Enchanted Summer Page 10

  Nate laughed. “She’s not my pet fairy!”

  “If I didn’t know you better, I would be sure by now that you’re indulging in something.”

  “Well, thanks.”

  Ariadne looked over her shoulder to see if she weren’t exhausting them with her pace. Hanna marched ahead of everybody, Nate and Ray following shortly after. Mimi and Ryan closed the line; Mimi’s eyes fixed on the grass below while Ryan grinned, telling her something.

  Ariadne’s heart sunk every time she met those sad blue eyes. She knew it had something to do with Nate and desperately wanted to help. But at the same time, her intuition told her she wouldn’t be welcome.

  After about an hour of walking, Hanna announced that she wanted to stop and take a break. As there were no clearings visible nearby, they chose the driest spot of the grass to spread their blankets on. Sun filtering through the foliage shifted shadows on the forest floor, and some small furry animals scattered all around at the sight of humans approaching.

  Ariadne transformed but kept a distance from the others. She eyed a raspberry bush and went to pick up a snack for herself.

  Concentrated on the task of finding the most delicious-looking berries, she was startled by somebody walking right behind her and tapping on her shoulder. Ariadne spun to face them.

  Ryan grinned at her.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked. “I can share my lunch with you.”

  Ariadne looked him up and down, her wings trembling slightly. “No, thanks. There’s plenty of food for me in the forest.”

  The boy’s eyes sparkled as he beheld her.

  “You’re so pretty,” he finally uttered with a sigh.

  Ariadne flushed. It wasn’t the first time someone complimented her. In fact, back at home, everyone considered it their duty to admire her. But never before she’d heard a human say something like that to her. Though she wished to hear it from another human … But this was good enough, too.

  “Thank you,” she muttered and returned to the task of plucking berries.

  A second later, Ryan spoke again. “Can I touch them?”

  It wasn’t hard for Ariadne to guess what he was talking about. She instantly darted away from him.

  “No!” she cried.

  “Okay, okay!” He held up his hands. “I promise I won’t. But … can I ask you why?”

  “Because …” Ariadne almost choked on the word—the same as when Hanna had tried to compare her to a nixie. These humans had no manners. “Because it’s not polite to touch a fairy’s wings! It’s against all rules, and you’re violating us by doing that. You could break them or otherwise harm them. And it’s just … Just not right!”

  Ryan blinked at her, dumbfounded. “Okay; I get it. I will try to remember it next time I meet a fairy. But hey, at least I’ve asked!”

  “Not all fairies might be so polite as to even answer such a question. You’re playing with fire saying things like that.”

  “And what could they do?” There was no fear in his voice—only pure curiosity. He followed her around the bush. “Could they curse me?”

  She remembered fiery-haired Daphne lashing out at some elf lord during one of the revels when he tried to touch her beautiful emerald-colored wings. He was probably drunk, or else he would have been smarter than that. Daphne couldn’t get over the incident for weeks, flaming up every time she recalled it.

  Ariadne couldn’t imagine herself acting out like that, but at the same time, she couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t be her immediate reaction in case someone tried to touch her wings.

  In the present moment, she just shook her head. “Just remember it as a rule.”

  Ryan chuckled. “What can I say, they didn’t teach me that at school. Or even in video games. But I’m curious—what are your powers?”

  Ariadne cut a quick glance at him. “I am a healer.”

  She always considered herself to be that. Even when her parents or any of her teachers tried to convince her she was born to “be something more”.

  “Wow,” Ryan commented. “So, if I scratched myself on these thorns, you would be able to close the wounds?”

  Ariadne stepped away from him. “I might be,” she said. “But I’m a healer in a different sense.”

  “Hmm … What does that mean?”

  “I can heal the wounds that are not visible.”

  “Internal?”

  “Yes, but not visible—not to the human eye, at least.”

  Ryan seemed to turn the meaning of the words over in his head. “Cool,” he finally concluded.

  Ariadne smiled to herself.

  “But where exactly have you come from?” the boy went on. “You said you didn’t live by the lake?”

  Ariadne let out a breath. Here we go again …

  Thankfully, before she had a chance to reply, she was interrupted by Hanna catching them on the other side of the bush.

  “What are you doing hiding here?” She switched her gaze between Ariadne and Ryan.

  “Picking raspberries,” Ariadne explained, stepping back.

  “Oh.” Hanna seemed to notice the bush only at that moment. She reached to pluck a ripe berry. “I thought I would offer you some iced tea. I kept it in the thermos, so the ice hasn’t all melted yet.”

  She handed her a cup full of caramel liquid. Ariadne thanked her and sniffed it. It smelled like lemon and something else.

  The real black tea, she thought.

  They never drank it in the Enchanted Forest. Not that they didn’t have access to it if they wanted to, but most fairies preferred to brew their tea from herbs and berries. Add a little honey to it.

  Ariadne made a sip.

  It tasted a bit weird—just like that cereal. She wondered if all human food would taste like that to her. Even the honey and berries that Nate had bought for her tasted odd, but she didn’t complain. She was just spoiled by the Enchanted Forest’s produce.

  This tea was a little too sweet and too sour for her taste. But she drank it nonetheless, grateful to have a cool beverage on such a hot day.

  “Like it?” Hanna smiled, watching her.

  Ariadne nodded politely. Her gaze switched to the rest of the company seated on a picnic blanket.

  She blinked in puzzlement, a cup of tea clutched in her hands. “And where’s …”

  “I’m here,” a voice sounded to her left.

  She whirled to find Nate approaching her with another paper cup in his hand. As soon as he neared her, he showed her the contents of it.

  “Look what I’ve found.”

  Ariadne almost launched into the air. “Wild blueberries!”

  Nate laughed. “Yeah! Here; take them. I’ve picked them up for you.”

  Ariadne’s wings fluttered. “Really?” She took the cup he offered, not taking her eyes off him. “But … don’t you want it too?”

  “I can pick more for myself,” he assured her.

  Hanna’s eyes went wide. “Ripe blueberries? Where? Where?”

  Nate pointed to the left. “That way. You will find a lot of them underneath the trees.”

  The girl spun to call out to her boyfriend. “Ray? Let’s go pick some blueberries!”

  And off they went, Ryan following shortly after.

  Ariadne held out the paper cup to Nate. “I want to share it with you,” she said.

  Nate chuckled softly. “Thanks.” He fished out a few berries from the cup. “What are your favorite berries?”

  Ariadne poured out a handful into her own palm. “Raspberries … I think. I like all kinds of berries.”

  She side-glanced at Mimi, left alone on the blanket, sipping her tea and trying not to stare back at them too overtly.

  “She looks so sad,” Ariadne murmured, stepping closer to Nate. “Maybe we should offer her some berries?”

  Nate nodded, gazing at Mimi for a second. “Sure.”

  They went to pick up more raspberries to add into the mix.

  “That thing you said to Ryan …” Nate began as the
y searched for the ripe berries. “About fairies not liking it when somebody touched their wings.”

  Ariadne flushed, blinked at him, then hurried to look away. “You’ve heard that …”

  “I was passing by. You didn’t notice me.”

  “Oh …”

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. But …” Their eyes met for a moment. “I’ve touched your wings once.”

  Ariadne was sure he’d noticed her embarrassment already. On the contrary, he didn’t seem to be abashed by the memory at all. She envied his composure.

  “That was an accident,” she hastily remarked. “It didn’t count.”

  “But you still didn’t like it?”

  She swallowed nervously. Why did they have to talk about such things?

  “You said I barely broke them,” Nate went on.

  “Not you! The impact from the fall.”

  He flicked his eyes to her. “Are they really so easy to break?”

  She shook her head, desperately wanting to dive under the bush and hide. “No, not that easy … But … They’re still vulnerable. We need to protect them. A fairy left without wings dies.”

  Nate’s brows rose up. “From the blood loss?”

  “From sorrow.” She met his gaze, calm at last, as the topic was something too close to her heart—to the heart of every dryad. Nate stared at her in puzzlement. “I don’t mean this as a metaphor. We really can die from feelings and emotions. Wither like butterfly locked up in a room with no way to get out, after beating so hard against the windowpane, trying to escape.”

  She shivered, casting her eyes on the grass beneath her feet. Why did they have to talk about such things, again?

  Ariadne shook her head, opting to return to the previous subject of conversation. “But it’s not like nobody could ever touch a fairy’s wings. A mother can hold her child close. A husband can embrace his wife, or—” she trailed off, stumbling over words. A blush crept back to her cheeks.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Ariadne saw Nate was watching her. Contemplating the words that she’d said.

  Then he averted his gaze back to the raspberry bush. “You said you’re forbidden from dating a human,” he said softly, almost to himself. “What about being friends with a human?”

  Ariadne kept her eyes on the task at hand. “We are forbidden from having any contact with humans.”

  His hands froze mid-air for a moment. He examined her face. Ariadne willed herself to look straight ahead. “Can you … explain why?”

  “It’s just a law.”

  And too-long of a story to tell. Not when others could hear them, anyway.

  “So, something had happened in the past, and now everyone forgot, but the law is still in place?”

  “No, it’s much more … complicated.”

  Nate shook his head, looking away. “Sorry, I forgot you couldn’t talk about those things.” He huffed a laugh. “I guess Ryan is out of luck then.” He glanced at Ariadne, and for a split moment, their eyes met. “Or maybe he is extremely lucky—to meet you, at least.”

  Ariadne ducked down, pretending to be searching for berries on the lower branches.

  She couldn’t look him straight in the eyes when he was telling her such things.

  When he was asking her such questions.

  She desperately wanted to tell; tell him everything.

  But even if she wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences, how would he react to such revelations? She was afraid he would act differently around her, build up a façade instead of being open and honest with her, the way he was now.

  Just for once in her life, she wanted to be a normal girl. With no responsibilities, no expectations and duties weighing on her. Not the princess of the Enchanted Forest and the heir to the throne.

  She dropped a handful of berries into the paper cup. The sound of distant voices of Hanna, Ray, and Ryan reached them from afar. Birds chirped somewhere in the foliage. Ariadne raised her head to look at the sun flickering high above.

  How much time did she have left?

  How many days until someone found her and forced her to return? What would happen to her after that?

  She wished she could laugh as freely and carelessly as Hanna.

  Nate appeared in the field of her vision, and Ariadne blinked, hastily returning to the task of berry picking.

  “Hey,” he murmured. “Is everything all right?”

  She nodded on autopilot. “Yes. I’m … I’m fine.”

  ∞∞∞

  Mimi’s thoughts were a mess.

  She knew the way she acted was suspicious, and she was drawing too much attention to herself, causing everyone to worry, but she couldn’t will herself to behave like everything was just perfect.

  Not when he was there, just a few steps away from her.

  Talking to that ethereal creature.

  She still couldn’t wrap her mind around who this other girl was. She wanted to trust her, wanted to even like her for some reason, though she couldn’t get rid of the feeling that something was influencing her thought process. Making her believe everything she saw and heard.

  But it wasn’t even the fact of this fairy’s existence that concerned Mimi so much. It was what Nate and Hanna had said about her.

  She was living in his house. Nate said she’d lived there for a few weeks already.

  He’d mentioned something about them not being a couple, and that fairy—Ariadne, if Mimi remembered her name correctly—also said she wasn’t allowed to date humans, which was the topic Ryan couldn’t stop pondering over while they walked back through the woods.

  But still. Mimi could see the way Nate looked at Ariadne when she averted her gaze. She couldn’t read his facial expression, and she’d better ask Hanna, as her best friend was much more experienced in such observations, but she couldn’t ignore his curiosity and some definite admiration that flickered in his eyes every time he was looking at her.

  Of course, he was interested in her. She was a fairy—mesmerizing otherworldly creature, so dazzling it was almost painful to look. Guys were always obsessed with girls like her. Her own brother was smitten with her.

  Ray … Well, Ray was different, she had to admit. Hanna always would be his one and only princess, or else Mimi’s older brother would not even be himself. But Nate …

  She could see it in his eyes.

  How could she ever be so stupid to assume that a girl like her could get the attention of a guy like him?

  She couldn’t blame him. She couldn’t blame the girl, either.

  Mimi saw the way she looked at him; the way she blushed and wrung her hands, the way her wings—wings!—trembled when he approached her. Though she couldn’t guess what the movement meant, she could relate to her a lot in those moments. She guessed she herself was acting even coyer around Nate.

  During their hike through the forest, while the fairy girl still wasn’t keeping them company, Mimi tried to get herself to talk to him. And failed. Again and again. She was certain that Hanna and her brothers would guess what’s going on as soon as she opened her mouth. She couldn’t be completely sure they weren’t aware of her feelings already. And it was much easier to talk to him when they walked through the woods alone, veiled by the soothing darkness. Night always opened up Mimi’s mind, while sunlight made her insecurities come out.

  Nate somehow sensed it. Or maybe he wasn’t that confident in the daytime, either. He tried to approach her once or twice, ask her something, but seeing how she shied away from him and muttered something incoherent under her breath, he soon left her to herself.

  Now Mimi knew that even if she worked up the courage and talked to him, it wouldn’t make any difference. His heart was no longer available.

  She clutched her knees tighter to her chest and pressed her forehead against them. Somehow, that was the only way of keeping the pain from overwhelming her. Squeezing her body tight, numbing her feelings. She could get through that. She could. Soon they’d come out of the forest, and then they�
��d go home. And then she’d be able to lock up in her bedroom and cry all the tears that had accumulated inside of her.

  Somebody brushed her shoulder gently, and Mimi shuddered, looking up.

  Nate.

  The sight of him almost made her tumble back. Her breath got caught in her throat.

  “Hey …” Nate said softly. He settled on the blanket across from her, his eyes flashing with concern. Ariadne, still busy with the task of berry picking, watched them with curiosity from where she stood by the bush. “Mimi, are you sure you’re feeling good? You look like you’re hurting.”

  Mimi made a stifled sound, nodding.

  Don’t look at me like that! she wanted to scream. Don’t talk to me in such a soft voice! Don’t ask me if I’m fine!

  It would be so much better if he’d just ignored her. If he’d forgotten about her existence altogether; focused fully on that fairy girl. Trying to be “friends” with him would be torture. How could she get him to understand?

  Mimi dropped her head back on her knees.

  “We’ve picked some berries for you.”

  She looked up again to see him hand her a paper cup filled to the top with raspberries.

  “There are blueberries on the bottom half.” Nate smiled. “I hope you will enjoy them.”

  Mimi followed him with her eyes as he stood up. Then he leaned down to her, that charming smile flashing again.

  “Hey. If you’d ever be in the mood for that … we could walk Ollie in the woods at night again someday.”

  With that, he’d left, smiling at her once again over his shoulder. Mimi froze in place, watching him retreat. Then she reached into the paper cup and picked up a couple of raspberries.

  After their little picnic was over and Hanna and Mimi’s brothers returned with containers full of blueberries, they packed up their belongings and continued their way through the woods, glowing bubble that was Ariadne in her natural form leading the way.

  As they soon found out, they were much closer to the end of the forest than they’d assumed all of that time, and when the trees started to thin out and then the light flashed between the distant trunks, Mimi overheard Ray release a breath he seemed to be holding the entire hike.