9. Chapter Nine #3
“I’ve been working through all the knowledge sent with me here, and it has given me ideas for magic to try.
” I form a bluebird with my hands, and it opens its eyes for the first time and chirps.
“A present.” I whisper in the bird’s ear and command it to stay loyal to her and to tell me if she ever needs protection.
It flutters to her shoulder, and she pets its head. “I love it! Thank you! We shall name him Raffe because I like that name.” She jumps into my arms, and the little bird flaps between us. I hold her for several heartbeats longer than usual.
From then on, we communicate through the bird, and she sends me notes throughout the day as I wait for her to visit. We do this across two more years.
One evening, Evelia visits me wearing clothes that shimmer in the light and cover her from her neck to her upper thighs, and a transparent skirt rests on her hips.
It’s an outfit she’s worn a few times before, as well as others similar to it.
It’s what she says she wears to dance, which is her favorite thing to do.
There are shows she performs in that I’m not allowed to go to because I have no noble lineage to the humans.
None of them could comprehend how far above I am from all their highest bloodlines.
After each performance, she visits me and shows me each dance.
She twirls to the melodies, and nothing has ever fascinated me more than the way each curve of her body latches onto the music and becomes an enchantment. She’s more magical than all the fairies in the storybooks she’s read me hundreds of times.
She dances, but her movements are more unsteady than usual until she finally stops and her shoulders bob.
I frown at the tears in Evelia’s eyes and want them gone. “What’s happened?”
She turns away from me and stares at the charred field where I first saw her. “I’m eighteen now, Lazzus. Eighteen.” She covers her face in her hands.
“Yes!” I run over to my rock and pull out the small cake a baker I approached taught me to make. “This is for you. I learned after I found out that’s what you give on birthdays.”
Her cries grow louder, and her whole body shakes.
“My father isn’t letting me leave the castle any longer.
He has guards to make sure I don't take my secret way anymore. I had to sneak out to tell you because it needed to be in person, so when my show ended, I slipped out a back way. He says I must be prepared for marriage to the king of the north’s son. ”
“Tell him no. I will marry you instead.”
“I wish we could because you would not restrict my freedom. If I had such a choice, I would choose you. You’re my best friend, and I love you!” She throws her arms around my neck and cries against me.
“Your father has made you sad?”
“Yes, very sad.”
“I can kill your father, like we did that spider that scared you. Since he is harming you, it doesn’t break the rule to not hurt anyone innocent.”
She pulls away, instantly showing me I’d chosen the wrong solution. “Lazzus, no! I don’t want my father to die. He’s a human and more valuable than a spider.”
“Aren't both life?" I stare at her, confused at the distinction.
"They are. You're right we shouldn't have killed the spider just because it scared me, and you can't kill my father. Not ever."
"But he is causing you pain. No one should cause you pain.”
“But I don’t want him to die. Don’t think about killing my father again. Promise me!”
I nod and want to pull her back into a hug, but she’s upset with me, so I promise. “Then I will marry you, and you won’t have to be sad about the king of the north’s son.”
“My father will never allow it. You aren’t a prince.”
“But I am to conquer.”
She squeezes my hand and pulls me over to my rock, so we can sit together as we have many times. “Why did you never conquer?”
I tilt my head and stare to the north. “Because if I left to conquer, I might not find you again.”
“Where do you go when I leave? Where is your home?”
“I sit on this rock and wait. Sometimes I go to the village and learn things, but I always come back here to wait for you.”
Her eyes grow to a concerning degree. “You stay on this rock all the time?”
“Yes.”
Trumpets sound in the distance, and Evelia jumps up. “I have to go, or they’ll come looking for me.” She hugs me, but this time pushes up on her toes, touching her lips to mine.
It takes me several moments to figure out how to move my mouth against hers, but once I do, I notice my body in places I never have before.
She breaks the kiss and runs toward her castle. “My first kiss is yours. That’s what I can give you.” Her voice breaks as she disappears from my sight.
Anger slams into me fiercely and steals my breath.
I’m about to chase after her, but the world fades into home.
The collective is also angry, but it is directed at me.
My rage is cooled when the collective vanishes, and I am left in darkness.
I scream from the agony of solitude. The pain is too great, and they leave me that way with no way back to Evelia.
I suffer outside of time, so there is no length, but it feels many times longer than the years I spent with Evelia.
It gives time for many dark things to suffocate the good things Evelia taught me.