Louis stood frozen to the spot. The Dowager Queen started to move towards the door expecting the boys to follow suit. After a couple of steps, she noticed Louis' motionlessness.
"Come now, child. There is much to be done."
He looked back at her with a fixed gaze. "This...this home you speak of...It isn't mine. Please take me back. I want to see my mother. Heaven knows how worried she will be."
Queen Prisca replied smoothly, "If that worries you, fear not! It is time for another lesson in magic. The Etherealm otherwise known as the 'Mystic World' flows in a parallel space-time configuration as the world you are used to, which we call Primeria, as it came first. What does this mean simply? This very land you stand on-"
She raised her hand slightly and waved it gently. The space above her hand seemed to shimmer and bend until it ripped open and Louis could see the old cottage opposite the Dermont's ancient home.
"-is the one you grew up in. Only in a different reality."
The hole closed up as she lowered her hand. Louis stared dumbfounded.
"The structure of space and time in both realities work the same way, only time is slower in Primeria relative to here. So your 'mother' will be fine. She will not suspect a thing for a very long time, and when she does, she will understand the situation."
"S-s-so, your world and the 'normal' world are one and the same?" Louis scoffed.
"Not exactly, but think of it this way. Why ever your adoptive parents decided to settle in Germany will forever be a mystery to me but... we were always destined to be connected somehow, inter-related through the threads of fate. This is your destiny, your roots. Accept it, dear one."
Louis shook his head in disbelief as he made a start for the entrance to the castle. As they walked back down the halls, Blaze began to speak, "I know you have so many questions but I think it's important to give you context as to why we brought you back."
"Back?"
"Yes. Thank you, Blaise, that is very true. Just before you were born, my husband passed away. This meant my eldest son, your father- true father, Prince Damien, was to ascend the throne. But your father was not as gifted a mage as your uncle, King Frederick the Fourth, who thought he deserved the throne more than anyone."
The trio of royalty climbed up a spiralling flight of stairs.
"The truth is, Damien was hopeless. He had no great magical abilities to speak or write of. He was never able to master his Dragon-Morphing. He had problems with his speech and passing his ideas across if he even had any. To Frederick, he was useless."
They reached the grand double doors of Queen Prisca's quarters.
"The only things Damien had going for him, however, was his pure heart and his beautiful wife, Alfea."
As she said this, she disappeared into her chambers.
"I'm guessing this Alfea is my true 'mother'."
"Yes, although I don't think you will consider her 'true' for long," Blaze replied shortly. He indicated with a hand for Louis to move ahead and they walked towards a golden statue. The statue depicting a cloaked lady with unusually long fingernails suddenly came to life as they approached.
"The Witch of Tnedor," Blaze whispered to Louis.
"Det Litteris impingebat contextua."
'Scribbled letters provide context' Louis thought to himself. Strangely enough, he understood its meaning although he had just heard it for the first time. As he pondered this, the witch statue cackled and revealed an oak panelled door behind it. He followed Blaze through the door.
"Our language is a variation of Latin only it's a looser and more simplistic version as life isn't so complex, is it?"
Louis had never learnt a word of Latin before but he had always found it easy to decipher Latin writing or understand when it was spoken.
"It's odd, isn't it? Immediately understanding a language you've never heard before," Blaze spoke as they entered a large hallway that resembled a luxurious hotel corridor with its ornate wooden panelling and dark oak doors.
"These are our quarters, Louis, where we call 'home'. Now, let's get you dressed!"