EIGHT

"Got here? Who brought me here?" Una asked confused.

She wished the girl would stop talking all formal and tell her what exactly was going on. Did Collin bring her and leave her here?

"Where is Collin?" she asked, and the girl seemed confused.

"How did I get here?" Una asked.

"The Emperor's bodyguard saw you lying down there," Irkal said, pointing to the spot where she was seen.

"So you mean I just appeared out of nowhere?" Una asked.

"Yes, it was like someone dropped you there, but the door was locked, and we can't find any truth of an external person," Irkal explained.

"No way, "Una said, smiling. "Okay, I give up. You have solid actors and a good game plan. I agree that you have been able to successfully prank me," she added.

Irkal wondered what gibberish she was talking about. Maybe she wasn't right in the head.

"Who put you up to this?" Una said, walking cautiously towards the girl. If she wanted to, she could snap the girl's neck without any thought, but that would do her no good. She needs answers and not death.

"No one," Irkal said, her voice rising. She has been trying to protect her identity by keeping it on the low, but Una has been acting like someone who has some head problems.

"I'm Una, and I was just in a huge fight with the cyber cartel. I almost died and I was taken to the hospital, and then I ended up here. How did I end up here?" Una asked the girl again.

At this point, Irkal felt she was just repeating herself over and over again. The princess was smarter than the woman standing in her front. Princess Ninsab had successfully studied everything, even beyond her grade level.

She was vast in politics, embroidery, literature, flower work, and housekeeping. She has been taught and trained specifically for the role of an empress or queen, as she was going to be one someday.

"U...n...a..." Irkal said, stammering her name. It felt weird to call her by her name when she had the same face as the Princess.

"The emperor would come in the day to explain the situation to you. I have explained to the best of my capacity," Irkal said.

She was getting tired and making no progress. She too could not explain how this strange woman in strange clothes made in foreign fabrics that she had never seen.

One can tell the quality and excellence of a fabric from touching it and she knew that those fabrics were good ones. Slosalia was known for its beautiful and rare fabrics but the one this strange woman wore had not been seen anywhere in the kingdom.

"What time is it?" Una said, her eyes darting around the room, trying to find a clock and probably a calendar.

Irkal glanced at the one candle, which was the source of light in the vast room. Tons of candles lined the wall and Una suspected some of them, if not all, were scented because of the smell that filled the room.

"Lauds," Irkal responded.

'Around three or four am,' Una thought. At this point, she was glad she took history and listened to the Middle Ages lectures.

'Wait, middle ages? '

'Middle ages?' Una screamed internally.

Why would this little girl say Lauds except this was the middle ages or a bad dream that she was going to wake up from soon? She would wake up at the hospital and see Collin and every other person.

Her gunshot wound would have been healed.

'Wait, my gunshot wound?' she thought to herself.

"Who treated my gunshot wound? " Una found herself saying out loud.

"What is a gunshot wound?" Irkal asked.

"You don't know what a gunshot wound is?" Una asked, perplexed.

"Am I perhaps having a bad dream?" Una asked out loud.

Irkal shook her head. She has heard enough gibberish for a whole year.

"Wait, where is my mobile phone?" Una said, her hand going to the pocket of her trousers and then to her shirt. She then realizes that her clothes have been changed from what she was wearing previously to a nightgown.

"Who changed my clothes?" Una asked.

Irkal sat down on the ground near the door. She was not going to answer any more questions. She would give the Emperor her candid advice that this woman would not be a good replicate for the princess.

It would be better if another of the princesses stepped up to the responsibility of marrying the prince because this replica would not work out.

Irkal ignored the woman as she had something close to a meltdown. Una kept finding reasons to believe she was in the fifteenth century but did not want to believe because, how could it be?

Did she time travel, and why in the fifteenth century? It was a crazy thought that she could travel through time and land in another timeline and still be alive there.

"I want to meet this princess," Una said, which made Irkal turn to face her. Irkal did not know when the tears fell from her face.

Una thought about what she had said. Was it wrong for her to say she wanted to meet the princess? The small girl introduced herself as an affiliate of the princess. That must mean the princess was the one who was taking care of her if she put her maid to stay with her and watch over her.

"Did I say something wrong?" Una asked.

"The princess died today," Irkal said.

She was not supposed to say that but what could this strange alien woman who did not understand a single word say?

"Dead?" Una muttered, confused.

'If the princess was dead, then why was she here? '

"Who asked you to keep an eye on me?" Una asked.

"The emperor," Irkal answered in a duh tone. She was pretty sure she had made mention of it and even if she had not, then can't this woman just hold on till it was daytime?

"Will I see the emperor tomorrow?" She asked. She needed to get to the bottom of it immediately.

"As soon as day breaks, he will be here," Irkal said. She did not know if the emperor would be there early but she knew he would come. The marriage of the princess was the most important event that was to happen later that year, and the emperor would not just allow anything to sabotage it.

"Okay, then I will talk to your emperor," Una said with her hand, quoting when she said the emperor.

She climbed up into the bed and covered herself I'm the fine silk on the bed. She had never felt such soft silk. Although the night dress she wore was cotton but was rough, this silk did enough justice.

"Do you know what year it is by any chance?" Una asked, turning to face the girl, who was exhausted from the chatter.

"The year 1505"