Chapter 2: Libain

The halls of the house were eerily quiet. Every once in a while, I'd see someone dressed in a white servant's gown, similar to the one I'd seen Abin wearing. I wasn't sure how Kalim wasn't getting lost -- the halls all looked the same to me. We turned, corridor after corridor, until he stopped in front of a large white door, no different from any of the others. The light-haired boy knocked on the door quickly and lightly, hardly making a sound. A deep "come in" came from the other side, and Kalim pushed the door open, ushering me inside.

The man sat at a wooden desk -- pine, it looked like, from the color -- with a small pair or glasses perched on the end of his nose. His hair was blond, blonder than Kalim's, even. His pale face seemed papery and thin, like he could evaporate at any moment. He had a small beard hanging from his chin, making him look even frailer. Despite his appearance, he had an air of power about him. It made me uneasy.

He looked up from the stack of papers he was reading and peered at Kalim and me over his glasses. He studied me for a moment before pushing back his high-backed chair and standing. After another moment, he chuckled once.

"I'm not going to eat you, child, you need not look so scared." His voice was deep and warm. Kalim carefully nudged me in the direction of the large desk, where the man looked me up and down once again. He motioned to a leather chair beside me, and I tentatively sat. He sat in his own chair. I heard Kalim come to stand beside me, which made me all the more nervous. The man in the chair waited a moment for me to settle before he spoke again.

"My name is Carrad; I'm Kalim's father."

"Elsa," I replied automatically, which made him smile, for some reason.

"Welcome, Elsa. It's wonderful to share our fate with you." He looked at me expectantly for a moment, until Kalim cleared his throat. Carrad's eyes snapped to his son.

"She's not accustomed to the traditions," Kalim offered, and Carrad nodded, suddenly remembering something. It felt like they were speaking in code. I shifted in my chair, a little uneasy. Carrad's attention slipped back to me.

"Excuse me if I'm out of line, sir. But where am I?" The question had been stuck at the back of my throat since I'd woken up; Kalim hadn't given me a straight answer when I'd asked. The words slid off my tongue before I had a chance to catch them. Carrad's eyes flicked from Kalim to me, then back to Kalim. I felt him shift behind me, giving some sort of visual clue, but I didn't turn to look at him. "Would you mind telling me what you remember, Miss Elsa?"

I began to wrack my brain, praying that I'd remember something more than the few thoughts I'd clung to since opening my eyes against the harsh white of the bedroom. "Only that I was in the ocean. It was dark, I couldn't see, I couldn't breathe… then I woke up here."

"You don't remember anything else?"

"No, sir." I fiddled with the hem of my shirt, stiff from the saltwater. He cradled his chin in his hands, debating on what to say next. "Kalim, you may want to sit down. It seems this may take longer than either of us expected." Kalim pulled a chair up next to me and sat, waiting. I held my breath, trying to grasp what might be said next.

"Elsa," Carrad began, "We don't have a lot of your memory to go off of, which tells me that if I tell you everything, it may overload you. It's going to be hard to take in, and hard to believe, but I promise you, it's true.

"We're not human. Kalim and I. Nor Abin, or any of the others here in this house. Realm, even. In truth, this is not the world you know, Elsa. When you started drowning, the currents pulled you under and down through a hole connecting our worlds. You were lucky to have washed up on the beach, and even luckier that Abin found you when she did.

"You're in Libain, land of what your world calls Fae. Then again, you--" Kalim cleared his throat in the middle of Carrad's sentence, and Carrad lost his train of thought. He continued anyway. "I think it'd be best if you stayed with us until you regain your memory, Elsa. I know it's all a bit much to wrap your head around at once, but you need to trust us. We have your best interest at heart, I promise you that much." Carrad went silent, waiting for my answer.

"This isn't Earth, then," I confirmed after a moment. Carrad shook his head. "And you're not human." A nod. "And you want me to stay with you until I can remember everything." Another nod. I couldn't see any other choice than to stay. If I really was in this place called Libain, I only knew one way of getting back home, and that was near-drowning again. And that wasn't even a sure-fire answer. If I did manage to get back to Earth, I couldn't remember where I lived, or who I lived with, or anything like that. I'd be in worse shape than I was here. "Alright," I took a deep breath, "I'll stay until I can remember."

"Excellent," Carrad nodded, and Kalim rose. He offered me a hand up, and I took it, not sure if I should trust my knees after everything I'd just learned. Once he was sure I had my balance, he lead me out of Carrad's office. Just before he shut the door behind me, I turned and looked back at his father. He had returned to the papers on his desk.

"My gratitude, sir." I dipped my head respectfully. I can't say why I did it, other than the fact that it felt like the right thing to do. He looked up at me from over his glasses, his face splitting into a warm grin. "Enjoy your stay here, child," he replied before Kalim closed the door.

"Well," Kalim put a comforting hand on my shoulder, "that went very well. Why don't I show you around the house, since you'll be staying with us for a while?" He walked two paces ahead of me, motioning for me to follow. I inhaled deeply, steadying myself. I then kept pace with him as he lead me around the mansion.