Chapter 14; The New Acquaintance

Chapter 14: The New Acquaintance

/The King’s Guesthouse, Fang Border, King.

A long and very tiring day came to a peaceful conclusion for Adi, as he sat down on a comfortable, plush chair, and served as a guest for this man of apparent importance, “Nathanial, of house Rolan,” 

Ridiculous, these men act like they’re from the fekhin medieval times, Adi thought. But they treated him very nicely, and had him set in a nice and comfortably large room, to say the least. Biv, although having business to tend to with the so called king, decided to stay back and help Adi with all his queries, or with whatever he may need him. He sat beside Nathanial. The room was magnificent indeed. Lavishly decorated with beautiful ornaments, sculptures and intricate art on the walls, the room was quite a sight. It had a high ceiling painted with designs of art unlike any he’d seen before, with large initials which spelled out “R.M,” written across paintings of large men with three arms and light coming out of their palms, much like the light that emitted out of Biv’s. But the colour of this light was painted violet. Biv’s light was white.

The painting was absolutely amazing, and it was in the reading room of the King’s guesthouse, so he assumed this R.M was the DaVinci equivalent in this world, since they were not in the modern era of their planet yet. No cars, the buildings were all gothic, and— 

‘…So I assume you had a comfortable journey, my lord?’

Adi laughed slightly and said, ‘Oh… I’m no lord, my lord.’ He awkwardly muttered the last two words. Nathanial seemed fascinated to interact with him, but equally awkward. Adi so far had absolutely no chemistry of interaction with anyone he’d met, besides Biv—at least for himself, because Biv often grimaced at him as well—and so he was having a difficult time.

‘Ah yes, you’d mentioned something of the like. Safe journey?’

Adi nodded politely, to which Nathanial responded with a slight look of boredom, and sipped what seemed to Adi as wine, from a metallic goblet, much like Biv’s in the gem-boat. But, like Biv’s horrible ale, Nathanial’s mood seemed pale. Adi had ruined many of his potential relationships and productive interactions with his own awkwardness and insecure nature, but he could not afford to do so anymore. He was sitting in the home of a very important man, in lands very far away, and he could not blow it off as he always did. He had absolutely no idea why Biv summoned him in the first place—besides it being something about his dreams—he could not mess another chance up. And so, he broadened his shoulders, sipped his wine, and got Nathanial’s attention, and his guards’, by clearing his throat, preparing to speak.

‘B-b-before—’

‘Wait, M'ro—my friend—’ Nathanial said, shaking his head as if correcting himself, ‘I want to ask you something before you proceed. This interaction is a disaster, and I was really hoping it wouldn’t go this way.’

Adi widened his eyes at Nathanial’s nervousness.

Flash.

He saw a painting, a painting where everything was red, and brushed over, all objects in the painting including living beings, all just blending into the background. Some men wore armour, others in leather dressing. 

All were seated in a grand hall, and one man—glowing brightly—wasn’t blending with the rest of the painting. He was clearly visible. This man was Nathanial. He was down on his knees, begging with his hands cusping each other. There was another being, glowing brightly—but not visible—a man with a golden crown atop his head, sitting on a throne.

Give it to me. The whispers said.

Adi gasped, blinking frantically.

He’d now made it more awkward. What was going on with him? These flashes had never been so strong or prominent. He could only remember them slightly happening once or twice every year or so. It was never like this. He was perplexed, but greater deeds to handle were at hand right now.

‘I-I-I couldn’t agree m-m-more, my lord.’ Adi said softly, and nervously, lowering his head.

A tall man in armour whispered something into Nathanial’s ear, and he nodded.

Adi was feeling slightly hungry—he could smell a lovely supper being cooked, the smell of roasted chicken and other meats. Nathanial nodded, and patted Adi’s shoulder.

‘What say you we get some—’

‘—supper.’ Adi said, eyes wide, as if he was the one in disbelief.

‘How did you—’

‘—know what I was going to say?’ Adi finished, questioning himself.

How did he know? Whatever it was, it put this man in disbelief, and it was utterly rude.

‘I am so—’

‘—sorry.’ Nathanial finished. They shared a laugh, Adi lucky that Nathanial thought nothing of—

Why would I be afraid to show them? I am here for this supposed ability anyway. Although if this is what I can do, I’d much rather have Biv’s ability, Adi thought.

Don’t crib, you’re getting a second chance, be happy. He thought, giving himself an admonition.

‘L-l-look, my lord. I need to tell you s-something.’ Adi was mustering up the courage to tell him, as all eyes in the room fell upon him. Men had gotten up from their seats to go to supper, but all stopped, as he addressed Nathanial, ‘I—seven years of my life had been w-wasted completely wiling away time, without talking to people. People think I’m insane, but really, I am just a man with speech disorder.’

Possibly the weirdest thing he’d ever heard anyone say, but these medieval breed of men seemed to take almost everything in its seriousness, and so they didn’t ridicule stupid speeches like these.

‘M-m-my illness grows worse with every passing day, but for e-e-everyday I have more interactions, I-I hope that it gets better. I-I am really not insane, sir, I am just n-n-new here and I am sure no men from my planet h-h-has been here in the past.’ He said, putting his head down. Oh, he was a shame to all of them! It was embarrassing every time he tried to speak. He’d miss the point most important. But Nathanial seemed to sympathise with him.

‘My friend, you need not worry. Your companionship lies with me. We will treat you fine, and for what it’s worth, why don’t you tell me a little more about your planet, and I mine? Many men of ours haven’t been to your planet and returned to see wiola's light shine on them.’

‘How many have?’ 

‘One came, from an expedition of three. Good men they were said to be… all of them.’

Interesting. When he first met this man, he seemed the type to be a refusing, nasty and temperamental man. 

Now, he’d been speaking with him for about an hour—apparently called a twelfth around here—and he’d gotten to know him to be a nice, giving, yet dominant man.

In the hour, though he seemed nice, him and Adi didn’t really hit it off, to say the least.

‘What happened to the other two?’

‘Dead, possibly lost. We don’t understand why—but we do know this, your world is far more modernised than ours, but our planet has existed for longer, according to our scientific calculations.’

‘That is r-rather odd.’ Adi commented, squinting in thought slightly.

Nathanial picked up a goblet and seated Adi on a chair by the dining table.

‘W-where we come from, we don’t get a-around on horses or carriages anymore,’

‘I know, apparently it is some kind of… outlandish creation called a car.’

‘Yeah, it runs on electricity.’ 

Nathanial cocked his head in confusion.

‘Electricity? No? Come on! Y-you must have that at least!’ 

Nathanial pursed his lips and shook his head. He seemed greatly interested in conversing with Adi. 

‘Well, i-it is a form of energy, and i-i-it is what powers our planet. I-i-it is what modernised our world as well.’

‘Where can I get it?’ Nathanial asked.

Adi laughed a little, and said, ‘Y-you need to create it.’

Nathanial nodded, ‘Well, how am I to do that?’

‘I don’t k-know actually, I’m not an electrician.’

Nathanial squinted in confusion again.

‘I-I’m sorry but I’m not very well versed in the matter, but I can—’

‘Why do people on your planet speak our language?’ Nathanial said, blatantly changing the subject as if he were an excited five-year-old.

Adi laughed in a slightly patronising manner, ‘I’m sorry, what?’ He asked, sniggering.

‘Well, the language we are using to mutually communicate, that is of our planet’s descent, why do you know this language?’

‘Because it’s English, the most widely spoken language of our world.’ Adi replied, kind of offended. This man is randomly claiming English is of his planet.

‘My friend, you must be mistaken! This language is Krian, the medium of our planet, created for a common cause—to let all Erhinians communicate! We spoke Cor originally, but this simpler language widely spread around the blocks! Men from Layonas adopted this speak as well!’

Click. 

Adi had a great idea—well—a great question.
‘Nathanial, my lord, h-h-how long h-has this language existed for, i-in Erhin?’ Adi asked. He’d started to get familiar with names of places and all along the line here.

Nathanial folded his arms and looked up. The ceiling in this neighbouring dining room was painted equally majestically and had the same initials across the centre, “RM”.

There was a large wooden table in the centre of the room, food on the table served in bowls and exquisitely designed plates. Men had already helped themselves, after saying something Adi faintly heard, maybe a prayer, and began eating, but him and Nathanial were deep seated in their conversation.

‘Roughly about twelve-hundred years.’

‘And how many years ago was your kind’s first expedition to Earth?’

Nathanial blinked, muttering to himself, ‘Well, it was…Krilin’s own servant…roughly…’

He clicked his fingers, ‘A thousand years ago, to a place now named Britain.’

Adi’s heart skipped a beat. If this man wasn’t lying, then the origin of English was indeed a lie.

Or was it?

‘This man who c-came to Earth from Erhin, He must have children on our planet a-as well.’

‘Yes, he must.’ Nathanial said, in accord.

‘You know what t-this means?’ Adi asked him. It had been a long time since he’d cracked a case in discussion. Back in Scotland, with his family, he’d do things of the sort often.

‘Yes. Men of our blood thrive somewhere among the line of men in your planet. We must find them.

Adi didn’t know whether he’d want to support Nathanial’s notion. Nathanial seemed fairly convinced by Adi so far, and so if he said they should, then Nathanial probably would.

But he’d only just reached here, and so he wanted to stay here and explore the planet, and his own boundaries as well. It was not like he was going to get homesick or miss London. His life there was depressing and repetitive—although used to it—he needed a change.

Now he just had to come up with a way to tell Nathanial that there was no point.

‘My lord, all the names and people’s heritages have changed completely. The men of those days aren’t remembered anymore.’

‘But there must be historical records!’

Adi was going to try and convince Nathanial in a subtly fooling manner and so began preparing what to say in his mind—

‘Nathanial, don’t we have other, more important things to focus on instead of g-g-going to Earth for an expedition of history?’

Nathanial looked down and blinked several times, reminding Adi of himself; it was one of his nervous tics.

‘On the matter I presume you are correct—but I’m sorry for suggesting it, M'ro…’

‘I’m sorry, what’s t-that?’ Adi asked.

‘M'ro. A manner of greeting in our world; and well, Layonas also, matter of fact.’ He said in a poignant tone of voice.

‘Oh… I-I see.’

‘Well, I may be acting out of the norm right now. A was… denied by the King of a certain want of mine, and it gravely upset me. It’s kind of the reason why I insisted for you to stay here, in the guesthouse with me, rather than with the King.’

Flash.

‘You wanted to learn Wielding.’ Adi blurted out, not realising that he’d actually said it and not thought it, for a moment.

Nathanial’s eyes widened, followed by a keen smile.

‘You really know everything, don’t you?’

‘Yes—apparently so—but I don’t know why,’ Adi whined slightly, ‘what am I? Why have they called me?’ He said, waiving his arms around. His level of stuttering was surprisingly low. 

‘Don’t you know? You’re the prophesier they’ve been looking for!’

Adi winced, ‘Prophesier?’ Adi said, laughing, ‘I’m no prophesier.’

‘It’s precisely what you are my friend. It’s why you were able to know what I was going to say and why I approached the king before I could even tell you.’

Flash.

This time, he saw something absolutely majestic. 

It was another painting, out in the mountains, snow fell all around them, and there was one large mountain, which a company of men were on top of. 

And there he was. Nathanial was on his knees, shooting a beam of blazing light out of his palms straight into the sky. Adi was on the side, kneeling on his knees, and the rest of the men completely abstract, blending in with the whitely painted mountains.

Was he going to tell Nathanial? Was he going to tell him his fate? 

‘Nathanial, there’s something I must tell you,’ Adi said. Nathanial keenly smiled, and Adi gulped. 

‘I…I… you a-are a…’ The nervous blinking began, ‘…a really great host, and I-I wanted to t-thank you f-for your kind service, my lord.’ 

That was the most fake sounding deflected speech he’d ever heard in his life, and it was him who gave the speech.

‘Well, as a matter of fact, I must thank you! For being such a great guest.’ He said smiling and fast, shaking his head left to right in what seemed to Adi as appreciation, at least he’d hoped.

The dinner had been going on for a surprising amount of time, and Adi and Nathanial hadn’t touched theirs. Adi started to feel a little hungry and so he turned his gaze to the platter.
Curries, chickens: roasted. There were assortments of green and leafy vegetables, and what seemed to him to be a beautifully marinated whole pig, with a seemingly sweet glaze. The smell was magnificent. He had taken a few sips of his wine, and though he wasn’t an expert in the field of wine, this tasted like something he’d assume to be of the highest quality.

Adi helped himself to a few meals and started feasting—as did Nathanial.

‘King Tristan informed me personally that one of my carriages will escort you to his palace, to begin your training, it seems.’ Nathanial said nonchalantly, in between bites. He took a sip of his wine, ‘If you wish to, you will continue staying with me for the rest of the time you are here on your mission, which may be a long time,’ Adi swallowed, ‘but I’m sure you will like it here just fine, my friend.’ Nathanial smiled.

‘I will make sure you are treated the best way possible. My men personally will take care of that.’ He said, patting his shoulder.

‘Thank you, k-k-kind sir.’ He said, absolutely fumbling. Adi thought of this interaction to be the best one he’d had in years, considering his disability, but it was still a shipwreck. Luckily enough for him, Olivia maintained him, stopped him from going mad over the years of silence. His growth was in his dreams, not in real life.

Nathanial bowed his head slightly.

Everyone else by the dining table had faded away in Adi’s eyes. The only person he’d spoken to throughout the dinner was Nathanial, all others involved in their own conversations and matters, but Nathanial and Adi both were intrigued by each other and interested in conversing with one another, at least Adi was, and was assuming Nathanial was as well.

Minutes went by as they finished dinner, and Nathanial walked him to his room in the right wing of the home.

‘Well, M'ro, you’ve had a long day, and I’m sure taking care of that long hair ain’t easy! Trust me I know.’ He said, pointing to Adi’s hair and then to his own. ‘I’ll bid you farewell for now, we shall meet soon.’ Nathanial said, seeing him off to his door.

‘Pleasure.’ Adi smiled.

They parted ways, as Adi walked into his quarter. He’d never been accustomed to such a manor of living. 

His room was a large, luxurious quarter—well—chamber, as they called it. There was an entry hall, a room on his left with a sitting area, and a table on top of which stood many different metallic and non branded flasks and goblets beneath.

Ahead was a large room with a long, king sized—to Adi’s reckoning—bed with a table on either side, and a balcony with a stone platform between the room and the entrance, and curtains drawn closed, the view completely open. And boy, was the view phenomenal.

A scenic view of Fang mountains: the enormous snow covered mountains diving into the skyline.
And there it was.

A peak larger than any: Krilin’s Peak, Nathanial called it. Now that he looked at it, he saw that this was no peak he wasn't familiar with.

He’d seen it before. 

In fact, he’d seen it only about an hour ago, in a flash. That was where he saw Nathanial—

A soft knock on the door, Adi was only wandering around in the corridor, and he rushed to answer.

Biv stood at the doorway, short hair falling over his forehead, almost identically to yesterday when he walked into Adi’s room back in London, long distances away from here.

Actually, it was exactly where he was, just in a different dimension, as Biv had said.

‘Ah, Biv! C-c-come on in.’ Adi said.

‘How was your evening, M'ro?’ 

‘Oh, quite pleasant.’ Adi said, slightly blushing. He was very proud of himself. He usually wouldn’t be able to interact with someone like he did with Nathanial.

‘That is good to hear! Hope all great then?’

Adi let out a little laugh, ‘Y-y-yeah, it’s going alright. For the f-fact that I have been taken to a new planet, told I h-have powers and seen things I’ve never seen before, all in the span of two days, a-and I haven’t completely freaked out,’ He breathed, as Biv blinked in slight confusion.

‘It all great.’ Adi simplified.

‘Ah’ Biv, laughing.

He looked around a little bit—almost as if he were looking for something specifically—and it was a look of sleight discomfort.

‘Well… Long day, hope I not say same about your night eh?’

N-n-no, I’ll make sure of it.’ Adi said. ‘Biv, d’you want a drink, mate?’ Adi asked.

‘Ah, no, that won’t be necessary, thank you much! I have work to do with the King.’ 

‘Okay, g-goodnight then!’

‘Adi—I avoid telling you why I came here.’

‘Well, tell m-me then?’

‘I… just be careful eh? Crazy world up here.’

Adi frowned slightly, ‘S-sure.’

***

After saying goodnight, he was disappointed he couldn’t tell Adi.

And to a conclusion, he wasn’t going to.

Biv had flashes on only occasions, and sometimes they weren’t even fully correct, so he was just going to ignore it.
Sometimes it’s better to let things be than to try and fix it, He thought.

Once he was out of the King’s Guesthouse, he walked towards the staple on the left of the house. There were guards at each entrance, and a formation of men in front. A fellow working at the stables greeted Biv and handed him his stallion. 

It was a great, brown beast named Rehenis. She was a majestic beauty that he had been riding for more than three years now, and he’d gotten accustomed to her stride.
‘Has she been fed?’ He asked the stableman, in Cor

‘Of course, my humble sir.’

He nodded and mounted Rehenis, as troubling thoughts were overcoming his mind.

There was something definitely different about Adi, but he’d decided to just ignore it, and move on.

So he dropped it.

He bid the stableman thank you and goodnight, and rode out into the night.

***