Free The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality by Gahan Hanmer Page B

Albert. "He's as sleepy as this girl."
    Gentle laughter rose from the crowd, but I didn't mind. Candlelight led me to warm blankets on a pallet bed, and I could barely tuck them up around me before I was fast asleep.

Chapter Four
    "Sir Jack."
    Who was Sir Jack?
    "Sir Jack."
    A hand was shaking me gently by the shoulder. I opened my eyes. I was in a strange, new place and there was something else too . . . Oh, yes! I was in a strange new time, cut off from the past which was also the future. How peculiar it felt to remember that! I had woken up in many strange places in my travels, but I had never woken up with quite the same feelings that I experienced that morning. I felt like a boy waking up in a new world that was full of mysterious and exciting possibilities.
    It was Maxine, Émile's daughter, who had wakened me. She pressed a warm, wet towel into my hand, and said, "Breakfast is on the table when you're ready, Sir Jack." I applied the warm towel gratefully to my face and neck; there is nothing nicer in those first moments of the day. Then I looked around to see where I was.
    I was in a long, narrow fieldstone building with a firepit in the middle and a low thatched roof. Around the perimeter of the room were shelves made of undressed planks on supports set in the stones; several of the shelves held clothing, blankets, and personal effects, neatly folded with an arrangement that suggested military order. Beneath each shelf was a thin mattress like mine, but under the empty shelves the mattresses were rolled up and secured by thongs. I had the impression that only five or six people lived in this barrack, though it was set up to accommodate quite a few more.
    There were two windows with shutters open to the fresh air and the savory smell of cooking. Still in my tunic and tights, I stuck my feet into my boots, threw on my cloak, scratched myself, and ran my fingers through my hair. Wrapping my cloak around me against the chill, I went outside.
    Seated at a long wooden table were Sir Leo and a few of the other soldiers. They were flirting with Maxine, who was waiting on them; she seemed to enjoy the attention. There was something of the flavor of an old country inn about the scene, but when I appeared, the banter subsided and they all turned to look at me.
    "Welcome!" said Sir Leo. The word seemed pregnant with meaning. Welcome to our home. Welcome to our era. Welcome to our life. It also seemed to say: How are you? And who are you? And how do you feel waking up this morning in a place you can barely imagine?
    No one else spoke. They went quietly back to eating, giving me plenty of space to look around and make myself comfortable. The remains of a large breakfast were spread across the table and there was plenty left over for me.
    The stone barrack was situated at the bottom of the pass we had come down the night before. The dirt road ran across some meadowland, east by the sun, into the woods. It was a brilliantly clear day and in every direction the countryside appeared clean and fresh, the way it does when you backpack several days into unspoiled wilderness. Yet with camping you take with you as much of the accouterment of civilization as you care to carry: lightweight, compact, synthetic, state-of-the-art civilization all wrapped up in nylon and aluminum. This was an entirely different experience, and so far that was all I knew for sure.
    Maxine gave me a square wooden plate, a two-tined iron fork, and a wooden spoon, and I began to help myself. In imitation of the others I used my own dagger to cut the meat.
    "Where is everybody?" I said between bites.
    "The king left at first light," said Sir Leo. "He's a very busy man, especially when he's just come home. Everyone else went to the monastery to hear Mass. Gordon here can show you the way after we have our fencing lesson." One of the soldiers nodded. He had thick, curly blond hair and a marvelous, oversize mustache.
    "All right, Sir Leo," I said. "I'll be happy to help