Traveler (15 page)

Alexander had added several matching towels and extra bedding to the cart while she was searching for her dresser and desk.  He glanced at her choices and gave her a reassuring smile before gesturing for the hovering salesperson.  Quickly pointing out the items she had chosen along with a few he had picked out when she wasn’t paying much attention, he waited for the man to acknowledge his choices before he led the way to the register.  

It took longer to get everything in the car than it did to check out.  Thankfully he had more than enough room for everything--the benefits of a suburban, he supposed.  He glanced over at Aislin in concern.  She had been relatively quiet the entire time, and it was beginning to get worrisome.  “Can you think of anything else you might need before we head back home?”

She shook her head, climbing into the passenger seat.  She couldn’t stop thinking about Brileia, and the predicament that she was in.  There had to be something.  She had been wracking her brain over some way to help her all day, and still she couldn’t come up with anything.  Even the replenishing nap hadn’t anything to ease her whirring mind.  So she sat, pensive, one leg resting on the dashboard, and didn’t say a word all the way home.  She would prefer staying quiet, and thinking and keeping to herself, than conversation at the moment.

Frowning slightly, he left it alone for now, letting her keep her thoughts to herself for the time being.  And truthfully there was still so much to do.  It didn’t take very long to get back home.  Parking in the driveway, he glanced at her for a moment before murmuring softly.  “We’re here, Aislin.”  Then he got out of the car and started unloading the back.  She had keys to get in now so he wasn’t worried.

She nodded and got out of the car as well, helping him to unload all of the things they had bought at the store.  She helped him bring in the bed and, once the bed was in, she made it her task to place all the bedding on it and organize everything in her room, her ipod playing softly in the background. Aislin sang along softly when she thought Alexander wasn’t listening, celtic melodies and the
Lord of the Rings
soundtrack her personal favorites.  It was just another piece of her that indicated she didn’t belong here, with these people in this modern world, preferring the old sounds and tunes to the newer hits.  

Allowing the girl her solitude for the time being, he put together her desk and bookshelves, making sure each piece was secure before he declared it complete.  The sound of her soft singing brought a faint smile to his lips before he reluctantly interrupted, knocking lightly on the open door.  “The rest of your furniture is ready to be moved into your room.  First...where do you want the bookshelves? Keep in mind that there is still the desk and the dresser.”

Aislin’s singing stopped and cut off abruptly as Alexander knocked on her doorjam.  She turned to see him with a faint flush.  “The bookshelves I want next to my bed.  So I can reach for the books whenever I want to.”  She blushed again. “Is that too silly to ask for?” She turned away to help him bring things into the room, immediately beginning to place books on the shelves.  Once everything was in place, the room was a little crowded...but Aislin didn’t see it as crowded, only cozy, only lived in.

“Not at all, Aislin.  I know many people who would do the same.”  He replied as they moved everything into the room.  He stood back and glanced around before giving her a smile.  “This room looks almost complete now.  Once you add a bit more of your personality, it will be perfect.”

She smiled a little.  “Thank you, Alexander, for everything,” she murmured.  “So...what do we do now? Where do we go from here?”  The question had a lot of meaning behind it, but Aislin needed to know some answers.

“You’re welcome.”  Alexander smiled lightly before grabbing her arm gently.  “For now...we go to the living room and talk.  Why don’t we order something easy for dinner and then you can ask all your questions while we eat?”  They had spent the entire day shopping, unpacking, and constructing her furniture, and it was approaching evening.

Aislin nodded.  “I would like that, very much.” Her eyes were drawn to his hand on her arm, and a faint blush crossed her cheeks.  “And pizza sounds fantastic.  That way...you can ask me any questions that you need to, as well.”

“Sounds good.  Go have a seat in the living room and I’ll order.” He replied before letting go of her arm.  “Hope you can handle lots of meat...I’m a carnivore.” He commented with a laugh before going into the kitchen.

Aislin laughed and shivered a little.  Her arm felt cold from where his hand had left it.  She sat down on the couch, holding a pillow close in her arms while she watched him move around the kitchen.  “You’re lucky I’m not a vegetarian,” she commented mildly, an amused glitter in her eyes.  She could make a twisted joke about his meat comment, and she bit it back, nearly snorting as it almost escaped on its own anyhow.  If he pressed her about it, it probably would escape.  
I like a lot of meat...
well, that explains a lot.  It explains why he’d take in an eighteen-year old girl so easily...

Chuckling softly, Alexander grabbed the phone and quickly placed the order for their dinner.  Paying for it with his credit card, he thanked the man before going into the cabinet and pulling out two glasses.  “The pizza will be here in about twenty minutes.  What would you like to drink? There’s juice, water, soda...and even some iced tea I made yesterday.”

“I’ll have some iced tea, thank you,” she murmured, letting her breath out slowly so she didn’t burst into laughter.  He probably would take great offense to the comment in her head if he knew.  “But you don’t need to wait on me at all.  I could have gotten my own drink."

Alexander laughed again, peeking his head out of the kitchen to look at her.  “Trust me, dear...I am not waiting on you.  I offered because I’m here in the kitchen.  That is called being polite.” Then he ducked back into the kitchen, pouring some iced tea in her glass and soda in his.  Truthfully he’d prefer something a bit stronger, considering the conversation they were going to be having, but that wasn’t such a good idea.  Carrying both glasses, he returned to the living room and set her glass down on the cocktail table before taking a seat in his favorite chair.  

Aislin scowled at him when he mockingly called her dear from the kitchen, but it added credence to her homosexual conclusion, and she took advantage of his situation when he sat down by throwing her pillow at him with surprising strength and accuracy.  “That’s for the dear comment,” she said nonchalantly.

He laughed, snatching the pillow out of the air before it hit him.  “Very good.  Nice throw.  Anyway...I do believe you had some questions...”

“It’s more like what I don’t have questions about,” she grumbled, laying back on the couch, her long legs crossed and stretched out before her, her tank top lifting to reveal just a hint of pale flesh.  “How does time work there?  Why can we go to the book world, but no one else can?  How can you go into it as you wish?  Can I learn to go in willingly, rather than being thrust in whenever it decides I want to?  And what do I need to know about that world, so I don’t get killed the next time I get sucked in there?  That’s all I can think of for now...but I’m sure I’ll think of more in a moment.”

He took a drink from his glass, taking his time to ponder the best way to answer her multitude of questions.  Blue eyes met her green ones as he settled back in his chair.  “Well, to answer your first question, time there is exactly the same there as it is here.  It has been...researched extensively over the years since the passage between the Outer Realms and the Inner Realms was discovered.”  He paused once more to take another drink from his glass.  “The books themselves...well, to describe them simply, they are more of a gateway than an actual book.  When the book transported you to the Inner Realm, that was no fantasy.  Those were real people...real pirates...real prisoners.  As I said...for the unprepared, it is very dangerous.  The books themselves are very...capricious, in that they have a tendency to appear to certain people...for reasons that no one has really been able to discover yet.”

“There is more than one book?” she asked, her eyes widening a little bit in surprise.  “And why...why would the pirate Captain have called me...never mind, it’s probably silly.”

He frowned slightly, sitting forward a bit...his eyes never leaving hers, evading the multiple book question.  “Why would the pirate Captain call you what exactly? And don’t say it’s silly...it can be very important.”

She blushed and tore her gaze away.  “He called me....Traveler.  He also said that my secret was safe with him.  What does that mean?” she asked softly.

Alexander closed his eyes for a moment and sighed softly, biting back the urge to curse aloud.  Then he opened his eyes and looked at her.  “You told him your real name, didn’t you?”

She blinked.  “What else was I supposed to give him as a name?  I didn’t tell him my full name, just my first name,” she said a little defensively.

“In...the Inner Realm...we do not use real names...only nicknames.  If someone knows your true name, they have power over you...more power than you realize.  There is a group of monks, the monks of Asgar, and they keep track of everyone’s true name.  A true name is one that is given to a babe a week after it is born...and the child, and the monk, are the only ones to know it.  Someone’s true name, used in the wrong hands, can make them compelled to do something they wouldn’t normally do, it can be used against them in magics...these monks are the protectors of the true names, and they keep them all locked away in their monastery somewhere in the islands.  

“It’s my fault...I should have warned you before you left the second time.  But neither of us knew that was going to happen.”  He sighed once more.  “The reason why I can come back and forth as I wish...is because I have been taught the secret ways to do so...to become a guardian, for lack of a better term.  The last time someone from the Outer Realms got a hold of the books...it was a disaster, the likes of which has never been seen...and we still suffer from his actions.”

“Oh,” she whispered, letting out a soft whistle.  “Well, I wish I would have known that...but hindsight is twenty twenty.  Who are you a guardian of?” she asked curiously.  “Or of what?  The book?” she frowned a little.  “And who was it...the last person who came from this world?”

“Yes...a guardian of the book...and of this world as well.”  Now he really wished that he had added a little something to his drink, considering the topic they were now on.  “As for the person...no one knows his real name...at least no one from my world.  He is simply known as Silvertongue.  He first came to notice about twenty years ago...but his visits initially were infrequent.  But then something must have happened here...because the last time he came through, he stayed...and proceeded to decimate anyone who stood in his way.  He killed the royal family in Avaldiir, and claimed the throne for himself.  From my understanding, he is practically the equivalent of Hitler in the Inner Realms.”

Aislin had caught onto one phrase from his comments and it stuck with her.  “You’re...not from this world?” she asked, her eyes wide as dinner plates.  “Does that mean...that I can’t interact with you, like a normal human?  Are you human?”  
Oh my God, the librarian was an alien!  Or an otherwordly being...or something.

Alexander blinked in surprise, staring at the girl for a moment before he burst into laughter.  There were tears leaking from his eyes as he laughed harder than he had in a while.  “Oh Gods...yes, Aislin, I am as human as you are.  And yes, you can interact with me like a normal human being.  While these may be two different worlds, there are legends that speak of it once being one world...now how true that is, I cannot be sure.  But considering that several of the former guardians have interacted with the people here and have even had children with them, you will have no problem at all.”

“You mean....sex?” she whispered, her eyes wide.  She never thought about the librarian having sex...although when he mentioned it she did notice his definition in musculature, and the nice lines of his face.  He would make some man very lucky, Aislin thought to herself.  “And why would I have any problem?  With sex?” her voice broke a little on the last word.  This was not a conversation she wanted to have with him.

Her reaction made him stop and really look at her face.  A brow arched slightly before he responded.  “Relax...I’m not offering or even asking.  I have no interest in having sex with a student.”  
And one that’s a woman,
Aislin thought in passing.  The doorbell rang, making him set his glass down and rise to his feet.  “I’ll be right back.” He murmured idly, going to answer the door.  After a few moments, he returned with the pizza he had ordered and set it on the cocktail table.  He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the plates and napkins he had left out earlier before returning.  “Dinner is served.”  

She smiled a little and stood, grabbing a small slice for herself before settling back on the couch.  She still had to watch how much she ate, after all.  She had to keep up her appearance.  “You weren’t kidding when you said you were a carnivore,” she joked, noting the presence of sausage, bacon, pepperoni, and what looked like hamburger on the pizza.

“Nope...not at all.  I never kid about bacon.”  Alexander replied seriously, managing to keep from grinning as he put several slices on his plate.  “So...where were we?  Oh yes...in answer to your other question, yes...you can be taught to control your jumps into the other world.  And before you ask, yes, I will show you.  It is better for me to teach you rather than let you keep getting yourself into sticky situations.  At least you were dressed and not dropped into a war zone each time you jumped.”

“No, I was just naked the first time,” she grumbled, staring down at her pizza plate.  That had been awkward, to say the least.  “And manhandled by pirates...that was a fantastic first trip.”

He blinked in surprise before frowning.  “They did not...violate you, did they?”  Just the thought of those men taking advantage of the poor girl made his blood boil.