Chapter 19 #2
For the first time since falling through the portal, she didn’t feel quite so lost. She glanced toward the tree’s wall, the glow of the fire casting moving shadows across it.
Somewhere, out there, her friends were facing their own challenges.
She hoped they had found someone to help them like she had.
Hugging the coat closer, she sent a silent wish that they were safe.
The faint scent of roasted nuts and wood smoke greeted Alice as she stirred the next morning. She blinked at the dappled light filtering through the narrow opening in Elder Oak’s trunk. For a moment, she lay still, disoriented by the strangeness of waking inside a tree. Then her eyes widened.
Geoff was gone.
She sat up quickly, heart thudding—until she spotted his satchel leaning against the far wall and the fire sticks still glowing with their soft, steady light. The warmth of his coat wrapped around her. His woodsy scent mixed with the early morning breeze cutting through the opening.
Relief washed over her, and her lips curved into a small smile when she saw the leaf platter near the fire: three golden pieces of fruit with pale blushes on their skin and another of the delicious cracked nuts they had shared last night.
He left me breakfast.
She slid into the coat, hugging it around her shoulders like armor, and stepped cautiously out of the tree’s open side.
The morning air was cool and damp, kissed with the sweet scent of moss and flowers.
The forest shimmered with the aftereffects of last night’s rain.
She took a tentative breath and looked around.
Geoff was nowhere in sight.
Then, from behind a low copse of ferns, he suddenly appeared—grinning, his brown hair tousled and his eyes bright with early mischief.
Alice jumped, then laughed softly, her cheeks flushing.
“Morning,” he said cheerfully. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me. Much.”
He raised an eyebrow but said nothing, only tilting his head. “If you’re looking to clean up, there’s a stream about a hundred yards that way,” he said, pointing toward a narrow path between two gnarled trees. “Just follow the moss—it glows a little in the shade.”
Alice hesitated, then gave a small nod. “Thanks. I… kind of need to, um, freshen up.”
Geoff lifted the small fish he held by the tail. “Take your time. I’ll add this to our breakfast menu.”
Alice turned quickly, biting her lip to hide her smile.
She was bemused—more by herself than him.
She was a Curizan princess. She had trained in martial arts, quantum harmonics, and political debate.
She could command a warship. And yet, here she was—blushing over a boy who could light fires with a whisper.
She followed the trail, ducking beneath a low branch. True to his word, the moss glowed faintly green where the light couldn’t reach, guiding her to a gentle brook that danced over smooth stones. The water sparkled in the morning light.
She glanced around warily.
“Okay… any talking trees nearby, please avert your eyes.”
The only answer was the chirp of birds and the soft rustle of leaves.
She did her business behind a thicket, then crouched at the stream’s edge to wash her face and hands. The cold water shocked her skin awake, and she sighed with pleasure. She caught sight of her reflection and winced. Her hair was a tangled mess.
She frowned in concentration and lifted her hand. Come on… just a simple comb. A small one. You can do this.
The threads shimmered in the air around her—so close, so familiar—and yet, just as she began to shape them, they slipped through her mental grasp like fog. She exhaled in frustration, letting her hands fall into the water.
“Stupid energy,” she muttered, splashing her face one last time. She ran her damp hands through her hair in an attempt to tame the worst of the tangles. It helped. A little.
When she returned to Elder Oak, she glanced up at the massive limbs swaying gently in the breeze. “Good morning,” she called in greeting. “Thanks for letting me stay.”
There was no reply.
Inside, Geoff looked up from where he crouched over the fire. The scent of sizzling fish filled the air, mingling with the earthy aroma of tree bark and fruit.
“Elder’s still asleep,” he said, gesturing for her to sit beside him on the blanket. “He’s very old. It takes him a while to wake up.”
“Oh,” Alice replied, lowering herself beside him. “I thought maybe I’d said something wrong.”
“Nope.” He passed her one of the fruits and a leaf folded into a makeshift plate with a piece of the fish and the roasted nut. “Elder likes you. He said you were interesting.”
She gave a small, self-conscious smile. “Well, I guess it’s not every day a girl falls from the sky and ends up in a talking tree.”
Geoff snorted softly and bit into a piece of fish. “Nope. That’s new.”
They ate in companionable silence for a moment before Geoff glanced sideways at her. “How are you feeling?”
Alice hesitated, then shrugged. “Better. I mean, I’m still confused, still can’t reach the energy the way I used to, but I don’t feel quite so…” She trailed off, searching for the word.
“Alone?” he offered.
She nodded. “Yeah. That.”
He nodded too, then poked at the fire. “So, you’re from another world. What’s it like—your home?”
Alice leaned back, balancing the fruit in her hand.
“The Curizan home world is called Ceran Pax. It’s…
beautiful. The sky’s a deeper blue than here, almost violet at times.
The cities shimmer with light and music and movement.
Energy pulses through everything, and we’ve learned how to channel it.
We live in harmony with it. I’m—well, I’m the daughter of the ruling family. A princess.”
Geoff blinked. “A real one?”
She grinned. “Crown, ceremonies, responsibilities, diplomatic missions—the whole thing. Okay, the crown thing may be pushing it. It’s mostly the responsibilities.”
He gave her a long, slow look. “Huh. You don’t seem like what I thought an alien princess would be.”
“Let me guess,” she said dryly. “You expected someone snooty and useless?”
He smirked. “More or less.”
“Well,” she said with mock haughtiness, flipping her damp braid over her shoulder, “we do have etiquette classes, but I skipped the ones on being snooty. If I could figure out how to control, I mean, talk, to the energy here, I’d show you that I’m anything but helpless.”
Geoff laughed, a warm sound that made her smile despite herself.
“I look forward to seeing you prove that,” he said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Until you do, you’re going to need me. The Isles are… different. Magic here isn’t just energy—it’s woven into the land. It listens. It has moods. Rules.”
Alice grew thoughtful. “Maybe that’s the problem. I keep trying to bend it. But what if I just… ask?”
Geoff’s eyes lit up with approval. “Now you’re thinking like a witch.”
“I thought I was thinking more like a diplomat.”
“Same thing sometimes. Magic doesn’t always listen.”
They smiled at each other, and for a long moment, the quiet between them was less like silence—and more like understanding.