“Then why didn’t you reveal yourself to me?” I demanded. My face was pressed against his chest, and I clung to his shirt for dear life, as though he might evaporate. “I could have used a friend like you. I’ve spent so much time wondering where you went. You could have made it easier for me!”
“I wanted to,” Roki said, “but in those first days, I felt your heart and heard your thoughts. You didn’t want to talk to me. You blamed me in part for the way it had ended between you and your mama. You had chosen me over your own family, and then death came like a wrecking ball to demolish your emotions. It would have been wrong of me to go against your wishes.”
I tore away from him, feeling dumb for crying like a child. “You could have tried,” I said, hardening my expression. “It would have been nice knowing that you did everything within your power to see me again. Instead, you abandoned me. You left me alone.”
Roki pouted, stepped back, and hung his head. “I stayed by your side. I followed you into your dreams. I let my scent linger in your room. I know it feels like I deserted you, but I didn’t. I never lost my feelings. I never forgot about you. Instead, I let you grieve. I gave you the space I thought you needed. I didn’t want to ruin your life by getting you mixed up with a Min.”
“I wouldn’t have cared if you were a space alien!” I launched myself forward, pulled Roki’s arms around me, and hugged him fiercely. “But I forgive you. I understand now you were doing what you thought was right. It’s the reason I was so crazy about you, because your soul is pure.” Then I laughed. “I guess it has to be. All you have is a soul!”
Roki smiled and pushed me gently away, looked down into my eyes. I knew right then I would believe anything he said. His eyes sparkled with sincerity. “I know you’ve changed,” he said. “You’re not the same naive girl who followed me, laughing, through the fake market. You’ve gotten stronger over these last three years. You’ve become wise and selfless. You’ve become a woman. You’ve also gotten engaged, so I know we can’t be together like we used to be …”
“Not necessarily,” I said, hating myself as I said it, as I began to scheme in my brain. “It’s true, I am engaged to Zawne. We are set to be king and queen in three weeks. It doesn’t mean I can’t have you for a friend. It would mean a lot to have you around. You know, giving me moral support, telling me jokes, letting me confide in you. It will be frustrating not being able to talk about Shiol with any of my human friends.”
Roki brightened. He had an air of mischief about him, the same excitable energy I remembered. “I would agree to that!” he said. And right then I knew my life was about to change. Nothing could be simple anymore. Roki was back. This time, I knew he was back for good.
Roki was rubbing his hands together. “Let’s start right now,” he said. “Let’s forget all the other stuff and start over. How can I be of service, my queen? What do you want to know about Shiol or about Min? I’ll answer anything.”
I thought about it for a second, stroking my chin. Then I said, “Tell me everything.”
Roki was biting his lip, trying to contain his excitement. I now believed everything he had told me, about how he had watched over me, about how he had only wanted what was best for me. It made me think of him as my watcher, as my guardian. I wasn’t mad anymore.
Roki said, “I’ll start with where we are: Shiol.” He waved his arms like a magician, and the emptiness of the void rippled and changed. I suddenly saw in the distance a land unlike any on Geniverd. There were tower spires of gold, cities nestled in the clouds, odd gaseous auras moving freely throughout the mystical empire, humans flying as if they were birds. It looked peaceful and divine, the radiant sun shining over the otherworldly civilization.
“Wow …” I had no other words.
“It’s just a fragment,” Roki said, and waved his hand. The vision faded, and we were back in the endless void. “Where we are now is like a meeting hall the Crown of Crowns uses to parley with various monarchs. But that, what I just showed you, is the space Min call home when they aren’t out on missions or goofing around in other realms.”
“There were so many,” I said. “How can there be so many? Geniverd only has four billion people. And what were those weird electric auras I saw floating around?”
Roki laughed. He hunkered down on the ground and smiled up at me. “One thing at a time, Kaelyn. The universe is bigger than you think. There are worlds, dimensions, planets. There is more than just human life, and the Crown of Crowns presides over it all. They use Min as their servants of order. We keep the scales balanced in these different worlds. We all have assignments, and for the past five hundred years, I have been assigned to Geniverd. It was where I was born, died, and became a Min. But that’s a story for another day.”
My jaw had hit the floor some time ago. I felt woozy, overwhelmed by all the information. I kept picturing the Shiol city, the magnificent structures unlike anything I’d ever seen. Who had built such a place? How long had these spirits been pulling the universe’s infinite strings? Could Geniverd evolve into such a futuristic place one day?
“As for the auras,” Roki said with
