Chapter 41 part 2

"Do all people speak so freely to their betters where you're from?" the duchess asked after a moment of their stunned silence.

"What do you mean by 'betters?'" Emily asked, feeling a little confused. Even though they were speaking the same language, it felt like they weren't working with the same definitions.

"Why you're a commoner, right?" the duchess asked. "Why else would you have been sent with the others? I mean, you didn't say you were in charge of the group of people you arrived with, so I assumed that meant you weren't part of the nobility where you're from."

Emily merely shook her head after thinking for a moment. She wasn't fully versed in the constitution or all the laws around it, but she was pretty sure she did at least remember hearing something, somewhere, about it that might help her.

"In the country I'm from, no one's a commoner or noble, or whatever you're referring to. When the country was formed, the people in charge were sick of lords and ladies and all that, so it was decided that everyone was supposed to be equal or something," Emily answered, feeling like she was missing some key details that probably would have helped her out a lot.

"Is that so?" the duchess asked, gazing at Emily with an appraising look.

Emily nodded, not sure if she helped herself out just now or if she'd made things worse somehow.

When Emily thought the duchess was about to continue on, she merely sighed. Then she looked at the guards, so saluted her and walked back out the door they'd come through, closing it behind them.

When they were alone, the duchess looked at Emily. "So. Who sent you on that 'mapping' expedition you said you were doing when we spoke yesterday?"

"His name's Heathcliff," Emily replied. "He's the one that in charge of those who can use magic in my world."

"A man in charge?" the duchess asked, like it was a novel idea, though from what Emily could tell from what she'd already learned, it wasn't a completely foreign idea in this world. "Things must be a mess in your world."

"Yeah, but that's not his fault," Emily replied. "That has to do with everyone in the government, which Heathcliff isn't as interested in getting involved with."

The duchess nodded absently. Her mind apparently still preoccupied with Emily's earlier response.

"Is it really that strange?" Emily couldn't help but ask, feeling like there might be bigger differences between her world and this one than she'd originally thought.

"You mean that's common where you're from?" the duchess asked, almost like Emily had said something blasphemous.

Slowly she nodded, feeling like she was getting put on an execution block, no matter what she would say.

However, the duchess merely closed her eyes and shook her head. "It might be interesting to see this world of yours one day," she remarked, opening her eyes which now had a faraway look in them.

"Well, if I remember correctly where we would need to travel to, I think it would take a couple months straight travel," Emily said, trying to recall where exactly the entrance to the unicorn's forest was on the world that they had been mapping.

The duchess waved her hand, like she was trying to dispel some odor or vapor. "Don't worry about that. What I'd like to know is what you can offer me. Or if not you, then this Heathcliff. What can he offer me?"

Emily shook her head, unsure what she could do about this. "I'd have to ask him," she informed the duchess. "The others in my party have had more contact with him than I have, so they'd be better at telling you what he might offer."

"Well, it's a good thing that I have someone else from those who were with you," the duchess remarked, startling Emily.

"Wh-what are you saying?" Emily asked, feeling like she might have misheard what the duchess had said.

However, it was clear that the duchess wasn't interested in answering Emily's question. Not that Emily was really surprised. The look on the duchess' face was like that of a cat playing with a mouse in front of it.

"So, is this suite to your liking?" the duchess asked instead of answering Emily's question.

Emily shrugged. "They're alright," she said, not really caring.

"Oh?" the duchess asked, looking a little surprised. "What more would you have liked? If you could have anything you wanted, I mean."

Emily sighed, not seeing a reason to hide the luxuries she was used to from Earth. Or at least what she was now seeing as luxuries. "Well, electricity would be nice. That way I wouldn't have to deal with those oil lamps for light at night," Emily replied, looking towards a window in the room, feeling like she was merely making a list of things that she would like to have. "Then it would be nice to be able to watch some TV or even a movie. I mean, even listening to any music on the radio would be good, even if it's not my kind of music."

The duchess looked confused to Emily when she looked back at her. Yet, she couldn't be sure if that was a good thing or not.

"What is elect-" the duchess started to say, but then stopped. "Whatever it was you were talking about."

Emily put her hand over her face and couldn't help but start to chuckle. Even though she still felt like she was courting death by doing this in front of the duchess.

"What's so funny?" the duchess snapped.

"Sorry," she apologized, trying to stop chuckling, though the chuckles continued despite her efforts. "it's just that I'm so used to it and it's been so common in my world for over a hundred years that it's hard to explain."

The duchess sighed in annoyance. "Well, what is it?" I'm sure I can replicate it on this world."

Finally Emily was able to get her chuckling to stop. "Uh, well, I'm sure you can, but you'd also have to set up an energy grid, which would take a while to do," Emily answered. "Oh, then you'd have to get all the buildings in your city wired up so they could use the electricity."

The duchess sighed, clearly getting annoyed. "Just tell me what it is already," she snapped.

Emily nodded. "Well, you've seen lighting, right?"

"That's what electricity is?" the duchess asked, sounding rather incredulous.

"Yeah, it is," Emily replied. "But the lightning also is much stronger than what you would have going through your grid if you got it set up."

The duchess waved her hand again, this time her annoyance was clear. "Enough of that. I'll need you to explain in detail about everything you just told me. Everything you know about it," she informed Emily, making her wish she hadn't said what she had about what she wished she could have had there in the suite.

"But that'll have to be another time," the duchess said, dispelling Emily's dread. "What I need you to-"

A knock at the door startled both Emily and the duchess. "What is it?" the duchess snapped.

"Uh, your grace?" a voice asked, sounding rather hesitant. "I brought the one you wanted me to bring here?"

"Send him in," the duchess called out.

Emily wasn't sure what to expect as the door opened and a person was let in. It was a man who was bearded and looked rather shaggy. Almost like he had been a man who'd been pulled off the street and thrown in there.

However, a moment later, Emily realized she recognized the man. Someone she hadn't expected to see at all. Let alone in the duchess' residence.

"Nick!" she cried, a welcome wave of relief washing over her, forgetting about how scared she had been of the duchess ever since she'd seen the duchess' dark side earlier.

Even though he had a beard that was growing, haunted eyes, shaggy hair, and clothing that clearly hadn't been changed for a while, she couldn't help but recognize him. Although, it still took a minute as the difference from when she'd last seen him was rather stark.

Nick turned to look at Emily, looking like he wasn't sure what he was looking at. Even though she couldn't imagine what he'd gone through here, she was grateful that

Emily couldn't help but be conscious of the duchess looking at Emily as she stood up and walked over to Nick, pulling him into an embrace, She didn't care that she felt emotions that had been bottled up for a while start to burst out, surprising her that they were even there.

She can feel the tears streaming down her face as she could see that there was at least one person whom she knew and had traveled to this world with. Someone whom she thought would take a while in order to find again.

As she pulled away, she couldn't help but notice the look Nick was giving her. One of confusion and fear.

What happened to him? Emily asked herself, unsure about what this development meant.

"It's me, Nick," Emily said, making sure to speak in English, as she had no idea if he'd been able to learn the language that the duchess and Eddra spoke. "Emily."

Nick's eyes remained blank as he looked at her, causing her stomach to turn as a new fear started to build up inside of her. That he might not ever remember her.

However, as she was about to turn away from him, his eyes focused. "Emily," he breathed, almost like her name was foreign to him.

Emily held her breath, unsure if that meant he remembered her or if he was just repeating what she'd said. She hoped that he remembered her, but she couldn't be absolutely sure.

"You're the one who never wanted to do it with me, no matter how many time I tried…" Nick said, then trailed off.

Slowly the fear that had started to build began to dissipate. She felt a smile form on her face, as she recalled what Nick wouldn't say. That he'd tried multiple times to drug her, but she'd always avoided that.

Though, she never held it against him. If he had succeeded, despite what she knew others would have told her, which was that it wouldn't have been her fault, she would have accepted that it was her fault. Nick's attempts were so easy to spot, that if she hadn't noticed them, she would have taken it to mean that she would have allowed it to happen.

Despite that, she knew that she could trust him, in pretty much everything else.

"Yeah, that's me," she said, stepping away from Nick. She certainly didn't want to give him the impression that she would let him do her at this point. She still didn't like the idea of a guy doing her.

"Hmmm," the duchess said, apparently not having expected this little reaction from Nick. Or at least that's all Emily could assume when the duchess stood up. "It looks like you might need time to get catch up, so I'll speak with you again tomorrow."

"Alright," Emily replied. "Oh, and thanks for this."

The duchess didn't react to Emily's response until she reached the door. Then she turned and looked at Emily, as she was about to sit back down.

"Keep in mind. I don't do things for free. Help me out and you'll be surprised at the things I'll do for you," the duchess said. Then after she opened the door, she added, "And if you don't, you might be surprised at the things I'll do to you."

Beth groaned as she became aware of her surroundings. At first she thought that maybe she'd just slept wrong or something, until she opened her eyes and tried to sit up.

At that point, the aches flared up, keeping her on her back, literally. The pain was also so intense that she lost her sight for a moment as they seemed to stop working for a moment.

How far over my limit did I go? Beth couldn't help but wonder. If she had gone farther than Charlie had when she'd overextended herself doing that dream conference, then Beth couldn't help but think that she probably was lucky to be alive. Especially since while Charlie had been worn out, she hadn't seemed to have as many aches as Beth did. Although, that could easily be because from the fact that she'd been essentially running around all day the day before, dealing with the bandit attack.

Although, that's at least what she hoped the reason for it was.

Closing her eyes, she hoped that maybe she'd fall asleep again and wake up later without the aches. Not that she held out much hope for that.

Yet, as she started to try and even her breathing out again, she felt more than heard movement around her. Though, she could feel a warm weight next to her and she was pretty sure that it was Flare, sleeping soundly.

Opening her eyes again, she looked around and saw Tim getting up. Which made her feel like putting something sharp in his shoes when he took them off next time. He clearly didn't have the aches that Beth did, though she couldn't be sure if there was a specific reason why or if he was just more used to moving around as much as Beth had been.

Though there was also the point where he clearly hadn't overextended his magic use. Although, if he was the one who would have had Amelia's life in his hands, Beth was sure he'd have done the same thing she had.

Not that it made her body ache any less.

Tim first checked on Amelia then Hannah before starting up a small fire. While Beth herself wasn't exactly injured, she wouldn't have minded if he'd check on her. After all, she was quite sure that her inability to do anything after helping Amelia should have made it clear that she wasn't in the best of condition at the moment.

However, talking at the moment felt like it was too much of a hassle, so she remained quiet. She wished she could do more than just lay there, but with her body in that condition, if she did get up, she wasn't sure how well she'd be able to walk or if there even might be some vertigo.

Regardless of what it was, she couldn't help but think that they probably weren't going to have an easy time getting back to the village. If nothing else, Hannah and her would need to be helped back, and Beth was pretty sure that only Tim was present that they could reliable expect to be able to accomplish that.

Maybe Cinder could do that, but Beth was fairly sure that he didn't have the physical strength necessary to help them with that. Besides which, Beth wasn't sure that she'd be able to walk all the way back, even with someone supporting her. If anything, she'd expect that they'd need to make a stretcher or something, otherwise she had a feeling that her aches would eventually keep her from moving period.

That's also assuming nothing else came from it. Her aches might just be her body complaining about moving, but it could also be a sign of stress where parts of her body might be trying to repair damage that she wasn't aware of and if she pushed too far, they could essentially start to fall apart on her.

Which wasn't a pleasant thought given their current situation. Not that they could do anything about it right then, other than let her body heal on its own.

Sighing, Beth closed her eyes, wondering if Amelia would wake up with full strength or if she'd be still a little out of it as well.

The only thing Beth could remember healing on Amelia was the injury with her head, but she suspected that there was more to it, since she didn't think it should have taken so much out of her. Either she had healed parts of Amelia's brain that had been damaged or she had other injuries that Beth hadn't noticed because of the severity and danger of her head injury.

It wasn't long before Beth heard the sound of Tim breaking sticks and could smell the faint odor of wood smoke, indicating that the fire he'd gotten started was going strong and he'd probably start cooking something soon. While she and Tim hadn't brought anything to eat with them, she had a hunch that Cinder and his family had, which meant that she might be able ot get something as well, although she felt a little guilty about that knowledge as she couldn't say if Wes had been successful in getting food for those they'd left behind with Ralph.

She hoped they had, but she couldn't be absolutely certain. There were too many possibilities that she couldn't just disregard. However, she knew that at the very least, if she didn't take care of herself, especially with her in the condition she was in, she wouldn't be able to take care of anyone else. Even those she had promised to take care of as well.

"So, Beth," Tim said, apparently either aware that Beth was awake or merely hoping she was. "Any idea of where to go once we can get everyone together?"

While she was tempted to stay silent, she really didn't feel like it, and his question was a very good one. She just wished they weren't in such lousy condition. Or at least that she wasn't.

"Not sure," she admitted, wishing she could sit up and look at Tim as she talked with him. Though, she did at least open her eyes to look in his direction the best she could under the circumstances. "We'll probably need to talk with some of the people in the village to learn about some of the surrounding area. Maybe they'll have a suggestion or two."

"Probably the best way to go about it," Tim acknowledged. "We certainly don't want to cross paths with those people again with us in the condition we're in."

Beth didn't say anything. She couldn't help but wonder if the bandits might be in much the same condition they were in, but she had a feeling that the bandits still had plenty of people who could still fight.