Page 73 of Prince of the Northwest Forest
“Not Anakin Skywalker, that’s for sure.”
“Who is that?”
“A character from a movie.” I stop walking for a moment. We’re at the top of a ridge, and spread before us is just … more devastation. Behind us, though, past the ice fields, is forest as far as the eye can see. “It’s peaceful in your realm.”
“Generally so. Unless there’s a forest fire.” Kalle gives me a haunted look. “Have you had any real experience with volcanoes? Not just this game as a child and something from the cinema?”
“I went to Hawaii once and saw where houses had been subsumed by an erupting volcano. That was too close for comfort.”
“How did you get out?” he asks, sounding horrified.
“Oh, it had happened a few years before. That was just the aftermath. Although there was an active lava flow in another part of the state.”
“I’m confused. Have you ever experienced lava in person, in the moment, spewing?”
“No.”
“Ah.” He peers out into the forest, and I wonder if he sees what I see. Or if he sees more. If he could, you know, speak with animals, maybe he has better perception, too, like they do. Better hearing or sight or something. “It is best to stay away. Volcanoes are one of the most destructive forces on earth.”
“Lava can make obsidian, though. That’s very pretty. So, in summary, I want to stay as far away from volcanoes as possible. Which is why I’m questioning my sanity when we are headed toward, not away from, one that’s threatening to erupt. Although I suppose as crown prince, you don’t have to live here if you marry the princess.”
“Yes. I figured that Eleanor and I could live in my realm.”
“Have you discussed that with her?”
“Of course not. I’ve barely spoken to her in my life,” Kalle grumbles.
“So you just assumed that she’d be okay with leaving her realm.” I’m not sure why I’m needling him.
“I don’t know what she would want, and I don’t see how that’s so important, anyway. I’m not allowed to want what I want.” Kalle sounds exasperated.
Pretty sure I know what he wants: me.
Good job keeping his spirits up, I tell myself. “I understand that your priority is saving the forest and your subjects,” I assure him. “We will find Princess Eleanor. And we will get your curse removed.”
“I’m sorry we weren’t able to go to the Fae Realm yet to retrieve your memory,” he says. “We will do it after we take care of the other priorities. Thank you for being willing to put it off until later.”
“It’s more important to make sure the princess is really here and safe. This is one time I wish you used cell phones in your realms. We can find my memory later.”
I wish I could make new memories with Kalle. Although I suppose that’s pretty much what I’m doing. They’re just not the memories I wish they could be.
The next day, we are starting to head up to the volcano proper. As we go, one main thought occurs to me over and over again: This is a really fucking weird place, the Fire Realm. It is gray here, gray with no trees. We are not above the tree line, but any trees that would have been here were blasted by the last eruption. The air smells like sulfur, and we’ve passed steam vents releasing mist into the air. A few birds that Kalle calls vampire ground finches fly by. He can ordinarily talk to them, but he says they’re rude. We’ve also seen volcano rabbits, fire iguanas, some kind of sulfur bear, and, oddly, cockatoos—plus people who live in pumice-like brick houses.
“This feels like an alien planet,” I say. “And I really don’t want to go down into the caldera.”
“You won’t have to. The entrance to their castle is around the side.”
I nod. That’s good, but why do I still feel like I’m marching to my doom? To where Kalle is going to find the princess, get married, and leave me forever? Oh, because I am.
But if he can do his duty, so can I. We keep hiking, flanked by his faithful security. They’re dusty and bedraggled—we all are—but we continue on.
It’s late morning when we round a bend and the castle comes into view, its sharp spires spiking up into the sky. The castle seems to be made of obsidian, and it shines like the wing of a blackbird. The tall turrets are guarded by black-clad soldiers.
“This place is like a Goth cathedral. Not Gothic. Goth,” I whisper to Kalle. “A literal Hot Topic.”
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to. Those people who dye their hair black and wear a lot of eyeliner?”
“Yes.”
