The Travelers, part 11

Rita leveled her gaze at Thoren.
"Don't tell her anything," she snapped. "Don't you realize what could happen if she knew? What happens when she goes back out into the Commoners?"
"Simple," Falcon said, "we don't let her go back."
"Both of you, be quiet," Thoren said. "Taylor deserves to know. I've pulled her into this. We've pulled her into this by capturing her friend."
"That was necessary," Rita said.
"I told you to be quiet," Thoren said.
Rita lowered her eyes and stared sullenly at the floor. Taylor crossed her arms tightly to herself. It was very cold in the inner chamber. Thoren saw her shivering and turned to Falcon.
"Can I borrow your cloak?" Thoren said.
Falcon eyed him suspiciously, then sighed, and reached into the large pouch slung across his shoulders. He pulled out a long piece of fabric and handed it to Thoren.
"Thank you," Thoren said.
He took it over to Taylor and helped her wrap up in it. It was very scratchy, and smelled strongly of sheep's wool, but it immediately helped Taylor feel warmer, and she looked gratefully to Falcon.
"Thank you," she said to him.
He shrugged and went back to pacing the floor. Thoren sat down next to her.
"Well, where should I start?" he said.
"How about, who are all of you, really?" Taylor said, "I thought you were human, but I'm starting to think you're not."
"I knew you would really get suspicious once we got to the Chamber of the Headmaster." Thoren said. "All right...well...we're a race of Ankleideigh.*"
"What does that mean?" Taylor asked.
"It means we don't come from Earth, Taylor," Thoren said gently. "We're not humans, even if we look like humans."
"So what are you, superhumans, or what?" Taylor asked, her head spinning.
She put up her hands and pressed her brow, hoping to coax her eyes to see more clearly again. Everything seemed fuzzy.
"Lack of air," Thoren said, "the Ankleideigh are not able to breath oxygen in the way humans are. We have to have less of it. There are--"
"No," Taylor said, holding up her hand, "don't even try to explain that to me right now. How about you just explain what your people are doing here?"
"Thoren," Rita warned. "Don't."
Thoren ignored her. "Our home world, Faeldor**, recently got a new emperor. He didn't come by the position honestly, though. Normally a group of senators and other leaders decide who would be the best Emperor for our world. Several years ago, we were trying to recover from a war, a war which we had lost, and one of our own people took advantage of the chaos, and rose to the position of Emperor. Because Faeldor was so ravaged by the war, he has this idea that the people of Faeldor, the Ankleideigh Faeldorians, are in need of a new home world. He chose Earth."
Pronunciation guide for part 11:
*Pronounced Aunk-leigh-ih-deigh
**Pronounced Fae-el-door
The Travelers, Copyright 2012, by Katy Allie. All rights reserved.