72Chapter 3: Under Your Nose
If this was supposed to be some kind of reality show, Keith was going to find someone to sue up the ass and through the nose. This world was too detailed and Keith was too lucid for this to be an illusion. But a television station's ambitious attempt to test a person's un-expecting wits for the amusement of others was still a possibility. Unfortunately there was a major hole in his theory that kept him from shouting at a producer he couldn't see; he couldn't figure out how he'd gotten here. He didn't remember blacking out - making it easy to transport him to a set - and this certainly wasn't something you could hide in the basement of a city apartment.
Keith hated the part of himself that tried to rationalize how this could be real. Once he started to believe, was someone going to jump out with a camera mocking him for believing that something this outlandish was reality? Who believed in prophecies these days anyway?
The servant brought Keith to courtyard about the size of a small park. Six tall, windowed walls of the palace enclosed the grassy area, and pathways leading from archways in each. The paths spiraled together towards the center of the courtyard where a large tree erupted from the ground and spread its refreshing shadow over most of the area. Two of the paths nestled a small pond that stretched nearly to the base of the tree. The pond was deep enough to hide the bottom and reflect the sky silhouetted by the tree's large leaves.
The servant who brought him to the courtyard had been civil but quiet. She didn't say much with her almost-British-slightly-French-maybe-Irish accent except for when he asked her why she kept watching him. She'd said it was because he was from Antiquem, which he assumed was the name of the supposed "other world" he was from.
When she left him alone to eat and brood over his situation, Keith turned away from the bench she'd directed him towards and went to the base of the tree. Keith sat in the grass nestled in its roots with his back on the trunk facing the pond. She'd brought him slices of bread freckled with dried fruit and something he assumed was pieces of cheese. He took a bite of the soft white chunk and didn't recognize the flavor. He wasn't sure what animal it came from until he remembered the large animal he'd arrived on. It was camel cheese.
Keith had a strong dislike for four legged animals taller than his hip, especially ones bred for riding. Cars and motorcycles might be dangerous at time, but they wouldn't spontaneously throw you off and break your collarbone.
Abandoning the cheese, he turned his attention to a mug of ale. His unfinished bottle of beer was still sitting in his apartment, so he appreciated the offered dark liquid for dulling his nerves. But calming himself with a bit of alcohol didn't mean he was going to be delicate with Alair; that trickster was hiding something from Keith (in addition to his apartment building).
After a few swigs of the ale, Alair appeared over the rim of Keith's mug. He walked towards Keith with the blankest expression Keith had seen on him yet, but Alair clearly was not very good at hiding emotions since his lips pursed tight and his brow furrowed slightly.
"So, what have you come to tell me?" Keith asked feigning ease.
Alair stopped at Keith's feet and looked down at him. "What would you like to hear?"
"That you're sending me home." Keith answered frankly.
"I'm not sending you back yet." Alair responded with added creases in his brow. "We have a deal."
Keith frowned to hear his forced situation referred to as something so civil. "I haven't seen one freckle of gold since I've been here, and your king's confusion doesn't help your story."
He would expect a kingdom with enough gold to offer large amounts as a reward would have enough to decorate the palace with some. Wasn't that how kingdoms displayed their wealth and power by flaunting their gold statues and jewelry? Not even the King had been wearing any adornments. He looked like he'd rolled out of bed naked and thrown on his bed sheet.
"There is gold where the energy is." Alair answered with a defensive tightness in his jaw.
So Keith had been right. Alair had no gold to offer him, he was merely gambling that there would be some to offer Keith later down to road. It seemed Alair's plan was to deal with Keith's anger if there was nothing to give him only after he'd had Keith do what he wanted.
"Really?" Keith asked skeptically. "Since you don't even know where this energy or spell or whatever is, how can you know there is one scrap of gold there."
"You're doubting me?" Alair asked offended.
"You're damn right I'm doubting you." Keith stood up, and the action nearly brought their chest together. Or rather, because of their difference in height, brought them chest to chin. Keith looked down at Alair hoping his size would intimidate him, but Alair didn't move back a fraction. "I don't know what trick you've played on me, but it's about time to end it. Now send me home."
"I won't."
"Listen kid-"
"Don't call me kid." Alair interrupted.
.
.
Alair was sick of defending his maturity. He might be lacking when compared in size and age, but at least he was facing his responsibilities head-on instead of skirting around them with denial.
He pushed his finger against Keith's sternum to show the man he wasn't going to be intimidated by his posturing. Alair wouldn't allow himself to be frightened, despite Keith's capacity to rip Alair's arms from his body. He figured if Keith intended to hurt him, he would have done so in the desert before putting some faith in Alair.
Of course now Keith's faith in him was broken since he'd discovered there might be no gold or incentive at the end of his task. Maybe that was enough to make Keith's violent tendencies unpredictable, but Alair felt like Keith was starting to believe in his surroundings. Or at least he hoped Keith was. Instead of using denial to give him confidence that his journey would end soon, there was unease in his glance. Keith's apprehension suggested he was beginning to realize his home was farther away than he thought.
Keith let Alair's finger press against his chest without the slightest acknowledgment.
"I promise you I will get you back home after we've fulfilled the prophecy." Alair hated how impatient his voice sounded despite trying to get Keith on his side. "And if there is no gold to repay you with, I promise I will do everything I can to compensate you appropriately."
"You think this is still about compensation?" Keith didn't take the peace offering dangled in front of him. "This is about you taking me to a place that shouldn't exist."
"It does exist." Alair was fed-up with this. "If you could see around your fat head you'd notice."
Alair emphasized his words with a few finger jabs into Keith's chest. It might have been juvenile, but Alair was angry and it felt so damn good to express at least that small bit of aggression.
"Stop that." Keith commanded.
His hand caught Alair's finger and gripped it tight enough so Alair lost his ability to prod. Alair tugged back to reclaim his hand, but Keith's grip wouldn't forfeit.
"Release me." Alair demanded.
"Not if you're going to keep poking me."
Despite the displeasure in the joints of his finger, Alair pulled back again, this time suddenly and more forcefully. He rewarded was freedom from Keith's hand, but the momentum carried his body backwards. Alair tried to step back and catch himself, leaving collateral damage at little more than an embarrassing stumble, but one of the tree's roots was in the way. His heel struck the wood and his body continued falling backwards.
Alair barely noticed Keith's hand grip his arm, but Alair's body was already on its path towards the pond waiting behind him.
The frigid water of the pond encased Alair's body and stole his breath. It took a few seconds for the shock to his body to pass, and he fully realized what had happened. He tried to swim upwards, but the churning of his arms and the kicking of his legs didn't bring him upwards. The ponds surface should be a short distance away, but his head would not break the surface.
All he felt was the water rushing past his cheeks and not in the direction he needed to go. Alair was falling fast like something was pulling them down. He forced his eyes open, but all he saw was the silhouette of Keith's head with his expression disguised by bubbles from Alair's panicked release of breath. Keith's hold was still on one of Alair's arms and he could see Keith was trying to swim upwards as well, but they were still sinking.
They were going to drown.