Rell and The Rose

Ch. 10, Pizza and The Great Lands of Antarctica

Rell

I was expecting some sort of troll or some other enormous guardian beast. Instead an elderly man stood before me.

"You brought the pizza?" He had a straight nose, high cheekbones, deep eyes and beautiful midnight black hair, that despite his age, held no grey. I wondered if this was some sort of riddle or password question for entrance to the castle.

I remembered was Lorcan had taught me of courtly manners and swept him a grand bow. "My name is Rell and I am not a solicitor."

He frowned at this, "What was that? You're gonna have to speak up!"

"MY NAME IS RELL!!" Then I remembered what the magic mirror message had said, "I'm here for the live-in maid position."

"Well it's about time! Come in!" He threw the door open, already striding away, and I hesitated before following him. Just like that, they let a stranger into their castle? Without answering a riddle, or dueling a troll, or choosing between a selection of poisoned vials?

I grinned and stepped inside. What a fantastic place the human world was!

This castle was like no other dwelling I'd ever seen. It was flooded with light, with corridors painted in whites and creamy blues, with lamps that glowed without flickering. I gaped when we passed a room made of glass, that contained dozens of potted plants and a tiny, perfectly blue lagoon. It was cut into a perfect square, probably bewitched somehow. I wondered how many humans could bathe there at once— maybe an entire village. Yet as we walked I saw no one. Strange indeed...

I followed the older man into a giant room, with beautiful counters of slick rock.

He poured us both a cup of tea, adding a dash of something to his from a bottle in his jacket. He winked when he saw me watching, and I smiled knowingly. A poison test. So there was indeed an entrance test to the castle, yet it was offered after gaining admittance to the castle, to lure them into a false sense of security. I heartily approved.

"What'd you say your name was?"

"Rell."

"Rell... sort of got a nice ring to it. I'm Dasan."

I nodded. I'd already dumped half the cup into a one of the plants on the counter in the second he looked away.

"So where are you from Rell?'

"The Dark Realm."

He nodded. "I've heard of that place. Completely dark a couple weeks a year? Up in Antarctica?"

I had no idea what Antarctica was. I gave him a huge smile, "Yep, that's the place."

A strange bell suddenly sounded throughout the house, and Dasan jumped up, "That'll be the pizza."

Pizza, as it turned out, was the decadent meal of kings. It was made of warm cheesy bread topped with round spicy meat and came in an extraordinary box of painted paper wood THAT YOU GOT TO KEEP. As we ate, Dasan talked to me, not at all slowed by the fact he was eating. I nodded in encouragement to everything he said, hoping to catch some hint of what exactly a "live-in maid" did.

"You must have been the tallest girl in your class! What do you play: volleyball, basketball, track?"

The conversation paused for the first time and I realized he was waiting for me to respond.

"Volleyball." I said confidently, picking one of the choices at random. I hoped it was less bloody than the game the dark mer played. The loser's head became the ball.