Chronosphere Read online

  They followed his directions, and Anton couldn’t help but grin as they walked down the street in beggar’s clothes, people staring in judgement without knowing he had money to spend.

  They found Xander’s easily. The shop’s bright green and purple facade stood out among a line of otherwise drab, brown storefronts. The owner was a slight old man with golden spectacles, a violet tunic, and gold brocade pants who swept his store and whistled until he saw the pair walk in.

  “Out, out, out!” Xander said. “No beggars here! We have nothing for you!”

  Anton smiled and opened his fist, revealing the five golden coins. The man’s demeanor softened, and he gave them a toothy grin.

  “My apologies, my apologies, please come in!” He ushered them into the store. His head only reached Ana’s shoulder. “What can I help you with today?”

  “We’re due to appear before the king tomorrow,” Anton said. “A friend said you could do us up proper.”

  “The king! Indeed, indeed. The best garments in the city can be found here.”

  The man nearly sprinted to the back of the store, then returned with a stack of stools. He enthusiastically bid Ana to come over. She stood, confused, while the old man climbed atop a stool and took her measurements. Xander needed a second stool to measure Anton.

  “Please pick what you like, and I’ll have everything ready for you this evening.”

  Anton thumbed through spools of fabric before selecting royal blue linen for a tunic, brown leather for a vest and pants, and gold buckled belt and shoes to match.

  He brought his selection to Xander and requested that he sew hidden inner pockets into the vest. As the tailor effusively complimented Anton’s choices, Ana brought up her own selections: auburn linen for her dress and brown leather for a corset. She had found knee high leather boots to complete the ensemble.

  “You both have excellent taste!” Xander said. “While you wait, might I recommend the Maiden’s Haven, just down the block? I think you’ll find it most enjoyable.”

  “Maiden’s Haven? What’s that?”

  “A bathhouse, sir, for both men and women.”

  Anton couldn’t help but laugh. He looked down at himself and saw that he was still smeared with dirt and little bits of grass.

  “Hint taken.”

  They made their way to the bathhouse, a massive underground room where the air hung heavy with steam. The room was a maze of wooden tubs separated by silk partitions. At the entrance, the old woman running the place explained that they were natural thermal baths. Apparently, even in winter, the warm waters kept the entire city very comfortable. Anton found an empty tub, and Ana went to find another across the room.

  He removed his rags and slipped into the warm water, scrubbing the grime from his body. He reveled in the luxury and wondered if these baths could still be found deep beneath modern Jagari. His thoughts were interrupted by a tap on his shoulder.

  A beautiful woman with dark brown hair knelt beside him with a tray of steaming towels. Petite yet busty, she wore a thin white robe, and he could see her pink nipples poking through the fabric.

  “Hello sir, are you here for the full body experience?” Her voice was silky and low.

  He wasn’t sure what this meant exactly, but he was intrigued.

  “Yes,” he replied with a smile. “I believe I am.”

  She eyed his body through the water and smiled.

  “I was hoping you were.”

  She knelt and unrolled a large towel beside the tub. Steam still rising from it, the woman took Anton by the hand, led him out of the water, and motioned for him to lay down. She stripped to reveal an impossibly gorgeous body.

  “Like what you see?”

  “Very much so.”

  The woman instructed Anton to turn over. She took a small bottle from the tray and covered her hands in fragrant oil. She began massaging his back and legs. Her touch was heavenly, and Anton quickly felt himself getting hard. Once the tension had been rubbed from his back, she told him to turn over. The woman gasped and bit her lip when she saw his cock. She continued her massage, her mouth almost watering as she ran her hands along his arm and chest muscles. Finally, she wrapped her small hands around him, and he moaned with pleasure.

  I think I might enjoy this era.

  He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her hands on him. Soon, the warm wetness of her mouth wrapped around him. She bobbed up and down as he writhed in ecstasy. This went on for several minutes until Anton felt himself about to burst. He told her this, but she was undeterred. With her mouth still around him, he came so hard that he saw stars and shot his seed into her hungry mouth.

  As the pleasure began to fade, he heard a wet sound and realized that the woman was touching herself. He watched, then slipped his hand over to help. This drove her wild. He touched and rubbed her until she too climaxed. Her knees wobbled as she knelt to support herself.

  After several minutes spent lying beside the tub, breathing heavily, she slipped back into her robe.

  “Very good, sir,” she said, regaining her composure. “Please feel free to come back any time. And if you do, be sure and ask for Elise.”

  She handed him a warm towel, picked up her tray and left. After scrubbing his face and body once again, he draped the warm cloth over his forehead, climbed into the tub, and drifted off to sleep.

  When Anton awoke, Ana was standing patiently near his tub.

  “Hey there. Something wrong with your tub?” he asked.

  “On the contrary. That was unexpectedly pleasurable,” she said.

  Anton laughed. “Well then what are you doing watching me?”

  “It has been three hours. I was sufficiently clean and relaxed after one.”

  “God, why didn’t you wake me?”

  Anton dressed and paid the bill, half a golden coin. The woman gave them five silver coins in return. He made a mental note to return.

  Evening had fallen as the two retraced the path back to Xander’s. The old man excitedly announced their clothing was ready. They changed and examined themselves in the mirror. Anton had to admit, the form fitting clothing made him look more dashing than he’d ever seen himself, and Ana’s outfit hugged her curves delightfully. Anton paid the man two gold coins and they left.

  The two strode down the street and turned a few heads for entirely different reasons than before. Anton spotted an inn called the Dragon Hyde, and beckoned Ana to follow him. Anton was starving. They found a wooden table near a street side window and sat down. A barmaid came over and Anton ordered a pint of ale and a bowl of beef stew. Ana ordered nothing, having had her fill of sunlight for the day.

  “Anton,” Ana said as his ale arrived. “I believe we will need something more impressive for tomorrow morning.”

  “You’re right. Unfortunately, these new clothes can’t cast any spells,” he took a sip and thought for a moment. “We could still keep it simple. Even something like a lightbulb would blow their minds.”

  “Since we will be in the royal court, it is possible that the Draconians will be in attendance. They are significantly more technologically advanced than humans at this time. They will know that a lightbulb is not magic.”

  “It’s possible,” he said. “If they aren’t there, it will certainly make things a lot easier for us. The last thing we need is to attract suspicion so early. If they come, we’ll just pull off another simple trick. Maybe some kind of escape, a disappearing act. Hopefully the king will be impressed either way. I’m willing to bet they won’t be there, though. If you were taking over a planet, would you bother to stop for a magic show?”

  Anton’s stew arrived and he eagerly tried to take a bite, burning his tongue in the process. His stomach growled.

  “Yes, that plan is logical,” she replied. “In the event that they do not come, will a lightbulb be enough to impress the family?”

  “No, we’ll have to get a little flashier than a lightbulb.”

  He waited for a reaction, but An
a apparently missed the joke. Or perhaps it just wasn’t funny.

  “We will need materials,” she said. “It will be impossible to find the parts we need in this city.”

  “We won’t get them here in the city,” he said, trying to grin with a mouthful of soup. “We’ll just borrow a few things from the chronosphere. And don’t forget, we have one more source of ‘magic’. You.”

  Ana seemed genuinely surprised.

  “You want to open me up and use my parts?”

  “Oh. God. Why do you have to put it that way? No, I just mean you can interact with machinery in ways that humans can’t.”

  “Oh, right.”

  “It’s too dark to go back to the chronosphere now,” he said. “Let’s get a room here for the night. We’ll get up first thing in the morning and head for the forest.”

  ***

  Thanks to the bath, the feathered bed, and the warm sunshine on his face, Anton awoke feeling more alive than ever before. It occurred to him that this was the first morning in his life he wouldn’t have to hide from the eyes of the Draconians.

  He punched the code into Ana’s neck, and she switched on. She stood up from the chair where she’d spent the night offline. After a quick breakfast, he paid their bill and set out for the forest. On their way out of the city gates, they stopped by the blacksmith’s shop, where Anton spent their last gold coin on a satchel and a simple iron dagger for good measure.

  Ana had to find the chronosphere for him. Still disguised as a boulder, the thing blended in perfectly with the forest. Anton spent several minutes carefully removing parts without damaging them. The idea came together quickly. Using some copper wire and tubing, a miniature transformer, and some aluminum panels, he quickly constructed his makeshift wand. He then removed various bulbs, as well as the fog machine Ana had implemented. With all the parts in the satchel, they headed back for the city.

  Along the way, Anton explained the plan to Ana. She quickly merged a few of the parts with her own systems. When they reached the gates, the same two guards stood watch. They didn’t recognize Ana and Anton for a moment. Anton kept his head down to try and maintain the illusion. The first guard was mid-nod when he gasped.

  “You two again, the missionaries! How on earth did you get those clothes?”

  The man wasn’t angry or defensive, but merely shocked.

  “As it turns out,” Anton said. “There’s great money in evangelism. Who would have guessed, eh?” He forced a laugh.

  “What was all that about rejecting material wealth?” the second guard asked. “Ain’t God’s love sustaining you?”

  “Oh, right, that,” Anton said. “It turns out we were wrong! God wants us to have nice clothes. Who are we to challenge the will of God?”

  The guards held their spears out to block the gate.

  “Bloody thieves and liars,” the first guard said. “I knew it. You aren’t welcome here.”

  Anton smiled and pulled the king’s summon from the satchel.

  “His highness disagrees.”

  The guards took the summon and examined it closely.

  “If I find out this is forged…”

  “Then you’ll know where to find us.” Anton snatched the summon back. “In the royal court. Good day, sirs.”

  They crossed through the gates before the guards could think of anything else to say. Anton barely contained his laughter as they ascended the streets toward the castle.

  The castle was even more impressive up close. Four main spires joined the structure’s outer walls until they reached the top of the structure and were capped by conical red tops. In the center, a massive spire rose above all else, its red-tiled roof slanting broadly to meet the tops of several smaller central towers.

  “Do you think any part of this place still exists in the present?” Anton asked, unable to take his eyes off it.

  “This is the present, Anton. It always is.”

  “You know what I mean. Our present.”

  “I doubt the Draconians left traces of any human history for our modern day.”

  An even higher strata of society occupied this inner ring of the city. Silver and gold jewelry adorned many wrists. Lace clung elegantly to the ladies’ dresses. Many of the men’s jackets were lined with leather. Ana and Anton certainly weren’t the most opulently dressed, but they didn’t draw unwanted attention, either.

  A cobblestone path wound its way up to the golden castle gates. At the gates, Anton presented the summon to a fully armored guard, who stared at it carefully for a moment before wordlessly motioning them inside. They found themselves in an open landing, where a red carpet stretched below an ornate chandelier. Portraits lined the walls. An old servant with a shock of silver hair examined a long piece of parchment for a moment, looking nervous before noticing them. His plain black clothes billowed out, making his body look like a shapeless blob. He approached them quickly.

  “You two are the… ahem… magicians that the king sent for?”

  “We are.”

  “I am Gregor. Follow me please,” he said, ushering them down the hallway. They turned through several hallways where other servants worked quietly. Eventually, they were led into a large room where a long dining table had been moved to one side and ornate tapestries lined the stone walls. Two servants kept their heads down, cleaning obsessively.

  “You are about half an hour early,” Gregor said. “I admire that. You may wait here. The royal family will join you at 15:00 and you may do your… performance.”

  “Sir, will the new royal family be in attendance? House Dracos?”

  “I do not believe so, sir. Just the king, queen, and princess.”

  Anton sighed in relief as the servant began to turn away.

  “One more thing, Mr. Gregor,” Anton said. “Are there any musicians around? We prefer accompaniment.”

  “I will summon the court quartet for you.”

  The old man hesitated before leaving. He stepped close to Anton before he spoke.

  “Sir,” he began in a hushed tone. “I do not mean to suggest any nefariousness on your part, but it is well known that our king has tendencies toward gullibility. I only hope that your act is sincere.”

  “Of course.” Anton was surprised at the servant’s sudden forwardness.

  “Good,” Gregor responded. “I only wish to look out for their best interests. I would do anything to protect this family.”

  ***

  The dining hall looked like a new room entirely by the time the royal family entered the chamber. Petra followed her father into the dining hall, which had apparently been transformed. The long table was against one wall, and the high-backed dining chairs were arranged in a line along the other. In the center of the room stood the peasant magicians from the market. They looked like new people.

  Clad in elegant clothing and free from dirt and grime, they were an arresting sight. The man was quite handsome. Petra found his tousled brown hair and his full beard charming, if a little vulgar for royal court. They contrasted his pristine blue tunic nicely. The woman was fetching as well- beautiful green eyes, lightly curled brown locks, and an hourglass figure. She wondered if the two were lovers. The man looked a bit nervous but smiled through it. The woman, however, appeared completely calm.

  Once the royals took their seats, four servants entered the chamber. Petra recognized two of them as cooks, the other two, housekeepers. They each carried different instruments. Did she know they were musicians? She vaguely recalled a memory from her youth of seeing them play. They stood near the table behind the magicians.

  With everyone in place, King Gareth took a gulp of wine and spoke up.

  “My, my, look at you two,” he said. “Like night and day! You fit in beautifully here. What do you have for us today?”

  The magician cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

  “May we dim the lights, please?”

  The king nodded to Gregor, whom Petra hadn’t even noticed standing by the doors. The manservant
hurried around the room, lowering the intensity of the oil lamps. Though it was midday, the dining chamber had no natural light, allowing for eerie darkness.

  The magician turned to the musicians and whispered something. The servants looked at one another, then picked up and began to play. It was a lively, bouncy tune, though somehow with an air of mystery. Petra hadn’t heard them play for a long time, and they were very talented.

  “Ladies and gentleman!” The man’s booming voice filled the chamber. “Prepare for a spectacle greater than any you’ve seen before.”

  The magician flourished a strange metal rod with a coiling appendage. He nodded to the woman.

  There was a flash of light so powerful that Petra shielded her eyes, like a thousand candles were suddenly ignited then snuffed all at once. Then, one by one, each of them began to glow again as the man pranced around and pointed his magic wand at them. He danced to the music, parading around the chamber and making the bright lights dance with him. Petra couldn’t see the sources. The lights were too bright when lit and invisible when not. Some were scattered about the floors and walls, others on the tapestries and dining table.

  Petra’s father gasped and guffawed. She looked to her mother, whose typically unimpressed face was now frozen in fascination. The king clapped his hands. Petra’s heart raced. What kind of substance could burn in such a way? She tried desperately to follow the lights and discover the magician’s secret, but the display was too disorienting.

  It took her several long seconds to realize what the woman was doing. There seemed to be smoke coming from her hands. She waved them around to the music, dancing much more gracefully than the man. Smoke obscured the girl and began to fill the room, but Petra could not smell it, nor did it irritate her eyes.

  The haze lent an aura to the lights which seemed to make them grow. Instead of tiny points of powerful light, they ballooned into shifting orbs of yellow and white. She couldn’t follow their movements for long.

  The musicians stuttered and faltered a few times during the mesmerizing display, but Petra was impressed that they could keep playing at all. The magician seemed to match their tempo even when they became too fast or too slow.