To Eternity

Breakfast ended up being an oat porridge with a few options of things to sprinkle on top. I added some cinnamon and haskaps, which greatly improved the flavour. I was also able to determine that they didn’t have blueberries in Wosurei, at least not by that name. Yet haskaps somehow made it to both worlds.

Food was brought to my room, and Vris informed me that this is where I would eat all my meals unless I was in the palace and could not return. I felt a mixture of relief that I could be alone and affronted that I would be hidden away like the prisoner I was. This wasn’t Vris’s decision though, so I didn’t bother arguing about it.

As I finished my meal, I said, “I’d like to go to the Royal Archives now.”

“Ah, I’m afraid that won’t be possible today, my lady,” Vris said. There was a tension in her voice and her eyes were a little too wide.

“And why is that?” I asked, my voice low.

“None of the archivists are here and Seeker Len is the only person outside the archivists who can give you permission to access the archive. He is currently away.” She seemed genuinely apologetic, but also very worried about what I might say or do. She was right to be afraid.

“Where is he?” I demanded. “He was just here yesterday.”

Vris winced. “I wasn’t given any specifics. I was only told that he would be away from the palace for a few days.”

My blood began to boil. I felt like a dog being yanked around by a chain. I’d just begun to get some understanding of the world and now I had to sit and twiddle my thumbs while I waited for this decrepit thief to return from doing who knows what.

“Then what am I supposed to do, exactly?” I said, making no secret of my exasperation.

Vris brightened a little. “I’ve been given instructions to bring you to Eternity Temple. It’s only a few hours' ride from here.”

“What am I expected to do at the Eternity Temple?”

Vris wilted. “I wasn’t informed about that.”

I let out a long sigh. Living in a world where everything is explained on a need-to-know basis was exhausting. Especially since what I felt I needed to know and what everyone else thought I needed to know was quite different.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

We ventured to the stables, which was a squat building across from Sparrow Hall. The interior of the stables smelt like fresh hay, animal excrement, leather, and a tang of sweat. My natural assumption was that we would be riding horses. I was wrong. While there were a handful of horses, the stables mostly housed elk. These elk had a wide variety of coat colours beyond the typical brown with one even having a white coat and black spots like a massive dalmatian. The elk peered down at me curiously, their ears flicking as I walked passed.

“Your mount has been selected for you,” Vris said. “But if you prefer the one chosen for me, we can switch.”

“Thank you for the offer,” I said. Despite my best efforts, I’d begun to treat someone in Wosurei with regular civility. It was largely because I knew that she couldn’t have been involved in the decision to bring me here nor did she have any ability to send me home. Being rude to her would only hurt me in the long run.

At the end of the row, there were two stable hands getting a pair of elk ready to ride. One was a female with a grey coat and the other was a male with white legs and a brown body.

“Rowan is ready,” one of the stable hands said to Vris. He directly avoided eye contact with me and he handed her the reins for the male elk.

Vris handed the reins to me. “Would you prefer to ride Chamomile? She’s smaller but most spirited. Rowan is quite calm, usually.”

“Rowan will be fine,” I said as I took the reins. I’d ridden a horse twice in my life, which wasn’t ideal. Still, all I needed to do was not fall off.

We walked Rowan and Chamomile out of the stables. Vris had brought a stool to help me get onto Rowan’s back with less scrabbling. Rowan’s horns were a little distracting, and I did worry that he might throw his head back and impale me with them, but Vris assured me he wouldn’t. I received a crash course in how to ride an elk which was largely the same as riding a horse. Press your heels into their sides to go forward, lead them to the left or right with the reins, pull back on the reins to get them to stop.

After a few circles in the yard beside the stables, Vris deemed me ready to go.

“Now we must go around the palace and to the west. There, we’ll meet up with our guide and begin the journey to Eternity Temple,” Vris explained.

It only took a few minutes to reach our meeting point. I kept patting Rowan as we walked. His fur was soft to the touch and he didn’t seem to mind. With Mochi gone, I had no creature in my life to pet. I pulled away from the thought immediately before tears could start to well in my eyes.

I was distracted by my encroaching sadness by the sight of Princess Mizuki sitting astride her own elk. Her elk was male, a rusty orange colour, and was a bit larger than Rowan. They were standing next to a fork in the road with a sign in Surei beside them. I should take the time to learn how to read Surei, and soon, or else I ran the risk of being taken advantage of.

“Good morning, Your Highness,” Vris called with a wave.

“Morning,” I echoed, my heart sinking. The princess was going to be our guide, so I would be stuck in proximity to her for hours. Great.

“Good morning, Vris.” She glanced my way. “And Seer. Are you ready to go?”

I admit, I was surprised a princess knew Vris by name. Vris turned to me, waiting for me to respond on our behalf.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Mizuki frowned, and I realized that probably wasn’t a phrase here.

“I mean yes, we can go,” I said, eager to leave. And so, we set off down the path, Mizuki in the lead, then me, and Vris taking the rear position. My hope was that I could reach out to the gods at the Temple and demand an explanation from them. Gods or no, they would be hearing from me.