The Ninth Door

Chapter 20 - The Written Word

Emmerich

I must admit knowing her birthday rattled me. I usually associated Christmas with bounty and joy. For a time, it was the case even with my kinsmen. As the years went by, Luther and my father had made it to something else – a means to forge alliances, and nothing much else. We didn’t feel like a family even before my father died. It was something that became even more apparent as I spent more time with Sienna, Mrs. Winter, and the rest of her staff.

Don’t get me wrong. It was the way it was. People in my kingdom gathered and fed people to keep their loyalties in check. We needed to constantly know who was with us and who was against us. Normally, it seemed easy to figure out who was on our side until I found out that it was our side that was messy.

After the birthday and Christmas celebration, we spent a lot of time with Mrs. Winter and the other servants, even helping with the cleaning and redecorating of the unused wing. Neither Sienna nor I seemed eager to open the fourth door. She was still mourning her new discovery, and I was dead tired. My exhaustion had nothing to do with the renovations. There were other things going on that I hesitated to tell Sienna.

The blinks.

For her, it might have not been noticeable, at least I thought so. She hadn’t said a thing about it, and because I’d like to believe that I could now read her like a book, I knew that she couldn’t possibly have seen them. I shook my head, and willed myself to focus on the woman who was slowly unraveling my life.

What was it like? Her mother giving birth to Sienna? Was Stefan waiting for his sister’s decision, or was it his decision to finally marry Rachel because of his daughter? Something told me that while I couldn’t stomach the idea of having a child with a sibling, there was more to the story.

How many people suspected? Did the Junction play a part on their descent into, what, madness?

“Emmerich, I may have to go back to work in a few days,” she said, her brows furrowed. It was obvious she didn’t need the job, but she was responsible. She wanted to do what she was meant to do. “And school.”

She chewed on her lower lip, and I marveled at her beautiful features. It wasn’t what anyone would expect from a product of incest. She was perfect, inside and out. I tried to answer her, and for the first time during these past few days, the blink happened right in front of her.

**

12th century, 3rd year of knighthood, after capture by King Luther

I growled, as I shifted in my cell. The caged animal that I was, fury burst within me. Someone was clanging the iron bars, making my ears hurt. I pushed against the iron, fighting back and wanting to see who could be messing with my head.

“Emmerich?”

It was Lady Mary. How did she come here? All I could do was growl. I could probably try to get back to my old form, but it was difficult. I also didn’t want to get rid of the form that made it easy for me to leave the Meadows for the Junction. There was something about my feline form that made me slip in and out of time and space. It was like a vessel, instead of a true shapeshifter’s form.

“He’s trapped in his leopard form,” an older woman explained. Fara. No, Fara! Please, don’t turn me back into a man.

“Oh, Emmerich. We’ll find a way to get you out of your cell.”

“Lady Mary, shouldn’t you be back in the castle. The king will be looking for you. I will take care of Emmerich.”

Lady Mary was putting herself at risk. I am grateful that Fara was there to be her voice of reason. Someone had to be.

“I want to see him back in his old form. Can he hear me? Can you hear me, Emmerich? I have missed you. Your brother is cruel, but he hasn’t – he hasn’t taken my virtue. Not yet, anyway. He wants to marry me while you are there to witness it.”

I growled my dissatisfaction in response. She didn’t deserve this fate. It was straightforward. I was supposed to marry her after one more mission. I didn’t know that I was headed for one where my brother would get rid o me. He knew what he was doing. He must have heard about Eric Wester beforehand, and I wanted to know how.

“He can hear you, my lady, but I believe he’s sometimes not here. Sometimes, it’s just the beast.”

“The beast. How did he become one? I know he was never -,” Lady Mary faltered. We had grown up together. Perhaps we didn’t see each other that often when we were younger, but that was because noble houses were often built far from each other. Visiting meant some feast or other kind of celebration was going on. However, for the last few years, she had lived nearer with family.

“Eric Wester. The usurper was not just a shapeshifter but also a warlock.”

**

Present Day

“Emmerich!”

Soft hands were shaking my shoulders. I felt the cold floor underneath my body. I shivered a little, which was something I didn’t do that often.

“W-where am I?”

The smell of vanilla and lavender, with a hint of honey. That voice. I was back after I blinked right in front of her. At least, that was what I called it because before each blink happened, I got to see - White. Dark. Red. Dark. Colorful. Dark. It was just like the Christmas tree near the foyer of the Junction, beautiful but menacing.

“You’re here. At the Junction! What happened? Are you sick?”

I pulled myself off the floor where I apparently had been lying down like the dead. Sienna could just as well be another corpse gaping at one with her pale face, the one I had just been admiring before I blinked. She didn’t like wearing any cosmetics on her face. No lip tint. No rouge.

“No. It’s just -,” I hesitated. What would she think if she found out that my hold onto this world wasn’t that solid? That I could slip away easily, leaving physical bodies behind. Fara seemed to have also confirmed my fear that I might not be able to go back and forth that easily without my leopard form.

The fourth door was witchcraft.

The fifth door was about boundaries.

It looked like Eric Wester was a master of both. Would it hurt to call him and ask him questions about how to open the next couple of doors? We now knew that it was possible to open two doors at a time. We were getting closer, but it was also becoming more dangerous.

“Of course, Emmerich Kaiser of the Meadows. What do you think this is all about?”

I didn’t know how to respond to a voice in my head, especially one that sounded so much like the man who was supposed to have made me who I was now.

“Emmerich, let’s get you something to eat,” Mrs. Winter said calmly. She didn’t look the least bit perturbed. It reminded me of Christmas dinner, and how she seemed to know more than she let on. She seemed like she could read my mind, but then again, I was baiting her. There was something about her – scent of feline in her. If I had to face the truth of my encounters with the servants, it looked like Sienna was living with a whole household of cats.

But what kind?

What made Sienna a leopard and not a house cat like her ancestors? She wasn’t even a lynx, like the Westerleys.

“Witches,” Mrs. Winter murmured.

“Huh?”

“I was asking you what your wish list would be like in the kitchen. Miss Edwards is willing to make you your favorite meals.”

“Oh. Anything that comes from her kitchen is welcome,” I replied honestly, but I could swear she said a different word altogether. Sienna didn’t look like she heard the same thing, though, because I was now being directed to the kitchen.

Blink.

**

12th century, 3rd year of knighthood, after capture by King Luther

“I will find a way to get you out of here, Emmerich,” Fara said. Lady Mary was noticeably no longer there with her in the dungeon. I imagined it was easier for Fara to glamor herself, without having to worry about hiding a noble lady. “I’ll find Eric Wester’s men if I have to.”

Low growls escaped my throat as I tried to communicate without changing into my human form. Fara could have already changed me, but she didn’t.

“Someone called you. Did you get lost in a codex, Emmerich?” She sighed, then. I remembered how my father and Luther would shake their head in disappointment whenever I got lost in some of the old manuscripts in the castle solar. There were also some bound books, not unlike the ones that Sienna brought from the library she worked for.

Since I couldn’t answer with my mouth, I pressed myself closer to the bars. I could smell her. There was no fear, just sadness. She looked older than the last time I saw her. It should have only been days ago, and yet it felt so far away in terms of space and time.

“They have always been afraid of you, Emmerich. Have you noticed that what you’ve been reading in the solar couldn’t have been from our time, my boy? We do not make such things yet. All we have here in the Meadows are scraps of parchment bound in leather. The books you were reading started coming when you became a page. Do you remember, Emmerich?”

Even in my leopard form, I was stunned. What she said was true. There were no other books like those in other kingdoms surrounding the meadows. People didn’t sit to read books like I did. It wasn’t disdain that my father and brother felt whenever they saw me read instead of working on my swordsmanship. It was fear. Unease.

“I know you’re listening. There’s something that had been pulling you from this place long time ago, Emmerich. Tell me. What book were you reading before it all happened? The change.”

I growled.

What was Fara planning to do?

“The written word can be a deadly thing, my prince. Your mother’s prayer books will not save her from her firstborn’s betrayal. She has given birth to scum. And you, the man who could save her, are being pulled away. Never forget the Meadows, Emmerich. We have been losing you. It means that you’ve found something to latch on to wherever you go, but I’ve put a spell on you so that you are still tied here. That’s why whenever I call you, you are here.”

This time, I roared. I was impatient. If she wanted me back here, fighting with both sword and sharp teeth to take what was mine, then she had to let me go now. I needed to open more doors. Damned if I could remember why I started on this mission at all.

“It’s a deal, Emmerich Kaiser. You can win back the Meadows when you open the nine doors.”

Was it that simple?

Fara snapped her fingers.

**

Present Day

“You were gone again. This time, I’m giving you some reading material,” Mrs. Winter said. “What do you think of that soup?”

“Delicious,” I replied, gulping more from the bowl. My hands gripped the ceramic for dear life. I felt like I was doing something wrong, though. The women in front of me were merely looking at me with mild amusement.

“You must be starving,” Miss Edwards observed.

“The boy just ate an hour ago,” Mrs Winter argued, but her smile was friendly.

A hand rested on mine. Sienna said nothing, but the green eyes that met mine were full of concern.

I had latched on to her in this world.

I didn’t even remember why I was even here in the first place, although I was certain about what each door meant. I just knew the end. I regained my kingdom, while she’d get her mother back in some form. I remembered that I read these words while someone whispered in my ear.

“The written word can be a deadly thing, my prince.”