Watch Out

A servant brought them some tea and biscuits. Isabella and Richard rested for a moment while Caoilainn observed them curiously. Richard was feeling a bit awkward with that gaze upon him and the situation he was in. When they seemed settled, Caoilainn took the word, still smiling and having fun, but serious enough:

- "Isabella has already explained how she found you and said you are an oddity. So, Richard, please tell me, what's so odd, where do you come from, and what's up with those clothes." - Richard took his time, breathed in and out and started to talk:

- "So, I've already told Isabella that I was born in a place called Brazil and was living in a place called Chile. Specifically in a desert. However, I woke up a few hours ago in the field close by town and Isabella seems not to know any of those places." - Caoilainn's eyes were widening - "I am none wiser than you are about what's happening, but judging by what I remember and what I saw here, I believe I'm in a world different from my own."

- "HAHAHAHA" - Caoilainn burst out laughing - "Another world?! You gotta be kidding us! What do you drink, wine, mead or whatever is in store?!" - she laughed again - "well, the only thing you have are those silly clothes, it feels that in your world people have no sense of fashion." - Richard blushed a bit. Isabella took the word:

- "So, Caoilainn, I felt the same. I too don't believe he is from another world. Despite that, I feel there is something odd, he seems to be too sure of his mind and too calm. My intuition tells me something is fishy."

- "I understand, Isa, but that would be unprecedented. We've received an awful lot of visitors from other worlds" - Richard went up from his chair - "but they have always been ghosts, beasts, monsters of every kind, too chaotic and dangerous to be talked too or left alone" - Richard did not lose time:

- "What do you mean this is common?" - Isabella answered:

- "Yes, it is pretty common." - she opened her arms - "Remember Goliath? He was certainly from another world. It is the second visitor this week, even though they are not too frequent." - Richard questioned them:

- "If they are so frequent, why do you doubt so much that would be my case? It would explain a lot..."

- "As I said, it would be unprecedented" - answered Caoilainn - "we only receive foes from other worlds and it has been like that for more than a thousand years." - Richard sat again and replied:

- "I understand. I wish I could prove my hypothesis, but I still fail to come up with any ideas." - then they went silent.

After a few minutes of thinking and waiting, Caoilainn opened her eyes wide, pointed up and left the room. The other two waited in silence. The girl returned with her hands behind her back:

- "So, I got an idea" - she seemed to have fun - "the other day I had to defeat a bizarre beast that showed up near here. And for some reason, it spit a strange contraption before dying. It is quite peculiar, and I am sure it is also from another world. So I thought 'if you are really from another world, maybe you know what that is. If you know, we can be sure you are not from here'" - he answered:

- "Fair enough. Please show me what you got" - she stood out her hand and Richard grabbed the contraption. It was a metallic disk. One side of it was shiny and the other was white, featuring twelve numbers, and three arrows, covered by a glass disk. The words "perpetual" and "waterproof" were written in it. A single silver strap with a contraption in the middle connected both sides of the disk. Richard couldn't help but laugh a bit, before saying:

- "But that's obvious, this is a watch!" - Isabella kept serious, whilst Caoilainn was bewildered, but suspecting:

- "But what is watch? You could be just inventing that, you know?" - he replied:

- "Well, it is simple, a watch is as handheld clock" - he got close to show it to her - "These numbers are the twelve hours of the day and the three arrows show seconds, minutes and hours."

- "And does it work?"

- "Well, this one is perpetual, so it is a matter of adjusting the time and winding it to get it going. Then it is just a matter of using it frequently, and your movements will keep it working. It is a marvelous piece of engineering, really" - as he spoke, Richard adjusted and winded the clock. Then, he asked for Caoilainn's hand and said: - "May I?"

- "Ye...Yes" - she blushed a bit. Richard opened the contraption, put the watch on her wrist and closed it. Caoilainn instinctively shook her wrist to adjust it and looked. It was working, the hands were moving and it corresponded to the water clock they had. Caoilainn jumped with joy and said:

- "That's it, I believe you, I am convinced! You really came from another world! This is a special day!" - she turned to Isabella - "Aren't you happy Isa, we found something crazy today, something new!" - Isabella crossed her arms, and pouted a bit:

- "I still feel this is unreal, but there is no way Richard could fake this and no way you'd fool me, so I have to accept it: Richard is from another world." - she sighed - "this might be a challenge" - she turned to him: - "So, Richard this is new to us, and of course to you too. You will spend the night in the castle, I'll have one servant show you to your quarters. You will eat with us, we will give you some clothes and tomorrow we will think on what to do about that" - she got more serious - "I just ask you to keep that a secret, it's better that no one knew you are from another world for the time being. If someone asks, just say you went from beyond the sea and was victim of a shipwreck." - she paused - "is that okay?" - Richard very politely got up and said:

- "Of course, thank you for all the hospitality and thank you Caoilainn for the opportunity to prove my hypothesis."

- "Anytime!" - Caoilainn answered, smiling.

So according to Isabella's determinations, they spent the rest of the day. Richard went to a deep sleep, after some time trying to figure out what was really going on in his life and hoping that tomorrow he would wake up in the same bed he slept in.