He had it in him all along. Nate could hardly believe it.
“I’m sure you understand our way of life more than you think,” he heard Lady Bronwyn say. “But I must add, the King does keep a few personal sentinels, just in case. They don’t carry any weapons, at least no visible ones, and they usually accompany him during meetings and when he leaves the Enchanted Forest on official business. You never know what to expect from the elves, even though they must understand that coming into conflict with a dryad might cost them greatly. But I always thought those sentinels were just there for the show. The real protection comes from magic.”
“Can you use it to protect yourself?”
“To fight? No. Never.”
They paused before another door, then Lady Bronwyn beckoned him forward. Not being able to lift his head to look around, Nate examined the floor. It was as magical as everything else here. In some hallways it was made of pearl shell tiles, in others, it was glass, or rather crystal, showing glimpses of the waterfall underneath. The castle didn’t have any particular scent, but the air here was very clear, almost as if it wasn’t confined by the walls at all.
“You don’t seem like the kind who would mine crystals or chop down trees to build things from wood,” he observed. “How did you build your kingdom?”
“We don’t use alive trees to build things; that’s true,” Lady Bronwyn agreed. “But trees die on their own outside the Forest all the time. Elves give them to us to repurpose, especially if the wood is not in the right condition for them to use. They know we can restore it with magic, and you could build an entire dryad village from just one tree. Most things you see here are repurposed from the other civilizations. We don’t actively mine any minerals.”
“So you use the scraps that had been left by others to build your own?”
“And add magic to it, to make it shine,” Lady Bronwyn added. “This way,” she said, nodding to another spiral staircase.
This one was long and narrow, leading up a tower. Nate guessed Ariadne’s personal chambers should be on top of it. It was so fairy-princess-like—to live in a tower. Nate’s heart skipped a beat. With every step, he was getting closer to her.
They didn’t speak at all as they ascended the staircase. As they came higher and higher, Nate could feel her particular scent, different from that of Lady Bronwyn. Finally, they were on the top, and Lady Bronwyn allowed him to remove the cloak. She passed a hand over the double doors, a burst of light emerging from her palm, and they opened on their own, a wind chime greeting them.
Mesmerized, Nate walked in. He was still catching his breath from running up so many staircases in one night. His eyes immediately fell on a canopy bed, its tulle curtains fluttering slightly on a warm breeze, and a dryad lying on it.
Ariadne was breathing lightly in her sleep. Her iridescent wings blanketed her back, and her hair parted to reveal a pointed ear—a sight already so familiar to him.
Nate wasted no time. He rushed to her side and fell to his knees on the floor.
“Ariadne …” he whispered, gently brushing her pale fingers.
Twenty-Nine
Ariadne’s eyelids trembled, and she opened her eyes. Everything around her was drenched in blurry moonlight penetrating through the crystal roof of her tower.
At first, she thought she was seeing another dream. Nate was there with her, sitting on the floor by her bed, whispering her name. She could barely see him, but she could recognize him even with her eyes closed.
She blinked and blinked again, and the reality came into focus. She moved her hand and laced her fingers with his, feeling his warmth seep into her skin.
“Nate …” she whispered back. “Is that really you? Am I … dreaming?”
But it didn’t feel like a dream. In fact, she didn’t feel as tired or sleepy as before. She could move her limbs. Her wings no longer felt leaden.
“I’m here,” Nate replied, kissing the back of her hand. “I’m with you. I’m not going anywhere.”
“How is it possible?” she breathed. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“It’s a long story.” His lips brushed her fingers again. “For now, you need to rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“I’m already awake.” She stretched her wings, then propped herself up on her elbows, never taking her hand out of his. “I no longer feel sleepy. It seems like I’ve slept for ages.” Her eyes gleamed as she glanced at him playfully. “Did you wake me up with a kiss, like in one of your fairytales?”
Nate chuckled, drawing closer to her. “I didn’t want to wake you up.”
A smile spread across Ariadne’s lips as she leaned in for a kiss.
A little while later, they sat together at a table, overlooking the Rainbow Waterfall and the fairy lights playing in the mist rising up from it.
Lady Bronwyn brought Ariadne a pitcher of pollen nectar—a perfect medicine to restore the health of a dryad. She tried to conceal it, but Ariadne could see the tears gleaming in her tutor’s eyes as she embraced her.
“I’m so glad, Your Highness,” she whispered before leaving them to be alone. Ariadne saw—or maybe just imagined—her throw a secret glance at Nate.
Then it was time for her to sit down and listen to his story.
“Lady Bronwyn’s great-nephew?” She could hardly believe her own ears when he finished telling it to her, and yet, something told her she shouldn’t be surprised.
“I still can’t comprehend it,” Nate admitted. “It seems like I was living a lie my whole life. But it explains so many things. I wish my grandfather had told me …” He looked to the side.
Ariadne dropped her eyes. “I wish I could meet him,” she said. “And Eliya. I always felt some sort of connection to her; to the whole of Lady Bronwyn’s family. I never imagined, though, that it would come to this.” A smile appeared on her lips as she met his eyes.
Nate leaned over the table.
“Why haven’t you told me?” There was no reproach or accusation in his voice—just a question.
Ariadne took a sip of nectar. It tasted like honey but had a much more fragrant smell.
“That I was a princess?” she clarified.
“That and—”
“That I was engaged,” she finished for him.
He nodded, unsure.
Ariadne closed her eyes for a moment.
“I wasn’t sure how you would take it. I thought you might start treating me differently. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to tell you! Wanted to tell you everything so badly, but …” She shook her head. “I still knew it would change nothing. I had to return to the Forest, eventually. I was lying to myself when I said that I could live outside of the source of magic.”
“So it changes nothing,” Nate repeated. “Are you still—”
“Oh, no, no,” she hastened to say. “They can lock me up, they can do whatever they please, but I will not marry someone I barely know, especially since … I love you.”
She dropped her gaze. Nate reached over the table and took her hand into his, pressing his lips to the back of her palm.
“I love you, too, Ariadne,” he whispered. “And I never want you to suffer because of me. You’ve already suffered so much. I don’t know what I can do to ease that suffering.”
“I already feel better because you are here.” She smiled coyly. “I can feel the magic filling me up with every breath I take. Soon I will recover. If you stay with me.”
He smiled. “Of course I will stay with you. I will stay with you for as long as I can.”
“Oh, wait,” she remembered. “It must be nighttime in your world. How long have you been sitting by my bed?”
“You woke up shortly after I came.”
“So you’d left your world at night?”
“I found Lady Bronwyn when I returned home from work.”
Ariadne’s eyebrows lifted up. “You must be tired. And hungry. I’m so sorry I haven’t noticed before. Wait here, I’ll ask someone to bring us food.�
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Nate tried to stop her, but she refused to listen.
Soon a servant came in, carrying an assortment of food, which probably smelled and looked like nothing he’d ever tasted in his world, although there should have been a few familiar ingredients. Nate hid while she arranged the dishes on the table. The servant bowed to Ariadne and left.
“Sorry for not having any human food to offer you,” Ariadne apologized, serving the main dish to him before he could do it himself. “But it’s all safe for you to eat.”
“I’m sure it tastes better than anything I’ve ever eaten back at home,” Nate said as he sat down.
“We have a good cook here, at the castle,” she said. “But as I’ve told you, we eat no meat, or dairy, or even vegetables. But there are lots of herbs and spices. And a bit of magic, of course. I’ve told you, it’s safe to eat,” she reassured him, seeing his surprised expression.
She guessed the food might be a bit too sweet for his liking. Everything fairies ate had a sweet taste to it. But there were no other options, at least not that late in the night. She herself was going to live on the pollen nectar for the next few days to completely restore her health and energy.
“How is it?” she asked as Nate tasted the dish. “Not too sweet?”
“I always liked sweet things,” Nate replied with a smile. “It tastes amazing, although I can’t compare it to anything.”
Ariadne’s eyes lit up. “I’m glad you enjoy it.”
“There is something I wanted to ask you,” he said. “Lady Bronwyn. How old is she?”
Ariadne folded her wings at her back. So he must have figured it out.
“She’s close to a hundred,” she said.
Nate gasped, nearly dropping his fork. “A hundred?”
Ariadne nodded. “Has she told you?”
He looked down. “I … thought it was peculiar that she looked like she was in her late thirties—early forties at the most—while she was an older sister of my grandmother. But I never would have thought—” He shook his head, catching her gaze. “How long do you dryads live?”
Ariadne looked out at the waterfall. “A long while,” she admitted. “Much longer than humans. Two hundred years is common, while some can live up to three hundred and more.”
She heard his fork clink against the porcelain.
“What?”
“I know what you’re thinking.” She swallowed. “Even if your grandparents could have been together, your grandfather would have died while your grandmother would have outlived him by a century or more.”
Nate was silent for a few moments. Then he said, “My grandfather hadn’t lived for long even by human standards. He was ill all throughout the last decade of his life. I always knew it had something to do with him losing the love of his life in such a tragic way.”
Ariadne gazed at him softly. He looked so vulnerable sitting there, across from her. “Just because we live long doesn’t mean we’re immune to various diseases and injuries. Dryads are not invincible, even being protected by magic. And we’re very sensitive when it comes to our emotions. As you’ve already seen, something like depression can easily drain all our powers and block the magic from entering our system.”
Nate reached for her hand across the table.
“Why did you use all your powers on me? Lady Bronwyn said it was what’d drained you in the end.”
Ariadne smiled to herself.
“Now that I know you are a part-dryad, it explains so much. I wanted to ease your suffering. I wanted you to be fully healed from whatever trauma you experienced in the past. I thought all you had to do was play, and it would help you to enter the Forest, but I also knew some creatives couldn’t do it at all.”
“Couldn’t enter the Forest to heal?” Nate leaned closer.
Ariadne nodded. “They either can’t enter it at all, or they can, but they aren’t receptive to its magic. So the only way for them to heal is if a dryad gives them their own power.”
“And your magical power is your life force,” Nate finished for her. “So you wanted to give up your life for me? Ariadne, I never—”
She put a finger to his lips in order to silence him. “Now there is another piece to the puzzle. You are a part-dryad, and that means you might be immune to certain types of magic altogether. It makes things easier, and at the same time, more complicated.”
He chuckled, dropping his eyes for a moment. “I will never get used to that. I’ve lived my whole life thinking there was nothing extraordinary about me. And now this.” He motioned with his hands. “I could open the portal to the Forest, I could turn your size with the help of Lady Bronwyn. I’m immune to some types of magic, as you’ve said. What else is there for me to learn?”
“You could open the portal all by yourself?” Ariadne’s eyes sparkled. “That’s amazing! If the magic allows it, do you know what that means?”
“No,” he said in wonder.
Ariadne pressed her lips and smiled. There was a chance they could turn it all around.
“I’ve thought a lot about your possible powers while I was able to,” she told him, abruptly changing the subject. Nate’s thoughts and feelings were clearly as scattered as her own. “Remember I told you I’ve seen you in the Forest when I was little, but you didn’t behave like a normal soul?”
“Yes,” he said, smiling at her. “A piano in the Forest. I could never forget that.”
“Remember I said it looked like you were not taking from the magic but adding to it? I didn’t mean it as a metaphor or anything like that. I really do think your music has a magic to it. Maybe not everyone is susceptive to it, but those who are, benefit from it greatly.” Her eyes glimmered as she regarded him. “I think your music might help some souls enter the Forest. Or even more …” She broke off; that theory was still raw. “There are many legends about where our magic came from. What it resembles. How it works.”
“Still so much for me to learn.” He kissed her palm lightly. “I should have listened to you all along and played no matter what that other part of my mind told me. These abilities are given to us for a reason. Sometimes we may not fully comprehend it, but if we’re not using them … That might cost us greatly.”
“It is as if a dryad is not using their magical abilities to help others. Being given magic and not using it is even worse than being drained every once in a while. I’ve heard that the dryads who refused using their magic had gone mad. Or worse.”
“Ariadne …” Nate’s eyes gleamed, reflecting hers. “I will never stop wondering what I have done to deserve your attention.”
She smiled at him. “Are you sure it was something that you did? After everything I’ve learned, I’m almost certain it was destiny right from the start.”
“Destiny?”
“Do you believe in it?” She inclined her head. “Not that everything was prearranged before we were born but that our own souls have chosen this exact path. It all came full circle.” She took a breath. “Now we need to introduce you to my father.”
Nate nodded. “If it won’t harm any of you. Lady Bronwyn told me it was her intention from the start. As long as she knew I was her great-nephew.”
“Nervous?”
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t. But I’m willing to do anything to be with you.”
Ariadne smiled at him. “It’s unlikely I would be able to come to your world often. I may disagree with some things, but there are things I simply cannot fight. This whole experience has made me realize that. And while it is forbidden for us to interact with humans, you are technically not fully human. There is no law saying we can’t be with part-dryads. Some dryads have relationships with elves and dark elves.”
“Really?” She could practically see the hope igniting in his eyes.
She nodded. “A dryad can’t live long outside of the Forest, and creatures that don’t have certain type of magic in their blood can’t enter it. But there is no law that says that you must marry or only interact with other dr
yads. It only applies to humans, and as I’ve said, initially it was set in place in order to give the human souls space to heal on their own. I don’t know; maybe our ancestors were worried we might alter the other realm’s histories by interacting with our otherworldly visitors.”
“So we actually have a chance?” Nate clearly couldn’t believe his own ears.
“We do. The fact that you were allowed to come here only proves that. But no matter the outcome, I will fight for you. For our future.”
“I will too,” he said. “For as long as I’m able to.”
Ariadne observed him. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean for as long as I live,” he clarified.
“Oh.” She blinked at him. “I haven’t told you. Longevity is usually the first thing to be inherited. Magic comes second. If you have the magic, you certainly have the longevity.”
He stared at her. “Really? So both my father and my brother …”
She nodded. “Yes. They may or may not have magic in their blood. I haven’t met them, so I can’t tell. But as I’ve said, longevity doesn’t make you immune to diseases, even to human ones, and it doesn’t make you invincible. You still have to be careful.”
Nate leaned back in his chair, overwhelmed. It was certainly too much for him to comprehend, all in one night. And there was still so much to learn in the future.
He was tired. He finished the meal she’d offered him but he needed to rest and take his mind off of things for a while.
“Hey.” She gently covered his hand with hers. “There is a place I want to show you.”
She rose to her feet, and he followed. Hand in hand, they exited her chambers and came down the staircase. As soon as she could, Ariadne used a shortcut to avoid all the main castle hallways.
She would fly there if she could, but she couldn’t do it with Nate.
“Hey,” he breathed close behind her as they navigated the narrow passageway. “You look so beautiful in your true form.”
Enchanted Summer Page 24
