Kirian shrugs. “My world isn’t like yours. Here, science rules. There’s an explanation for everything. It’s not the way of things where I’m from. Some things just are.”
“Weird.” I shake my head. “What’s so great about this place? People are willing to kill each other over it, so I assume it’s special.”
“Indeed, it is. It’s a sacred place where ceremonies are performed, like weddings and coronations. It’s where we bury all our dead. Certain plants grow there. Flowers and vines that can’t be found anywhere else. They make healing tonics, magical potions, and wine.”
“Like honeysuckle wine?”
He makes a sound of confirmation. “Yes, but the honeysuckle doesn’t belong to the Night Realm, so I look for it elsewhere.”
“Speaking of that, we’re here.” The big field is dried up from the winter. “Like I said before, it’s not the right time of year for…” I trail off because Kirian steps forward.
Bending down, his fingers trail over the yellow brush. “These will work just fine.”
There’s a smile in his voice, and when he straightens, he holds out his arms with his palms facing the ground.
At first, nothing happens. Then I feel it. A shift in the air. A vibration under my feet.
Leaves, twigs, and stems around Kirian begin to move. They grow and twist, before turning green.
All I can do is watch, speechless, with my mouth hanging open while Kirian literally brings life to the area around us. Honeysuckle trumpets bloom, turning toward him as if they can’t help but be drawn to him.
I understand how they feel.
When he’s done, he drops his arms and grins.
I kind of want to fall down. Propping my shoulder against a small tree, I steady myself.
“You weren’t lying about any of it,” I say, dumbfounded.
“Of course I wasn’t. I don’t lie.”
“I just wasn’t sure until now.”
“I inherited two powers,” Kirian states proudly. “I can control the weather and nature.”
Beyond impressed, I pluck a red wild strawberry near my feet and pop it into my mouth. It’s sweet and perfect. The air feels warmer, and it looks like it could be the middle of June around here.
Kirian takes a small burlap bag out of his pocket. At least, it appears small until he unfolds it. And unfolds it again. And again. It gets bigger and bigger. He finally stops when it’s about the size of a pillowcase.
“Entertain me while I work.” Kirian gathers the honeysuckle, finding it by smell and feel before tossing it into the sack. “Do you sing?”
I scoff. “That would be a big no.”
“Are you a poet?”
“No again. Oh, but I have a book. I just got it from the library.”
“Read to me, please.”
It’s the please that gets me.
“Well, since you were polite about it…” Smiling, I rummage around in my backpack until my fingers close around The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
I’m already on the third chapter, but I remove the bookmark and start reading out loud from the beginning. As I tell a story of a magical world, I can’t help but notice the parallels between fiction and fact.
The words spill from me, and Kirian and I fall into a comfortable companionship. I earn laughs when I increase the inflection of my voice with the characters’ dialogue. Every now and then, Kirian tosses me a strawberry, and it tastes better, just because it came from him.
At some point, I shed my coat. As the afternoon turns into evening, the temperature rises as if we’re inside a greenhouse.
The sun is setting when Kirian stops and announces, “All done.”
He shuffles over to sit next to me and drops the bag between his legs. It doesn’t look very full, and that must be magic, too. He cleared a lot of flowers, probably enough to fill five trash bags.
Well, he got what he came for. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
“I have to before the portal closes,” he says, sounding regretful. “It’s getting smaller.”
“How do you know it’s closing up?”
“I can hear it. Portals use a lot of magic. For one, they freeze time for me, so when I go back it’ll be like I never left. But they can’t stay open for long. It shrinks as the sun goes down. If I miss it, I’ll be stuck here overnight until someone can come retrieve me.”
“That wouldn’t be a bad thing. We could spend the night in my treehouse.”
“And I’d miss a year in my world.” He taps the side of his head. “I don’t want to lose my pointy ears.”
“That would happen?”
“Probably not in a day, but eventually, if I stayed here long enough. The body adapts. Anyway, it wouldn’t look good for the future King of Valora, ruler of the Night Realm of the South, to disappear for so long.” He proudly thumps his chest.
“That’s one heck of a title. Why not the north, too?”
“My uncle rules there. He controls the Dream Realm. Before I was born, he challenged my father for it. They almost killed each other.” The way he says it is so nonchalant. “They decided instead of fighting, they’d just divide up the territory.” His eyebrows furrow with a thought. “I bet my uncle regrets it, though. Since he’s a king now, his son Damon was affected by the curse as well.”
“It’s a shame your dad and his brother don’t get along.”
He lifts a shoulder. “It’s not any better on my mother’s side. Her brother is king of the Day Realm, but obviously, we don’t have warm feelings toward him either. He has a son as well, so I have two cousins I’ve never met.”
“Someday, when you’re king, you could change it. You could make everyone get along.”
He gives me a cocky smirk. “I like the way you think, young one.”
“Do you have time for a snack before you go? I have pudding cups in my backpack.” Snatching the bag behind me, I grope around for the two desserts and plastic spoons leftover from lunch.
I always bring extras. Not for
