In the first year since we’d arrived, I was certain we would find Delia waiting for us on a park bench. I had hoped against hope that she would just feel the presence of the amulet and seek us out as we were looking for her. It didn’t happen. My men and I quickly wore out our welcome at Orin’s home. His wife, Alice, was surprisingly warm and understanding, but it wasn’t long before she nicely asked us to find somewhere else to live.
We adapted to life on Earth much faster than I thought was possible. We found jobs, rented an apartment together and even adopted the technology that seemed so foreign to us. My heart ached wondering what life had become in Riona. We had no way of knowing if there would even be a home to return to if or when we found Delia. For all intents and purposes, we had become assimilated to the culture of a strange world.
Lonzo remained my most trusted companion. He knew I was getting restless and did everything he could to keep morale high. It seemed like the longer we were away from Riona, the less I believed we would return. The problem was mine, but it had slowly permeated our number until we all felt the strain of its weight. Lonzo wouldn’t stand for it; he took responsibility for our men in my mental absence. They trained and sparred and created an elaborate plan for extraction should we find the princess.
As we neared the end of the second year, we were ready to give up until something unexpected caught my eye in a shop window. A book. We’d been walking to lunch when I saw it. I stopped short causing Lonzo to barrel into me.
“Taeren? What are you doing?”
I didn’t answer. I turned on my heel and went into the store. I grabbed a copy of the book and turned it over. The author name was enough to make my gut clench, but the story description told me everything I needed to know. “Blood and Stone” told the story of a world created by the Great Alchemist. I couldn’t be certain, but I felt in my gut that this was the true history of Riona. I knew it before I saw the title of the series. I knew it because the sky depicted on the cover brought me right back home.
I bought the book and took it outside to show my fellow knights. “We’ve found her. Delia Spencer is our Princess Delia. She’s writing her story as a fantasy fiction series called Chronicles of Riona.”
“She’s telling people about Riona?” Lonzo was in shock.
I flipped to the back of the book, searching for an author biography. The girl in the picture was obviously older and more mature than the thirteen-year-old princess I helped escape from her castle, but it was Delia. Her long black hair fell in graceful curls around her shoulders, but gently framing her heart-shaped face. Those piercing blue eyes I remembered so well seemed out of place against her pale skin. I didn’t need to speak to her to know she’d gone through a lot in the six years since her disappearance from Riona.
“It says here she based it on recurring dreams she’s had for as long as she can remember.” I returned my focus to the beautiful girl in the picture.
Something about the phrase “for as long as she can remember” struck me as odd. It could simply mean since she was a child, but in her case, I had a feeling it meant more. Was it possible she didn’t remember our world? If she didn’t remember us, how would she react when the Knights of Riona arrived to take her home?
“At least now we know she’s still in New York. I need to call Orin to see what he knows about Petrano Publishing. The sooner we find her, the sooner we can get back home.”
“If there’s a home to go back to,” Philo muttered under his breath.
When I locked eyes with him, he straightened as though he expected to be admonished for his doubt. But how could I scold him when I knew he may be right. The rate at which Riona had been deteriorating when we left led me to believe we may not have a home to return to. Now that I’d found a shred of proof that Delia was alive and well, I had to grab it and hold tight. I looked away from the young knight and observed the people rushing by on the busy street.
Even though we’d made lives for ourselves, Earth was not our home. We couldn’t stay here if there was even a sliver of hope that we could restore our world to its former glory. I wanted to hop in one of the yellow death traps they called cabs and rush to Petrano Publishing, but I had seen how celebrities felt about crazy fans. If I showed up clutching a copy of “Blood and Stone” insisting it was all real and I wanted to take her home with me to Riona, I’d be locked up in a heartbeat.
No, I was going to have to find a way to meet her without saying who I was. I had to believe she would recognize me if we ever met again.
“Blood and Stone” was much more than a book; it was a history of my world. I knew Delia didn’t realize it, but by writing her book she’d shared secrets about the creation of Riona that even the Knights didn’t know. At first, it felt like I was somehow betraying the trust of the throne I’d sworn to protect when I let Orin and Lonzo read the tome that had become one of my most prized possessions. But, I felt like the knowledge contained within would only help us as we fought to save our world.
I had always respected the Alchemists in Almandine though I never understand what they did. Learning what the Great Alchemist did to create Riona only intensified my appreciation for their methods. While I couldn’t be certain everything in the book was truth, I had a strong feeling that the details weren’t far off.
“While this information is great, I fail to see how it’s getting us any closer to bringing her home,” Lonzo said as he handed the book back to me.
“We know where to find her, and that’s a start,” Orin answered before addressing me. “You need to find a way to get close to her.”
I knew he was right. I hadn’t thought of how I would do it, but it was essential to our success.