2. Chapter 2 #2
Bees in the Shadow Lands were very much like fairies, Levi supposed, since they glowed like pricks of light. He was certain bees elsewhere didn’t do that. Kenner seemed entranced regardless, giggling once more and bounding toward the garden to give chase.
Levi was careful to direct the fairies away from where playful feet might trample the plant life, and soon the fairies were dancing around Kenner in synchronizing patterns and causing him to twirl in delight.
“I’ve always said that the best magic is pure of intention.”
Levi did yelp this time—because that was Ashmedai.
“M-M-Master—” Levi faltered upon spinning and discovering the king leaning casually against the tower wall not two paces from him.
“Ash,” he interrupted. “And before you try, not Master Ash, or sire, or Ashmedai. Just Ash.”
Like before, Levi’s knee-jerk reaction was to pull up his hood, but he refrained. “Kenner said he passed you!” he blurted.
“He did. I turned around.”
Levi could hear voices now. Kenner had said he’d run ahead of his parents, so of course they were on their way here. With Levi’s attention distracted, the fairy illusions snuffed out, and Kenner groaned in disappointment.
Then Yentriss’s voice came more clearly. “Kenner! What are you up to?”
The boy perked up, sprinting the way he had come from. “Hey, Ash! Bye, Levi!” he called as he went, leaving the two alone.
Levi had no idea what to say.
“Festival business, I’d imagine.” Ashmedai saved him the trouble. He was so enchanting, stately and exquisite, even with his arms crossed and one foot propped back on the wall. “They’re here for Brax, and likely me too. Before they steal me away… may I apologize for startling you in the hall?”
Levi’s hand went to the wrist Ashmedai had rid of stitches. “I-I’m the one who should apologize. It was wrong of me to run. It just felt so tingly and warm and… I-I mean… I feared Master Braxton might be angry. He didn’t even notice. May I ask….”
“Yes?” Ashmedai pushed from the wall, bringing them as close as they had been last night.
“How did you do it? I didn’t know you were a healer.”
“It’s not healing really, just revealing what’s already there, like… something hiding in the shadows.” Ashmedai’s smile stretched to show his sharp teeth. Levi really liked those teeth. “If I could heal, we wouldn’t need Luccite.”
“R-right. Then….” Levi looked at his wrist, his other hand still holding the smooth skin. “This is the real me?”
“Isn’t it?” Ashmedai asked softly.
When Levi looked up, it seemed the king had stepped closer. His white-on-black eyes could have held Levi captive forever.
“There you are! Ah, and Levi too. Just who we were looking for.”
A sharp intake of breath made it easy for Levi to step back without looking too much like he was retreating.
Dreya had spoken, accompanying Yentriss and Grillo with Kenner at their heels.
Levi had never been around so many people before without being hidden in his cloak.
“Did I pronounce that right?” Dreya asked, coming toward Levi boldly, without so much as a stray of her eyes at Levi’s stitches. She wore a tiny hat askew on her head and a dress that looked like it was made of the same leaves as her hair. “Or is it more like levy ?”
“Um… the first way was right,” Levi said meekly. “You were looking for me?”
“And Brax,” Grillo said, “but this will be your first Festival Day, won’t it?
We thought you might want to help. Daedlys recommended we ask.
I hope the little one wasn’t bothering you.
” He lightly gripped one of Kenner’s horns and gave it a tug that toppled the boy against his side, where he hugged him closer.
He’d seemed so serious at the council meeting, but he appeared warm and personable now, the complete opposite of his wife.
“Levi made fairies in the flowers!” Kenner exclaimed.
“He was curious,” Levi offered, “not a bother.”
“Can’t deny we’re all curious.” Dreya was suddenly close enough that Levi had to tip backward or risk their noses bumping.
It wasn’t his stitches she was getting a better look at, but his violet eyes.
“You’ve kept to yourself all these weeks, but what a wonder you are.
Some people can be funny about that color, but I think it’s one of the prettiest there is.
And new life is always a wonder, as most parents would agree, I’m sure.
” She glanced at Grillo and Yentriss, who shared a tender look.
“Levi’s a child like me?” Kenner asked.
“More a newly minted adult,” Ashmedai said.
Levi was glad the king didn’t think of him as a child.
“Are you really only here for Brax and Levi,” Ashmedai continued, focusing on Dreya, “or did you stalk me from the castle?”
She bristled in a way that ruffled her leaves. “It’s hardly stalking when you left a note on the castle doors so I’d know where you’d gone!”
Grillo failed to suppress a snort, while Yentriss’s mouth merely gave a slight twitch.
“I shudder to think what terror you might have wrought if I hadn’t,” Ashmedai said.
It was likely due to his pleasant tone that Dreya knew he was teasing, and she pursed her lips with a budding smile.
“Well then.” Ashmedai turned to Levi. “You’ll help, won’t you? I’m sure Brax will have no objections.”
“Oh, I….” Levi was trapped, both by Ashmedai’s stare and the request of him—more like command , for how could Levi possibly say no to the king?
He didn’t want to say no. Not really. And having everyone’s attention on him wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as he’d feared. “I can help,” Levi said finally, looking back at the others with nervous enthusiasm. “What would you have me do?”
“I was hoping you’d assist me,” Grillo said. “As a guide using Brax’s crystals. It can be seen as dangerous to venture too near the barrier, but I hoped you wouldn’t be as afraid as others I’ve asked, since you live so near it. What say you?”
Levi had never feared the wood or the barrier. The view of trees was part of his first memories from when Braxton brought him to life. “I can do that.”
“Wonderful!” Grillo said. The others all looked pleased, save maybe Yentriss, who had a scrutinizing skepticism about her, as though she thought Levi somewhat unimpressive.
“Wonderful indeed,” Ashmedai echoed, catching Levi’s eye again. “I suppose we all have work to do.”
Braxton had no objections to Levi being stolen away. He wanted Levi to acclimate, and being sequestered did nothing to foster that.
Levi had hoped, however, that Ashmedai might join him and Grillo, only for the king to get monopolized by Dreya the moment they reached the edge of the city.
Levi stayed with Grillo alone as they gathered some of the crystals spared for the upcoming hunt, as well as Grillo’s axe and other tools for bundling and bringing back lumber, and then off they went.
They headed almost all the way back to the tower, but then cut into the trees along a narrow path before the final bend in the road.
“We’ll need to gather wood for several days to have enough for all I have planned. That work for you?” Grillo asked.
“Yes, Master Grillo. As long as I can attend to my other chores.”
“ Grillo .” Grillo glanced at Levi with a wide smile and a snort from his long snout. “There are no masters among our people, not even Ash. Does Brax really make you call him that?”
Levi clung unconsciously to the bag filled with warding crystals draped across his body.
He also pulled the wagon that would carry the lumber they collected.
It was large but light enough, with an easy grip.
Levi had offered to pull it initially since Grillo would have to do the heavy lifting once it was full.
An even larger wagon pulled by Braxton’s mechanical horses would have been better, but that would never have fit along this path or between the closely rooted trees.
Besides, the horses that existed traveled almost constantly, rarely used for anything other than bringing the trading carriages back and forth from Emerald .
“He doesn’t make me call him that,” Levi said, “but when I first woke to this world, he said he was my maker, my master, and so I have called him that ever since.”
He’d never told Levi to stop calling him that either.
A rustle in the trees made Levi’s head snap up.
He hadn’t thought he’d be afraid, but then, he’d never ventured very far into the wood.
The shadows here seemed thicker, or maybe the glow from the plant life was dimmer.
Whereas the shadows that followed Ashmedai were swirling and inviting, here the added darkness made the hair on Levi’s arms and neck extend like during a lightning storm.
“Glider monkey.”
“Hm?” Levi returned his attention to Grillo.
Grillo pointed ahead at a tree that was slightly swaying.
In its branches, peering at them from the dark, was a small animal covered in fur.
Its ears were longer than the length of its head, its body compact given its lanky arms and legs.
Its thumbs looked apposable around the branches it clung to, and connecting from its wrists to its body was an extension of furred skin almost like wings or a cloak.
Levi had only ever seen the ones people kept as pets, but because of that, he knew the monkey was both friendly and not for eating.
It leapt to another tree with a graceful glide and disappeared.
Grillo was getting ahead of Levi, so he hurried to catch up.
“Is it much farther?” Levi asked.
“Not so much now. Best take out one of those crystals,” Grillo said.
Levi fumbled to do just that. Warding crystals were smaller than most but still filled the entirety of Levi’s hand. They were clear, and if the person holding it ventured too close to the barrier, it would begin to glow with white light.
For now, it was dormant.
“There are many buildings in the city,” Levi said as he matched pace with Grillo. “Some from stone, but most from wood. After a thousand years, it’s impressive so many mature trees still thrive.”