He has a boyish look when he allows his curiosity to take over and for a moment I just listen to the quiet music from the old fashion playlist that my mother and aunt put together long ago, before responding, “Well, if you acknowledged that the time between the realms runs differently and ultimately is subjective. Then you will understand how this came to be. Do you know the story of my mother and why she is so attached to The Mortal Realm?”
He shakes his head and leans back in his chair relaxed and says, “Not really, bits and pieces only. Why don’t you tell me.”
“Well, long story short, my mother was hidden away here in The Mortal Realm to grow up as a normal human until her awakening after her eighteenth birthday. This is the home that she grew up in.”
Dax looks around and whistles, “This place looks good. How old is it now?”
I shrug, “Somewhere around three hundred plus years, give or take.”
“Keep going,” he leans forward with a smile and reaches for his beer, before saying, “I’m curious now.”
“Well, before my mother’s awakening, there was a horrible accident. My mother and her human family were on a summer vacation at what was then known as the Florida Panhandle. All of that is gone now, as the ice caps continue to melt, that southernmost coastline has sunk below the new sea level. Anyhow, my mother and my aunt Lexie were all that survive the car accidents that took place that night and that began my mother’s journey to her awakening, as well as my aunt’s. The glamour that was placed on my mother before being ushered from The Otherworld to The Mortal Realm had a shelf life that was connected to an amulet that she wore. Ever since then, this place has remained very special to both my aunt and my mother. There are three different residences on the property, this house, the house my aunt Lexie grew up in, and a smaller bungalow for the groundskeeper and his wife, the housekeeper, which you will probably meet at some point. Millie loves to cook for us all. It’s a long complicated story, but in the end, my mother and my aunt got together and with the help of the Druids, and a coven of witches and quite a few other powerful fae, a complicated protection spell was devised to protect the property from the bitter elements that began creeping into the region. There are actually three parts to the spell. It not only protects from the outside elements, but hides us away from the view of the humans in this realm, and it's kind of like a dome and its own biosphere. It’s dark now but if we were to walk to the edge of the property you would see just how dry and arid the land around us has become. When my mother and Lexie realized what was beginning to happen they bought up as much land surrounding the original property as they could, paying less than half of what the property would have gone for when they grew up here. All in all, there is close to two thousand acres, which is about three square miles.”
“That’s amazing. When did they end up doing all this?”
“About ten years ago, my time in The Otherworld, so about a hundred and forty years ago earth time? Give or take.”
Dax whistles again, “How have they kept up the spell for such a long time?”
“Now, that’s a secret,” I say with a mysterious smile, and whisper, “but I’ll let you in on it if you want.”
“Honey cheeks, you can’t leave me hanging like that.” He demands, urging me on.
Laughing, I tease, “Well?”
“I cannot even believe you right now.”
“All right, help me clean up and I’ll tell you.”
“You got a deal.” Together we gather our plates and whatnot and take everything inside, I grab a fresh beer out of the fridge for both of us and say, “Not many know our secret, but since you can’t get in here without someone tracing you in and that goes for any intruders, no one gets in unless they are brought in, I don’t think it could harm anything. The secret is three simple things that we brought from Faerie. At the very center of our little dome, you will find two dogwood trees, their majic is strong in protection, throughout the property you will find Forget-me-not flowers, their majic is a strong memory of what this place once was and still is, and last but certainly not least, Lavender, because if its many majical properties, protection, healing, purification, and longevity.”
“That’s it?” He asks incredulously, “Flowers and dogwood trees? You people from The Otherworld really are nothing but a bunch of tree-hugging, flower dancing faeries, aren’t you? All unicorns and rainbows.” He says with a smirk, “No wonder you came looking for me.”
“Hey! That’s not nice.” I say and take the dish towel and whip the tip against his rather impressive bicep.
“I never claimed to be nice, honey cheeks, but I have a hard time believing that a couple of dogwood trees and a few flowers help to power this dome or biosphere as you call it. I think your mother and your aunt may have pulled one over on you, princess. I think that it’s time for you to grow up.”
I can’t believe that he just discounted everything I
