Chapter 41 part 1

Emily opened her eyes slowly. The light from the sun was shining through the window and she was shocked at how late she'd slept. Usually she had been getting up with the sun since she'd been at this world, although that might have been more because she would have the sun shining into where she slept rather than she was in this place.

While she had slept in, her friends were clearly wide awake and already eating the breakfast that had been provided. Which made Emily feel good that they were at least enjoying themselves this much in this place, even if she knew they were still nervous about being here. As she sat up in the bed that the four of them had shared as they slept through the night, she couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like if Ruthie was there.

When Eddra noticed Emily was awake, she picked up a plate and brought it over to Emily. Emily had to suppress her laughter as she suddenly felt like it was almost like Eddra was her girlfriend with Vaelis and Kaelys were their kids. Yet, she couldn't say what Eddra would think about that, so she did her best to keep from laughing, so Eddra wouldn't ask why.

"Okay, fine, I guess for this one time, I am your servant," Eddra said as she chuckled.

"I didn't say anything," Emily protested calmly as she accepted the plate from Eddra. On the plate was some what she assumed were sausages, potatoes made into a variation of hashbrowns, and a boiled egg.

"Your eyes said plenty," Eddra said, looking calmer and more relaxed than Emily realized she'd ever seen the woman. "By the way, I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I put a little of everything on the plate."

"Thanks," Emily said, wishing there was something she could use to eat it with other than her hands, but she suspected that this world hadn't invented cutlery yet. Although, she thought she saw others using a spoon on other days, but she suspected that they weren't given anything like that with the breakfast.

Maybe it wasn't considered something to use for this kind of food, though Emily wouldn't have minded even that much. It at least would help her avoid the grease from the sausage or having to use her mouth to pick it off the plate.

As she did just that, she idly thought if maybe she should 'invent' chopsticks here or something. At the very least, she'd have something to eat with then if nothing else.

"You know, I really have to thank you, Emily," Eddra said as she walked back to the kids.

"What for?" Emily asked.

"Well, just for making me come with you."

"How did I do that?" Emily asked, feeling a little trepidation about where the topic was heading.

She certainly didn't want to admit she'd used her magic to enchant Eddra to willingly accompany her.

"Well, you used your magic to try and make me join you when I wasn't agreeing," Eddra said casually, as if she was merely remarking on the weather.

"Y-you could tell?" Emily asked, feeling a little uneasy. If she could tell that Emily had been using her magic, then did that mean she might be planning to get back at her?

"Yes, but it didn't have any effect on me. I was just as clear headed as before, only I could tell just how desperate you were to get me to come along. It was telling me that you were willing to take a chance that I'd turn out okay with these two little ones."

Emily took a deep breath as she finished the sausage on her plate. It was one thing for Eddra to know that she was using her magic to make her more willing to accompany her as Emily led Eddra and the two kids out of the place they'd been living for who knew how long.

Emily continued to eat in silence, not sure what she could say at the moment, though Eddra seemed to have shifted her attention to the two children and keeping them occupied.

Not that Emily minded that. If nothing else, it was pleasant to just relax and not have to do anything, even acquiring fish for them to eat at the very least.

Then there was the bed that she was sitting on. The mattress was clearly filled with down, while the comforter and pillows were filled with feathers. It was nice and warm, although Emily was a little afraid that she'd fall back asleep. If that happened, then she worried that she'd miss her appointment with the duchess that had been set up the afternoon before.

What the duchess wanted with Emily, she couldn't say. Only that she wasn't sure if she liked the idea or not. Besides, whatever the duchess had in mind to do, she couldn't think of how it would help her get any of the others that had accompanied her to this world.

She also couldn't be sure that the duchess really was convinced that she'd come from another world. Duchess Versith wasn't the kind of person Emily was used to dealing with, although ont hat point, she wasn't used to dealing with people like Eddra either. Though, she had a feeling that the duchess was wanting to strike a deal or something with Emily.

What that would involve, she couldn't be sure. Only that it would get discussed soon enough.

When she was finished eating, she got up from the bed and walked over to the window to see what was visible from it. Emily hadn't changed out of the clothing she'd been wearing from the previous day, but she did hope that if nothing else, she'd be able to talk the duchess into helping her get some clothing, and maybe to do her laundry. Not that she had anything other than what she was wearing.

Emily couldn't remember where the pack she'd been carrying had been left, but she was confident that it wasn't in this world. She thought that they'd left it in the world they had been in, that they had only planned on looking around and then heading back to that world right after there were done here. Not that it worked out quite that way.

She'd wanted to use her magic to really wash the clothing she was wearing since she got to this world, but she didn't have any detergent, and her clothing was starting to acquire a smell she couldn't place, but didn't really like. Although, she didn't really have much choice up to this point, and she got the sense that no one really noticed the smell other than her. Not that it made her like the smell any more.

The only downside with doing that was she had to do that on nights when the light of the moon wasn't to be seen. At those times she could strip down to nothing and wash the clothing without worrying about others seeing her naked, or at least being able to see her naked and realize that she was in fact naked.

Clean clothes would certainly be nice to have. Especially right then. Maybe she should have slept in the nude, but with Eddra and the kids in the room, she didn't really like the idea of doing that. Ruthie's face flashed in her mind again as that thought crossed her mind. Regardless of anything else, she'd at least like the chance to see Ruthie again, even though their relationship had been rocky at the best of times.

Sighing, she pushed herself away from the window, as there wasn't anything that she could see that had caught her interest. Maybe that would change once she learned more about this place, but at the moment, she was bored and starting to feel rather restless.

She wasn't sure when the duchess would be available to talk with them, but she couldn't say whether she should be looking forward to that talk or not. There were still too many unknowns for her to really know what this might be about.

However, she was at least determined to see it through. If nothing else, it was the best chance she had at finding those of her party that had been captured by the duchess' people when they'd arrived on this world. Not that she had any hope of getting that done any time soon. She'd only seen Rick being taken away from the city, but she wasn't watching all the gates all the time in the city, so she couldn't say for sure if the others were still here or not.

As she looked around the room again, hoping to find something that she'd be able to use to take her mind off of things, her eyes landed on the food and she couldn't help but recall what the duchess had said to them before she left them to deal with whatever had come up. With a 'royal messenger' or some such.

How her servants would not only bring them food or direct them to a dining hall, but that they'd get them something like anything they wanted.

Which at this time, Emily was wanting to know where the duchess was or if the servant would know when the duchess would be meeting with them. Not that she expected to have a servant nearby who would know that sort of thing. It was more of a shot in the dark that would at least give her something to do, if only for a moment.

So, she walked over to the door, and looked outside it. Technically it was still part of the suite that they'd been allowed to stay in. Emily was hesitant to think of it as 'given' just in case it didn't quite meet the same definition she had of the word.

Carefully, she made her way to the last of the rooms in the suite. Which was three rooms big. Emily wasn't sure what they were expected to do with so many rooms. Yet, she didn't allow that thought distract her from doing what she intended to do as she reached the door that led to outside the suite.

Even though she knew that she remembered what the duchess had said, she couldn't help but worry that there might be caveats that weren't quite mentioned.

Such as the possibility that they were supposed to either remain in the suite or to go to the dining hall. If that was the case, then there might be a guard who would escort them to keep them from going where they weren't supposed to.

However, much to Emily's surprise, there wasn't anyone outside the suite. So, she started walking out, with each step feeling like she was trespassing on private property with any second either a security guard would yell at her to stop, guard dogs would start barking, or some security system would start blaring at her.

When Emily glanced back at the door, she was shocked to see that she'd only gone about twenty feet away and her heart was pounding, as if it was ready to pop out of her chest.

What is there to be nervous about? she tried asking herself, though she was sure that she didn't really want an answer to that question. Ever.

Footsteps walking normally down the hallway, to her left made her jump and feel like she was about to have a heart attack, though, she could tell that the footsteps weren't heading in her direction.

Emily looked back at the door, not sure if she should return to the suite and do her best to be patient for the duchess to come, but she quickly shook that thought out of her head. Even if she found herself in hot water over this, she wanted to get this over with quickly.

So, she started walking, forcing herself to not think of how this might go badly, but instead her determination to get this over with. One way or another.

As Emily started to turn a corner, she nearly ran into the duchess herself. Yet, despite not having had any intention of doing anything other than talking with the duchess, Emily found herself thrown against the wall by one of the guards that had been walking with the duchess.

"What are you doing out here?" the guard asked, her hand holding Emily against the wall as she struggled to start breathing again, having had the wind knocked out of her.

"Shentis, it's alright. She wasn't told to stay in her suite. Nor was there any reason for her to have known I was coming at this time," the duchess told the guard.

"But your grace," the guard protested, her expression looking more horrified than Emily would have expected.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" she asked, her tone hinting at a threat that felt almost tangible to Emily, even though it wasn't directed at her.

"N-no, your grace," the guard said, stepping away from Emily faster than Emily knew she herself could move.

Though, since the guard wasn't holding Emily up anymore, she started to slide to the ground as she worked to get her lungs breathing again.

"Do you need any help?" the duchess asked her.

Emily looked up at the duchess, as her breath started to come back, although she still wasn't able to speak at the moment. The look she saw the duchess giving her made her feel like the duchess would step on her like an insect if she felt like it and not lose any sleep over it.

It was a very sobering moment. One that she was determined to not repeat, although she still wondered if she'd be able to escape here, given how the duchess had already essentially captured her.

Which also made her wonder if Eddra and the children were safe here or if she had gotten them in deeper trouble than they would have otherwise?

Yet, she could tell the duchess wanted an answer. So, since she wasn't sure her voice would work at the moment, she merely shook her head slowly, hoping that would be enough. She also tried standing, but wasn't having much luck as her brain was focused more on getting her breathing again.

The duchess closed her eyes and sighed, as if Emily was just making a bigger problem for her that she didn't care to deal with.

"Pick her up and help her back to her suite," the duchess ordered the guard who had knocked the wind out of Emily's lungs. Then before the guard could do anything, the duchess turned to another guard and gave another order. "Go to the one I showed you last night. Bring him to the suite this girl is staying in. I'll be there myself, so if you waste my time, you'll share the same fate."

The second guard paled as she heard the duchess' orders before putting a fist palm down to her chest and rushing off. Emily felt a small amount of satisfaction that she wasn't the only one who found the duchess scary. Idly, as the guard who had put her in this condition in the first place helped her up, but putting one of Emily's arms around her shoulders and lifting her in that manner.

Then without the duchess saying anything else, they continued on their way, which Emily was a little annoyed to find they really were heading to the suite of rooms that she'd just left. Which made her feel like she had really brought this on herself.

As if she should have expected this sort of reaction or turn of events.

By the time they'd reached the rooms, Emily was confident that she could have walked on her own, but when she suggested as much to the guard helping her, the guard's face paled, much like the other guard had. So, she didn't feel like pressing the issue.

The only thing that was becoming clear to her was just how dangerous being here was. Which also meant that Emily felt like she should try to get Eddra away from here with both Vaelis and Kaelys.

If she could do that, then no matter what happened to her, she knew she could accept her fate. Even if it meant that she never got to see Ruthie again. Which also wasn't something she planned to let happen.

The guard helped Emily sit down in the first room, or at least that's what Emily allowed it to look like, mostly because she felt a little bad for the guard now that she saw how scary the duchess could be.

"So, what were you doing wandering around?" the duchess asked, as if they were old friends having a friendly conversation as she sat down on a different couch than the one Emily had been set on.

"Uh, I actually was seeing if I could figure out where you were," Emily admitted. "I was getting bored and wanted to get this conversation over with.

"Really?" the duchess laughed. "Didn't you think I'd be here first thing this morning?"

"Your idea of 'first thing' and mine might be different," Emily answered.

The duchess looked at Emily like she was looking at someone she hadn't seen before. Her eyes were a little wider than Emily had seen them before, but her smile still made her feel like her insides were freezing over.

"You know, not many would say such things to me," the duchess replied casually, though Emily suspected that it was a warning.

"Maybe," Emily acknowledged, "but wouldn't you rather hear the truth instead of what others think will make you happy?"

The duchess looked speechless for a minute and the three guards still with her looked at Emily in shock. Which in turn made her feel like she might have crossed a line she hadn't even known was there.