She
remembered lying in bed with Excalibur tucked closely beside her, one
hand loosely grasping its hilt, the ring making a loose connection,
while the other hand patted the key where it lay on her chest. She
had been tired. Exhausted. Asleep before she was fully settled under
her coverings. Nothing was making sense.
A
clank startled her from her musings. A lock disengaged and a creak
pierced the vacuous tomb. For that was what the room signified. A
tomb. Glancing toward the door, she noticed it open. Slowly. Two men,
clad head to foot in white, marched into the room. She quickly tucked
the key underneath the gown and clutched a fist around the ring,
hoping the motion hadn’t attracted any attention.
“Let’s
go, my Queen,” one of the men spoke, but both guffawed at the title
of ‘queen’. “Dr. Abrecan awaits. And he doesn’t like to be
kept waiting.”
The
men grabbed Anne underneath her arms and yanked her to her feet.
“Where are you taking me?” she shrieked, trying to resist.
“Look,
lady.” The same man who called her ‘queen’ gripped her arm more
tightly. “We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. Your
choice.”
There
was no point in resisting. She wouldn’t find her answers in this
tomb. Giving in, she allowed the men to usher her out into the hall.
The lights were brighter, but the air was just as stale, just as
sanitized. Looking right and left as she trod along with her escorts,
she noticed door after door, much like the one she had passed
through. Moans and shrieks pervaded the walls from beyond the doors.
Other than the sounds, there was nothing to suggest any other human
presence. She wasn’t even convinced that her escorts were human.
The
men’s feet clomped along on the hard, linoleum floors; Anne’s
feet, cushioned inside some sort of slipper, merely scuffled.
Everything echoed. Sounds bounced off the walls, the floor and the
ceiling. The hall stretched on and on, with no intersections or exits
to suggest an escape route or any other route for that matter. It was
merely one, very long, very empty hall.
They
reached the end. There was a door. Not like the cell doors that she
had passed. This one was more official. A larger window than the one
that graced her door was labelled with the words: “Dr. Abrecan,
Chief Psychiatrist.”
The
man who spoke knocked.
“Enter.”
He
turned the knob and pushed the door open, then pushed Anne inside
before slamming the door firmly shut behind her. The room was
exceedingly bright. More so than the hall. She blinked, keeping her
stance where she had been left, allowing her eyes to accustom
themselves to the new lighting. When she could see better, she
glanced around the room, studying it, taking in every little detail.
The men who escorted her were gone. At least, she believed they were.
Though it was possible they merely stood on the other side of the
door, on guard to prevent her from trying to escape.
She
felt very much alone. But she wasn’t; not really. A man sat at the
large desk at the far end of the room, a room lined with rows of
filing cabinets on one side and shelves stocked with peculiar bottles
and boxes with syringes sticking out the open ends. It was the
bottles and syringes that concerned Anne. Who knew what this mad
wizard had in mind for her!
“Come
in, Anne.” The voice was Abrecan’s, only this one had an air of
professionalism. Firm, concise, neither warm nor cold. It was the
voice she expected to hear from any physician in the twenty-first
century.
“Abrecan.”
Anne refused to move.
“Dr.
Abrecan to you, my dear.”
“Queen
Anne to you, wizard.”
He
quirked his eyebrow quickly, a glimmer of agitation showing in his
eyes like a flash of lightning, brief and then it was gone. “Very
well, Queen Anne,” he snapped the words with precision. “As you
wish. Stand if you must. I would like to ask you some questions.
First, do you know what year it is?”
Anne
had a feeling she was being tricked. This was not the sixth century.
But was it the twenty-first century? And, if so, when? At the time
she left it? Taking a chance, she chose the last year she remembered,
before she had found the door. “2019.”
Abrecan
appeared satisfied. “Very good. Now, who is the Queen of England.”
Another
trick? “Queen Elizabeth II.”
“Ah!
Good! We are getting somewhere. So, you admit that you are not the
Queen of England.”
“Not
in this era,” Anne muttered, then realized she should have remained
silent.
“Then,
in what era are you queen?” Abrecan wrote something on the pad of
paper in front of him before returning his gaze to Anne, tapping the
pen on the desk. It hit the surface with an irritating, hypnotic
patter. Anne focused hard to avoid its influence.
“You
know full well, wizard.”
“I
am not a wizard. Not here. Not now. I am a very respected doctor in
the field of psychiatry. Now answer the question.”
It
was Anne’s turn to snort. “Psychiatrist, my ass.”
“Fitting
words to come from the mouth of a queen.”
Anne
grasped her hands tight in a grip. The ring bit into the palm of her
right hand. Resisting the urge to study her hand, to look at the
precious ring, or to reach inside the neck of her gown to check on
the key, Anne glared at her adversary. Her enemy. Her half-brother.
Ugh! She hated the idea that she was related to this monster.
Abrecan
grinned and returned the girl’s stare. “We couldn’t remove the
ring.” He knew what she was thinking. Unsettling. But then again,
Merlin always knew, too. A wizard’s gift. “And, yes, I can read
your thoughts.” Nodding at the girl’s clenched hand, he continued
in a voice barely audible, “I didn’t want to cut off the finger.
Not yet. But I will need the ring soon. It appears that only you have
the power to remove it. Another one of Merlin’s tricks, I suppose.”
Shaking his head as if to clear the cobwebs from his thoughts,
Abrecan broke the gaze and studied the notes on the desk in front of
him. “Now answer my questions. In what era are you queen?”
He
obviously couldn’t read all her thoughts, or he would know she had
been thinking about the key.
Anne
allowed the silence to impregnate the space. She closed her mind to
thoughts that might hinder her attempt to take control. If she could
take control. She had to believe that this wasn’t real, that there
was a way to escape this nightmare. Finally, she answered, in a
clear, determined voice, with head held high, her gaze every bit the
queen that she was. “In your era, Wizard Abrecan. And, if you know
what is good for you, then you will get down on bended knee and beg
for my forgiveness.”
The
wizard cackled with laughter. Stilted. Harsh. He slapped a hand on
the desk to emphasize his humor and bellowed, “Right. And I suppose
you want me to pledge allegiance to you, too. Am I right?”
Anne
didn’t answer. She waited, allowing the silence to penetrate.
Finally, “Of course. But first I demand some answers. Where am I,
Abrecan? Where is this place? And what is it?”
“It’s
a mental asylum, my dear. You have obviously been rather unbalanced
for some time and you were brought here to be treated.”
“Brought
here? Where is here? And treated for what?”
“This
is the Rideau Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Grenadier Falls. You
are being treated for schizophrenia.”
“What?
I am not schizophrenic! If anyone is, it is you.” And she
dramatically pointed a finger at the accusing man.
He
merely snorted in response. “Now. Back to my questions. What era,
girl? In what era are you queen?”
My
Review:
After perusing the synopsis and admiring the cover of The Door, The
Key and the Kingdom by Emily-Jane Hills Orford, I was eager to
immerse myself in the tale and travel back in time with Anne as she
transformed into Princess Anne.
I appreciated learning more about Anne and her origins. I also found
it enjoyable to discover Merlin and Excalibur. The magical elements
were delightful, especially as I witnessed Anne uncovering more about
her abilities and just how formidable she has become since her
journey into the past.
I don’t often comment on book covers, but I have to express that
the cover of The Door, The Key and the Kingdom is stunning,
intensifying my desire to read the book even more. That cover raises
many intriguing questions about what lies within and the universe
that has been crafted. Additionally, I must mention that the
world-building was enchanting and thoroughly engaging.
I would suggest The Door, The Key and the Kingdom to anyone who
delights in tales involving Merlin, Camelot, and, of course, magic. If
The Door, The Key and the Kingdom piques your interest, then be sure
to get a copy today for an unforgettable adventure!
