Through the Looking Glass (16 page)

Chapter 15

The dark figure watched through the peep hole in the wall. She was disgusted to watch as Jakar and Isobel rutted like dogs in heat. What he ever saw
in Isobel she would never know because she didn’t find the strange woman attractive in the least. She, of all people in the castle, should have been the one to turn Jakar’s head. But no, he was in there fucking the woman she despised.

After she had gone to report to Tuloch several days ago, she had returned happy as ever knowing Tuloch was proud of her. She looked forward to the times when Tuloch would take her by force or catch her unaware of his presence. The time was coming soon when Tuloch would be hers’ forever and she and Tuloch would rule all of Aslog. First they needed to get Isobel out of the way then turn their attention back to Jakar. She had to admit Jakar was putting up a good fight to keep hold of his portion of Aslog. But it wouldn’t last much longer. As soon as she was able to lure Isobel away from the castle victory would be theirs!

For the time being, she would keep her eyes and ears open for any new information especially while she was in the same room as Isobel. She smiled when she thought about the day she had found the secret passage behind the sacks of flour in the pantry. Nana had sent her into the food hold to retrieve some of the jarred peaches that Jakar loved so much.  As she was standing in the dim little closet she kept feeling a soft breeze coming from the back wall. Curious, she left the peaches on the shelf to check the area of the wall. She rubbed her hand over the stone façade until she found the small straight crack in between two stones in the wall that travelled down to the stone floor. But just as she was about to explore the crack further, Nana called out to her. The blasted old woman could be such a nuisance sometimes but very suspicious of those who acted strange. Determined to keep a low profile she had rushed to bring the peaches to the kitchen then asked Nana if it was alright if she took a small break to go to the bathroom. Nana being as sweet and stupid as she typically could be, didn’t think twice about her going to the bathroom.

Instead, she had taken a small candle back into the pantry. It didn’t take her long to find the crack again
and run her hand up the wall to find the crack turned sharply to the left. A door maybe? She pondered the problem of how to get the so called wall to move. Luckily, the kitchen was running low on flour, so she would only have to move four of the heavy sacks. It was when she got to the sack pressed against the wall that she realized it wasn’t filled with flour but with large stones. Normally the castle didn’t run low on flour but with the weather lately the miller hadn’t been able to make his delivery. She had to untie the brown sack and take the stones out one by one until she was able to pull the almost empty sack away from the wall. As soon as she did the wall turned into a narrow door that creaked open a few inches. She was scared at first to go into the dark passage she could see behind the door. Knowing she would be helping Tuloch, she forced herself to go in and see where the passage went. The dark tunnel was dusty and full of cobwebs she had to push through in order to move forward. She was losing hope that the tunnel would be of anything of importance when it finally veered upwards sharply and to the left. The wooden stairs she had to climb creaked and groaned underneath her weight and she prayed the rotting wood would hold her. At the top of the treacherous staircase she was rewarded with the perfect way to spy on the lord of the castle. She could barely contain her excitement when she looked through the small pin hole and saw Jakar’s bedroom. From that point on she had come to the tiny hole several times a day when she knew either Jakar or Isobel was in the room.

Tonight though she had gotten an eye full as she watched the couple finally consummated their marriage. Jakar was obviously an expert lover from the sounds Isobel was making as he fondled her. It wasn’t until Jakar had his own release that she pulled away from the wall. She knew it was wrong to have stayed and watched the display but she couldn’t pull herself away.
It made her all the more determined to get back to Tuloch with more information. The information she heard tonight would surely make Tuloch happy.

It was hard to believe that Isobel was from another world or realm, as the fairies called it. She knew the minute she had heard the woman speak that she wasn’t from Aslog. When she went to bring in Isobel’s breakfast in the morning she would have to strike up a conversation with the woman. While she was eager to find out as much information as she could, she was mildly curious about what type of life Isobel came from and what her world is like.

She made her way back to the pantry. It was getting late and she didn’t want to take any chances on one of the other female servants noticing that she wasn’t in the room that they all shared. Just in case someone said something she already had her story planned out.

******

Daniel trudged through the mud and muck to reach Tuloch’s stronghold. It had taken him longer than expected because of the roads being in such poor condition. When he came over the hill he saw the glowing lights of the castle and the village that surrounded the dreary place. A continuous mist always seemed to be present hanging over the area making the area feel just as depressing as living there was.

Tuloch definitely didn’t
have any pride in his land because anyone would be able to see the evidence in the decrepit condition of the village. It was amazing that some of the wooden buildings were still able to remain standing. He could tell though with the recent storm a couple of the fragile building had lost their fight. Since he had been gone at least a dozen homes or businesses had fallen victim to the ravages of the weather and that of Tuloch.

As he walked through the village a few peasants stopped to watch him. These were the people he had known his entire life, people he was sick of seeing! They all looked down upon him because of his decision to join Tuloch’s army when he had been a younger man. At the time, he really didn’t have much of a choice because it was either he starved to death or join the army and have a hot meal in his belly every evening. After fifteen years he had succeed in rising through the ranks
making captain when he was thirty-five. He just hoped his years of service wouldn’t come to a violent end when he faced Tuloch to tell him he had failed in his mission.

As he approached the castle a drizzle began to fall. It was the type of drizzle that would last forever, making everything wet and miserable. He walked through the halls
of the castle silently still dressed in the clothes he had worn to Ackergill Tower. He couldn’t wait to get back into clothes of his own. He couldn’t understand how the people of Isobel’s world like to wear such sappy clothing. The entire time he had been there he felt less than a man in his jeans and t-shirt. He hated the feel of the stiff material that rubbed his skin raw in places that he didn’t care to talk about. But first he had to show his face to Tuloch, which was going to be worse than a few raw spots.

The door to Tuloch’s meeting room was closed, but he could hear voices coming from within. Taking a deep breath he knocked hard on the wooden door and waited to
be let in. Another of Tuloch’s captains open the door and as he stepped in silence fell over the group gathered there.

“Daniel! You have ret
urned,” Tuloch announced to the room.

Daniel walked swiftly into the room and over to where his lord stood. He bowed respectively then asked for permission to speak. When he was denied fear washed over him.

“I already know you have failed in your mission.” Tuloch glared at him through beady eyes that made his skin crawl.

“I can explain, my lord.”

“Oh please do! We would all like to know how the woman I sent you to retrieve, ended up married to my greatest enemy!”

Daniel felt the blood rush from his face. There was no way possible Isobel had succeeded in coming to Aslog on her own. He was the only one who had the potion to return. Confusion clouded his mind as he tried to arrange his story in his head.

“She’s here? How did she get here?” he asked.

Tuloch walked away from him to circle around the massive wooden table that sat in the middle of the meeting room.

“I thought maybe you could tell us that.”

“I have no idea how she managed to get here on her own. She had to have help. Are you sure it’s her?”

“It’s her alright and she is in the hands of Jakar. Now, we are all waiting to hear your report, so please go ahead.” Tuloch pulled out his chair to take a seat. The room remained silent as they waited for him to begin.

His only chance of surviving was to tell everything that had happened. He started from the moment he arrived in Isobel’s world. Every detail he could think of was spoken about. At times he saw the looks of shock or disbelief as he described the unfamiliar world. He even went as far as to pull out the cell phone he still had in his pocket to prove he wasn’t lying. Of course, Tuloch immediately demanded to see the foreign object. He watched quietly as his lord examined the phone. Tuloch’s expression was priceless when he accidently hit the button that turned on the screen. He could hardly suppress the smile he was trying to hide when Tuloch tossed the phone onto the table as if he had just been burned with it.

“What sort of magic is this?” Tuloch demanded.

“It’s not magic, my lord. It’s called a cell phone. It allows you to talk to another person who is not with you. You can be thousands of miles away and still be able to speak with anyone you choose to.” He picked it up to show his lord how to make the phone work.
“It’s not going to work here because it uses tall towers to transmit signals that float through the air. But I can show you this.” He went to his pictures file and pulled up the hundreds of pictures he had taken over the course of his stay.

“I
have images I can show everyone in this room of what Isobel’s world looks like. I spent enough time with the wench that I got sick of seeing her. Here you are, my lord.” He handed Tuloch the phone as the other men in the room gathered around to see what was happening. The first picture to appear was of him and Isobel on their first date. “You can changed the picture by taking your finger and swishing it to the side like this.” He showed the group how the images could change with a simple touch of a finger. Sharp inhales of air travelled through the men as the image before them changed.

Daniel moved to sit in one of the empty chairs as the men stood transfixed over Tuloch’s shoulder. It would
be a while before they went through all the pictures so he had a few moment to gather his thoughts. He needed to make Tuloch believe he had everything under control and was still anxious to succeed in his mission.  

He sat there listening to the mumbles and comments as the group went through th
e pictures. He could only imagine what was going through their minds because he was shocked with what he had seen when he first arrived in Isobel’s world. The best he could do for now was to wait and find out what Tuloch’s plans were for him.

“Very interesting, Daniel.” Tuloch shoved the phone across the table in his direction. “Now tell me how you plan on getting the woman?”

Great, just fucking great,
he thought to himself. He hadn’t planned on having to give an answer so soon. He would just have to wing it and see how far he could push his luck.

“I haven’t decided what I needed to do in order to get close to her again. She’s going to re
cognize me in an instant, so I’ll have to use some kind of a disguise.” He prayed his answer would be good enough not to get him beheaded on the spot.

Tuloch rose from his chair and walked over to him. He swallowed nervously as the domineering man took his time to reach him. When Tuloch stopped in front of him, he kept his eyes glued on the face that he couldn’t read.

“I will give you one chance to correct the problem you made. Take what men you can use to secure the woman. But,” the menacing man inhaled deeply, “know that if you fail again your lifeless body will hang from the castle wall to rot.” The sneer on the man’s face automatically told him that Tuloch would do exactly as he promised.