Clearly I was losing my mind. I placed my hand on the bark and strode around the trunk in the direction of home.
Sorry, I can’t communicate when you break contact.
I smacked my head as the realization hit. No audible voice spoke into the air around me—the words were in my mind. Definitely time to check into the psych ward.
But I couldn’t help myself. “I’ve come to this spot for years. Why are you only talking to me now?”
I’ve been here ever since you first made your way into Bradaigh Forest. I always enjoy your visits. His pause left a hum, as though he wasn’t finished. You’re very beautiful.
My heart took a reprieve from its nervous fluttering to do a little plié. A prince called me beautiful. I chewed on my thumbnail. Get a grip, Melia. A tree thinks you’re beautiful. “Umm, thank you.”
I’ve also appreciated your singing. Dryads have many talents, but none of us can make such music with our voices.
Waves of hot and cold surged through me. My dearest daydream was coming to life, in the strangest way possible. “Wait. You’re speaking into my mind. Does that mean...can you hear my thoughts?”
I held my breath, not sure I wanted to know the answer. How many embarrassing fantasies had played out in my mind while sitting in the roots of this very tree?
Another rumble-laugh. No. Humans lack sophistication in their communication methods. He paused. Please don’t take offense.
“None taken.” What a relief my jumbled thoughts were still my own.
I’m actually quite impressed you can hear me. I doubt most of your kind would be able to.
“Have you tried before?”
No, though I’ve often been tempted. But your weeping just now...I had to do something. Why were you crying?
My tree cared enough to be concerned about my crying. Odd, but comforting. “My parents have always told me never to enter this forest. But I can’t seem to help it. Dad was so angry last night...and this morning, he said we’re going to move.”
Garrick didn’t respond right away, but my mind still registered his connection. I’m sorry to hear that. I will miss your visits. But your parents are probably right. There are creatures in Bradaigh Forest who fear human intrusion.
What other creatures didn’t I know about? “But I’ve never belonged anywhere in my life, except here.” The tears were flowing again, and I didn’t bother to stop them. Hopefully, from his vantage point Garrick couldn’t see my red, puffy eyes.
Something cool caressed my shoulder. I gasped, frozen between wanting to look and fearing to move.
The pressure disappeared. I startled you again. Please forgive me. I’ve never tried to communicate with a human before. It seems I’m not very adept at it.
The tension pinching my back eased. “It’s okay. You’re doing fine.”
Please understand that no matter how clumsy I may be at this, I mean you no harm.
“I know.” I chewed my lip. What did one talk about with a tree spirit? “So...how old are you?”
Old by your standards, but young for a dryad. You can tell because my trunk isn’t nearly as thick as many of the surrounding oaks. Dryads age more slowly than humans.
“Oh. You are the tree, then?” Strangely disappointing. “Did I ever hurt you, when I used to climb up and jump down?”
His chuckle made him seem so good-natured. No, I am a separate being from the tree. But I came into existence when my source tree first sprouted, and I am tethered to it for my entire life. The only way we can sever our bond is to form a union with another dryad, at which point the one that separates becomes a part of their mate’s tree. Not unlike your human marriage, but more permanent.
“Then what do you look like? And how far can you go from your tree?”
Dryads are taller than humans, and our skin often matches the bark of our source tree. We clothe ourselves quite differently, using the materials around us—bark, leaves, moss. And we tend to be more, shall we say, graceful, than the average human. Again, I mean no offense.
This time I was the one laughing. While also wondering whether he was handsome. Thank goodness he couldn’t read my thoughts.
I can travel quite far from my source when necessary, but never outside this forest. The longer I’m gone, the weaker I become.
“Have you made a—union—with another dryad?”
No. His presence in my mind wavered, as though he were sighing. I have yet to meet a fellow dryad who is half as fascinating as you.
I pressed my lips together before my grin could spread too far. I was developing a crush on a dryad. A tree. Should one laugh, or cry, at such a realization?
Keeping my hand pressed to the bark, I rotated to study it once more. “I do wish I could see you. I promise, I won’t tell anyone what you’ve shared with me.”
I know, I trust you. I wish you could see me, too. But as I said, such contact is strictly forbidden. Especially as prince of my realm, I must set a good example, to ensure my kind don’t treat rules as flippantly as you appear to.
I stepped back, putting my hands on my hips and making sure to glare, in case he could see me. But then I scooted closer to resume the connection. As soon as my knee brushed the bark, his reverberating laughter came through.
I’m sorry to tease. But to be fair, you did say your parents made this forest forbidden.
“Yes, well—” My parents. I jerked, scraping my arm on the rough bark. “I have to go. I’m supposed to meet Mom for lunch. If they find out I’ve been here yet again...”
I understand. You should go.
His voice seemed sad. Or was that wishful thinking on my part? “I’ll try to come back. Can we talk again sometime?”
I would like that.
“Thank you, for this. Goodbye, Garrick.”
Goodbye, Melia.
I stepped away, fisting my hands to resist the overwhelming urge to wrap my arms around the tree. His tree.
Yep. Obviously losing my mind.
“Who is this girl?”
The queen’s sentinels alternately shrugged or averted their gazes. “Perhaps the reflecting pool is mistaken,” one ventured.
“It could not be mistaken!” Only a breeze, ruffling the drooping willow boughs across the water, dared to break the silence. She clenched a handful of dirt in her fist. “The fairest in the Realms is now this—child. Where did she come from? And what is her relationship to the Southern prince?”
She turned back to study the face floating in the pool’s calm surface once more. That pale skin, red lips, dark hair. Almost like...
Fear scorched her insides in a growing inferno. It couldn’t be.
Chapter 3
I DASHED UP the forest path with even more enthusiasm than usual. The weekend home with my parents had been tense. Almost unbearable. For the first time, I’d actually looked forward to my job at the department store on Saturday afternoon.
But this was what I really looked forward to. Would Garrick be at his tree? What would we talk about? Would he try to touch me again?
Ugh. I was worse than those boy-crazy girls at school I’d thought I was so superior to.
The shade of tree cover cooled my face, my elevated heart rate bearing no relation to my level of exertion.
A young man stepped out in front of me.
Recoiling, I tripped over an exposed root. He caught my arm, keeping me upright.
I jerked away. “Who are you?”
His head tilted, adding an air of annoyance to his smile. “Why, Prince Garrick, of course. Who else did you expect to meet here?”
“Garrick?” I stepped back to take him in more fully. He was a head taller than me, thin, with tan skin and vibrant green eyes. His dark, curly hair danced with every hint of a breeze, and the leaves making up his shirt and cropped pants were attached so tightly they created an odd fabric. Definitely handsome, but with less an air of openness and kindness than I’d expected.
My eyes met his calculating gaze. He must’ve been watching m
e stare. Heat seared my cheeks as I cleared my throat. “But I thought you weren’t allowed to show yourself to humans.”
“I couldn’t resist any longer. For you, it’s worth the risk.”
“Oh.” I should’ve been pleased by the declaration, but apprehension still pinched my stomach. “Your voice sounds different.”
A line formed on his forehead, which he quickly cleared with another smile. “Certainly. It is a different form of communication, after all.”
I nodded. Much as I had hoped for this very scenario, now I missed talking to him from the safety of his tree.
He straightened and extended his arm. “Will you walk with me, Melia? It is my dearest wish to show you more of my home.”
Thoughts whipped through my brain faster than I could process them. I didn’t know for certain Garrick was trustworthy. And yet... My eyes lingered on his outstretched arm. I’d fantasized about a moment like this for years. “Didn’t you say there were dangers in this forest?”
“You’ll be safe with me.”
I inched forward. “Well, as long as we don’t go too far.”
“Of course.” He bowed, then took my hand and tucked it in the crook of his elbow. His touch had the same coolness as when he’d stroked my shoulder. I exhaled, my tense muscles easing a bit. I’d been unnecessarily jumpy that day, too.
We strolled through the portion of the wood I knew well. He pointed out various plants and animals, laughing easily and shortening his strides to match mine. Soon the terrain was no longer familiar. As we walked, more and more leaves held the silvery hue of Garrick’s tree. I paused, craning my neck to take it in. The air around us seemed to quiver with magic.
“It’s breathtaking.”
He chuckled. “And yet, it doesn’t compare with your loveliness.”
I frowned before I could stop myself. “No. Human beauty is frail and changeable. But nature is profound, all-encompassing. Nothing can match it.” My glance met his narrowed eyes. “But thank you, I appreciate the compliment.”
Sheesh, some dryad crush I was turning out to be.
“So modest. Very unusual for one possessing such allure.” He said it more as an aside than to me, so I walked on.
He soon caught up. “The silver leaves indicate dryad magic. Or, as we call it, Darach.”
“Oh, of course.” My eyes probably looked ready to bug out of my head as I strained to see every detail. “Now I’m going to miss this forest more than ever.”
“You could choose to stay.”
“If only.” I cradled a silver-tipped leaf on my palm, careful not to harm it. “But it would break my parents’ hearts if I never returned home.”
He dug the toe of his wood-carved shoe into the dirt, rubbing his neck. After all his initial bravado, now he was nervous?
I released the leaf. “We should probably—”
“Not quite yet.” He extended his arm once again. “There’s something ahead I think you’ll like.”
I peered through the leaves, trying to figure out what time it was. “Maybe for a bit longer, but then we’d better turn back.”
“It won’t be much farther.”
We walked on in silence, until the world exploded in silver around us. I gasped, stumbling back.
He grabbed my shoulder. “This is where the dryad magic is strongest. The Meeting of the Realms.”
I gaped at the enormous silver tree before us, dwarfing the rest of the forest with its height and breadth. A ring of bare ground separated it from the rest of the trees, as though they didn’t dare grow too close out of reverence.
After staring for who knows how long, I blinked and turned to face him. “So, is this what you—?”
He raised a thick silver branch, chiseled to a sharp point at one end, above me. “I am sorry for this. Truly.” His long fingers wrapped around my arm in a vice grip.
“Garrick? What are you doing?” Panic coiled through my heart like time-lapse photos in fast forward.
“I’m not Garrick.”
Shock and confusion swirled into agonizing nausea. “But you said...”
“How else was I supposed to convince you to come with me?” A vein pulsed in his neck. “Thankfully, that fool of a prince never showed himself to you.”
“But then, who are you? And why are you holding that—stick?” I would’ve laughed at the lameness of my statement if not for the sad, determined glint in his eyes.
“I am Aiken, sentinel of the Queen of the Eastern Realm. It is her wish that you be removed from Bradaigh Forest. Forever.”
Not a stick. A dagger. “No!” I twisted, jerking my arm as hard as I could.
He didn’t let go, but he lowered the silver stick to hold me with both hands. “You’ll regret it if I’m forced to use my Darach on you, human.”
I stilled but remained tense, ready to snatch my next opportunity to get away. “Why does your queen want to kill me?” My heart tugged within its icy confines. “Couldn’t I promise never to come back?”
His sigh seemed part irritation, part hopelessness. “I’m afraid Her Majesty, Queen Espina, sees you as a threat. Enough of a threat that a simple promise won’t suffice.”
“What kind of threat?”
Aiken stiffened. “That’s not your concern.”
“Not my concern?” I resumed my writhing. “You’re going to kill me without even telling me why?”
“Just...calm down.” He wrestled to keep me within his grasp, his willowy limbs lithe but not particularly strong.
A flash of silver lit his fingers, and pain sizzled down my arm. My scream echoed around the trees. No blood, but my skin glowed where he touched me.
“I didn’t want to have to do that.” He glared down at me. “Cease this fighting, and I’ll tell you what I know.”
I huffed but stopped squirming.
“The queen never knew of your existence until the day Prince Garrick reached out to you. That connection drew you into the dryad world, and she saw you in the reflecting pool she uses for her Darach. Something about you—your whole family—threatens her reign over the Eastern Realm.”
If he hadn’t been holding me so tightly, I might’ve sunk to the ground. My parents. Did they know something about this vindictive queen? Now my disobedience had put them in danger. I took several breaths, so shallow they did nothing to clear my head.
“Please. I will allow you to—to follow through with your instructions, with no further fighting, if you promise to keep the queen from harming my parents. I’m the only one of my family who ever comes here. They never set foot in this forest.” Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them back. “And please make sure Garrick doesn’t come to any harm. He only spoke to me because I was crying and he wanted to help.”
He angled his head to peer into my face. “You… You would sacrifice yourself for them?”
I nodded. Hopefully he would get this over with quickly, before I could change my mind.
The dryad pursed his lips. “The queen’s wrath is unpredictable. But I will do what I can.”
Not quite the promise I’d hoped for, but it was the best I could do. I straightened and closed my eyes as he raised his stick once more, still gripping one of my arms.
Goodbye Mom, Dad. Garrick. I’m sorry...
My eyes flew open. Aiken held the dagger aloft, looking at it rather than me.
“Wait! One more thing.”
He blew out a breath. “Yes?”
“Would you find a way to tell my parents? About what happened to me? I hate to think of them searching, wondering…” I needed to hurry and get it out, before sobs overcame my power of speech. “No need for specifics, just that I passed away in the forest. Maybe you could send them a message? They’ll be devastated, but at least they’ll know.” Sniffling, I swiped my free hand under my nose, then closed my eyes again. “Okay, I’m ready now.”
To the extent anyone could be ready for a strange dryad to murder them in the middle of an enchanted forest.
I tried to b
race myself against the pain. Presumably he’d go straight for my heart, which would hopefully end things quickly. Something thumped on the dirt, and I peeked around. The silver stick rolled across the path.
“I can’t do it.” Aiken released my arm and stepped back, the resolute line of his jaw relaxing to bewilderment. “You’re kind, selfless. Not even vain about your beauty. And whatever threat you might pose to the queen, it cannot justify such an action.”
My mouth opened and closed several times, like someone had pressed a mute button. “You’re letting me go?”
“Yes.” His eyes reflected sadness, like he knew how much trouble he’d be in for this decision.
“Th—thank you,” I faltered. “I’ll never return to Bradaigh Forest. You have my word.”
“It’s too late for that.” His shoulders drooped.
“What do you mean? I’ll go back on the path we took.”
“It won’t take you home.” He shook his head, making his curls bounce. “Garrick’s tree is near a portal into our world. Now you’ve crossed far enough in that you can’t get back out. The portal only works one way, at least for humans. You must flee west, as far from the Eastern Realm as you can. Beyond the dryad realms there are other creatures who might be willing to help, if you—”
“No!” I backed away as he spoke, barely registering his words. “I can’t stay here. I’m going home!”
“But I told you, you won’t...”
My sandals pounding against the hard-packed dirt drowned out his words.
Chapter 4
I RETRACED OUR path through the forest as fast as my feet would carry me. It was some kind of trick. Aiken had to be bluffing. I reached my tree—Garrick’s tree—gasping for breath. Now I just needed to go down the hill.
But there was no hill. Bradaigh Forest stretched in every direction, the path winding through more silver-lined trees. No. No!
Between my panic and my run, I was in danger of hyperventilating. I bent over, placing my hands on my knees. What now? If only Garrick could help me. But dryads clearly couldn’t be trusted. I’d continue in this direction. Maybe the endless forest was simply an intricate illusion.
Encircled Page 2