An Idyllic Afternoon

Jace and Ellie left the castle out a side entrance, not the front gate, and the blonde warrior led Jace down a slightly rough path until they pushed through some shrubbery and wound up promptly onto a bustling city street, with cobblestone streets and people in medieval clothes all around.

It didn’t feel like a fancy renaissance festival, though, as he did have a few experiences with those, thanks to Amy being a stubborn. With a pang, Jace wondered where Amy was here, if she was OK. Sam was dead here, after all, and even if Jace wasn’t too close with Sam, that hit hard.

It also opened up the terrifying possibility that anyone else could be dead. He guessed Gabby was alright, as Daisy had married Adam for some insane reason, and Emily hadn’t mentioned anything about the death of Adam’s younger sister.

But the others… he knew Sky was alive, but Lucas, Amy, Izzy… Olivia.

The thought of his biggest crush being dead hit Jace like a freight truck, but he just kept shoving those emotions down further if he could.

Jace felt Ellie’s eyes on him as they walked, and he glanced at her to see the worried expression on her face.

“Ellie… you do what I order you to, right? Like Emily?” Jace asked. Ellie raised her brows.

“I’m not your servant, if that’s what you’re saying, but yes, I obey you, so long as your orders do not put me in a position where I cannot defend you.” Ellie answered.

“But if I asked you to keep a secret, you would?” Jace pressed.

“I’m surprised you didn’t tell Emily your secret. She’s your loyal little pet, she’d jump off the castle walls if you told her to and blush if you smile at her as she does.” Ellie said perfectly bluntly. Jace’s mouth must have been hanging open because Ellie laughed. She did not, however, amend her statement.

“I didn’t want this Emily to think I’m crazy. You… I don’t know you, so I don’t care if you think I’m crazy.” Jace said, and Ellie looked surprised then a little pleased, then offended.

“What do you mean you don’t know me? I’ve been your shield maiden three years, ever since you were seventeen and I was eighteen.” Ellie retorted.

“Wait, six years? I’m 20 here?” Jace’s eyes widened.

“You don’t know your own age?” Ellie asked, but Jace shook his head.

“Not here I don't. Look, I'm not from this world. I woke up today here in this bed, and nothing was the same. I’m a lord now, apparently I’m 20, and I’m apparently fucking my sister!” Jace hissed the last part, as he didn’t feel comfortable saying that at a normal volume.

“You don’t hail from this world?” Ellie squinted, “What’s the name of this kingdom?”

“Amaritime or something.” Jace said, trying to remember what Emily had said earlier.

“Amaranthine.” Ellie corrected, and Jace nodded.

She considered him, her pretty blue eyes clearly calculating.

“Tell me about your world.” Ellie suggested as they walked along the street.

“Ok, well, I live in a town called Amethyst Shore, it’s beautiful there, right by the ocean. The people here seem to be partly different versions of Amethyst Shore and partly complete strangers, like you.” Jace gestured.

“Thanks.” Ellie said dryly, “So, what was your rank in that world?”

“I didn’t have a rank. That world, uh, it didn’t have nobles or royals. Well, it did, just not in my part of the world. Everyone was just a normal citizen. Some people had more money than others so they had I guess a higher class, but they didn’t outrank me or anything.” Jace said.

“What a chaotic place.” Ellie commented, “Do you mind if I lead us, my lord? You seem set on taking us directly to the Lower City, and I’m hopeful that’s only because you really don’t know your way around.”

“Oh, yeah, I have no idea where I’m going. What’s the Lower City?” Jace asked.

“The seedy underbelly of Amaranthine. Full of crooks, thieves, killers, and mercenaries of the more vicious variety. It’s home to a handful of brothels, and prostitutes wander the streets at night. Not the sort of place an up and coming lord should be recognized, providing he survives his time there.” Ellie explained and cautioned.

“Right. Of course.” Jace nodded, temporarily diverted by the fairly alluring thought of a brothel like the kinds he’d seen in fantasy video games, but also perturbed by the thought of a bunch of criminals in close proximity to him, “So, yeah. I know nothing about this world or the people in it. I recognize some of them, but they all seem so wildly different.”

“Who are some people who you know from your town?” Ellie wondered.

“Well, there’s my family. I already know about Emily, Skylar, and Sam. Uh… Gabrielle Barnes, Lucas Lake, Amy Blackson, David Johnson, uh… Brooklyn Robinson, Anastasia Prescott, Olivia Vane, Stella Marshall, Jenna Moore, Aria Mitchell, Charlie Tower, Evan Simmons.” Jace rattled off names.

“Gabrielle Barnes is a noble lady, as is Stella Marshall and Anastasia Prescott. There’s an Olivia Roosevelt, who used to belong to House Vane before she married into House Roosevelt. The other names… I think I’ve heard Lucas Lake somewhere, and I think there’s a House Prescott in this kingdom. I’m from Viridian, so I’m not exactly an expert, but I have been here 3 years, like I said.” Ellie answered, “House Tower is a very prominent house, and Charlie is the heir of it. I don’t know any of the others.”

Jace blew out a breath.

“Right. So… what do I do? This is a fantasy world, you have magic or something here right? Something I can use to get home?” Jace asked.

“Magic? We don’t have magic here. We have our fair share of charlatans, but no one has actually seen any magic here, no matter what legends are floating around.” Ellie answered.

“Fuck.” Jace muttered.

“You used that word earlier, is it something from your world?” Ellie wondered.

“Is fuck not a word here? What word do you use to curse?” Jace inquired.

“Well, I’ve heard you use ‘fuck’ in two different contexts. The curse context is ‘burning hell’ or just ‘burning’ in Amaranthine, there’s some different lingo in Viridian. This kingdom uses ‘plough’ for the sexual context you mentioned earlier about Lady Dana.”

“Burning hell.” Jace mused, “I like it. And, uh, about that, do you know why this world’s me is, uh, ploughing Dana?”

Ellie chuckled, and nodded.

“Permission to speak freely, my lord?” Ellie asked wryly. Jace nodded.

“Permission is always granted. I hate this fuc-, uh, this… burning lord thing.” Jace corrected himself.

“Now you’re getting it. Do you want me to drop the ‘my lords’ too?” Ellie asked hopefully.

“Absolutely.” Jace nodded.

“Burn me. Maybe you are a different Jace after all.” Ellie chuckled, “Anyway, back to you and your sister’s romps. Started a few months back on her 18th birthday. There she was, freshly bloomed, ripe for the picking, her bosom damn near hanging out of her dress, and, er, ‘other you’, I guess, he went up to her and started whispering in her ear, getting her giggling and touching him. We all knew what was coming, and no one was surprised when you two vanished.”

“So… is incest common here?” Jace asked with a cringe.

Ellie laughed.

“This side of the border, it’s very common. All of these noble Houses, sometimes they keep the power in the family if you know what I’m saying. It’s not talked about, but no one was really surprised you started ploughing your baby sister, and I don’t know a single man in Amaranthine who wouldn’t gladly give away his manhood so long as he got to use it to wick Lady Dana before it goes.” Ellie laughed.

“So, she’s my little sister here?” Jace asked, trying to push past the incestuous thoughts swirling in his head after seeing how sexy Dana was. The look Ellie gave him indicated that she hadn’t failed to pick up on Jace’s discomfort, but she let it slide with a nod.

“Yes, she’s about two years your junior. Is she not your younger sister in your world?” Ellie wondered.

“Only by 7 minutes. We’re twins there.” Jace said.

“Interesting.” Ellie remarked, “That’d be even more incestuous.”

Jace missed a step and almost tripped. He refused to look at the visibly amused shield maiden beside him.

“How are you so calm about incest?” Jace exclaimed.

Ellie shrugged.

“I wasn’t always, trust me. But now, it’s kind of become, well… not natural. It’s actually fairly taboo here among the general populace. Only you lords and ladies sin like that.” Ellie noted.

“Interesting, and… shit, who’s that?” Jace gawked at the huge statue right in front of the expansive palace that was set up on a tall hill.

The statue was of a woman, a woman with long flowing hair which looked like it was blowing in the wind somehow, and wore just a chain mail bikini top and pants, holding a lethal looking giant sword with angel wings sprouting from her back. It was remarkably detailed and as Jace studied the statue’s stone face, he realized abruptly who that was.

“Sadie Holland!” Jace answered his own question abruptly.

“Correct. The first shield maiden, and wife to Simon Kaster, the first Viridian king.” Ellie said.

“I have no idea who that is.” Jace confessed readily.

“Do you think that if a lot of people you know from the other world are in positions of power here in this kingdom, other kingdoms could also be warped recreations of other towns from your world?” Ellie inquired. Jace thought about that for a second.

“Doubt it.” Jace said, and the pair moved on.