I was afraid to get off of the plane.
As much as I wanted to run off of it, I was still afraid to leave. I had been in it for all for that time and I was expected to just walk out on my own and into a strange world. The nightmare would continue with demonic dogs and a black-cladded demon would swoop in and grab me.
No, he already did that and he stood at the stairwell near the front of the plane.
“They’re waiting for you.”
Dad used to say that to me whenever he was about to enter a convention hall to speak to people.
“No, they’re not, Dad,” I would reply with a small eye roll.
“One day they will. All of this will be yours.”
“The donuts too?”
“You bet, princess. So, what do we do?”
“We march on!” I yelled.
“Right-o!” Dad would shout and then open the door leading out to the stage. I would see the flash of cameras and the booming bass sounds coming from the convention center for a brief moment until the double-doors closed. I’d then step back to see mom a few feet behind me with a smile on her face.
“We march on,” I whispered and then marched to the door.
Raphael took a step away from me and then held an umbrella over my head as the sun cascaded over us. He balance the umbrella as we stepped off of the plane and walked in the direction of six people. Four wore suits similar to Raphael: One was a woman in a mid-length black skirt; and the other three were large-size men who looked like they took take on Arnold Schwarzenegger with minimal effort. The other two were an older man and woman. The man was in a wheelchair and the woman stood next to him. Both of them had a stern look on their faces but, as we walked closer and closer, their expressions changed into smiles and then tears.
“My King and Queen, may I present to you, Akrista Miathia Aylesea Nycholys Llewellyn.”
The Queen took three steps forward and then lowered herself down to look me in the face.
“We‘ve missed you so. You look just like your mother. Doesn’t she?” She asked the King.
He only nodded.
I replied with a small wave.
“Was there any trouble, Raphael?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Oh it’s a miracle you’re back with us again, Akrista.”
I glanced all around and wondered where we were. It was an underground area but there were skylights above letting in the sunlight. I wondered if I could run away, how far would I get before one of the big guys could shoot me. Or maybe the female officer would do a few back-flips and throw me to the ground. I mean running was the main option going through my ten year-old mind.
The Queen stood back up and then held out her hand to me.
“We have a lot to talk about,” she replied with a sigh.
“Bring it up.” Raphael spoke into his radio once again.
I looked behind the group as a small room came up from the floor behind them. It literally appeared from the ground and a large door opened to a brightly lit area, I took the Queen’s hand and walked with her as she met up with her husband and one of the large security guys helped push his wheelchair into the room.
The doors closed behind Raphael and the room vibrated a bit.
“Where are we going?”
“The Palace,” Raphael replied.
“Palace,” I whispered.
The room had a slant to it and my jaw dropped after we took a sharp corner: A large silver limo in the middle of what looked like an underground city. We were escorted to the back of the car, with Raphael and the woman, who he called “Venus”, sitting on the opposite side of the King and Queen and myself.
“We’re secure,” Raphael said into his radio as the doors locked.

The car moved forward without a sound, as if it was riding on air. We silently moved past buildings that appears to be carved out of the rock.
“It’s the ‘hen ddinas’,” The Queen said as she pointed to a grand-looking structure on the far right. “You’re very great-great-grandfather helped to carve that right there. The first palace of Tyrain.”

The palace was three stories in height and protruded farther out than the building around it. I almost wanted to ask if the country was inhabited by mole-men or some form of lizards that only journeyed to the surface due to some explosion and took their place among the humans—adapting to look like them, just like that show about a physician who travels through time.

The car glided into a smaller building and the door behind us closed with a quiet thud.
We exited the car and into a brightly lit area—as the windows were tinted darkly. Raphael lead the way as the Queen smiled as she took my hand. The thought of running away was still in my mind, but maybe, just maybe, if I stayed on my best behavior I could possibly call my parents and let mom and dad know I was alright: that I had been on a plane and had seen buildings that were prettier than anything at Disney World.
I smiled back at the Queen.
Yeah, I could handle being at this kind of summer camp for a few days before going back to my real family. No biggie. It would like staying with Bethany…except everyone who was close anywhere close to my age all wore black, had guns and magical pockets.
We walked through several modern security doors until we reached what looked like an ancient wooden double door. Two of the larger security guys opened them and the res to us walked into a grand room with a fireplace at the far side with a gigantic painting on the wall.
The painting was of a kind of young man with a light beard and reddish hair. Next to him was a young woman with blond hair. Their eyes looked out at the painting as if right at me. I looked down a bit to see, in their arms, someone I had seen before—kind of—in a picture back at my house. The baby in their arms looked like me.

I didn’t ask the question that was hanging heavy on everyone else: If that was me, what happened years ago? Instead, they escorted me to my room which looked, strikingly, like the one I had left less than a day before, right down to the space under the bed. I wanted to think that maybe I was in an alternate world, an Un Lun Dun-esque flipside of the life I once knew. The closets were bare though—so that kind of brought me back to the reality that I was still not at home.
The Queen shuffled her feet to the dresser and opened the top drawer. She took out a black box and nodded to Raphael. He walked over to her, took out a key, and opened the case. Within it was a gold necklace with a bright green jewel in the middle.
“This necklace was your mother’s as it was mine before. As the crown princess of Tyrian, it is now yours.”
I looked at her and Raphael and shook my head. “I’m not a princess.”
“You always have been,” she replied.
“No, I’m not.”
“Just like her mother, isn’t she?”
Raphael nodded as he laid the case back into the drawer.
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be insulted by that remark or to be flattered. I was like my mother: we both loved clothes and going places and we both had attitudes.
“She was the fire in this house,” The Queen mused as a tear fell from her eye.
“Can I ask a question?”
She nodded.
“How can I tell who I am?”
“Raphael, please set out some tea and cakes in the sitting room.”
“Of course,” he replied and left the room.
“Shall we?” The queen shuffled past me and into the hall.
I followed her out and down a small incline to yet another hall that lead into a room with several couches, framed pictures and artwork. It looked like the west wing of Bethany’s house: like a museum. The framed pictures were again of the couple in the great room; some with a baby, others without. The ones without the baby present were a bit faded. Or at least the people in the picture looked grayed-out, but their surroundings were still clear.
A thin man with a long mustache stepped lightly into the room. He sort of glided around the furniture like a dancer.