Bonded Ever After (The Royal Gold Keepers #3)

Chapter 22

TWENTY-TWO

Elora

The afternoon sunlight streams over us and butterflies flutter past. A field of flowers bend their heads in a breeze that sweeps through, and the trees drop their leaves. We walk together in a calm silence, just looking around. Each turn of the bend seems to reveal new and beautiful things.

Maybe we should stay here. The nagging thought won’t seem to leave me alone. I just keep wondering what the next realm will be like. How many more realms will we have to travel before we reach the end? Too many, probably, and yet some strange feeling keeps pulling me along, whispering that I’m not there yet. I’m close, but not yet.

“I can’t believe a place like this exists,” Callum says.

“Do you think it’s real?” I ask. “Do you think it’s really as safe as it seems?”

We’d slowly begun to shake off the fear of being uncertain if the path is still protecting us. We’ve seen no big predators. No creatures that make us wary. Nothing to indicate that there are secret dangers waiting for us in the shadows.

He sighs. “Honestly, this place is growing on me. I can’t imagine there will be a better place than this…”

I wait for him to say more. He doesn’t, which I’m grateful for. I know Callum thinks we should stay here, and I’m wavering enough that if he tries to convince me, I might crumble. But then I’ll be left with this nagging feeling I can’t seem to escape.

“What’s that?” Callum asks, pointing.

There’s something up ahead. We walk a little faster and see that there is a break in the woods up ahead. A break where… houses seem to be built. Slowing, we make our way closer until we see what appears to be an entire abandoned town. There are cobblestone streets, wooden buildings, even little shops.

“What is this?” I ask.

Callum looks at me, his eyes wide. “This isn’t one lone person like Xarex. This is evidence of a whole society of people. There are intelligent people in this realm!”

My mind starts working. “So it all depends on whether they’re like Xarex or like the elves.”

Without a word, I know we’re both thinking it. If these people are like the elves, we have a reason to be really afraid. More afraid than we have been in any other realm. But if they’re like Xarex, possibilities are opening up in front of us. A possibility for us to have help in the future. A possibility for us to have other people in our life, people in our baby’s life.

But that’s only if we stay here. And I don’t think we should stay here… yet.

I glance at Callum, frowning. “Should we check it out?”

He nods. “Let’s just be really careful.”

We cautiously leave the path and slowly make our way through the streets. It’s clear the houses were once painted with bright colors. Shutters frame the windows of the little wooden cabins, and there are even light poles and an empty fountain in the middle of the town square.

At the back of the town, we spot a large house set away from the others. We climb up the hill and come to the house to find a fence surrounding an overgrown garden. Behind it, there are fields filled with what looks to be different vegetables, and surrounding the field, various fruit trees are growing.

Callum heads to the house and opens the door. Inside, it’s dusty and full of cobwebs, but there’s a lovely sitting room, a kitchen, and a dining room. We discover one bedroom, a child’s room, a nursery, and two bathrooms. Everything is in good repair, considering how old it must be.

I stop at a window that’s made of stained glass with pictures of yellow flowers. “This place is beautiful.”

Callum turns to me. “I think we should stop here. We should stay here and make it our home.”

My heart aches, but the pulling inside of me continues. “This place is amazing, but I think we should keep going.”

His gaze meets mine. “How could we ever find a better place than this?”

I nibble my lip. “Isn’t it strange though how everyone is just gone? Where did the people go?”

He looks surprised. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

The disappointment in his expression hurts my heart. I hadn’t really meant to imply this place was dangerous. I just don’t feel like we should stop yet.

“What if we keep this place in mind? And if we don’t find what we’re looking for, we come back.”

He smiles. “I think that would be good.” Then he glances at the big bed. “Maybe we should stay the night though. Did you see the stream full of fish? And all the vegetables and fruits? We have no idea what’s coming next. We might want to be well-rested and well-fed.”

I nod, not missing what he’s saying. “You think there is trouble ahead of us?”

His expression is regretful. “Based on everything we’ve seen of Neverwood, yes. I think things will get far worse before they get better.”

It’s hard to hear those words. Hard to think about pushing ourselves harder, being hungry again, being uncomfortable and miserable, especially with a baby coming in six or seven months. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t ignore the nagging feeling inside of me that this isn’t where we’re meant to build our home. That there’s something more. Something better.

Callum leans down and kisses me. “We should catch some fish, then gather some food. We’ll have a feast tonight!”

I smile. “A feast sounds perfect.”

But in the back of my mind, I’m just praying that I’m not taking us away from paradise, all because of my silly faith.