Page 83 of The Nymph Prince
Alek cringed a bit. “It’s not the happiest of stories, I’m afraid. She pined after the sun for so long, and once she realized that her love would never be returned…she died of a broken heart.”
“That’s a dreadful story!” Troy huffed.
“I have one to share,” Reif said, surprising us all. “If I may.”
“Of course,” I responded.
“Just as most stories begin, mine starts with a man who was questioning his place in the world,” Reif started. His deep voice was pleasing to the ears, even with its raspy edge. “As a warrior of high standing, he had a duty, a mission, yet he questioned it. How could he harm something so innocent? A being that’d done nothing to him. The young man he’d been sent to kill had been sitting beside a stream, playing a flute, when he approached. The melody had been beautiful, but sad, too. As if the young man had also been searching for something.”
“Did the warrior kill the boy?” Eva asked, completely absorbed in Reif’s tale.
Reif’s lips lifted a smidge, and it was the closest I’d ever seen to a smile from him.
“No. He did not,” he continued. “The warrior hid in the trees and listened to the music. The young man was an elf and music was his gift. The world came alive when he played, and as the warrior listened, so did he. Once the last note was played, he finally emerged. The younger man was startled at first, seeing the large warrior in full armor coming toward him. But the warrior lowered his sword and tossed it to the grass before telling the young man he wouldn’t hurt him.”
The half-smile widened, and he added, “I supposecouldn’twould be a more suitable word, for when the warrior met the man’s eyes, he felt as though he’d finally found his purpose in life. The confusion and doubt drifted from his mind until all that was left was love.”
Troy sighed. “I like this story. Please tell me the warrior and the elf fell madly in love and lived happily ever after?”
The smile faded from Reif’s face. “Of course they did. What kind of story would it be otherwise?”
“A tragedy,” Alek answered, even though Reif’s question had been rhetorical. “But not all stories have to end happy. I find that the tragic ones often have lessons to be learned from ‘em. They make us stronger.”
“They are only stories.” Reif gave a cold smile. “And so, it matters not how they end. Life will go on, regardless if they end in romance or bloodshed.”
As we lay down to sleep, I reflected on Reif’s story. I’d never heard a tale such as that before. Recalling his smile as he’d told it…I wondered if it was even a story at all.
20
Alek
Eva bickered as we walked the rocky path that morning. She’d been asking me to perform tricks for the past hour or so, and I’d stopped humoring her.
Aye, I needed to get a better handle on my powers, but I’d learned how to do the small magic she asked of me: levitating stones and sticks, sending small gusts of wind to ruffle Troy’s brown locks, and have sparks shoot from my fingertips.
I was bored of it.
My mind was elsewhere.
What if the king denied us an audience and attacked on sight? What if he granted said audience, but attacked us anyway? Could I do what the guards had asked of me?
“The day is nice, is it not?” Lorcan tilted his head and smiled up at the blue sky. “Not as hot as it’s been and there’s a light breeze.”
The sun on his pale skin washed him in a golden glow. His cheeks and the tip of his nose were pink from the days in the heat. The tips of his ears were pink, as well.
I tried to respond to him, but I’d forgotten what he’d said. I was too focused on his smile. By the gods, there’d never been anything more beautiful. And it answered my earlier question: I could do what the guards asked, if it meant protecting that smile.
“Indeed it is, my prince,” Malik responded.
“Perhaps it’s a sign.” Troy bounced along the path, stooping every so often to pluck a weed from the grassy hillside. We’d transitioned from the rocky path to one of grass, and the journey was made easier because of it. “A nice day welcomes a nice, amicable meeting with the human king.”
How naïve the merman was. He’d been right to fear mankind. But now that he was in the surface world, his fear had blossomed into childlike curiosity. I worried he’d become blinded to the things that’d once caused him anxiety.
The green valley and rolling hills were stunning, but danger lurked in the trees. Over the next hill. Everywhere. One could never be too careful, not when self-serving men would cut down any man, woman, or child in his way if it meant a pocket of coin for his trouble.
The sea came into view again, and all four men seemed to relax a little. I’d asked why we couldn’t have just swam the coast until reaching the kingdom, but Reif had said that taking the way around would’ve actually added another day or two to our journey. By cutting through the land, it’d saved us time.
The kingdom of Talena was bigger than any other town or village I’d seen. We hadn’t fully arrived yet, but I could already see the multitude of ships in the harbor, the bustling town with buildings that varied in size, homes all along the surrounding hillside, and then of course…the castle. It sat atop a hill, emphasizing its magnitude all the more.
