Tagan's Child (12 page)

“Not far now,”
he confirmed. “I should perhaps mention that people are affected
differently when they travel through portals. It is a bit like
travel sickness, some people get really sick and some people are
not affected at all. Do you get travel sick?” he asked.

“Not
generally,” I said, wincing for the umpteenth time as a sharp stick
jabbed into my leg. “I’m not great on boats though,” I said, not
feeling heartened by this most recent piece of information.

“You won’t know
how you are affected until you travel through one,” he
explained.

My stomach
started to churn at the thought and I had a horrible feeling I
might be one of those people who got sick.

“It’s over
there,” he said pointing to a big oak.

“What, that
tree?”

“No,” he said
chuckling.

“I’m glad I
amuse you,” I said, narrowly avoiding a tree stump.

“It’s just in
front of that tree.”

I squinted to
see if I could see anything that resembled a space travelling
portal but my not so superhuman eyes let me down. “Oh of course,
silly me, so it is,” I said, defaulting to sarcasm to hide my
nerves.

We approached
the tree. I held his hand and gripped his arm with my other hand as
if my life depended on it. Which, I thought to myself, it actually
did.

“You won’t let
go will you?”

“No, of course
I won’t.”

He stopped and
looked down at me.

“Okay, take a
few deep breaths. Are you ready?”

“No, but yes,”
I said, my stomach feeling like a boa constrictor had taken up
residence. I eyed the indistinct spot in front of the tree
nervously.

“Let’s go
then,” he said.

I felt like a
World War One infantryman who had just been ordered to go over the
top and I clung to Ahran as we walked towards the gateway. As we
neared it, I spontaneously put my hand out thinking we were going
to walk right into the tree trunk, but instead we kept on walking,
hitting nothing. Suddenly, the only thing I was aware of was
darkness and the feeling I was in a lift that was hurtling towards
the ground.

It was a really
unpleasant sensation.

I gripped
Ahran’s hand as tightly as I could and screwed my eyes shut. My
stomach began to heave as I lost all sense of gravity. We took
another step and I jolted forward as if I had misjudged the
distance stepping off an escalator.

After the
darkness of the portal I was not prepared for the intense
brightness and clamped my hand over my eyes trying to shield them.
“Ah, that’s bright,” I exclaimed. I don’t know what was worse, the
nausea or the near blindness I felt. I did a quick mental check.
Thankfully I hadn’t burnt up on entry. In fact, not one hair was
singed. I took a deep breath and inhaled the smell of warm
undergrowth.

“Here, put my
sunglasses on,” Ahran said, placing them in my other hand. “You
will need them until your eyes have adjusted. Our sun burns much
more brightly than yours.”

I put them on
but didn’t open my eyes immediately.

“How are you
feeling?” Ahran asked.

“Not great,” I
said as my stomach began to heave. I reached out to steady myself,
grateful when my hand made contact with his arm. A second wave
quickly followed the first and I bent forward and threw up. When I
had finished I spat out some biley dribble. “Ugh! Sorry.”

“Sit down and
have some water,” he said, placing a small bottle in my hands. I
didn’t argue and gingerly sat down resting my forehead on my knees
and took a few deep breaths.

“That was
horrible,” I croaked. “I guess I’m one of those people that gets
sick.” I felt disgruntled at my bad luck and laid my head back on
my knees.

After a few
moments the nausea subsided enough for me to sit up straight and
sip from the bottle Ahran had given me.

“Take your
time, you should find it gets easier the more you do it,” he
reassured.

For the time
being, I didn’t want to contemplate going back through the portal.
Gradually, the nausea began to pass. I slowly opened my eyes
unprepared for what I was about to see.

“Wow!”

We were sat on
high ground looking down into the most beautiful valley I had ever
seen. It was flanked by two ranges of enormous snow-capped
mountains. Lower down they were beautifully lush and green. Wispy
clouds ambled from mountain to mountain whilst the river below
mirrored the startling blue of the sky above as it snaked into the
distance. Nestled along its banks was what looked like a small town
in a uniform, grid-like pattern. The air was crystal clear and it
felt like someone had just removed a fuzzy filter from my eyes. The
colour of the lake, grass and trees was so vibrant and the sky was
the most brilliant of blues. I greedily drank it all in. “It’s so
beautiful,” I said breathlessly. “Where are we?”

Ahran had been
watching my reaction. “This is Dinara, and we are in the grounds of
the King’s private estate.”

I breathed in a
lungful of air and it felt like it was doing me good from the
inside out.

“Dinara is
particularly known for the purity and clarity of its atmosphere. We
have very strict rules about pollution.” We sat there for an
immeasurable amount of time as Ahran waited for me to have my fill
of this new world.

“How do you
feel now?” he asked.

“A lot better
than I did thanks. It’s so warm.” I felt overdressed in my pink
sweater and I peeled it off, my t-shirt riding up underneath as I
pulled it over my head. Ahran’s eyes lowered to my midriff before I
could pull the hem back down to meet the top of my jeans. I felt a
certain sense of satisfaction that he wasn’t quite as immune to me
as I had thought he was.

“Now I know why
you always smell of the sun,” I said, tying my sweater around my
waist, although immediately regretted saying it, it made me sound
like I paid far too much attention to him.

He smiled and
stood up, offering his hand to help me up. “Shall we continue?”

He pulled me to
my feet effortlessly. He had removed his jacket and had casually
slung it over his shoulder like he was about to do a photo shoot.
Dear lord, how was a girl supposed to keep her eyes to herself?

“Whoa,” I said,
feeling woozy and losing my balance. Ahran put his hands out to
steady me.

“Our atmosphere
has a slightly higher concentration of oxygen and it can make you
feel a little light-headed to begin with, so just take it easy,
your body will adapt.”

Most of the
physical contact I’d had with Ahran so far had been as a result of
me collapsing or tripping or crying on him. I made a mental note to
try and be more robust, besides all this close contact was not
doing my nerves any good. Fighting the urge to lean into him, I
pulled away. “I’m okay. I’m not usually this feeble, it’s just that
a lot has happened over the last couple of days,” I said, making my
excuses.

He took my
hand. “Come on, that’s the palace down there,” he said, pointing to
an extensive building that was nestled into the hillside.

“Why isn’t the
portal inside the palace?” I asked as we began to make our way down
a path.

“The frequency
of a portal causes too much interference; it needs to be a certain
distance away from buildings.”

“Oh, I see.”
Well, at least I tried to. “Does King Halsan know we’re
coming?”

“Yes, I
contacted him before we left; he is looking forward to meeting
you.”

I liked the
idea of royalty looking forward to meeting me. In spite of my
initial apprehension, I was starting to enjoy myself. The sun was
warm, the scenery was a sight to behold and I liked the feel of my
hand in Ahran’s more than I cared to admit. We descended the
hillside and I noticed the light glinting off reflective surfaces
at various points on the opposite hill.

“Are those
houses built into the side of the mountain?” I asked squinting.

“Yes, a lot of
houses are underground or partially underground here in Dinara.
They are more energy efficient and have less of an impact on the
landscape. Everything we build has to have minimal impact on the
environment,” he explained.

I compared this
stunning place with Earth and felt embarrassed that we were only
just beginning to realise the importance of looking after our
planet.

Before long, we
were walking along a gravel track. At the end of it, there was a
pair of large wooden gates flanked by high stone walls that traced
around the hillside. It was a non-descript entrance like that of a
multi-million dollar Hollywood pad. There were cameras dotted
around the entrance and along the wall and as we approached, the
gates slowly opened. I was beginning to feel more than a little
nervous. We walked through the gateway into a large gravelled area.
To our left the grounds were terraced and led up to an extensive,
modern, wooden and glass, largely single storey building that
adhered itself to the contours of the hill. It had a wonderful
vantage point of the lake and town below. There was a beautiful
fragrance coming from the unrecognisable blooms in the flowerbeds
and I could hear running water but I couldn’t see where the sound
was coming from.

A middle aged
man in a dark suit came out of the building and trotted down the
wide steps to meet us. This must be King Halsan, I thought and
wondered whether I should curtsey.

“Ah Ahran, good
to see you, we haven’t seen you here for a while,” the man said as
he approached, his spoken English was clearly a gesture for my
benefit and demonstrated his excellent manners. He wasn’t as tall
as Ahran but he was in good shape for a man of more senior years.
His fair hair was peppered with grey and he had a kind face. The
man bowed his head towards Ahran, and Ahran responded with a slight
dip of his head which didn’t seem quite as reverential as I thought
it should have been.

“Sulaan, I’d
like you to meet Sophie McAllister.”

Okay so this
wasn’t the king.

“Miss
McAllister, we have been anticipating your arrival.” He bowed his
head for a second time. Sulaan must have been the King’s butler or
footman or whatever you called someone like him in an alien royal
household.

“Sophie, this
is Sulaan, the King’s premier aide.”

I noticed he
didn’t extend his hand so I just nodded awkwardly.

“Er, hello,
pleased to meet you.” I had no idea what the standard etiquette for
meeting the King’s premier aide was, come to think of it I was
pretty clueless as to how to greet a King. I hadn’t thought to ask
Ahran to brief me on the finer details of meeting and greeting his
head of state.

“If you would
like to follow me the King is waiting for you,” he said turning. We
followed on.

I gave Ahran an
uncertain look and he winked at me. Playful Ahran. Now that was
new. I was trying so hard to fight my attraction for him. It was so
much easier when he was being abrupt.

We walked into
the palace together and it was like we had just stepped into the
pages of ‘Hello!’ magazine. I pushed the sunglasses I was wearing
up onto my head. The entrance was opulent in an understated way.
There were several cream chaise longue chairs lining the walls on
either side which were interspersed with ferns and other greenery.
Hanging on the walls were large pictures of subtle abstract art and
there was a large modern chandelier which hung from the double
height ceiling. Sulaan’s shoes clicked on the polished marble floor
as we walked through the entrance. We turned down a long corridor.
On the right hand side were doors leading to modern, spacious rooms
with views out onto the valley. To our left there didn’t appear to
be a wall as the corridor circumnavigated an enormous open air
rectangular courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard was a large
shallow rectangular pool with a water fountain. This must have been
the source of the running water I had heard out on the terrace. It
was deliciously cool and tranquil inside.

I found it
difficult keeping up with Ahran and Sulaan, their strides were so
much longer than mine. We walked through a number of other glass
corridors fringed by rooms. The ones I had a chance to peek into
were large, understated and tastefully furnished. I marvelled at
how the place managed to stay so cool in spite of all the glass. I
managed to get a good look at one of the dining rooms. It had a
huge glass dining table with a number of large leather chairs
around it. In contrast to the simple lines of the table, was
another intricate glass chandelier hovering over its centre. I
thought about my cosy little cottage back home, this place could
not have been more different. It wasn’t particularly to my taste
but it was beautiful and expensive.

“Nearly there,”
Sulaan announced. We had been walking for a good few minutes.

I suddenly
wished I’d put on something a bit smarter rather than jeans and a
white t-shirt.

“Okay?” Ahran
asked.

I had
butterflies at the prospect of meeting Toby’s grandfather. I
nodded.

We walked down
to the end of the corridor to another nondescript door and Sulaan
knocked and waited.

This is it!

Ahran must have
sensed my nerves because he smiled at me flashing his lovely white
teeth. A voice from inside invited us in and Sulaan opened the
door. Ahran gently took my elbow and steered me into the room.
Sulaan didn’t follow but quietly shut the door behind us .

The room was
bigger than the whole of the downstairs of my house. We were facing
a glass wall with that spectacular view out onto the valley. In
front of the window was a large desk, and sat behind it was a man,
who bore a remarkable resemblance to Sean Connery, although he was
perhaps a little broader. He stood up and came out from behind it.
He was tall with short greying hair that must have been dark brown
once, and he had a closely cropped greying beard. He wore a pair of
light casual trousers and a loose white, short-sleeved linen shirt.
He carried himself with the confident air of someone with
authority. This was King Halsan.