“Please accompany Isabella
to her room, and stay close to her.” The three of us walk down the hall and up
the stairs holding hands with me in the middle.
I feel like a five-year-old.
“You’re safe now, Bella. Justin
and I will protect you. Are you okay?” Cora whispers as she hugs me.
“Yes, I’m fine. Confused,
tired, and I have a nasty headache. But I’m okay.”
“Good, I’ve missed you
very much, my friend.”
“I’ve missed you, too,
Cora, but I don’t think I’m …” Justin opens a door and Cora and I walk in what
appears to be my bedchamber.
“We were so worried about
you,” said Cora. “What can I get for you?”
“Nothing, Cora. Cora,
listen to me, I don’t think I am Isabella.” Cora blinks and looks shocked.
“Oh, of course, you are. Who
else could you be? You’ve just had your brainwaves jangled. Your father said
this was likely to happen. It’s the mirror transport. He would like you to
rest. You have been through a harrowing experience.”
“No, Cora. This is more
than brain jangles. I’m Samantha Blake. Sam. Do you know what happened to me?”
“Wouldn’t you rather rest
and hear the official royal Robesson version from your father?”
“No. I want to know what
you know first, the unofficial version that resembles the truth. Come on, Cora.
He’ll never know what you tell me.”
“Well, all right,” Cora
plops down on the sofa. “The high and mighty, smelly old Count James of
Henderson came to the king with news from spies in the north that you had been
targeted by the Galtari Nationals. They were going to kidnap and murder you. So
the king hid you on an off-planet, some bizarre modern place, Earth he called
it. These Earthites look just like us, I hear. I begged him to send me with
you. Justin and I both wanted to come with you, so you wouldn’t be all alone,
but he said no, something about signal dampening. I didn’t understand it. Then
he was informed that you had been abducted from your secret hiding place by the
Galt tracker who was sent to kill you. We all feared for your life. Many
thought you were already dead. But your father never gave up hope. The king has
been sending raiding parties to the planet Earth in search of you every day for
over a year.”
“Thank you, Cora. I think
I’ll take a nap now. I have a pounding headache.”
“Let me get you something
for that pounding headache. What you do want me to do with this poor little orphan
boy outfit? Throw it away?”
“No. Hang it in my closet,
in the back, please. I might need it. I like the freedom of that little orphan
boy outfit much more than all those puffy satin dresses with crinoline and
yards of lace and bows I’m seeing around here.” Cora left the room.
I crawl up on the big
comfortable bed and curl up in a ball. Cora comes back with headache medicine.
“Bella, um, Sam, here,
this will help you feel better. I’ll pick out your dinner dress, and stay with
you until you fall asleep. And Justin is right outside the door. And he’s
armed. Are you afraid?”
“Me? No. Afraid of what?”
“Nightmares? Panic? Anxiety?
Fear of being abducted by those dirty, filthy, murderous Galts again?”
“No. I have no
recollection of being abducted. I’m not even sure that really happened. But I’m
not too fond of mirrors.”
“Rest now. We’ll catch up,
later.”
“Thanks, Cora.”
Cora nod and picks out a
dress for dinner, a pale green satin with bows and a very wide full hip skirt
that tapered narrowly at the bottom. Then she sits in the chair next to me and
watches over me while I nap.
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