for a moment, but had to look away. “That must have been terrible.”

“Afterwards, he locked me away and would never let me leave the house. He was my only company and it wasn’t very pleasant.” She took a breath. “Of course, then, one day, a woman came through my bedroom door and brought me to Mirra.” She looked around. “I am very fortunate.”

William nodded and there was a long silence between the two of them. Finally, he decided he might as well start talking. “I never knew my dad. He took off when mom got pregnant. She blamed me for him leaving. I was almost never allowed to leave the house. She had a temper, like your dad, and, one night, I stepped on her favorite belt and broke the buckle. After that, any time she lost her temper, she would use the belt on me. She used other things, but that was her favorite.”

Katherine looked at him and nodded her understanding. “A parent should protect their child. You should not be forced to feel ashamed because of what she did.”

William shrugged. “She’s my mother.” It was the only explanation he had for his behavior.

“Do you miss her?” Katherine asked, cocking her head a little.

“Why would I miss someone who treated me like that?” he scoffed, looking at the stream.

Katherine paused before replying, “She’s your mother.”

He didn’t respond and they fell into silence, again, until he asked, “Do you miss your dad?”

“Sometimes,” Katherine admitted. “I used to miss him, more. I used to wonder what he was doing; whether he missed me.” She looked out ahead. “One day, I was thinking about that and it occurred to me that I had been here for fifty years, which meant he was certain to be deceased.” She took a thoughtful pause. “I cried a lot that day.” She looked at him. “I suppose that seems pretty foolish.”

William shook his head. “The fact that he had a girl like you for a daughter and mistreated you was foolish. You loving him, in spite of it, shows strength.”

She stared at him, surprised by the statement. After a few seconds of thought, she leaned closer and kissed him on the cheek.

William jumped, making his face turn red. “What did you do that for?”

Katherine giggled and shrugged. “It just felt like the right thing to do in the moment. You amaze me, sometimes, William.”

His face grew hotter and he looked at the ground. “I don’t see why. I’m not all that impressive. I’m clumsy and slow.” He still felt guilty about falling in the tunnel and slowing them down. Add in him being unconscious for a few hours and he felt like he had just made everything worse for the group.

Katherine shook her head. “You are human. That is nothing to be ashamed of. You will never be as strong or fast as the elves, but you are exactly what you need to be and you are incredible at it.”

He gave a brief laugh, not sure how to respond to that. “I doubt I will ever be able to understand how you think.”

“Good.” She grinned. “I would hate to be so predictable.” She looked at him, remembering why he had woken up. “Is your back feeling any better?”

“A bit,” he replied, not adding that it still hurt more than he would like. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep while it was like that.

“Hold still a moment.” Katherine laid a hand on his back, gently, and he felt it growing warm. The pain slipped away into her fingers like it had when she’d touched his injured arm.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”

Katherine nodded, but her smile was strained. “Get some rest, now. You will need your energy.”

He nodded and lay down, suddenly feeling exhausted. He closed his eyes and easily fell back asleep.

She lay down, as well, but sleep did not come so easily to her. She stared at the golden stars, for a while, praying that they would make it to the Blue Palace, quickly.