The news of the gates being open was entirely unexpected. Not only that, but he'd received confirmation from the one who had first learned about the people from another world that they had indeed come through a gate. Delit wasn't sure what he should do about them.
Some of his advisors were telling him to keep them captive, though he couldn't be sure that would be the best route. Others were telling him to try and make them allies, in the event the war started up again. Delit hadn't been alive during that war, but he knew that his father had been fighting in it. He was also aware the one fighting against the side with the Greater Unicorns had also survived.
Which meant that with the gates open, it was only a matter of time before that enemy became aware of it. Not that Delit was aware of anyone who had fought against that enemy and survived to share any actual details about that individual or group.
Despite that, Delit was inclined to not keep the people from the other world captive, not only because one of them saved his son, but because while he could see they could have made holding them very difficult in the first place, they had been very peaceful and willing to deal with them despite their less than hospitable treatment of them. However, for some reason, even some of his advisors who weren't advocating him keep them held captive weren't happy with that decision.
Delit didn't care. He could only make decisions as long as it went with what he felt was right personally. They hadn't done anything wrong specifically, that they should reasonably have known was wrong, which kept him from feeling like they were enemies. He saw them as potential allies, but couldn't be sure.
"Still can't decide, huh?" a voice said from the doorway.
Delit turned to look at the voice, as he stopped pacing in front of his desk. His best friend and butler, Foren, had quietly opened the door.
"No, it's not something that I had expected to experience myself," Delit admitted.
"Well, who knew that the gates would ever open again, let alone all at once," Foren commented.
"What we now need to do is map the worlds that we can access right now and see if we can identify which worlds that the gates we can find lead to," Delit said. "Yet, I can't decide if we should let these people continue on whatever journey there were on or if I should find a way to keep them here to help us out."
Foren seemed to think for a minute. "Have you spoken with more of that group than just the one that saved your son?"
Delit sighed as he shook his head. "No, I haven't. I wanted to come up with a decision about what to do with them before."
"If you speak with another of them, they might inadvertently give you information that you need to make that decision," Foren replied. "Maybe you'll also understand why some of your advisors are voicing their support for keeping them held captive."
Delin nodded. "Would you think I'd get any volunteers if I tried sending anyone with them?"
"Hard to say, but I have a feeling that they might object to it," Foren answered. "If they hadn't been held like they had, then maybe they'd be more inclined to trust us."
"And there's the problem. Those who should have known better treated them as if they knew exactly who they were and didn't even think that if they were right that they would have reacted differently. As such, they might not hold us in a favorable light and might consider us hostile overall," Delit said.
"Uhhh, you lost me," Foren admitted. "You didn't make it clear who you were talking about at any time in that statement. Also, I think they might not consider us hostile, or at least completely hostile, or I think the one who saved your son might have joined the cut-ear assassin."
Delit sighed. "Do you have any ideas of what I might be able to do about it?"
Foren thought for a minute. "Talk with one of their thought mages and see what you might learn."
Delit wished there was a way he could just make a decision he'd be comfortable with without having to do that. Yet, it seemed like circumstances were conspiring against him. He knew his advisors wouldn't be able to give him suggestions that had sound reasoning behind them, but he was sure that they wouldn't see it that way.
However, there was a lot they didn't know. Largely because he'd learned about it from his father with the understanding that he wasn't to let anyone else know, accept to his heir. He wasn't sure what information these newcomers had and if they might have information that his father pressed into him how important it was to keep it from being known to the elves he ruled. However, if they did know anything of that sort, would it be time to share it with the people, or maybe just a few of his advisors?
Delit couldn't help but wish he hadn't been born in line for the crown. Not knowing any of this would have made his life so much easier.
_
Charlie was so full she couldn't think what might have been the tipping point of what had been the item that put her over the limit. Beth had told them about how she'd been waiting for something to eat as well for a while, but it seemed that their 'hosts' had finally decided to get them something to eat after having let them starve for around an entire day.
It had taken a while, but eventually they were sent something to eat. At first it wasn't much, but then, more her friends than Charlie herself, kept threatening to follow whoever brought the food back to where it came from. Eventually their hosts got the message that they were hungry and the easiest way to keep them in that room was to send a LOT of food.
Charlie had enjoyed being able to eat her fill. She probably was going to regret it later when her stomach started complaining about how stuffed she was, but that was never something she worried about until after she had to deal with the pain. Not that she had that happen that often, even during holiday feasts.
"So, any idea what's going on here?" Beth asked.
"I get the feeling they're starting to realize what we first had been telling them was the truth," Tim commented.
"Any guesses on the reason they're not letting us out of this room?" Amelia asked.
"What'll we get if we guess correctly?" Hannah asked Amelia. "Maybe we can choose the next book we read?"
Amelia shot her best friend an offended look. "I'm not putting it out as a bet. I'm just asking to pass the time," she informed Hannah.
"While it would be nice if they were going to, say award Beth a medal or something, I have a feeling that it's not going to be that," Wes remarked.
"Yeah, if saving the king's son did get me something like that, I think I'd push them to award it to Charlie," Beth said, a mischievous look on her face as she turned her gaze towards Charlie.
Charlie had a bad feeling about this, but tried playing it off like she didn't suspect a thing. "You could try that," she replied casually. "Though, you'd first have to find me."
"Is that a challenge?" Hannah asked.
"What is it with you and competing, today?" Amelia asked Hannah.
"Hey, I'm bored. I'm sorry if I need something to get my mind off of being so bored," Hannah complained.
"Well, it's not like it's we should be here much longer," Tim observed. "I mean, we should be able to get out of here without much trouble now that we have our stuff back."
"Maybe, but I have a feeling they're ready for anything we might try," Wes said. "I mean, all of us tried talking with each other using our magic when we were at that police station kind of place, but we couldn't reach anyone. So, I have a feeling they're going to have something else here that will make it more of a pain to try and get out if they're not willing to let us go."
Charlie was happy so many other topics had been thrown out there and Hannah had forgotten about what she had been about to challenge Charlie about a minute ago. With how her stomach was going to rebel against her soon, she didn't care to have that to deal with as well. Mostly, she was fine taking one of the cushions on the sofa and laying of the floor with her 'pillow' under her head. A nap sounded like it might let her get over the feelings of the current situation she was in as well as the meal she'd finished a good part of.
Unfortunately, fate seemed to enjoy making her go through a hard time at the moment. As the door opened and someone said something. Charlie wasn't paying attention, so she had no idea what was being said or anything. Just that suddenly Beth was shaking her, rousing her out of the relaxed state she often associated with the moments before she fell asleep.
"Charlie, Ralph said they want to talk with you," Beth said when Charlie looked at her in surprise, and maybe a little annoyance.
"Ugh," Charlie groused. When she wanted to just sleep, that's when they wanted to talk with her. When they didn't, she couldn't really get to sleep very well. So, of course this would be the time they'd want to talk with her.
Slowly, Charlie stood up, doing her best to not upset her stomach. While she didn't like when her stomach hurt this much, she disliked the taste that was left in her mouth when she threw up, so the pain was much more preferable to endure.
Though, as she walked towards the door where a different guard waited, she kept herself hunched over, carefully walking at a pace that didn't jostle her stomach too much. Which was rather difficult to do at the moment.
She briefly considered using her magic to heal her stomach, but she doubted that it would work, since Amelia was their leading expert on healing with magic, and she was closer to the beginner level than Amelia was, and since Amelia hadn't suggested using magic to solve her stomach issues, Charlie wasn't inclined to try anything with that involved. Or at least that's the conclusion her mind was coming up with at the moment over that problem.
The guard didn't seem to care much, he just matched his pace with Charlie, merely helping steer Charlie in the direction he wanted her to go. When they arrived where he was apparently supposed to escort her to, she couldn't say how long they'd been walking. Her back certainly ached at the position she'd been in , not that it was any indication of an exact time that she could identify.
The guard knocked on the door and after a moment, he opened the door, then motioned for Charlie to enter. Charlie nodded her thanks to the guard, not sure if she'd be able to keep the pain out of her voice. Personally, she hoped that she'd have to wait in this room for a while before whoever she was supposed to talk with showed up. Much like how long they'd had to wait to get something to eat in the first place.
Yet, fate, or maybe it was the universe, felt like toying with Charlie at the moment, as there were two men in the room, who looked like they were waiting for her. Charlie noticed that in the room was a table, a few chairs, and some pictures, tapestries and other wall decorations that she didn't pay much attention to. In all, it looked like a meeting room, though not for large meetings.
"I believe you said your name is Charlie, correct?" a man who was dressed very regally asked. Charlie recognized him from the description that Beth had given her of the father who's son she'd apparently saved.
"Yeah, I'm Charlie," she replied, making a beeline for the nearest chair so she could sit down and not have to worry about the balancing act she'd been working on in order to keep her stomach from hurting too much.
"Would you mind answering a few questions I have for you?" the man asked conversationally.
"Go ahead," Charlie answered disinterestedly, as she settled herself in the chair.
She noticed that the two men exchanged a look, but she didn't care at the moment. Answering their questions would merely hasten the time that they were bothering her, which meant that it would take less time before she could take the nap she was really looking forward to at the moment.
"First, why were you and your, uh, friends traveling from world to world?" the man asked.
Charlie couldn't help but sigh. This wasn't really a question. It was a request for an explanation. Which meant that she would have to explain not only what it was that they were looking for, but also why. She didn't have a reason to hide any of that from them, but she wasn't happy about how long it'd take either.
"It's a long story," Charlie warned.
"Make it short then," the man suggested.
Charlie sighed again, doubting her 'short' version would be acceptable to the man, but she couldn't think of a better alternative. "Okay, we're looking for a world that has a specific griffin canyon," Charlie said.
The man's eyebrows moved sharply as he scowled at Charlie. "Why would you look for a griffin canyon?"
"Because I dropped something in it when I walked through a gate in my world that led to the canyon, just in the air above it," Charlie replied, hoping that he would just let her go after this. She really would like to sleep, but at the moment there wasn't anything that she could see about the man to give her much hope of that happening.
"What was it you dropped?" the man asked. "Is it important?"
Charlie rolled her eyes at that question. "It's a crystal, and it is important," Charlie assured him. "If it wasn't, we wouldn't have started doing this on our own."
"So, how do you plan on determining where to go to get to that world?"
"It's not like we know how many we'll have to go through to find that world, we just plan on moving from world to world until we find it," Charlie said. "We don't know how long it'll take, but we're prepared for it to take years if necessary."
The man nodded, looking like he was impressed with Charlie's statement, though she suspected that he was putting on an act. She couldn't say why, but she had the impression that he was looking for something in her words. Not that she had any clue as to what was going through his mind. She didn't even bother trying to read is him, since he looked like someone important, so she suspected that he'd feel like he had a glass barrier, or whatever it actually was, it just felt like glass to Charlie, that kept her from being able to directly look inside his mind.
"How long have you and your friends been traveling from one world to another?"
"I think it's been, uh maybe three and a half weeks? Maybe four?" Charlie asked, doing her best to ignore the pain her stomach was giving her. "I'd have to ask my friends. I'm not sure how long it's exactly been."
The man paused before asking his next question, almost as if he noticed something he'd missed earlier. "Are you feeling alright?"
Charlie merely waved her hand dismissively, almost as if she was trying to half-heartedly dispel a bad odor. "I just ate too much. I'll be fine, ugh, eventually," she answered, pausing briefly as she felt a small burp come up.
The man nodded and sat at the chair across from hers at the table. "What have you done while you've been moving from world to world?"
Charlie thought about trying to explain what she'd done with her friends, but decided it would be too much effort and she really wanted to find somewhere she could lay down and get her stomach to digest the food.
"I could show you if you're willing," Charlie merely replied, She hoped he'd agree, as she didn't want to force it on him. She didn't want to create problems if she could avoid it, and she had a feeling that showing others her memories was rather intense.