Step into Magic

by Day Leitao

  He didn’t want to mention Lylah and didn’t think it mattered. “Not really. I just had to see how you were. I’ll leave. Or we can go somewhere else.”

  She looked at him and took a moment as if considering. “Isn’t it dangerous out there?”

  He took a deep breath. “Well…”

  Cayla snorted, then pointed to a table and chairs. “Sit.”

  Darian sat down.

  Cayla sat across him. “Talk. Wasn’t that why you came?”

  “I also wanted to know how you’re feeling.”

  Cayla raised her arms in a grand gesture. “Amazing. Didn’t you know? Every single person I trusted lied to me. Every single one. Including you.”

  “I didn’t lie. I just… I never had the chance to explain.”

  “You could have explained it when you met me, before joining your traitor friend. You could have explained at the Apex. You could have told me when I asked you on which side you were. I asked you.”

  “I didn’t think it was the right time. That was all, Cayla. I was waiting for the right time.”

  “The right time would be after my father was deposed, of course, because otherwise perhaps I’d ruin your plans. Tell me it isn’t true.”

  That made sense, actually. Revealing his plans to Cayla could have been dangerous. Darian nodded. “It’s part of the truth, yes.”

  Cayla closed her eyes. “At least you’re getting better now. What about before you even left the castle? Before everything? You were never a great supporter of the King, were you? You didn’t even support your father. You never mentioned any of that.”

  “Well, when we first met you didn’t even mention you were the King’s daughter!”

  “I never denied it!”

  He stared at her in silence for a moment. “I didn’t want you to…”

  “You know what the problem is? You never trusted me. You never bothered to share your plans with me, your thoughts, your hopes, your wishes. Why? Wasn’t I worthy of knowing what you thought? Or was it that my opinion didn’t matter? Tell me.”

  Darian looked down thinking, then looked in her eyes. “Maybe if I had more time, if I saw you more often, I would have told you, Cayla. I would have explained everything. But I only saw you briefly, when everything was already in motion. I’m sorry your father had to be deposed and imprisoned. I can take all the time in the world to explain the reasons why I was part of a movement against him. If you’ll listen to me, I’ll explain. But I didn’t have all this time before.”

  Cayla shrugged. “That’s something I have to come to terms on my own. Maybe I was blind to certain things. What hurts is not so much the truth, but the fact that nobody bothered telling me.”

  He did see her point. “I understand. I was wrong. If I tell you that from now on, I’ll always trust you, and I’ll never hide anything from you, would that make things better?”

  “You’re assuming that there will be a from now on.”

  Darian bit his lip. “I don’t mean… it can be as friends. If you want. Other than that, I can’t turn back time.”

  Cayla looked away, then looked at his book. “What’s that?”

  This was hardly the time to ask for a favor, and he felt awkward. “I… I was going to ask you to give this to someone. But it’s fine, I’ll figure another way.”

  “No, I can give it. Who is it for?”

  “Your friend. Uh, Odell’s niece.”

  Her eyes widened. “Who do you mean?”

  “That girl. What was her name again? Ka…”

  Cayla squinted. “Why do you want to give Karina a book?”

  “My brother. He said he’d promised.”

  “You found Sian?”

  Darian felt uneasy. “He disappeared again.”

  Cayla rolled her eyes. “Awesome. And now he wants me to do him an almost impossible favor.”

  “No. I mean, if you know how I can find her… Maybe it was foolish, but I promised him.”

  Cayla snorted. “Your brother played a trick on you. He’s probably having a good laugh right now. Karina lives…” she paused. “Far. Very, very, far. I also have things to explain to you, once I can understand them myself. I don’t even know who I am anymore. But you can leave the book with me.”

  Her confusion was understandable. Darian pushed the book across the table. He had something more serious to ask her.

  “What are you going to do now? I mean, I know you’re living in the castle but…”

  “I’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

  “If Lylah is proclaimed queen… I don’t know if you are going to live here.”

  Cayla had an odd expression.

  Darian continued, “If you want, and it can be, you know, as friends, or acquaintances, we could move up North. I could find my village—”

  Cayla shook her head. “Acquaintances don’t move together. And we’re a little too young for that.” She looked in his eyes and her expression softened. “I appreciate the offer, I do.” She looked away. “But you don’t need to worry about me.”

  “I’ll always worry. And I’m here, if you need anything. I think it must be hard for you now that you’re not princess anymore. Trust me, I thought about it a million times, and I’m sorry for my part in that.”

  She stared at him. “Are you really sorry, though? Doesn’t a small part of you feel happy that I’m no longer princess? That you feel you have more power than I do? Tell me.”

  “I won’t lie. I’m glad that I’m allowed to see you now. The rest doesn’t matter.”

  She sighed. “Fair enough. Maybe you’d better go. Now that you can see me you can come back another time.”

  Darian got up. “You won’t be upset if I come see you again?”

  Cayla walked toward the door. “It depends. Come asking another impossible favor and I might snap.”

  He followed her. “I don’t mind you snapping.”

  She smiled. Her first genuine smile since her father had been deposed. It illuminated all her face. Darian was partly glad she was finally smiling, and partly struck, because even though she was very beautiful, she looked ethereal when she smiled. It was hard to believe that she was even real.

  Of course, it didn’t last long. Cayla squinted. “What are you staring at?”

  “I like your smile.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Right. You’re going to start flattering me now.”

  “I promised I’d be honest, what can I do? By the way, I also like it when you squint. Or roll your eyes.”

  She stared at him. “You like it when I frown as well?”

  “Love it. I also like it when you stare at me as if you meant to kill me.”

  Cayla laughed and then smiled. Again. “That’s good to know. Cause, you know, I plan on doing that a lot.”

  Their eyes locked. There was something different about her. The coldness and distance were gone. Her expression was open, eager, as she stood close to him. So close. He was looking at her eyes one moment, the next he had his eyes closed and lips locked on hers, arms wrapped around her. Cayla was soft, loving, and willing, holding him tight. He’d always wondered when it would be the right time to kiss her, but the truth is that he didn’t even notice how they started it, and wasn’t even sure who’d initiated it. Probably both.

  She kept hugging him but moved her face and whispered in his ear, “For the record, I’m still upset you didn’t trust me.”

  Darian held her even tighter and kissed her forehead. “I’m upset at myself.” But he had something else to say. He kept one hand on her waist, but took a step back and showed the stone of his necklace. “Do you see this?” Cayla nodded. He continued, “It was black before. Do you know why it’s bright now? These are twin necklaces. They’ll shine when the two people wearing them love each other. So every time you look at it—”

  “Hold on.” She broke away from his grip and put her hands on her hips. He didn’t understand why she’d be upset that he was telling he loved her. She continued, “You mean to say
you’ve known I loved you for more than one year? And never bothered telling me what it meant? While I was here, alone, wondering if you’d forgotten me, you never needed to have any doubts, because you had a freaking stone telling you so. Really?”

  “I… I…” He was puzzled, surprised, and unsure what to say. “I thought it was obvious.”

  “Cause you told me how many times again?”

  “You are the most beautiful girl in Whyland. Anyone who sees you—”

  Cayla grimaced. “The most beautiful blablabla. Maybe you need your eyes checked.”

  He sighed. “I’ve waited for you for more than one year and a half. I never even looked at anyone else. And the stone doesn’t lie.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, and I only know about it now. At least now I understand your presumption. Sometimes I thought you were full of yourself.”

  “I’m not. At some point I thought that I was mistaken, that maybe the stone was about a different kind of love—friendship or something.”

  Cayla rolled her eyes. “Friendship? You can’t be serious. Now, other than this stone, what about the rest? All the other things you hid from me? Are you going to tell me?”

  “Let’s sit. Unless you want me to come tomorrow or another day.”

  Cayla shook her head. “I want to know now. Now. Everything. Tell me everything.”

  Darian sat. He told her about his childhood and his mother, how he had grown up in a village in the North, and how they were being threatened by the King’s forces. He told her about how he hadn’t known he had a brother until he got to the castle, how his brother seemed to hate him for that, and how his father had always been cold and distant. He spoke about his days away from the castle, when he started seeing the King’s forces committing unjust violence against defenseless villagers. He told her how he’d protected some of them, how he formed alliances, and how he helped connect everyone who was in the army and didn’t agree with what was happening. Cayla listened. Sometimes she asked questions for clarification, but she mostly heard. Her expression was one of understanding and complicity. Talking to her and telling him all the truths that had been hidden for so long felt as if a part of himself was healing, and he was becoming whole again.

  “There’s one last thing,” he said. She listened. He continued, “My mother was great at speaking. When she spoke, it was as if a hypnotic energy took over. There was something almost magical about it. I’ve also seen how my brother charms people.”

  Cayla grimaced. “That depends on opinion, I guess.”

  “Fine, then, forget my brother. Sometimes I’ve noticed I have this skill, that I can talk to people, and convince them. Not always, though. Once I heard that I was called a whisperer, in the South, or spell speaker, in the North. As it’s some kind of magic. But I’ve never again heard or learned anything about it.”

  Her eyes were calm. “There’s a hidden library in the castle. We could look into it.”

  Darian nodded. “Thanks. But I have one fear. That perhaps, because of this skill, or power, maybe I made you fall in love with me.”

  Cayla laughed. “I’ll ignore the presumption, now that I know about the ratting stone. Why would you think you bewitched me or something?”

  Darian shrugged. “I was just a kid when we met. Scrawny even.”

  “You were sweet, though.”

  “Maybe. Still, sometimes I wonder.”

  “Let me test. Look at me and remain quiet for a second.” He looked. Cayla tilted her head, looked at him up and down and examined his face. “You know what I think, it’s your good looks. How dare you hypnotize me into liking you?”

  He laughed. “At least we both need our eyes checked.”

  “Not me. Now seriously. You have the answer in your stone. I know a little about magic. Making someone fall in love with you would be evil and quite dangerous. Amplifying one’s love or attraction is already dangerous enough that it could drive someone mad. Our twin necklaces would tell us that something was wrong.”

  Darian was puzzled. “How come you know about magic?”

  “I have a lot to tell you. A lot. And I want to tell you, but let me come to terms with all of it first. Also… it’s late. I don’t want to sound like a prude, but I fear it might look, you know, if you spend that long in my bedroom.”

  “I understand.” He was ready to leave, when he remembered his encounter with Lylah. There are a couple things he could want in her bedroom. In hindsight, that was inappropriate and disrespectful. He’d better tell Cayla. “I crossed Lylah when I was coming here—”

  “Lylah?” She asked it as if he’d just told her the castle was about to explode. Maybe the woman still intimidated her.

  Things were about to get worse, but he had to tell her the truth. “She asked me what I wanted with you, at this time. And maybe, I,” his voice was trailing off and his throat was dry, but he made an effort to keep speaking “didn’t really prevent her from, uh, making assumptions.”

  The color faded from Cayla’s face. She shook her head as if in horror. “You didn’t. You didn’t. Do you know who she is?”

  “Probably the future queen.”

  Cayla took a deep breath, as if trying to calm herself down. “Sit down. Now it’s my turn to tell you a few things.”

  Cayla woke up and realized she’d overslept. The sun was up. Memories of the previous night came to her. All the truths she’d finally shared with Darian, all their barriers melting away. She realized he was the person she most liked to talk to, and most liked to confide in. Not only was he the boy she loved, he was her best friend. His lies and the hidden truths had been an odd anomaly that had been solved in one night. Their talk had eased the difficult time she was going through. She felt closer to him than anyone else in the world. She got up and found him lying on the floor, over a blanket. Cayla wasn’t sure how they’d made that sleeping arrangement or if she’d just had fallen asleep and he stayed. Cayla knelt beside him and brushed a strand of his hair away from his face.

  He opened his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  Cayla didn’t understand what he meant.

  He continued, “About your mother. That she thinks…”

  Cayla laughed. “…we totally did it. If there was any doubt, now she’ll be sure.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Look at the bright side. At least when the time comes, we know she won’t mind.”

  His eyes brightened. “When the time comes?”

  “I never said it was anytime soon.”

  “Neither did I. If it takes forever, it means I’ll be forever with you.”

  “Haha, so sweet and romantic. Meanwhile, I’m sure you’re thinking about… when the time comes.”

  Darian closed his eyes, held her hand and pulled it over his chest. “Uhm, I won’t lie, the thought will give me some sleepless nights.”

  “Me too.”

  He opened his eyes and squeezed her hand. “You want to kill me from sleep deprivation.”

  “Maybe not. But first we have some kissing to catch up. For two years!”

  Cayla leaned over and kissed him.

  23

  After the End

  A good part of Karina’s following morning was spent in the shower, using half a bottle of conditioner to untangle her hair. How come nobody had told her she looked like a cave woman? Wait, Sian had told her. Yikes. She wondered if he was okay, if Cayla, Ayanna, Darian, Nia and Lylah were okay, and if everyone had gotten out of the castle.

  Other than questioning her long shower, her parents didn’t notice anything wrong or strange. It was as if she’d never gone anywhere. Karina then visited Zoe. It was good to see her again and remember that she also had good friends in her own dimension. Zoe would be shocked if she’d seen Karina wearing the same clothes for days and going without a proper shower, though. Some different priorities. Karina was itching to tell her all about her adventure, but she never knew how to start. Every sentence she imagined, like “so, I went to a different dimension,” or “I wa
s visited by a nice woman, who then I learned was an evil which, then I learned was a nice woman,” sounded crazy. Unlike Karina thought, Zoe had no clue that the shoes had any special power. In fact, the girl had completely forgotten them. Karina didn’t miss them or regret having destroyed them, which was a little odd. Perhaps it was if they’d never existed.

  As for her adventure, Karina regretted not having learned more about the different science, or how to travel to different dimensions. Her adventure seemed unreal, especially because she couldn’t share it with anyone, but she knew it had been real, because of the amount of time that passed, and because she ate, and unlike in dreams, food tasted like food. True that most of it had been a little bland, but still. The only thing she still wanted to know was how everyone was doing.

  Her doubts were answered one day, when she came home from school and found a visitor in her bedroom; Lylah. Karina felt so happy she would have hugged the woman had she felt more at ease around her.

  Lylah stared at Karina and said, “You have questions for me.”

  “How’s everyone? How did the attack end?”

  Lylah smiled. “Everyone is fine.”

  Karina was itching with curiosity. “But what happened?”

  “We won. The ambush you told us about never happened. They made a deal with us. There was still some conflict in distant areas of the kingdom, but soon it was all settled. We took prisoners, but in time many of them were released. They were just following orders.”

  Karina sighed in relief to learn that everyone had survived, even Lylah’s enemies, because she didn’t wish Sian any harm. And she was happy to hear that in the end he did what she’d asked, even if it obviously wasn’t because she asked.

  Lylah continued, “There were good people on all sides. We’ve been working on reuniting everyone, reuniting the kingdom.” The woman then smiled, “If you hadn’t warned us, they would have taken us by surprise. Perhaps we could still have won, but it would take longer. And people might have gotten hurt.”

  “But you said they struck a deal.”