Waking up a second time in the castle solidified to Andrew that, unfortunately, his situation was real and no amount of wishing it wasn’t was going to get him out of there.

Thankfully, Elias answered the knock on his door right away in the morning, and they were able to make their way to a dining hall not far from the kitchen. The prince didn’t speak much on their way over, though he did hold every door open for Andrew and even pulled his chair out for him.

“You know I can do all that crap by myself. I may not always act like it, but I am an adult,” Andrew said as he got comfortable in his seat. Which proved to be more difficult than he’d like since the fancy thing didn’t have much cushion on it.

Elias laughed, sitting in the chair next to him. “Am I not allowed to treat my guest well?”

Andrew shrugged. “If that’s the way you’re looking at it, then it’s fine, I guess. I’m not offended, I just want to make sure you know that my being lost here doesn’t equate to me being completely useless. It may be stiff and cracks a lot, but my body still works for basic things.”

“I will never underestimate you, Andrew. That is a promise. I just want to make you as comfortable as possible.” The prince cleared his throat and looked at the door. “I do hope that you don’t mind that my mother will be joining us for breakfast. If there’s anything that she says or does that makes you uncomfortable, please do let me know. She has an… Old-fashioned way of looking at things sometimes.”

“She has an old-fashioned way of things? What, does she think fire is scary? You can’t go much further back than you already have with all of this, my dude.”

The prince gave a dry chuckle. “Again, I don’t always get what you mean, but I assure you, fire doesn’t frighten my mother.” He looked down at the table and quietly added, “Not much does.”

It dawned on Andrew then that Elias wasn’t the only one in on things. He had a mom in on it, too? She might’ve been the one to raise him into all the crazy role-playing stuff. That or he dragged her into it. Either way, Andrew didn’t think he’d be able to hold back laughter seeing an older woman act like a dragon.

The main door opened and revealed a tall woman, one that looked an awful lot like Elias. Her hair wasn’t the same color of blonde, though. In fact, it looked dyed because the roots were a deep red, much like her wings and dress.

“Elias, this must be…” Her piercing gaze landed on Andrew. “Andrew, yes? It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Queen Amerilla.” Her long, puffy dress made it look as though she was gliding to her seat, and when she sat down it fluffed up against the arms of the chair. Like Elias, she tucked her wings behind her back while she sat, looking every bit as proper as a queen should.

A group of waiters dressed in all gray clothes came out of the kitchen, each carrying a different dish, stopping Andrew from acknowledging her statement just yet.

Plates filled with fresh bread, fruit, eggs, and meats were placed in front of Andrew, and he wasted no time grabbing some to fill the empty plate in front of him. Some of the rolls went directly into his mouth and he barely chewed before nodding his head at the queen.

“Ish nishe to meet you,” he said around the mouthful.

The queen’s hint of a smile turned into a sour pout. “Oh, how lovely. He’s…”

“He’s our guest, mother. Please do remember that.” Elias grabbed a roll as well, putting it on his plate. “And he’s very hungry from his trip here. We have no idea how long or how far he traveled to get here, so it makes sense that he would be eager to eat.”

Andrew hummed in agreement. Having a few snacks the night before helped, but his stomach wasn’t about to let him forget that he went a whole day without food.

“I see.” The queen glanced at Elias before she began to fill her plate, favoring the fruits over everything else. “And we have yet to find out anything more about where he’s from?”

“I’m from LA.” Andrew swallowed his food, grabbing some strawberries. “Everyone and their dog knows where that is.” The strawberries had a sweetness to them that he wasn’t used to. Though, Andrew didn’t exactly fit a lot of fruit into his diet, so maybe they were just fresh. “I haven’t heard of this place. Al- Uh, Alnoud or something like that, right?”

“Aldoun,” Amerilla said stiffly. “I have never heard of LA, either, so it seems we’re in a more confusing spot than we started from.”

Andrew shrugged, stuffing more bread into his mouth. “I know you’re all playing this weird game, but it’s kind of impressive to boldly claim you don’t know where that is. Like, c’mon man, you aren’t going to just pretend it’s some far-off land that you can magic me over to with a car?”

The silence that followed would have most people red in the face, the air heated with tension. To Andrew, it was all the more reason to believe they were mad at him for calling them out, so he didn’t let it get to him.

“Andrew,” Elias said softly, “I think it would be best if we focus on food for right now, okay?” He turned to his mother, giving her a sheepish smile. “I will take full responsibility for him. He won’t cause any problems, and I trust that. He’s not from… There. I know it, so there’s no need to worry.”

As interesting as the food was, Andrew still noticed the last bit of what Elias said. It had been the second time someone mentioned some ominous other place, one that they thought he might be from. He debated whether it was worth asking about, ultimately choosing to grab some of the bacon and chew on that instead. He’d be home soon enough and it wouldn’t matter anyway.

“Fine. If you trust it, Elias, then I trust you.” The queen stood and turned away from the table, lifting her hand to one of the staff. “I’ll be taking my breakfast in my room, please. My appetite… Needs a moment.” She looked back at Andrew briefly before turning away again. “It was nice to meet you, Andrew. Don’t do anything to upset my son or I’ll eat you.”

With that, the queen left.

Andrew had to cover his mouth to prevent the food in it from coming out with his laugh. “Did she say she’ll eat me? Oh, wow, I keep bouncing back and forth on how impressive and annoying it is that you guys won’t break the act. I couldn’t keep a straight face saying even half of this stuff.”

Elias tapped his index finger on the table, eyeing Andrew carefully. “Andrew, you don’t think there’s a possibility that you’re so far from home that things are just different here? I mean, your clothes, hair, and half the things you say are new to me, and I’m sure the same could be said for you about me. Do you really think you’re so close to home that none of this is possible?”

“I don’t think I’m that far from home for a couple of reasons.” Enough food had been eaten for Andrew to stop for a moment to talk. “One,” he said as he held up a finger, “You and I can understand each other.” He held up another finger. “Two, a lot of the stuff here does look familiar to me. It’s just all… Old. Like something from a movie about nerdy stuff. And three…” Andrew dropped his fingers in favor of picking up another roll. “There’s no way someone mugged me and then shipped me somewhere. At most, they drove for a while and tossed me in the woods.”

Another bout of silence fell over the room, however, that time Andrew did freeze under Elias’ stare.

“If you think there’s enough of a reason to believe what you do, then that’s enough for me, too.” Elias popped a strawberry into his mouth, a glint of his fangs showing off in the morning light coming through the large windows. “But, for the sake of my people, I have to ask you a very serious question, and you must answer honestly, Andrew.” The prince’s voice dropped a few octaves, and his kind eyes narrowed into a cruel glare.

He nodded, his throat suddenly too tight to let any words escape.

“You’re not here under anyone’s command, are you? You truly did stumble into this kingdom on accident, and your only motive is to get home?”

Andrew licked his dry lips, forcing himself to look away from the prince. “I’m not here for any weird reason, and I just want to go home. That’s all there is to me, I swear.”

The dark cloud over Elias disappeared as quickly as it came, any tension in the room melting away like the butter on the roll still in the prince’s hand. “Thank you, Andrew. That’s all I needed to know. Please, keep eating and when you’re done, we can find you some new clothes.”

“Y-yeah, okay.” Andrew had to wonder again why people were so concerned about where he was from. Was there some other rival nerd camp that pulled pranks on them? Did they think he was some spy sent over to make their lives hell or give out intel? Or were they paranoid about the outside world finding their strange game?