From The Eye Between the Worlds (KQ Companion)

From The Eye Between the Worlds: Compiled from Messages to This World form the World of Daventry, as Sent by Derek Karlavegen is chapter 13 in the The King's Quest Companion, 4th edition it acts as a kind of forward to Chapter 14: The Princeless Bride: From the Chronicles of Daventry, Part VII.

From The Eye Between the Worlds: Compiled from Messages to This World form the World of Daventry, as Sent by Derek Karlavegen
Ever since I first began receiving the strange and ultimately puzzling and fantastical scribblings, musings, and narratives from the soul signing himself as Derek Karlaevaegen of Daventry, I have been torn between belief in the reality of what appears on my computer and the idea of the total impossibility of the situation.

The kingdom of Daventry should exist only in the King's Quest computer games, not in a separate universe that, for want of a different term, also calls itself Daventry. A place that knows of us, for they once were us. A place we reach only our dreams of Roberta Williams, creator of the games themselves.

But, I believe; I have tried too hard for too long and have never caught the whiff of fakery in Derek's steady flow of words detailing the reality of that universe, one of endless realities that make what he calls the multiverse. Derek's certainty has always contrasted with my confusion. While he is aware of the wonder of his one-way correspondence to us by way of the device he calls The Eye Between the Worlds, it is to him but one wonder in a universe filled with such. And, as suc, it is perfectly reasonable situation to him.

But now, Derek wonders.

Recently I received a long missive from Derek. It consisted of two parts, the first of which is a lengthy narration, more a romance than anything else, which Derek claims is wildly popular among the readers of "popular gossiping and literary trifles." It is said to be an anonymous telling of a secret story concerning the queen and princess of Daventry and the dangers they faced during a kidnapping of Rosella by the false king of the trolls and her subsequent rescue. The story also relates that the princess is considering marriage to a prince who has spent his entire life, with the exception of but a few days, ensorcelled into something other than himself, never knowing his true nature or identity.

This, of course reads a lot like the happenings of King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride.

But unlike his other messages to our world, Derek cautions about the veracity of the tale, thinking it more fancy than fact. More fiction than history as he knows it. And he concludes on an even more fascinating note, which is where we will leave you:

"[Y]et, while I am privileged to be close to Alexander, his parents, and sister---my pardon, King Alexander; it is a title which I still find an awkward one for my friend---I have heard nothing of such a possible marriage. Nothing for the princess. Nothing form her family. Nothing from their words, their looks or the language of their bodies.

"Rumor, or popular fabrication is possible. The mass hope for another royal wedding, manifesting itself as a true romance, is another conceivable explanation for the widespread and uncritical acceptance of the tale."

"Rosella may be impetuous, but she is no fool. She would marry no many before her time, and she knows near nothing of Edgar. The queen may be warm-hearted and full of kindness towards all, but when Rosella was to be sacrificed to the fire dragon, Valanice guarded her daughter's door with naked sword as her protectress. She would not be so easily swayed from her course of rescue in Etheria, as the tale may tell."

"Yet, the tale could be true; all is possible and truth may be hidden from me for reasons only the royal famaily knows. It is their right and their privilege and I am but a loyal subject."

"But it rings false for me."

"I have another explanation, one which suits my misgivings and, at the same time, brings our universes closer together."

"Here, in Daventry, we are always re-creating ourselves. The great dreamer in your world, the other world as we call it, creates tales and fables from that which is our reality, our histories. I think now there must be a great dreamer here, too; one who has dreamed the fictions of your universe and is creating new realities and histories for us."

"Our universes are so close together that we dream each other. We exist right over each others shoulders, if we could only turn fast enough we might see each other."

I think we draw together. You now create your own visions of us, a different Daventry than we inhabit. And now we dream of you.

And we change"

Behind the scenes
This is the version fo the From the Eye Between the Worlds as it was included in The King's Quest Companion, 4th Edition. It is different and has a somewhat extended and modified letter than the one that appears in KQ7 Authorized Guide.