In Another Life (7 page)

“Your majesty,” Orion hastily got back up and took a step towards her.

“No!” Marie held up her hand, her voice stern.

“She’s here, she’s really here!” Jubilant voices carried over to them from the vast doors of the castle which were now open. Men and women, all dressed in glittering gold outfits came flooding towards her, each of them sparkling magically.

They surrounded Marie, releasing gasps of awe and wonderment.

“Stay away from me!” Marie begged, trying to recoil in to herself. If this was a dream, she was more than ready to wake up.

“Your majesty, please, don’t fear us!” a woman close by implored.

“We just want to see you!” another declared.

A tall slim man in a gold suit spotted Orion and sharply pulled him aside, away from the melee.

“What did you do to her?” he demanded. His voice was deep and ominous as though it had travelled from the pit of his stomach before breaking free upon his lips.

“Nothing,” Orion insisted, cowering slightly before his superior. “When I found her she had no idea who she was, or where we were.”

The taller man considered this for a moment, looking back briefly at Marie who was becoming increasingly agitated with the adoring crowd.

“There’s no doubt it is her,” he concluded. “But she is…different.”

“She’s just confused. All this,” Orion gestured to the crowd of golden clad admirers. “This is too much for her right now.”

“Fair enough. Does she trust you?”

“I-” Orion wasn’t sure how to respond. He doubted she trusted him at all.

“You made first contact, she may have imprinted on you. Let’s get her inside.”

When the tall man approached the crowd they immediately parted for him like a sparkling sea. He approached Marie and extended his hand. He stood so tall that his long fingers almost grazed her nose. For a moment she hesitated, regarding him with uncertainty.

“Come with me, Orion will follow. Things will be quieter within the palace.”

Orion was the only person Marie knew in the crazy rainbow world and so she took the man’s hand and let him guide her away from the crowd and in to the palace.

The palace interior was spectacular. The first room they entered had ceilings which towered at least twenty feet above the floor adorned with an intricate painting of a star system which seemed to twinkle. It was beautiful and Marie found herself craning her neck to take in as much of it as she could.

“We’ll take you to your quarters,” the tall man said, moving towards a staircase which seemed almost translucent, as if it were made of pearls.

Marie couldn’t respond. Her mouth currently hung open as she beheld the space around her. Everything was grand and beautiful from the chaise lounge along the wall to the chandelier hanging above the staircase. It was all amazingly grandiose like nothing Marie had ever seen before. She felt utterly overwhelmed.

“Follow me,” the tall man ordered stiffly. Marie managed to wander behind him though her head kept turning with the rapidity of a bird as she kept finding new wonders to behold. As they ascended the staircase which was cool against Marie’s bare feet, she spotted Orion shuffling in awkwardly behind them. Like Marie, his gaze kept darting around the vast hall in awe.

“Sorry,” he whispered when he noticed Marie look at him. “I’ve never been in the palace before. Its every bit as spectacular as I thought it would be.” 

“These are your quarters,” the tall man opened a door in to a room which seemed bigger than Marie’s entire apartment in London. There was a four poster bed covered in silver sheets and furniture made of the same luminous pearl as the staircase. On the ceiling was another detailed painting of a constellation which sparkled brightly. It was magnificent.

“I’ll leave you to get changed,” the man said to Marie, then he turned his gaze upon Orion who stiffened beneath it.

“Will you be alright with her? Can you at least explain some things?”

Orion nodded dumbly and then he was left alone with Marie.

“How can you explain things?” Marie asked him, finally able to pry her eyes away from absorbing the spectacle of the room.

“I thought you were in training?”

“I am,” Orion nodded, shoving his hands deep in to his pockets. “But I was the first to meet you, so we’re kind of joined now.”

“We are?”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Orion asked anxiously, turning away from her to continually scan the room.

“No,” Marie admitted. She felt strangely safe with Orion. “I just don’t understand what’s going on. How can these be my quarters? How does everyone know who I am?”

“First let’s get you in to something more suitable,” Orion ignored her question and headed over to the grand pearl wardrobe. He threw it open and was greeted by a selection of dresses, each an array of bright, vibrant colours.

“Take your pick,” he pointed at the gowns. Marie came and stood by his side and gazed inside.

“I don’t get it,” she mused. “These dresses are multi-coloured. I thought you could only wear one colour, the colour to match your mood.”

“That’s the case for most people, but not for the Princess. You have to shine the brightest, so you wear all the colours of the rainbow.”

Dubiously, Marie reached forward and began to riffle through the gowns. They felt softer than silk upon her fingertips. A part of her desperately wanted to put one on. Then her more logical side kicked in and she turned abruptly away from the dresses and focused on Orion.

“But I’m not a princess.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m Marie Schneider. I live in London and work for an ad agency. I’m just a normal, average girl, I’m nothing special.”

“You wouldn’t be here if you truly believed that.”

“What?” Marie frowned in confusion.

“Put a dress on, you’ll feel better once you’re in it. I promise.” Orion urged.

Once Marie had settled upon a gown he politely turned away while she discarded her hospital gown and slid in to the full length dress which eerily fit her perfectly. She turned several times, savouring the sensation of having it gather around her. Even though she knew she wasn’t a princess, she certainly felt like one in such an elaborate gown.

“See, all better?” Orion smiled. He then shifted his gaze to the hospital gown which now lay crumpled on the floor.

“We should dispose of this-” he picked it up and held it at arm’s length as though it were contaminated and headed for the door.

“Hey!” Marie was about to object but he’d thrown the flimsy piece of cotton out of the room before she could say anything.

“We don’t need relics here,” he said, bitterness creeping in to his voice. Marie wanted to ask him what he meant but the dress lured her mind away from the train of thought. Instead she ran her hands down the material, savouring how wonderfully soft it felt.

“That looks much better,” Orion said approvingly.

Marie turned several more times before a question caught in her mouth which she had to get out; “that man, the tall man. Who is he?”

“That’s Leo.”

“And he is?”

“The Guardian of Azriel.”

“Oh.”

“You really don’t remember anything, do you?” Orion drew closer to her, concern dimming his glittering eyes.

Marie shook her head.

“I thought as much when I found you. But then I didn’t think it would be up to me to explain everything,” he sighed and lowered himself down on to the bed. Marie sat down beside him.

“I just want to understand what is going on,” she said softly. “If this is a dream, it’s certainly going on, I thought I’d have woken up by now.”

“I can assure you that this isn’t a dream.” Orion clarified.

Sat beside him Marie inhaled his scent. It engulfed her senses and made her entire body relax. There was something about Orion. When she was around him she felt like she could let her guard down. She rarely felt like that with anyone, not even Sebastian.

Thinking about her fiancé sent a sharp pang of guilt surging down Marie’s spine and she stiffened.

“I don’t belong here.”

“But you do! I wish you could see that!” Orion’s expression was so earnest when he spoke.

“I belong back home, in Manchester, or London. This place…I don’t know what it is. And you keep calling me your princess.”

“You are our princess, you’ve just forgotten.”

“How is that even possible?”

Orion thought for a moment. He wished he’d had the chance to fulfil his training before having to explain how the impossible can be possible.

“Azriel is a world which exists alongside the one you are from.”

“Like a parallel universe?”

“Exactly. But this world is the one you belong in. Years ago, there was a great war and your parents were executed by insurgents. To save you, you were sent to another world, to the world you think you belong to. We hoped you’d come back much sooner than you have. You’ve been gone so long that your memories of here have faded away to nothing.”

“This is madness,” Marie rested her head in her hands.

“No,” Orion insisted. “Don’t you recall as a child, feeling like you were a princess?”

Marie did indeed used to believe she was a princess. She’d sit atop her bunk bed and insist that she was in her palace on top of the hill and that everyone must address her accordingly. Her parents would indulge in her fantasy for a while but then when bedtime came around they’d tell Marie to end her childish games and go to sleep.

“But I really am a princess!” Marie would cry.

“No, sweetheart, you’re a little girl and a tired one at that,” her mother would explain, her voice strained as she tried for the tenth time to get Marie to go to sleep.

“I’m a princess!” Marie would declare stubbornly.

“I’ve had enough of this, get to bed this instant! No more bed time stories for you! They are filling your head with nonsense!”

Carol Schneider would eventually win and place a subdued Marie in to bed.

Looking back, Marie was completely convinced she was a princess but didn’t all little girl’s feel that way? As she thought she tilted her head slightly.

“We’ve waited so long for you to come back, to restore balance to Azriel,” Orion continued.

“Balance?”

“We’ve been ruled by Guardians, which is fine in the short term. But Azriel needs royal blood upon the throne in order to thrive. The city has already shrunk considerably in your absence. The golden buildings used to stretch out as far as the eye can see but now they stop at the beanstalk forest.”

Marie fingered her dress as he spoke. The fabric felt so real.

“You’re the last of your blood line, North. We need you back, to shine above us and restore us to our former glory.”

“My name is Marie.”

“No, it’s not. You are our Princess North. Finally you’ve woken up and made your way back here.”

“Woken up?” Marie asked, her gaze drifting towards the door where the hospital gown had been discarded.