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doing disrupting my palace in the middle of the night?” The man was enormous. He had a huge chest like a beer barrel, and arms like tree trunks. Draped over his shoulders was an animal fur that looked so heavy it would crush anyone not built like a gladiator, and his chin was covered in a shaggy beard that matched his mane of hair.
    Luca didn’t know what to say and decided it would be a lot easier to just tell the truth.
    “We’re not from here ... my friends and I found a portal and we came through, but we were separated. I woke up to find Anna like this, and I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I need your help.”
    They could not know how the frantic words were so uncharacteristic for him, but they could all see, quite clearly that he was in definite trouble.
    The man frowned for a moment, and Luca’s heart sank, but then he motioned to a door and said, “Take her in there.”
    Luca set Anna down on a bed in a room identical to the one he had woken in and stood back hesitantly. He ran a hand through his hair in agitation.
    The large man asked a small servant boy to run and fetch a Healer. Once the boy had left, the man turned to Luca and said, “I am High King Gaddemar of Uns Lapodis, and you are in the high city of Amalia.”
    “Thanks...” Luca stared at the man. High King? His hands clenched and unclenched of their own accord. He could feel himself start to sweat.
    The door opened and a man dressed in a strange shimmering robe and carrying a wooden staff entered. He bowed stiffly to the king and walked to Anna lying on the bed.
    After looking at her for a moment, the Healer moved the staff so that it was vertical above Anna, as though he was going to stab her with it, and stood with his eyes shut for a long time, making neither noise nor movement. After ten minutes, Luca was about to speak, but the Healer turned around and said to the king, “She is very sick. It will take me many days to heal her completely. Now if you will leave me, I must begin straight away.” And with that, he turned back to Anna. The king motioned for Luca to follow him from the room.
    Luca blinked and felt a coldness touch his chest. He fought an urge to shout aloud for a proper answer, and instead asked calmly, “Will she be all right?”
    “I cannot say. Would you like wine?”
    “Uh ... no thanks.” He followed the king into a large dining hall and sat at a wooden table, which filled the length of the hall.
    Luca felt his eyes droop with exhaustion, but knew he must stay awake and observe everything. The king was quite old. His face was set in a scowl that seemed like it had been there a long time—there were heavy lines around his eyes and mouth. Luca wondered when he last had smiled.
    A young man hurried into the hall and sat down with them—he looked quick and strong. He was introduced to Luca as the king’s son and the Crown Prince of Uns Lapodis, Accolon.
    The two men looked at Luca expectantly as they waited for him to speak. Luca spread his hands wide. “I’m not too certain what I’m doing here, actually. We found a portal and came through. We just wanted to know what was on the other side.” Luca paused to look around and said, “So where exactly am I?”
    Gaddemar frowned. “You are in Paragor. It is made up of five different countries divided by oceans. Uns Lapodis, Cynis Witron, Lapis Matyr, are the three treaty countries, and then to the west there is Frescana, and further west is the desert land of Tirana.” The king paused and looked over at his son. Accolon looked back at his father and nodded. Gaddemar turned back to Luca, his brow furrowed.
    He took a deep breath and continued. “Many years ago, a man named Leostrial sailed in from the sea. He came with an army of men and claimed the country of Lapis Matyr, and killed Altor the rightful king. The conqueror married Altor’s wife, Liessen and now lives in the capital city, Burmia. He took over the city. From there he rules the land. We could do