10. The Shift
CHAPTER TEN
THE SHIFT
Our days continued along those lines. I got used to waking up with the sun, so I was usually ready by the time Riel came for me. After the first couple of days, he started bringing our meals with us so that we could eat by the pool and stay until the afternoon. In the mornings, we’d meditate for a while, then I’d get another miniature lesson. He’d let me ask questions, and then we chatted more than anything else during the latter portion of the day.
The weather warmed, and my health and appetite returned in full force. At the same time, Riel and I grew closer, to the point where the vibe between us seemed to shift from teacher and student to friends. That was my interpretation, at least, given that we spent more time shooting the breeze than we did doing anything useful.
For example, I taught him 20 Questions. It hadn’t occurred to me that it might be a difficult game to play when we had entirely different cultures and experiences, but we managed. We also played several rounds of I Spy, although we encountered similar problems with that since I didn’t know the names of the plants that surrounded us. Still, we got by. And because of that, Riel started teaching me about their plants and wildlife .
A large portion of their diet came from nutrient-rich nuts produced by a tree called vali . The buzzing insects that pollinated the flowers in our clearing were not bees, but kainna . We even saw an eseri at one point, which Riel was particularly excited to point out to me. They were essentially a cross between mice and chinchillas.
The closer we got, the more I wanted to know about Riel. One day, I started the line of questioning with, “What was little Riel like? When you were growing up, I mean?”
Given our usual conversations, the inquiry didn’t faze him.
“Curious,” he answered, gazing into the distance. “Much the same as now. I wanted to learn everything and couldn’t wait for the day when I knew it all. I was rather na?ve. And you?”
I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d turn the question around on me, but it had been a long time since I’d thought back to my childhood. Although I didn’t have many memories from before my powers manifested, the years that followed were crystal clear. How could I forget, with all the issues that period in my life left me with?
“I was quiet,” I said, thinking back to before it all began, when I spent most days in my room playing with Barbie dolls and little animal figures. “Shy. I kept to myself and didn’t have a lot of friends. At least, until my healing ability kicked in. I was eight. After that, everyone wanted to be my friend.”
“How did you discover your ability?” Riel asked.
“Completely by accident,” I admitted. “Before my powers kicked in, I went to public school. One of my classmates fell and hurt themselves during recess. When I helped her up, I felt the pull of magic. Her wound closed and her pain disappeared, just like that. I didn’t realize what had happened at first, but when I got home, I told my mom. She was crazy enough to grab a kitchen knife and make a cut on her arm. I healed that too. She acted like she’d found one of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets.” The memory was one of the few happy ones from my childhood. Before the consequences set in, I’d been so excited .
When Riel’s elegant brows came together in confusion, I added, “It’s from a movie. Or a book, I guess, originally. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory .”
He made a sound of understanding, although the perplexed look remained. “Your mother must have had a lot of faith in you, to trust your word enough to harm herself.”
“Yeah, I mean, our relationship was pretty good back then. But it wasn’t that out of the blue—the other kids were all over the news by then. I guess they figured out their abilities sooner. I sometimes wonder if I would have discovered mine earlier if I’d been able to heal myself.”
“A defense mechanism of sorts,” Riel mused. “You can’t fill a cup from itself. Even if you weren’t aware that you were using your abilities wrong, your body knew.”
“Well, I know that now. At the time, I just figured it wasn’t in the cards for me.” I lay back in the tall grass with a sigh, wondering how everything would change now. Enough sunlight filtered through the tree cover above that I could feel its warmth. “Back to you,” I said, turning my head to face Riel. “What do you do when we aren’t hanging out? Royal paperwork?”
“Thank the Goddess, no,” Riel answered with a chuckle. “I don’t have as many responsibilities as my mother or my brother, so I find things to do, whether that’s helping to prepare food or tending to the avida . If there are disagreements among the staff, I might address the grievance.” He gave a long-suffering sigh, then added, “I am a glorified maid.”
“Don’t say that!” I exclaimed, propping myself up on my elbows indignantly. “That’s all important stuff that has to get done. And I’m sure your employees are glad to have your help. I don’t know if I could see Solois dealing with that.”
“No,” Riel admitted. “He doesn’t have the patience for chores or petty squabbles.” The corner of his mouth quirked upward. “Yet another way in which I am superior.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I rolled my eyes at his now-familiar sass, unable to stifle a smile. I might have imagined it, but I thought there was a flash of something different in his expression… something soft, almost yearning, that tugged at my heartstrings. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared, leaving me wondering if I had imagined it.
“The others like you,” he said once the moment passed. “Tell me about them.”
Marcia came to mind first, causing my heart to squeeze painfully in my chest.
“I don’t know any more than most people,” I began, forcing the words past a lump that had developed in my throat. “But I remember hearing about a boy who could understand animals and a girl who could change her body into whatever she wanted. There were a couple more too.” I tried to lighten the mood with a quip. “I always wondered why there weren’t a whole bunch of us, but I guess that just makes me extra special.”
Riel made a thoughtful sound. “Magic can work in mysterious ways. It is extremely potent, but it also has a life of its own. We struggle to understand it. Before The Rift opened, everyone could feel that something was different.”
My interest was piqued. “Really? Like what?”
“Hmm. It’s hard to explain.” He contemplated his answer. “The mana became unpredictable, harder to harness. And excessive—the air was thick with it. Animals grew restless. Some thought the Goddess was forsaking us, that it was the end of the world.”
“That’s wild,” I murmured. I could imagine how terrifying that must have been for their society, like going through a solar eclipse without understanding what was happening. Panic would have been rampant. “Do you think… it meant to make The Rift?”
Riel shrugged. “Perhaps. Our advisor surmised that it simply grew to be too much for our world to contain. According to their hypothesis, The Rift was an unintentional tear resulting from the pressure, with the excess mana drifting into your world. Into certain humans.”
“Well, that’s as good a theory as any.”
“Indeed.”
We sat in silence for several minutes, enjoying the fresh air and warm breeze. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this comfortable in someone’s presence. It was crazy to think we’d only known each other for a matter of weeks. Already, I felt as close to Riel as anyone. He had a way of making one feel comfortable, with how insightful and considerate he was. I was no longer nervous to say the wrong thing or be awkward in front of him. It was a strange feeling when I was so used to my every move being watched and judged. I could get used to this , I thought. A shame it wouldn’t last. For some reason, the idea of going back to the White House after this troubled me.
“Are you hungry?” Riel asked out of the blue.
I perked up at the thought of food. I was ravenous these days; my body had a lot of catching up to do since coming back from the brink of death. “I could eat an avida !” I exclaimed. An alarmed snort came from the woods. “Not Oyanni, though,” I amended quickly, mortified. Raising my voice in order to be heard, I added, “She’s too nice!”
“No need to take it back,” Riel remarked as he got to his feet. “Our animals have grown lazy believing that there will be no repercussions for poor performance. Threaten them all you like.” He collected the bag he’d attached to his avida ’s handhold strap and gave her an affectionate pat to show that there were no hard feelings.
I pulled my feet from the pool and crossed my legs to get comfortable. When he returned with the food, he settled next to me, closer than he usually was when we meditated together. I tried not to notice how petite I felt next to his tall, slender frame, but it was like the air was warmer on that side. Goosebumps prickled my flesh in awareness.
Rather than let myself ruminate on what that meant, I turned my attention to the package he’d retrieved. “What have we got today?”
He unwrapped it to reveal two large, flaky pastries that resembled empanadas or Jamaican patties. I was salivating before he deposited one into my hands.
“ Massiya ,” he said, biting into his with pleasure. I eagerly followed suit. Although it was lukewarm and a little soggy, the flavor made my tastebuds come alive.
“The filling is made with ground vali nuts and spices,” Riel explained. “It’s a popular food to pack when you’ll be out and about, given how easy it is to eat.” He licked a crumb from his thumb, and the movement caught my eye. What else does that tongue do? I found myself wondering. Jesus, Avery. Behave .
I took my time chewing while I attempted to redirect my thoughts somewhere more appropriate. The spices they used provided some unique flavor profiles; familiar in some ways, yet foreign in others. What cuisine from Earth most closely resembled fae cooking… something Mediterranean, maybe? The cooks at the White House always had something different on the menu, but I felt like I hadn’t tried enough foods to say.
“What else is consuming your thoughts?” Riel asked between bites.
“Hm?” His question startled me enough that I swallowed before I’d finished chewing, the dry bite sliding down my throat with some amount of discomfort. The face I made must have been a sight, as Riel appeared amused by my reaction.
“Did you have any other questions?” he clarified.
“Oh! I’m sure I could think of some more.” In truth, I had them lined up. I’d spent more time than was healthy thinking of things I wanted to know about Riel and the fae—finding something appropriate, that was the challenge. “You’ve mentioned your mom, and of course, I’ve met your brother, but what about your father? What part does he play in all this?”
Riel made a disparaging sound in his throat. “I suppose he is the most agreeable of the three,” he admitted after a moment’s hesitation. “He is not an overly kind man, but he is fair. And he can be reasoned with, most of the time. He is often away for long periods, visiting family in other parts of the region or going on diplomatic trips to other territories, so my mother and brother handle the day-to-day activities here.”
“Gotcha. Is he the head honcho, or do decisions go through advisors, or…”
“My father has the final say in matters of policy. My mother holds significant sway, but neither she nor my brother would dare make decisions without his presence. We have an advisor of sorts as well, but they only inform. It is not their place to have an opinion.”
I never attempted to understand government processes before; it was all so convoluted. “Huh… sounds like that kind of defeats the purpose of having an advisor, but okay.” I finished off my massiya and licked the last few remnants from my fingers. “So, next question. What do you do for fun?”
Riel gave a small frown. “Fun? I’m not familiar with the concept.”
I raised an eyebrow and held it until he cracked a smile.
“I miss how innocent you used to be,” he said ruefully, shaking his head. “You’re harder to tease these days.”
“I’ve wised up, old man,” I replied with a devilish cackle. “Get on with it.”
Riel heaved a sigh. “Let’s see. I like to read and draw. I spend more time than is needed with the animals or in the gardens. When the weather is nice, I sometimes take day trips out to the foothills. There’s a large spring there that is pleasant to swim laps in.”
“Oh? That all sounds lovely.” A pang of envy hit as I thought about my hobbies in comparison. Before my health took a turn, I enjoyed swimming and tennis. But over the past few months, I’d done little except watch movies and play video games. That would be a chore to explain, given that they had no concept of television or gaming systems. “Do you have any books in English? It’d be nice to have something to do in the evenings.”
“Regrettably, we do not. If you let me know what kind you would like, I will ask Luenki to request some next time we send word to your people.”
“No, no. Don’t worry about it.” I waved away his offer, feeling silly to make a big deal out of nothing. “Honestly, it would become an excuse not to meditate. I try to do it as much as I can, but it’s so boring. We sit and talk all day, and then at night, I just lie there. I need a little more excitement in my life, you know?”
“Excitement, hm?” The corner of Riel’s mouth twitched. “Well, you are young after all. With time, you’ll grow to appreciate the quiet. Most people don’t have the luxury of enjoying a relaxing evening of meditation.”
I worried that I’d said the wrong thing. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful…”
“You’ll get no judgment from me. I struggled through the same adjustment. It’s about as interesting as watching vali nuts ripen.”
He peered over my shoulder at the water then, and a perplexed look came over his face.
“Is that…? It’s early in the season for them, but perhaps…”
“What?” Alarmed, I reared backward and followed his gaze toward the water. When I didn’t notice anything right away, I leaned forward to get a closer look. “What am I?—?”
The shove didn’t quite register. What did was the world tipping above me as I went weightless for a brief second. When I hit the water, instinct kicked in, my arms flailing to get me back to precious air. I surfaced quickly, coughing and sputtering and in complete disbelief, to see Riel bent over with laughter on shore.
He extended an arm over the water to help as I made my way back to land. I was tempted to ignore it, but a moment of inspiration struck. With a sweet smile, I accepted his outstretched hand, then braced myself against the edge of the pool and yanked hard.
Nothing happened. It was like pulling on a rooted tree. His guffaws doubled in volume.
I let go of his hand out of principle and, muttering threats under my breath, dragged myself up onto the grass. His shoulders still shook with mirth as I straightened and squeezed as much water as I could out of my hair and clothes, my cheeks burning with humiliation.
“I don’t know why you’re laughing,” I grumbled as I wrung the end of my shirt between my hands. There was no saving my shorts. “You’re going to be snuggling against me on the return ride. By the time we get back, you’ll be as soaked through as I am.”
“You’ll dry,” Riel responded with a shrug. “Was that exciting enough for you? I know I found it thrilling.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it, you prick.” I shook my head like a wet dog. Strands of hair plastered themselves to my neck and shoulders. Examining Riel thoughtfully, I asked, “I don’t suppose you’ve got drying magic up those sleeves of yours? Heaven forbid you do something useful.”
“Hmm, no.” He shook out both arms to punctuate his words. His eyes danced with humor, but as we looked at each other, the humor was replaced by something else. A touch of confusion, perhaps, and… I didn’t know for sure what the other thing was, but I became suddenly and intensely aware of the fact that my shirt clung to certain areas more than usual when wet. Feeling self-conscious all of a sudden, my hands began to come up to cover myself.
A colder-than-usual breeze blew through our clearing, and my hands were diverted to cover a sneeze. Riel sobered up quickly. I found myself in the odd position of being equal parts relieved and disappointed that the other look was gone from his face.
“Are you cold?” he asked, tone contrite. He glanced around as if a coat might appear from thin air. “These springs usually warm up early in the season…”
“Freezing.” I drew out the word and exaggerated a few shivers for good measure. In truth, it was a little uncomfortable, but not unbearable. Still, milking an opportunity for all it was worth never hurt anyone. I laid it on real thick, summoning all the acting talent I could muster. “I may be a block of solid ice before we make it back. Oh, woe is me. Have my body launched into the lake and set on fire in a proper Viking send-off.”
“Let’s return early today,” Riel suggested, frowning as though worried I would keel over. I giggled and shook my head at his reaction.
“You can dish it out, but you can’t take it, huh?” I teased.
“I didn’t realize humans were that delicate,” he argued, grasping my arm to steer me toward the waiting avida . I relaxed and let him guide me into place and help me up like usual.
Once Riel had settled into his spot behind me, I wiggled my hips against him to ensure that he had full contact with my wet backside. “Well? Comfy?” I asked with a smug grin.
“Very.” He breathed the word awfully close to my ear as he reached around me and slipped his hand into the loop of the reinstrap. I stopped wiggling, more for my own sake than his, and a blush suffused my cheeks. My brain floundered for a new subject.
“Out of curiosity, what would you have done if it turned out I couldn’t swim?” I blurted.
“I suppose I would have had to jump in after you and pull you out.”
Hmph. I couldn’t find fault with that response. Attractive people got away with way too much. “Well, that doesn’t make it okay. Just so you know.”
“Yes, my lady. My most sincere apologies.”
His tone was light, and since no harm had been done, I let the matter drop. Then, I spent the rest of the ride silently enjoying the fact that he’d called me his lady.