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Kenrik sat on a stone bench surrounded by a peculiar squatty tree with oval leaves. I didn’t quite know what species the tree was, but it resembled the succulents in the dry regions of Gorlassar.
As Brenin traced patterns in the gravel pathway with a wooden toy horse, he neighed softly. He had a barnyard set out too, with sheep and cow figurines. Someone had carved a barn and a miniature house out of wood for him.
“Niawen.” Kenrik lifted his chin and slid over on the bench. “My apologies. Tiwlip is resting, so I took Brenin off her hands.” He laughed. “Actually, Brenin refused to nap or leave my side.”
I sat next to Kenrik. “He’s not your son, but he acts as though you’re his father.”
“Tiwlip’s husband died when Brenin was a babe. It’s been hard on them. I didn’t mean to step into the role. It just sort of happened.” Kenrik sighed. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Brenin.” Kenrik leaned over his thighs, with his elbows propped on his knees.
I tucked my knees to my chest and rested my feet on the bench, turning to Kenrik to give him my full attention. “It’s Tiwlip, isn’t it?”
Kenrik regarded me. “How’d you know?”
“I see the way she looks at you.”
“Father wants me to marry her. But, Niawen, you must understand; we practically grew up together. She’s four years my elder. I think of her as my sister.”
I nodded.
Kenrik glanced my way before continuing. “I have dreams. Being the second son of a king, you see, I didn’t expect to become one. I made my own plans—to fall in love, to have an estate in the north with my wife and son. I can picture it. The rugged highlands with my herds of sheep. Wind practically whipping laundry out of my wife’s hands while she hangs it. My young son chasing chickens in the yard and my wife scolding him. I’d teach him to hunt and track. I’d come home at night and lie with my family on a fur rug near the hearth, just holding them. They’d smell like dew and wildflowers. Is that too provincial?”
“Not at all. You can’t picture yourself ruling a kingdom?”
“If I do marry Tiwlip, my rule wouldn’t be for long. Once Brenin was old enough, he’d become king. But the lowlands are not my home. This is my home.”
My shoulders drooped. Home. Gorlassar was my home. Was. “It’s not easy to leave one’s home.”
“Why’d you do it? Why would you leave an immortal paradise?”
Brenin was marching his livestock up Kenrik’s shin. He handed a cow to Kenrik, who mooed and marched the cow over Brenin’s forehead.
“You’re not the only one who can’t marry whomever she wants,” I said.
“You’re in love?” Kenrik asked.
“Was.” Everything was past tense. “Was in love, I think. I was stupid to believe a relationship with him would work.”
Kenrik’s eyes lit with understanding. “So that’s why you left. What did you do? Confess your feelings and he didn’t return them?”
“Exactly that.”
“And you ran to us. Should I be flattered?”
“Kenrik, I didn’t know what I’d find in this world. And I’m not seeking love. Just life.”
Brenin dropped his toys, climbed onto his cousin’s lap, and pulled on a string around Kenrik’s neck. “Show me the rainbow again.”
Kenrik lifted the string off his neck and over his head. A triangular prism was attached to the end. “I can’t. There’s no sunlight today.”
“I can show you. Hold the prism out.” I brought light into my palm and sent a beam at the prism.
The glass dispersed the pure white light into a ribbon of color. Brenin held his hand up, and the colors shone across his palm.
“You actually are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, Niawen,” Kenrik said. “How does your light work?”
“Shine the light here!” Brenin jumped up and angled the prism so the rainbow would shine on his farm. I shifted the beam to comply.
“The Master of Light gave us, the emrys, His light. I hold a portion in my heart-center, or you might say, my spiritual center. It’s supposed to be used to protect the dragons, but light has many other uses. Even though the dragons are safe in Gorlassar, we’ve been taught to be prepared to use it.”
