Daniel knew Murphy driving them all to his apartment to hear his story was just a delay tactic, giving him a good twenty minutes to gather his thoughts and prepare to tell the truth. He was sure the other two knew it, too, but with the possible exception of Ian, they were enjoying the ride deeper into the heart of the city.

Now that he'd come to terms, albeit unsure and baffling terms, with the idea of Ether being real, Daniel found it much easier to enjoy everything around him. From the amazing steam powered car that should, by all rights, be animated in an episode of The Extraordinary Gentlemen, to the buildings themselves. Tall and stark, made of dark stone and brick, each building seemed to be a monolithic tribute to all things gothic, but with brightly decorated store windows and laughter that frequently emanated from bars and restaurant doors briefly opened to the night air.

They traveled several miles in relative silence, broken only by Murphy repeating his disbelief and joy at seeing Her Royal Highness, Princess Marabeth again, and her repeated requests to just call her Beth.

Finally, they pulled in to an underground parking facility and Murphy parked the large car, leading the way to a wide, brightly lit elevator that took them twelve floors up.

When he opened the door, Ian went straight for the kitchen, pulling several amber bottles from the refrigerator. "We'll take that long story now, Murphy," he said as he handed out the beers and took a seat on Murphy's plush couch.

Daniel wandered around the room, admiring how much it resembled the office, with it's rows of books and leather furniture.

Beth perched on a chair beside the couch and balanced her beer bottle on one knee. "Yes, do tell us everything. I had to explain how I spent the last ten years of my life to these two. It's your turn."

Daniel took a seat opposite Beth and looked at Murphy, who was pacing the room a bit, as if unsure where to sit. "Where are you from, exactly?"

"Tennessee," Murphy replied. He sighed and decided on the other side of the couch Ian was sitting on. "A little nowhere town in Hardeman County, West Tennessee. I was a banking loan officer. First in my family to have a job outside farming," he smiled proudly and gave Daniel a nod. "And don't think I don't know how I got that job. The Mayor of Hardeman County was up for reelection, and knew he'd have to court the newly legalized black vote."

"That was the sixties, wasn't it?" Daniel asked.

Murphy nodded. "Got my job in September ninth, nineteen hundred and sixty seven." He raised his beer bottle in salute. "I was twenty one years old, and full of self importance, ready to take on the world, one small time bank at a time."

Daniel laughed shortly and returned the bottle-salute. "Power to the people." He took a drink and was vaguely aware neither Ian nor Beth really understood what they were referring to, but they seemed to be accepting it anyway. "So what happened to that young up and comer in the banking world?"

Murphy took a long breath and directed his reply to the beer. "He found a discrepancy in the books while performing an internal audit." He pursed his lips and started picking at the label on the bottle. "At first, I figured it was a mistake on my part. So I stayed late at the bank, after hours, to go over them again. Didn't take me long to figure out what happened, though. Just over seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars had gone missin', only no one robbed the bank."

"Embezzlement?" Daniel asked.

Murphy nodded. "It took some searching and sweating on my part, but I figured out the bank manager had been, slowly over the course of the month, skimming money out of the accounts. He'd picked the biggest ones, with the least activity, so he could get by a while before anyone took notice."

"And then you audited the bank."

"And then I audited the bank," Murphy replied. "I brought it to everyone's attention, and a big investigation got underway, and I figured myself for the hero." He shook his head slowly. "I'd deluded myself into thinking our little backwater town was coming around to a color blind way of thinking, and that was my big mistake."

"They arrested you?"

"That was the intention." Murphy took another deep breath, then sat up a bit straighter. "I was in the office, gathering up the paperwork and evidence I'd put together, thinking the Feds wanted me to show them how the bank manager had pulled it off. But through my door, I could hear them telling that same bank manager that everything was going to be just fine. He should just clear out the bank, and when that nigger came out of the office, they'd make their arrest and no one had to get hurt."

"You were framed," Ian stated, matter-of-factly.

"That's it in a nutshell," Murphy replied.

Daniel leaned forward slightly in his chair. "So how did you get from there to here?"

"Well, I'd reached into the desk for my keys, so when I heard the Feds talking, I had these keys in my hand." Murphy reached into his pocket and pulled out a key ring. It was a chunk of pyrite, with a key holder at one end where a few metal keys dangled. "This was my grandfather's. He gave it to me when I got the job at that bank."

"Fools gold," Daniel laughed shortly. "How appropriate."

Murphy nodded, lips pursed, as he gazed at the chunk of pyrite. "Grandpa always said it's a fool who worships gold before all else. So I had these keys, and my hands were shaking like crazy, but I knew I had to go out there. I knew I was going to have to face these Feds, and they were going to arrest me -- seein' as how I was the only black man in the bank, they figured I was good for the theft. But I was gonna stand up, and declare my innocence to my dying day. Even if it meant I spent the rest of my days in prison for a crime I didn't commit." He put the keys back into his pocket. "I was also going to lock up my office, good and proper, before they carted me away. So I stick a key in the lock, not knowing it wasn't the right one, turned the knob, pulled that key out and put the whole set back into my pocket. I stepped through that door, head held high, and walked straight into the ladies washroom in the castle kitchens."

Beth laughed. Ian huffed, shaking his head.

"The rest was pretty simple," Murphy continued. I ended up meeting King Frederick, we became friends. Your father was a very interesting and intelligent man."

Beth nodded. "Yes, he was."

"He offered me the position of Personal Advisor one day when we'd been discussing large scale economics."

"And the key?" Daniel asked.

Murphy shrugged. "I gave him my key, mostly because I knew I could never go back home again."

"What about your family?" Daniel asked. "You didn't go back at least to tell them you were alive? That you hadn't robbed the bank?"

Murphy shook his head slowly. "They knew I could never do such a thing. Better for them not to know where I'd gone. I'm sure the Feds questioned them for a while, probably kept watch on the house, wire tapped their phones. But so long as I never made contact with them, they had nothing to fear." He sighed heavily. "It was the best way I could think of to keep them safe."

"So the key, it had been your grandfather's all this time?"

Murphy looked at Daniel, then frowned and gave a shrug. "I honestly don't know. I assume so, since it was his keychain. And I'd never seen or used it before. But why my grandfather never mentioned Ether in all my life, I have no idea."

Beth set her beer on the coffee table. "Maybe he knew where you went, then. If it was his key, and you vanished, maybe your grandfather knew you'd come here, and you were safe."

"I'd like to think so," Murphy agreed. "At least my family would know I was alive and well." He cleared his throat and slapped both hands on his knees. "But that's all in the past. And now you all know the truth. Yes, I'm from Otherworld. But when I stepped through that door forty years ago, I never once went back." He looked at Beth. "Unlike you, Your Highness. Am I correct in assuming Stefan sent you through, using my key, and stranded you in Otherworld while telling the rest of Ether you'd gone into seclusion with the Luddites?"

"That's exactly what he did," Beth replied. "He used that key, something I'd never seen before, and pushed me through the door. I had no idea what was happening, or that I was stepping into another world. It took me years to come to terms with being in Otherworld, and I had to adjust to their world. I even began to believe Ether was a lie, or a fantasy that I'd made up. But eventually I found the truth." She looked at Daniel. "And as luck would have it, I found him right after he'd come back through."

"You owe me five thousand," Ian said, staring over at Murphy. "I got Daniel back to his world. It's not my fault he decided to come back here again, but at least this time he brought his key with him."

Murphy started to laugh.

"You're holding him to that? I rescued you from those cells, you know."

"We," Beth corrected. "We rescued him."

Ian huffed. "I was there because of you."

"It's all right," Murphy replied. He stood and walked to a desk in the far corner of the living room. "Just knowing that Ian now believes in Otherworld is well worth the funds."

"Fat lot of good it does me to know about it," Ian countered. "We've got more important things to worry about right here in Ether. Like how do we get Stefan off that throne and put Beth on it?"

"That's a very good question," Murphy agreed. He sat on the front of the desk and looked at the three of them. "Do you have any sort of plan?"

"I think that's why we came here," Daniel replied with a shrug.

Murphy nodded. "All right, first things first. Stefan has arrested some of the royal court?"

"All those who regularly vote against him" Ian replied. "When I was in the cells, he'd arrested six of the twelve. I didn't hear any plans for replacing them."

"Well he wouldn't, would he?" Daniel asked. "I mean, if his plan is to be ruler without any one to answer to, he wouldn't want a royal court to begin with."

"He has to have a royal court," Murphy replied. "He'd have a riot he could never hope to contain if he did away with the royal court completely. But replacing them with members who would vote his way every time would get the job done."

"He can't just replace them, though." Beth stood and paced to the end of the living room. "But he can hide the fact that five were arrested, and he could make it appear they're still in attendance. At least during the votes."

Something didn't ring clear with Daniel. "How could he do that?" He held up a hand to stop any reply so he could reword his question. "Exactly how does this royal court thing work? What's their function, and how do they accomplish it?"

Ian shook his head. "It's a bit complicated to get into right now."

"No, I understand what Daniel's asking," Murphy interjected. "When the king has a declaration or specific issue to address, the royal court convenes in the Round. It's a room circled by an upper balcony with twelve doors. Below, in the main room, the king and an audience assemble to hear the king's edict or declaration. Above them, the royal court members come through the doors, in random positions, cloaked in grey. They keep their identities hidden from view so that their votes are given in complete anonymity. Since the votes are publicly made and witnessed, they become instant law."

"But if they're anonymous, how does the king know which members have been speaking out against him?"

"Spies," Ian replied. "They only vote with anonymity, but they speak out in public and share their opinions and views in the open."

"So what we need to do," Daniel said as he thought through his plan out loud. "Is have Beth challenge his right to be king, get the royal court to vote, and make damn sure they all vote in her favor." He looked up at Murphy, then Ian and Beth. "Would that work? I mean, would that be enough?"

Ian looked at Beth, who was looking to Murphy, eyebrows raised.

"If the royal court, unanimously, voted Stefan off the throne because Marabeth had returned with claims against her brother, then yes. Their vote would be upheld by the public. The royal guard would obey the ruling." He let out a huff. "But how do we get six court members who back Stefan to vote a majority when the other six who would side with Beth are in the dungeon?"

"Beth and I managed to get Ian out of the dungeon easily enough. If Stefan has kept the arrest of royal court members a secret, and you forced a vote, he couldn't very well put up a stink if twelve men appeared on the balcony, could he?" Daniel asked.

"No," Murphy began pulling on his lower lip in thought. "But he could raise the issue of Beth's sanity. If she claims he pushed her through a door into Otherworld, there could be problems."

"I take it not many royal court members believe?" Daniel shook his head. "We could take them there, prove it."

"And mess with their realities? No, better they remain blissfully ignorant."

"I know I was a hell of a lot happier when I thought you were nuts," Ian quipped. "But Stefan would have been on his rampage regardless." He finished his beer and set the bottle on the coffee table before standing. "There's also the matter of Wilcox. He was on the Myst, and we don’t have any way of knowing how much or how little he heard."

"He saw me," Daniel replied. "He was in the hold when I went below the last time to load up the boiler."

Ian blinked. "And you said nothing?"

"I didn't realize it at the time," Daniel shrugged. "I thought I saw something move down there, but when I looked around, there was nothing. Now, I think it was probably him. But he has no idea who I am, and we certainly didn't talk about our plan on the ship, since we didn't have a plan to talk about."

"All right, we'd better get somewhere safe before we talk any more about this." Murphy pushed off the desk and walked around behind it. From a drawer, he pulled out several maps, then fetched his coat from the arm of the chair where he'd tossed it earlier. "There's only one place we can talk without any fear of Wilcox hearing us."

Daniel pulled the key from his pocket with a nod. He walked to a closet door and the others fell in line behind him. With eyes closed, he pictured the small bathroom off the kitchen, from the inside, this time, so that when he turned the key and stepped through, he was walking toward the stove instead of the toilet.

"Now you're getting the hang of it," Beth applauded as she stepped into the kitchen.

When they'd all come through, Daniel nodded toward the living room. "Beth, why don't you and Ian spread out the maps. Murphy can give me a hand in the kitchen. I think a pot of coffee is in order."

Ian paused as Murphy handed him the maps, but after a moment he took them and followed Beth without saying anything.

"I need to ask you something, Murphy," Daniel said as he pulled some coffee filters from a cupboard. "Being the only one from here, and assuming I can trust you to answer honestly." He looked at the older man, hoping his initial evaluation of his character had been accurate. "Are we doing the right thing?"

Murphy's eyebrows arched up.

"I mean, am I doing the right thing?" Daniel asked. "It feels right, honestly, it does. But two weeks ago none of this was real." He started putting coffee into the large pot beside the stove. "And my gut tells me this King Stefan fella is as bad as they say he is. Even though I have no reason to believe the guy really did kill his father."

"Or reason not to believe," Murphy offered.

Daniel gave a nod. "Or reason not to believe. Beth seems like a good person. Ian, from what I've seen, is as good an officer as any I've worked with." He turned away from the coffee and looked at Murphy again. "But what in the hell am I doing?"

Murphy laughed shortly. "You mean, are you helping the right people? I can tell you honestly that you are. But this isn't your fight, if that's what you mean. I chose to call Ether home. Beth and Ian are my extended family, as it were. But you, you have no dog in this fight. They won't think less of you if you--"

"No," Daniel shook his head. "I feel involved. I'm not just going to send you all back to Ether and sit around here, hoping you were successful. I just want to know I'm not falling for some cosmic trick in doing all of this."

"I think you can trust your instincts," Murphy smiled in reply. "Besides, at any point in time, all you have to do is find a door."

The coffee pot finished brewing, so Daniel busied himself with cups and pouring and finding sugar. He located a serving tray, and Murphy carried the load out to the living room, where Ian and Beth were looking over detailed maps of the castle's interior.

"All we have to do is get into the dungeon, break the six out, then get them up to the cloak room without being seen, while Beth confronts Stefan in the Round, so there are plenty of witnesses." Ian let out a snort. "And now that I've said it, I can't see how it'll work."

"It has to work," Beth insisted.

"What are you going to tell them when the subject of your absence comes up?" Ian asked. "If you claim Stefan pushed you through a door into another world, your sanity will be in question and the court will never hold a vote."

"He's right," Murphy agreed.

"What about that place he told everyone you'd gone?" Daniel asked. "The cloister."

"The Luddites?" Murphy sat back, holding his coffee cup with both hands as he considered the idea. "That could work. Stefan would know that was a lie, but if he argued, he'd have to admit what he did, which would then put his sanity to question."

"What about these Luddites?" Daniel asked. "Any chance they could interfere?"

"No, not at all." Murphy shook his head. "They're Ether's equivalent to someone leaving society and going to live in a cave, only with indoor plumbing and a decent bed."

"They seclude themselves from society, and care for the emotionally unstable of the village, for which they're given food and their privacy," Ian added. "No one's going to hike up the mountain to ask them if Beth was really there, and even if they did, none of them would say anything. They accept anyone who wants to join, and speak to no one outside the cloister."

Daniel nodded and chewed his lower lip for a moment. "So the plan here, is for Beth to declare her return, publicly, while we get the six members of the royal court out of the dungeon, without being caught, then get them up to the voting area where they'll be wearing cloaks to hide their identity. Then, in front of witnesses, Stefan calls for a vote to remain on the throne . . . Anyone else sensing a few holes here?"

"It needs work, I'll give you that," Murphy agreed. "But what we should do now is get some rest. We're all safe here. Stefan can't accomplish much in the next twelve hours, not if what you say about his guardsmen flying to the city is true."

Ian nodded. "We're at least two days ahead of them. And Wilcox can't find us here, then?"

"No," Beth shook her head. "He doesn't know who Daniel is, so there's no way he could use the key to get here, to this house. He's probably popping in and out of the city, trying to find us."

"I wonder where he's coming in to, here in Otherworld." Daniel mused. "Does he have a home base here, or would it matter?"

"He could be coming and going from anywhere," Murphy replied with a shrug. "It really wouldn't matter, since all he has to do is get here, then turn around and go back to Ether at whatever point he chooses."

Daniel stretched, set his coffee cup down and stood. "Okay, maybe a few hours of sleep wouldn't hurt."

"I won't argue." Beth suppressed a yawn as she stood. "I'll see you all in the morning, then."

"Yes, in the morning," Murphy agreed. He stood and watched Beth and Ian start up the stairs, then turned to Daniel. "I'd much prefer it if we could find a way to do this without endangering her."

"Good luck there," Daniel huffed. "But I agree. Maybe if you stayed with her and confronted Stefan, while Ian and I free the court?"

Murphy nodded slowly as he rubbed his chin. He walked to the large living room window and pulled back the curtains, gazing out at the sparkling night sky. "I never thought I'd look up at that sky again."

Daniel started clearing the coffee cups. "Do you really think it's another sky? I mean, have you ever stopped to wonder where, exactly, Ether is?"

"No, never," he replied. "I figure Ether is Ether. It's there, for those of us who have need of it, but it's a thing you shouldn't analyze, just accept."

Daniel carried the tray back to the kitchen and put the cups in the sink. "You mean, if you stop to think about it too hard, it'll go away?"

"Something like that, maybe." Murphy walked toward the kitchen as he pondered it. "Have you ever wondered why those who have keys, have them? Where'd they come upon these keys?"

Daniel shrugged as he rinsed out the cups. "I got mine from my uncle. I assume he came across it during one of his antique buying trips."

"But the person he bought the key from, where'd he get it? And were these keys made by someone in Otherworld?" Murphy sighed. "I spent a few years pondering those notions, but never once found an answer. After all these years, I've come to accept there is no answer. There couldn't possibly be one. And I'm glad for that."

"You're glad there's no answer?" Daniel laughed shortly as he set the wet coffee cups on a towel to dry.

"Ruins the mystery," Murphy said. "When you find out how the trick is done."

"I can't argue with that," Daniel agreed.

"And I hope you won't argue with this."

Daniel set the last cup down and started to turn, then was overcome with the strong scent of juicy fruit gum. The odor was so powerful, it blocked out everything else. The kitchen, Murphy, even the light. When he came to on the couch with Uncle Frank's old quilt neatly tucked in around him, Murphy was gone.

So was his key.

PREVIOUS CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER

HOME