18. Awakening The Forest
Chapter 18
Awakening The Forest
Alexander stepped in front of the two rows of men, with John Runningwolf just to the right and slightly behind him, guarding one flank. Liliana stepped up to the same position on his left. Being in front of so many strangers was uncomfortable, but no amount of discomfort could induce her to leave Alexander’s flank unguarded.
Detective Jackson chose to stand beside Liliana, unintentionally perhaps, also taking a protective position.
The small figure of Siobhan in human form, all three foot ten of her, stood in her leather jacket with her machine pistol in hand, directly in front of Alexander.
It was an odd position for a court guardian. Normally, they stood behind the one they guarded, far too large to stand in front of their charges. Siobhan was small enough that she could stand directly between her prince and danger, without obscuring more than his knees.
Doctor Nudd was still walking all around them, halting occasionally and touching a leaf or the bark of a tree. His craggy face was even more wrinkled than usual as he studied the birds and squirrels as if they held some secret he needed to know.
Alexander called to him, “Merlin.”
The Merlin of the court was the wisest advisor to the ruler. His position was usually right at the ruler’s side, close enough to whisper important information in his ear. At some point in history, the Merlin also became expected to be the most powerful wizard of the court.
Dr. Nudd dropped to one knee in front of the silver-crowned obsidian statue in camo pants. Siobhan stepped to one side to make room, watching the forest warily with her machine pistol in hand, unconcerned about Nudd being near the prince she guarded.
Alexander put a living black stone hand on his shoulder. “I am uncertain how this is done. Is there some information you could give me?”
Nudd ran a hand through his curly hair, making it even more messy than usual. “I don’t think you’ll have any trouble waking this forest up. It already feels like it’s watching us.”
Liliana nodded. “The Green here is rich and strong.” Her third eyes saw the pulsing flow just beneath the grass being pulled into every tree, especially the big cyprus that shaded them. Green men only made their homes in the most magical of forests. The longer they stayed in a forest, the more magical it became. The fact that one slept here with his family made her wonder if once it had been a place of power. And if the trees here would like it to be so again.
Nudd scratched his bristly cheek in need of a shave. “My concern is that this forest, when awake, may be more than we bargained for.”
Outwardly, the living statue of oily black stone seemed regal and still, but Liliana could see ripples of unease, shivers of beige uncertainty on the edges of Alexander’s aura. “You and the land are one, my prince.” Liliana touched his smooth stone arm and squeezed. “Call the Green. For you, it will come joyously, like a hound eager for the hunt.”
He took hold of the hand on his arm to draw her to his side, from the position of a flanking guard to the position of a queen or …a consort. Oh. Right. She hadn’t considered the implications of becoming a landed prince’s lover.
His stone hand was oddly warm in hers. “This is the first time I’ve done anything like this. My court has been largely theoretical until now. Nudd has been giving me guidance about how it is normally done, but this. This will begin it. After this…”
Liliana looked up high to his eyes, a deep shimmering green. “Nudd has taught you how to be a king. Now you must choose what kind of king you will become,” Liliana said.
His eyes closed as his aura stretched down into the earth from the soles of his boots, and came back up a hundred-fold stronger. Deep green whorls of power circled his legs like a slow-motion tornado. It didn’t cling to him only. It spread to Siobhan and Nudd who still knelt in front of him, to Liliana beside him, and John a step back on his other side. The earth power even reached a smoky tendril to the one human among them, Detective Shonda Jackson, who sucked in a breath when the magic caressed and sunk into her skin. The flow of power continued to the two lines of Other men and women standing at the ready behind their commanding officer.
As the Green coursed through Liliana, the energy charged her body like electricity through a wire. She found her weight on her toes, feeling light and strong, as if she could leap twenty feet straight up to land on the high branches above her if she chose.
When all of Alexander’s allies were intertwined with the ghostly wisps of Green power, he spoke one word. His voice rumbled the soles of Liliana’s feet, the same voice she’d heard him use before to command obedience.
“AWAKEN.”
And the forest obeyed.