Welcome Home (Alternate Worlds Book 3) Read online

  Alternate Worlds

  Book Three

  Welcome Home

  Taylor Leigh

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Victoria let out a wild shriek of excitement as she lighted to sandy earth. She stumbled, only kept upright by the Traveller’s—Tollin’s—hand strongly grasping hers.

  On her other side was her dear friend, Andrew O’Neill, now staggering away; retching, as he collapsed to the ground. For all his cleverness, it appeared his only means to stress interplanetary travel did not suit him.

  Victoria cast a concerned glance his direction. ‘All right?’ She couldn’t tell really if his current condition was due to the violence of the trip or his continuously weakening state.

  Andrew’s reply was a strangled snarl and she decided it was likely the former of the two.

  She turned her attention from her motion-sick companion to grab Tollin’s free hand. He was beaming from ear to ear, radiating enthusiasm, glowing like the planet above. The man was brilliant, but she didn’t need a jump across worlds to prove that. His work on Scottorr these past few months was more than enough evidence.

  The Traveller was practically bursting with pride as he turned Victoria in a quick pirouette.

  Around them, like some bizarre, spiny party balloons, drifted down the pods filled with stoneflower seeds, which would dilute the hallucinogenic spores polluting Scrabia’s water supply. Yet another bit of brilliance on Tollin’s part.

  ‘So, what did you think? Did you like it?’ he asked, wild eyes matching his hair.

  Victoria tilted her head back to stare at Scottorr above them, shining in the night. The green planet was so close she swore she could touch it. Drops of water plunked about them.

  ‘Like it? It felt like I was flying! It was fantastic!’

  Tollin flashed another wide smile. ‘Never gets old, no matter how many times I’ve done it.’

  ‘It’s unnatural,’ Andrew groaned from his slumped position in the sand. His blond hair hung limp, giving his gaunt, pale appearance an even more ill quality. He shakily pushed himself to his feet, scanning the bleak, red landscape, unimpressed.

  Victoria let go of Tollin to take Andrew by the arm. ‘Welcome to my home.’ It was slightly satisfying to say, considering the year she’d spent an alien on his world. Still, she hadn’t imagined the tables would turn as they had.

  Andrew leant against her heavily. His eyes drifted over the desert again, clearly trying to find something that would remind him of home. There wasn’t much. ‘What a detestable place,’ he finally wheezed.

  Andrew was always of the temperamental sort; a moody, high-strung man prone to fits and obsessions and routines. Though an inventor and all-around genius—it came with a long list of eccentricities. Wearing a different shirt was a drastic enough change for him; taking a chance and leaving with Victoria to come to a new planet would have seemed unthinkable, yet, somehow, he’d done it.

  Now Victoria just had to keep an eye on him and pray he didn’t have some sort of mental breakdown from the stress of it. Coming from a lush world like Scottorr to the hot, rocky desert of Scrabia was going to be quite an adjustment for him.

  He sniffed the dry air, pulling a long, displeased face.

  Victoria had to admit: she wasn’t happy to be home, either. Leaving Scottorr hadn’t exactly been in her plans. After all, returning meant coming back to all the uncertainties of her previous life. There was her mother, the queen, to reckon with, and her engagement to her cousin. Not to mention the nonhuman Denizens who had been in the midst of a coup when she’d fled.

  However, Tollin hadn’t given her much choice; and Andrew by her side, for some reason, made all of it not seem such a bother.

  Tollin clapped his hands together decisively, jarring both Victoria and Andrew out of their silent musings. He was a man she’d never understand; one of constant movement, too unfathomable, knowledgeable and wild for any one human to be. Yet, he was the only reason they’d survived all the madness.

  ‘Well, you kids have fun!’

  Victoria spun round to stare at him. ‘What? You aren’t leaving!’ The notion sent waves of nervous worry through her. She’d trusted he would be by her side. How could she possibly be expected to sort through everything without him? He was the only one with the answers.

  Tollin smiled at her kindly, brown eyes sparkling. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. ‘Oh, you don’t need me! You’ve got Andrew! And you’ll do brilliantly; already proven that!’

  The sickened groan Andrew gave was a little less reassuring.

  ‘But…’ Victoria swallowed, ‘but where will you go?’

  His expression turned wistful. ‘Oh, after whatever catches my interest.’ He gave her a playful wink. ‘Don’t worry about me, and don’t worry about yourself! I think you’ll be impressed with what your cousin has accomplished here—from the scant news I’ve gathered. And it’ll be a good change from your comfortable old life. You’ll have fun.’

  She somewhat doubted that. ‘Don’t see how it can get any more dramatic after what I’ve already seen.’

  ‘Oh,’ he growled, ‘you’ll be surprised!’ He then sketched them both a little wave. ‘Now, off you go! Show Andrew your world! You’re going to have quite a walk ahead of you, I suggest you get started! Those pods won’t last for ever.’

  Victoria didn’t hold herself back from throwing her arms around him in a monstrous hug. ‘Thanks for everything you’ve done, Tollin!’

  He chuckled before wrapping her in a comforting embrace. She couldn’t find the will to be cross with him. She’d somehow understood from the first moment she’d met Tollin that he wasn’t one to be held down. He did as he pleased. But his hug was sincere now, and she didn’t want to forget that.

  At last he pulled back, giving Victoria a chance to study him, to memorise every bit of those odd features of his. ‘Will I ever see you again?’

  He smiled and then touched his fist lightly to her chin. ‘I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.’

  She felt Andrew give her hand a slight squeeze yet stayed still a moment more, hoping she could believe it wouldn’t be the last. Finally, with a nod, she turned without a proper goodbye.

  Andrew, unenthusiastically yanking the great mass of balloon-like pods after him, was already setting a good pace. She hurried to catch up.

  ‘How d’you know you’re headed the right direction?’ The mountains meant the city, but really, where had they fallen? The planet was too big, and mountains were every way she glanced.

  He paused for a moment. ‘There’s only one shape on the horizon that looks potentially man-made and it’s several hours walk away, as Tollin implied. It looks similar to what you have drawn in our history of the planet. It is, if I am not mistaken, the capitol city, known as Layers.’

  Victoria nodded her head. ‘Right…well, sounds good as anything.’ Once she might have been irritated to find he, after less than ten minutes on her planet, seemed to know more about where they were than she, but she had long since gotten past that in their relationship.

  He wrapped his arms around his chest, gaze continuing to rove the desert as he trudged along. ‘It’s unbearably hot,’ he said.

  The pods bumped above them, casting eerie shadows across the ground.

  Victoria had to agree with him. After her time on cold Scottorr, she was finding her home much too dry and stiflin
g. And this was during the Passing—at night no less—the one time of year when it was considered cool! She wasn’t sure how Andrew would survive the warmer months. She grabbed his hand. They’d just have to make do.

  ‘You’ll get used to it. I had to adjust to Scottorr. I thought it was freezing there, but I eventually grew accustom to it.’

  ‘Acclimatised,’ Andrew muttered to himself, sloshing sand as he walked.

  Victoria took in a deep breath, familiarising herself with the air. It was strangely comforting. She hadn’t thought she’d be happy to be home, but it felt good—if only for the moment. She suspected her charitable mood wouldn’t survive once she reached the city.

  ‘At least you already know everything there is to know about Scrabia,’ she said, scrabbling over a rock. ‘You’ll fit right in.’

  He huffed irritably, clearly doubting that. Victoria did too, but as far out of his normalcy as he was, he needed something familiar to hold on to. His knowledge was all he had.

  After a moment of silent scanning Andrew swiped up a stone from the red sand and brought it to his aquiline nose. Victoria frowned at him. ‘Of course, you won’t fit in if you go about doing things like that.’

  Andrew turned the stone over in his hands. ‘Made of some type of sulphuric substance. Flammable, possibly volatile.’ He arched his arm back and hurled it among several boulders some paces away. There was a loud bang! and a flash of yellow light and smoke. Andrew grinned. ‘Very volatile.’

  ‘I’ve heard of those. They’re called shepherd’s stumbling stones or something. Guess sometimes goat herders out here trip over them. Doesn’t end well.’

  He swooped up a few more rocks and went to stuffing them into his various pockets.

  Victoria stared at him, horrified. ‘D’you really think that’s a good idea?’

  Andrew shrugged, unconcerned. ‘It’s harmless unless it sparks.’

  Victoria warily stepped away. ‘Sometimes I worry you might be going mad. You’re getting as bad as Tollin.’ She heaved a sigh. ‘But, I do have to admit, with your mind and your inventions you’ll be a celebrity.’

  Andrew raised his eyes dramatically to the stars. ‘Considering how primitive this society remains, I’d be surprised if I’m not considered a god.’

  Victoria rolled her eyes. ‘Well, don’t let it go to your head, O Arrogant One.’

  A thin smile pulled at his soft lips. ‘I should have some mysterious title like Tollin has. “The Traveller” had a nice ring to it.’

  With the mention of him, she cast one last glance behind her, curious to see which way Tollin had gone. It had to be an interesting path, whatever it was. But she wasn’t to know. He was nowhere in sight.

  ‘Tollin! He’s gone!’ She turned round in a circle, staring out at the barren land. ‘Where did he go?’

  Andrew paid her questions no mind. He simply continued his march across the desert, pods bobbing along behind.

  When they at last passed beneath the gates of the city—which Victoria was surprised to find open—it was nearly dawn and Andrew was near dead on his feet. On the way, they’d stored the pods in a cave at the far end of the massive Bone Vault; neither of them too keen on having the unwanted attention such a strange sight would attract.

  Upon entering a new and alien civilisation, Andrew began to liven. It was enviable how he showed none of the fear Victoria had suffered when she’d first arrived on Scottorr; he was much too distracted for that. Victoria’s nervousness, if anything, grew. The streets were near abandoned now, but it would not stay that way for long. Andrew had never been good in crowds, and he was about to be at the very centre of one.

  Thinking of the possibilities, she found herself grabbing his hand and pulling him close. It was impossible to not notice that they were already attracting a few stares.

  She raised her eyes up the long, winding road which went twisting through each layer of the city, giving it the appearance of a giant termite mound. It was a walk of several hours to the Royal Layer and the distractions around them only grew with their climb; each diversion tearing at Andrew’s attention and sending his eyes a little wider.

  Bells from somewhere rang out, announcing the hour. Behind them, the sun was beginning to rise. Soon slaves, vendors, animals, soldiers and miners would be packing the road they travelled now. It was a recipe for disaster with Andrew added to the mix. Victoria’s stomach knotted.

  ‘Just stay close to me,’ she whispered. ‘And try not to panic.’

  Andrew didn’t seem to hear, eyes growing wild. ‘Buildings made of mud mixed with straw, open interior, no plumbing, water hauled from the caverns by slave population, which makes up the majority of the bottom three layers, diet most likely a mix of poor meat and some form of root, fungus or succulent vegetable. Education clearly lacking. Population is very religious and superstitious.’

  He shied away from a herd of camels that a large woman drove past them. Just as Victoria dreaded, from the corner of her eye she noted they had a following. She did her best to ignore the stares and glowers beginning to shoot their way. The atmosphere was growing dangerously close to unpleasant.

  No-one had yet recognised her. It was true that Victoria had rarely been down amongst the people of the lowest layer—besides the time she was pushed out the gates one long year ago—but she still was the princess. Perhaps, she supposed, it was a blessing. She still wasn’t sure how she was going to explain her return.

  ‘Oi! What’s that yeh’re wearing, there?’ someone from the crowd shouted. ‘Yeh ain’t from around ‘ere, are yeh?’

  ‘Damn, dirty strangers!’ someone else cried.

  A rock sailed their direction.

  Victoria whirled on the mob, bristling. She was not feeling very brave at all, but if this persisted, Andrew was going to have a meltdown. ‘How dare you!’

  Several people roared with laughter. ‘Oh, who do you think you are, then? High Priestess? Have airs like that an’ you’ll be ‘ung like the rest of ‘em!’

  Victoria stared. ‘What?’

  Someone darted forward and yanked at her dress, jarring her out of her questions. ‘Look at this weave! I’ve never seen the like!’

  Andrew was cringing in towards her now, like a child. His hands rose defensively to the sides of his head. ‘Don’t—don’t touch me!’ he shouted. Then, more quietly: ‘Damn xenophobic inbreeds.’

  ‘Andrew!’ Victoria whispered soothingly as she was able. ‘Calm down. No-one here is going to hurt you. Just don’t make a scene.’

  The throng grew more pressing. Laughter, taunts, angry shouts, drowning Victoria’s attempted calming words, echoed from all sides now. It would be all too easy to be separated now. That frightened her.

  In the midst of it all, Victoria distantly became aware of Andrew chanting under his breath. The words came so low it sounded absolute nonsense, but were rising in pitch. In an alarmingly fast shift Andrew went from cowering at her side to straight; sharp eyes blazing with a cold fury. His voice rose to a shout, the words strange, twisted, angry. It was vaguely familiar, yet Victoria couldn’t make it out in the din. Didn’t want to bother trying.

  A flash of white took enough of Victoria’s distracted attention to notice several clean shaven, imperious figures shoving their way through the crowd. Unlike the other dirty, jeering faces that surrounded them, they watched on in stony silence; scalps glistened like their eyes, lined in dark stripes of kohl, giving the impression of impassive felines. Their exchange of looks were far too intrigued for the superstitious locals.

  Despite her fascination, Victoria reluctantly tore her eyes away and back to Andrew—just in time to see him slip a hand out of his pocket and hurl an object near his feet. It went off in a dramatic flash and a bang! and Victoria yelped. One of those bloody rocks he’d picked up in the desert. She cursed his impulsiveness.

  The effect on the mob was instantaneous. Through the choking smoke Victoria could hear muffled cries of surprise as those surrounding began to back away fr
om this new, terrifying stranger—all save for the white-robed few.

  She grabbed Andrew’s hand and hauled him forward defiantly through the scattering crowd, wildly scanning the alleys for an escape. Quickly she darted down the first promising street, pulling Andrew behind her. Bouncing from the main plaza, she could hear the excited, frightened chatter. They hadn’t made it one layer up and they were already the talk of the city.

  ‘What was that you were saying back there?’ Victoria asked, out of breath.

  Andrew was scowling. He peevishly wiped sweat from his brow. ‘Daemonica; what I supposedly transmitted several months ago after I inhaled those spores. I’m surprised you did not recognise it.’

  Victoria was hit with something akin to horror. ‘You actually memorised it?’

  Andrew shook his head, scowl deepening. ‘Of course not. Not on purpose. It’s just…rather hard to ignore.’

  ‘What do you mean by that?’ She grasped his arm.

  Andrew glowered warningly, jerking away. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  Behind them shouts came.

  Her companion was in motion again. ‘Time we moved on.’

  After too much time of darting down narrow alleys and sharp corners, Victoria had to admit the worst: they were hopelessly lost.

  It was true the only way to the palace was up, yet every street they ducked down only seemed to twist and wind deeper into the guts of the city in a serpentine maze.

  Victoria halted and ran her hands through her hair, sense of direction completely gone. She flushed in embarrassment. It was ridiculous to be lost in her own city, but she was just as alien in this level as Andrew was. He was watching her closely.

  People, unaware of the recent drama, pushed past irritably, casting mistrusting looks. Her scalp began to prickle in the heat.

  ‘We need to backtrack,’ Andrew said at last.

  She bit her bottom lip and looked back down the twisting, dark street. A group of merchants walked by, arguing with each other, all knowing exactly where they were headed.