She smiled at me. “Thank you for bringing me with you, Seth. If this was all we did and went home now, I’d consider it a beautiful adventure.”
“If you’re relaxed enough, I’m going to take us west over the ocean. I’m going to speed up a lot and we’ll go until we hit land. I can scan ahead of us and I’m pretty good at it. If I find land with my remote viewing, we can port there if we’re tired of flying. If at any time you get nervous, just let me know and we’ll slow down or stop.”
“Ok, I’m ready, but I am scared. It’s the good, excited kind of scared though, so let’s go!”
I headed west and turned on the speed. Over the ocean with no landmarks to use to judge speed, we had no real idea how fast we were going. When the wind was no longer making noise outside of our shields, I knew from my father’s science lessons that we’d broken the sound barrier and were traveling at least eight hundred miles an hour. Tabitha looked a bit nervous so I locked our speed in my mind and pulled her closer. She put her arm around my neck and I put mine around her waist. I pulled her against my side and she smiled at me. She seemed much more relaxed and watched the clouds and the water below speed by.
At noon I cast a levitation bubble around our hurtling bodies and kept our speed. It created a weightless environment around us and I sat with my legs crossed. Tabitha grinned and did the same while we unpacked food that we could eat with no preparation. After we’d eaten and gotten some water, I returned us back to our original flying positions and spells.
As the sun was beginning to move toward the ocean, I cast ahead with my ‘remote viewing’ skill. I found land but it was hard to tell how far ahead it was without some sort of landmark to judge distance with. I put a clear image of the beach in my head and returned to flying.
I pulled Tabitha close. “We can continue flying if you want or I can port us to land. I’ve located a beach a few hundred miles ahead. Personally, I’m ready to have my feet on the ground.”
She nodded. “Flying has been wonderful fun, but after a few hours of seeing nothing but ocean, I’m ready to land, too.”
I smiled and put on the brakes. As we stopped, Tabitha pulled herself to me and put her arms around me, waiting for the transport spell. I focused on the beach ahead and ported. She held me for a few moments after we were on solid ground and then let go to walk a bit, shaking the stiffness out of her legs.
“I’m going to fly out a little ways and see if I can locate some fish. We could have a hot dinner instead of using our rations”
“That sounds like a good idea. I think I’ll just walk for a little while. It’s surprising how stiff my legs got sitting there and not moving all day. I’m not used to sitting that still!”
I flew up five hundred feet and went back out to sea, keeping one eye on the beach. I searched below the waves with my mind, looking for a few keeper-size fish. It only took fifteen minutes before I’d found a large school of fish just over a foot long each. I grabbed a half dozen and pulled them up to me. I zipped back to shore and landed with the fish hovering in the air off of the sand. Tabitha dragged over a flat piece of driftwood and I set the fish down. I told her I’d be right back and ported to the trees that were a half mile inland. I quickly gathered a large stack of firewood and ported me and it back to the beach. I’d decided that it was a nice place to camp for our first night out. We’d be in the open where we could spot danger coming and we’d have food and shelter when I set up the tent for Tabitha.
I dug out a hole in the sand to make a fire pit and started putting wood into it for a fire. Tabitha had located a knife in one of our packs and was down by the water cleaning and washing the fish. I started the fire with a thought, so it could start making embers that would be better to cook over.
I laid out my bedroll close to the fire so we could sit on it while we cooked and ate. I sat and watched Tabitha by the edge of the sea and wondered if she felt for me the same as I did for her. She finished with the fish and came back toward the packs. She smiled when she saw me watching her and I smiled back. She bustled around the packs rattling the camp cookware, small metal plates and silverware.
She had managed to find flour and salt to coat the fish and a small vial of oil to cook with. Those must have been some of the things that she’d picked up at the general goods store while my mind was elsewhere. She sat right beside me holding my hand when she didn’t need hers to tend dinner. We talked about the distance that we’d traveled and the few interesting things that we’d seen while we were airborne.
As the food cooked and the sun started setting, I got up and moved the tent close to the fire. Since it was early spring, it might get chilly and perhaps Tabitha could get some heat in the tent from the fire. I set it up and moved her bedroll inside. She told me that the food was ready and I joined her back on my bedroll. She’d done an excellent job of making fillets and I never found a bone. I couldn’t help staring at her as the moon rose over the ocean behind me. This trip would have been a lot less enjoyable if she hadn’t come with me.
We finished eating and carried the dishes to the water. With a little sand and a good rinse, everything was sparkling clean. We went back to our camp, put away the dishes and sat back on the blanket. We held hands and she leaned against my shoulder as we talked about our lives. She’d lived the life of a farm girl, up at dawn and in the fields until dusk. I’d lived the life of a prince, up when I felt like it, education and magic training and no real responsibilities. We came from very different places, but sitting on that beach, we felt as though we were the same. We could both see that we were falling in love.
Tabitha announced, “As wonderful as this evening has been, I must get some sleep. The ‘early to bed, early to rise’ habit is still in me. I’ll see you bright and early in the morning.” She kissed my cheek and stood to go to the tent.
“Goodnight, my… Tabitha. I’m looking forward to the morning. I’ll put a shield over the camp so you won’t have anything to worry about and can sleep well.”
She smiled and went into the tent. I cast a ‘dome shield’ over the site and built up the fire. I straightened my blankets and crawled between them. It was warm enough and if a chill did roll in later, I could warm the shield and heat the area. I laid there looking at the stars and wondering what Tabitha was dreaming about. I finally fell asleep and she wandered my dreams.
Chapter Three
I woke the next morning to the sound of canvas on sand and a cute grunting sound. I opened my eyes and saw that the sun had been up a half hour or less. All my gear and Tabitha’s gear was already packed up. She had taken down the tent and was trying to drag it to smooth it for rolling. I jumped up and hurried over to her. Together we had the tent packed up quickly. I was surprised to notice that for such a small, young lady she was actually stronger physically that I was. Working on a farm must be more demanding on the body than sitting on chairs and couches all day.
Tabitha handed me a plate with some of our rations on it. She’d already prepared the best breakfast she could with our limited food supply. Ivy might be the type of Halfling that talks faster than a squirrel chatters, but Tabitha was the type that works faster than anyone I’d ever seen. On top of that, she was incredibly cute while she was doing it!
I said, “I feel pretty guilty about you packing up the entire camp this morning. It looks like we’re ready to start hiking west and exploring how large this place is. I don’t know if it’s a continent or an island. One way to find out is to walk!
“Don’t feel guilty, Seth! This is the way that I was raised and you were raised another. I’m sure that the more time we spend together, the closer to being alike we’ll become. We’ll just meet each other in the middle. I’m ready to walk if you are.”
We slung our packs over our shoulders, joined hands and started west toward the trees. I put personal shields on both of us just in case, and had to explain the skin tightening feeling to her. She smiled and nodded and we continued. We came to the tree line and entered the forest. We
could have forgotten that we weren’t in southern Eredwynn. The trees looked the same and the weather felt the same. The smell of dry leaves wafted up from the forest floor and made me feel at home.
As the morning progressed, I began looking for small game. “Tabitha, help me keep an eye out for rabbits or squirrels. If we find something, we might have a better lunch than the dry stuff in our packs.”
“I’ve been all through our gear and think I would have noticed a bow or other weapon. Unless you’re an expert at knife throwing, how do you expect to get small game?”
I grinned and pointed at a tree twenty feet away and fired a magic arrow. “Wizards can do a little more than just fly, you know.”
She laughed. “When I first met you, I was frightened about meeting another of the famous ‘Siblings’. Now I’m so comfortable around you that I’d almost forgotten who you are! The shield reminded me momentarily, but I’d already accepted that and moved on.”
I smiled and sighed. “I’m very glad you’re comfortable around me now. I’m getting better about being around you, too. At least I can talk to you without my heart jumping into my throat and trying to strangle me!”
She laughed softly. “That happened to you, too? I thought I was the only one. I guess we do feel the same way about each other, but I’m not sure how I’m supposed to display my feelings. I’m afraid of doing something that might make you uncomfortable.”
“Tabitha, I can’t think of a thing you could do that would make me uncomfortable. I started having feelings for you when I first met you, as James can attest to. He laughed at me for having butterflies in my stomach and my heart trying to beat its way free of my chest. I’m afraid to use the ‘L’ word because I’m not positive you feel the same, but I’m getting close anyway.”
“Seth, stop walking for a minute.”
I turned to face her and she reached up and put her arms around my neck. She pulled me down to her and kissed me gently on the lips. She let me go and turned away shyly.
I sighed. “Those darn butterflies are back with a vengeance!”
She turned back to me with a grin. “They sure are and I’m falling in love with butterflies. Let’s find our lunch so you can show me how that spell really works.”
Over the next few hours, we managed to locate a few squirrels and a couple rabbits. We stopped and set up a lunch camp. Tabitha rounded up firewood while I cleaned the game. I rinsed it with a little water from my bottle and cut it into pieces. I turned it over to Tabitha and started the fire. It was very nice to have someone to share the chores with and I was glad that she’d come along. I’d never been in love before but I’d seen love between my father and the ladies in his life. I could tell by the way he treated them and they treated him that they were very much in love. I knew that I was in love with Tabitha, but since it was a new emotion, I didn’t know what to do about it.
While we were waiting for the food to cook, I used my remote viewing to check out the land to the west along our path. The woods seemed to continue for at least another two days walking distance. They thinned a bit there and I shut down my viewing. I didn’t want to know everything that we were going to find. I’d leave the next step after the thick woods to exploration. If I’d come alone, I would have probably just flown the distance and skipped the hiking and camping. Since I had company that I enjoyed talking to, I looked forward to the hike.
I’d been raised with the ladies of Wizard’s Castle. My mother and the other consorts that I called Aunts were whom I’d had the most contact with all my life. I wasn’t really sure of the typical male role in a situation and I’d been taught to be sensitive and helpful. Those were usually overlooked traits for most of the males these days.
Tabitha was sitting by the fire cooking happily, so I went over and sat beside her. I asked if there was anything that I could do to help and she smiled and shook her head. We talked while she finished and we ate. We cleaned the dishes with the smallest amount of water that we could, packed up and continued on our way.
I listened as she talked about farming and gardening. She knew the best ways to plant and get ready for harvest, every food crop I’d ever heard of and some I hadn’t. I finally built up the nerve to put my arm around her waist and glanced at her without missing a step. My heart flipped twice in my chest when I saw her smile and the journey continued.
By that evening we hadn’t seen any further game. We came to a clearing and Tabitha pulled away from me. She ran ahead a bit and started pulling what looked like a thick grass with a funny head on top. She gathered a couple handfuls as I caught up with her. She handed me some and when I looked confused, she laughed.
“This is called wild asparagus. It’s considered a delicacy among the Halflings. I can’t believe you’ve never seen it! I guess the rich don’t get all the good things.” She began munching it raw as we walked. I tried it and it was indeed quite good.
“What other good things do you know about that might grow in the woods?”
“I don’t know nearly as much as I’ve heard the elves do, but if I see anything, I’ll grab it. I have to do my part on this trip to make it more enjoyable.”
I smiled. “All you have to do on this trip to make it enjoyable for me is to be here. I was thinking last night how much more monotonous this trip would be without you. Thank you for coming with me.”
She blushed. “I wanted to come with you and was excited when you asked me. I love you, Seth and knew I would if I spent any time with you at all. It hit me like a shovel last night as I was drifting off. I hope that you’ll feel something for me soon, too.
I stopped, pulled her to me and kissed her. “I love you, too, Tabitha! I just wasn’t sure how you felt. I’d been making myself hide my feelings because I was afraid of rejection. Thank you for being brave enough for both of us by admitting your feelings for me. Now my heart is beating in my throat and the butterflies have gone insane!”
“That's happening to me, too, Seth! I knew that you liked me and that’s why you asked me to come. I didn’t know that you’d fallen in love too. This has been a wonderful trip so far.”
I knew I looked like an idiot with my face-splitting grin, but I didn’t care. “We still have a few hours of daylight so we should continue this journey. Hopefully we’ll find a nice place to stop tonight.”
She nodded and was wearing a similar grin. I put my arm around her waist and pulled her against me as we walked. We traveled in silence but could feel the love growing between us. By late evening we hadn’t found any squirrels or rabbits, but the asparagus had gone a long way toward quelling our appetites. We did find a fast flowing stream running north and south that made very nice sleep-inducing sounds. We refilled our water bottles, ate a little from our pack and were content. I gathered wood and built a fire. I spread my bedroll by the fire and we sat side by side while we watched the fire as the sun set. We talked a bit and kissed a bit, since it was new to both of us. I declared that it was always a good idea to practice new skills, which got a laugh and a blush. The day’s walk had tired us out, so Tabitha kissed me goodnight and retired to the tent. I slid between my blankets and looked at the stars through the trees. My stars certainly seemed to be changing. I had given up on finding love because of my size, but love hadn’t given up on finding me. I cast a ‘dome shield’ over the campsite to protect me and the one I loved and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, the birds woke with the sun and woke me as well. I raised my head just as Tabitha came out of the tent dressed for the day. She had never worn the cape that I’d gotten for her when I got the outfits. She was a farmer’s daughter and wore clothes that were practical, not necessarily in fashion. I loved looking at her but had some uncommon ideas in my head. I felt that sex and love should go hand in hand. I loved Tabitha and had admitted it to her. I also felt that if we were to marry, our wedding night should be the time for giving ourselves fully to each other. My mother and all the consorts back home might think that I had foolish old-fashioned notions
, but I was entitled to them. It was my choice to make. If Tabitha told me that I had to make love to her or lose her, my clothes would vanish. My convictions weren’t strong enough to risk our relationship. We’d cross that bridge when we came to it. And speaking of bridges, after we packed up I was going to have to float us across the stream.
I helped lay out our cold breakfast, we ate and packed up the camp. We put on our packs and double checked to make sure the fire was out and we hadn’t left anything behind. We walked hand in hand to the stream and without missing a step, I wrapped her in a levitation bubble and we floated to the other side.
Tabitha laughed. “I fell asleep last night wondering how we were going to get across that stream. You just seem so normal to me now, it’s easy to forget that you’re one the most powerful wizards in Eredwynn!”
“I hope that means that you’re comfortable around me now. Out in the woods, using magic won’t be an issue; but if we meet people, I won’t want to use more than I have to. I’ll most likely keep us shielded all the time like I do now but I won’t do anything that will draw attention.”
“That sounds like a good idea. I heard it took Eredwynn a long time to get used to the Wizard’s Castle wizards and these people may have never even heard of magic. We can just try to fit in as normal kids!” she joked.
“That should be easy enough; I’ve done that all my life. You might consider putting that dress back on before we go around people. Your curves wouldn’t pass as a ten-year-old’s body.”
Seth, A Naiad's Son (Generations of Eredwynn Book 3) Page 3