Chapter 2: The Highly Unlikely Stranger
Annette had been attending some classes on classical arts in the small college at the edge of town, and these were on some very girly subjects: flower arrangement, embroidery and calligraphy among other things. She hadn’t particularly wanted to learn these things so much (it was at the Mayor’s wife’s recommendation), but they turned out to be very enjoyable, much to Annette’s surprise. Her class scheduling was very light and so she found herself with much time to spare afterwards and go out to eat with her classmates. Those whose families lived in Eleneth often invited her over to eat at their homes, and so Annette would often spend many hours socializing and interacting with the townsfolk, getting to freely go wherever she pleased nearly all the time. The tuition and dining and living quarters at the school had all been paid for beforehand, by her parents. Whenever she went out it was almost always to enjoy the fellowship of her friends at their houses, and since they were so generous she couldn’t remember the last time she had taken out cash to pay for anything. Many of her friend's houses were often times immensely huge mansions!
Annette began the long but pleasant walk from the height of this hill down, towards the bridge. She tried to focus on what the evening held, but something deep inside of her was distracting her. She felt every step she took through Eleneth was filled with the memory of the time she had spent there, which was relatively short but somehow felt like long ages. There was no reason for her to feel any different right then, but her heart filled with joy at the happy memories that seemed to pack themselves in to every single day spent there, like pure Heaven. However, there was still something underneath all this that wasn't complete. She had an even deeper sense of yearning for whatever it was. The words of a U2 song began playing in her mind: "And I still haven't found what I'm lookin' for!"
She stopped by her living quarters at the school to drop off some priceless treasures she'd found at the Library and then to double check her appearance before finally leaving for the Donner's. She didn't want to make too much of an impression, so decided against any flashy hair styles or fancy makeup. Her dress was sexy, she felt, and her hair felt beautiful naturally. Just then Marie (one of her classmates and dearest friends) happened to walk by her room while she was checking herself in the mirror and gave her a golden necklace, with a knowing smile.
"Please, I know you don't like this guy but just wear it for me, my Annie-Wannie! You look irresistible like this! I would marry you if could!" Marie exclaimed, and skipped off.
Annette had always regarded Marie as a rather eccentric person, yet extremely loveable and adorable. Upon second glance at the necklace, she realized it was a fantastic piece of jewelry, with diamonds suspended somehow between fine helixes of gold. Marie had left before explaining any details concerning this piece of art, which was obviously made by an expert craftsman with a skill yet unseen by Annette, who at the very least had a decent enough understanding of physics to know that this kind of thing was probably impossible to make under normal circumstances. Anyway it was too late to ask Marie, since she would already be late! She checked herself in the mirror once again with the necklace. Marie had been right- she looked otherworldly with it on. The necklace refracted golden light in a gentle glow across her dress, somewhat exposed chest, neck and chin from the sunlight coming through the window of her bedroom. There was definitely something wonderful about this evening, she decided. But why did it have to be with Richy Rich of all people?
Their evening would be surrounded by noble guests from many different cities, and countries. Annette didn’t want to think about the expense for such a lovely party, but then again the Donner Family was exceptionally generous when it came to hosting events and even simple birthday parties. Richy was an artist and a wild man, and Annette felt that his parents were desperate to get him married to a nice girl before he reached the age of 30. It sounded suspiciously like this was all a setup attempt by his parents to find their poor boy an appropriate lady. Annette would have none of this silly outdated arranging. Once the meal was finished, she was bent on checking out some of the flower groves behind his family’s estate. And before embarking on her adventure, she might have to do something inappropriate just to make Richy wake up from his prolonged childhood ways! He was too dependent on his parents! Living at home at such a late age disturbed Annette, and she actually pitied him. She felt a new idea emerge. A blossoming of a mission, or side quest to her original plan. She had to find a way to crack this ultra conservative shell that was around dear Richy thanks to his family, and implant an idea in his mind of leaving home, pursuing grander goals. Then, and perhaps only then could she imagine taking interest in him. However this would take some planning, and right now she had very little time. And after all, she couldn’t really picture Richy apart from his family.
“Ahh, I’m just imagining silliness!” she thought, and set out on her way. She would need to hurry a bit. She liked to amuse herself with these kinds of fantasies, even if she didn’t have the power to carry them out. As she walked she began to think of ways she might tease Richy that evening, especially in front of his cool friends he always surrounded himself with.
Hoping she wasn’t over dressing with this rather attractive and revealing dark red satin dress, Annette made it to the bridge that crossed Eleneth’s beautiful sparkling river, separating the city into two. She greeted some other very dear, sweet neighbors (whose names she had yet to recall) who were out for a stroll in this lovely weather. Certainly one of the most remarkable points of an Autumn night in Malacandria was the fact that even after the sun had set, it never really got dark. It was like a summer’s night in the far north, where it stays light out for months at a time.
She passed a few carriages being pulled by the natives (they count it as an honor, so they say) and they bowed and greeted her in their strange, harsh yet kind sounding language. The natives were aboriginals of this little-known country called Malacandria, and they didn’t seem to know much English, but they were very kind, and… well, they were also very fat. But all were quite jolly! They had an odd practice of wearing lots of baggy clothes, with hoods disguising their odd features, which was perhaps for the better since they were quite hairy folk. After you got over the idea that you were interacting with a person that resembled a bear more than a regular human being, they were really quite fun and mirthful, and added to the wild feeling of this place.
The pace of life here was so slow that people didn’t even use cars! It was like living in another era. You always had time enough to reflect on things as you walked through this nearly impossibly beautiful view. It seemed like a Disney cartoon, or like being at Disney World itself, except nothing was fake. Every detail of this place just emanated depth, mystery and life. There seemed to be secret stories nearly everywhere, and sometimes Annette would find herself enthralled by the folk tales and “gossip” of the town which was always about something involving Lore (that old forgotten word). So there was not so much silly shallow talk about other people’s recent business. Oddly enough there was hardly any of that here. Hardly anyone used Facebook, either, come to think of it.
The “Lore,” was actually what led her to want to try to use this evening to explore and seek out some of the mysteries of this place. She had overheard some talk of an old secret abandoned dungeon whose entrance was located in the famous Flower Groves behind the Donner’s house. This place contained numerous amazingly tall and wondrous flowers, most likely related to gigantic dandelions, but much bigger, unlike anything Annette had ever seen before. Anyway, apparently this dungeon had on its lowest level a doorway which led to an underground science and research lab, supposedly connected by a vast underground train to an even larger area. The strange thing about the stories Annette gathered about this place was their connections, even in olden times, to some very curious scientific practices. It all sounded very alchemical, and yet lacked the more occult and dark se
nse of the word you'd expect when living in England. All this sounded like science fiction, but since science ran in her blood she thought she might have a look and see if there were any clues to an entrance or whatnot. She wasn’t afraid of some old abandoned dungeon. Even if there were merely tons of overgrown flowers there (perhaps the result of genetic engineering?) and nothing else, she would still enjoy herself.
Just as she was about to step down the spiral staircase at the end of the bridge, she realized she had left her gift for the Donners at the library. “Oh, Monkey Muffins!” she grumbled, and began to turn back when she bumped smack-dab right into an unknown stranger who had been rather silently coming down the stairs behind her. There is, of course, hardly a stranger that isn’t unknown, but this man was exceptionally strange for a stranger in Eleneth which indeed had its share of strangers! He was dressed in a dark brown robe, carefully meant to conceal some kind of flashy metal clothing underneath. Was this man wearing armor? It had a lovely goldish, silverish glow and was dazzling to the eye, since it was unexpected here in such a peaceful place. His outer garments were comparatively rather drab looking. There was also a clanging sound when he stepped back suddenly (could it have been a sword? This guy walked around with a sword?) and this alone was enough to arouse curiosity in Annette’s mind, but she quickly composed herself and in a very ladylike fashion excused herself.
“Excuse me!” she said.
She was going to continue on her way. The man stopped her, putting his hand gently on her shoulder to keep her from running away, so he could properly apologize. He bowed and begged her pardon. Even bowing, however, he was at least a couple of inches over Annette’s height, who stood just under 5 feet tall. The bowing stranger had the beginnings of a beard and seemed in his early twenties (although you can never tell with people around here) and short brown hair about the same color as the robe he wore. He already had a mystic presence about him, but she thought she could see something in his eyes as they pointed down low reverently, that reminded her of the stories she had been reading in the library –that of a battle hardened strength and a sense of honor. She tried not to get caught staring and darted her eyes towards the passing pink and purple clouds over the riverside as he stood up straight once more.
“My lady, do be careful! These stairs are quite steep! And I believe this parcel belongs to you. A friend of yours named ‘Marie’ asked me to catch up and pass it to you, as she had business of her own to tend to at that moment.” he said.
The stranger produced the exact present Annette was about to go dashing across the river and up the hill and back to retrieve. Her already reddened face blushed a little bit more.
“Yes! Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I am in your debt.”
She took the present and clutched it to her chest joyfully, not taking her gaze from the mysterious stranger’s eyes. He seemed to look back at her with eyes that spoke different words than merely what he was speaking with his mouth.
“My name is Annette. Are you visiting here?” The man introduced himself as “Khanokh”, which took quite some time to get across, but once she repeated it a few times “Ka- Cannock- Khanock. . . ” she was somewhat able to pronounce it.
‘Definitely not from around here,’ she mused. Suddenly she had the most desperate and odd urge to go to wherever it was he was from and know everything about that place. She suppressed these emotions from showing on her face, and instead curtsied (hopefully just a little bit cuter than usual). She began to turn and head to the Donner’s house for a dinner, which now seemed even duller than ever. Once again, though, Khanokh stopped her with a laugh.
“Are you in such a rush? I thought I just saved you a long and arduous journey! At least allow me to escort you to wherever you were headed” -and before he could finish Annette rather awkwardly exclaimed in a slightly perhaps rather overly too delighted voice:
“Yes, please would you be so kind! Thank you very much! I just was on my way to the mansion a few blocks down the road. It won’t take but a few minutes, kind sir, er, Mr. Knocock. . .”
Her face flushed again but she managed to begin walking so that perhaps he did not see.
“Of course, you must be in a hurry so let’s be off!”
They walked under a strikingly gorgeous sunset which caused the river’s hues to twinkle shades of bright green, blue, purple, and some colors which we don’t have words for yet (but we’re working on it). Their conversation revealed to Annette that this man was definitely one to look into. He spoke and acted strangely, but in a way that caused Annette to somehow feel. . . nostalgic. What could this be? Was he some sort of spy or hypnotist? Perhaps the town’s security guard was alerted to his presence? She would inquire into the details later, she decided.
The miraculous rain began to pour over a different section of the city (this was another amazing aspect of Eleneth in Malacandria– often it would rain over a certain part of the city, and no other– as though a waterfall just came out of nowhere and would leisurely move around, watering different parts of the vegetation and leaving other areas completely dry!) Watching this waterfall and talking with Khanokh, Annette felt a profound sweeping sense of the suppressed loneliness she had endured during this time being away from her family arise. These strong and mixed emotions in Annette had suddenly violently grabbed her, and she found herself clutching his arm, just as he was about to explain where he had come from and the details of why he was here (which should have been at the highest priority for such an intellectual, trained information gatherer as she!). Horrified, she cried out awkwardly:
“What! Oh, Um… Sorry! Why?” and she tried letting go, but was unable to do anything. Khanokh stopped talking and looked mildly surprised Finally she was able to let go.
“Ah! got it! No problem!” and felt embarrassed once again, for just latching on to a complete stranger like some sort of desperate woman. However, there are some things you might not yet understand about the culture of where Annette was living at the time. The mannerisms were quite different than those which you may be used to so that behavior like this was not entirely unacceptable. However this man was not from this area and might not understand. The fact that Eleneth felt so secluded allowed for more open loving affection compared to other places. . . but we will approach these subjects in due time.
Khanokh laughed loudly, helping Annette to be more at ease.
“I’m here to tell you something Annette. I suppose you’ve been here for a long time! Well come and see me after your dinner and I’ll tell you why you came here. I bet you don’t even remember, do you? Your time is up here, and I have been sent to bring you home. Go and enjoy yourself, and meet me at half past midnight in the flower grove gardens behind the Donner Residence. I promise to explain everything. I have some urgent business to attend to, which affects all the people living here. They are due for something very momentous and challenging and which I think they do not expect."
He paused for a moment to let all of this sink in, and then continued:
"Have you heard of a certain lady who is called Sapphire? She will be arriving to Eleneth shortly and a certain prophecy says her presence will cause this land to lift up from its very foundations and up, off of Malacandria! You knew that is what this city is designed to do, right? Ah, I have already said too much. Go and eat as much as you can! You will need strength for the things which I am about to disclose to you, my dear Lady Annette. You have not been informed in the least of your importance and role here, and this was purposeful. Your days of reading and blithely relaxing are coming to a close, I’m afraid."
And suddenly he was off, walking into the shimmering fog that had started to rise from the nearby impossible rain’s plummeting waterfall upon the river’s edge.
Annette’s strength returned to her after hearing these words, though she didn't understand them all. After thoughtfully standing there taking it all in for a few moments, a rush of ad
renaline made her walk straight down the road immediately right up the steps to the all-too-gigantic mansion which was awaiting her arrival.