“There you are,” he said, reaching a hand out to lightly touch Florian's shoulder. “My son. I knew you could do it. Do you see now? You're a Changeling. You could look like anyone, anything, just the same way you did now.”
“Why did—why did that happen?” he croaked, realizing his body was trembling all over. The panic of the situation had faded, leaving only the remnants of adrenaline pounding in his ears. Jerah's grin faltered as a more thoughtful expression overtook his face—here, he seemed more expressive somehow, more animated.
“I'm not sure,” he admitted. “The last time you were here, in the Veil, you were, well—only a child, not the man you are today. So maybe your form hadn't, ah, updated, for lack of a better term. That would be my guess. Or…” He trailed off with a laugh. “Or somehow the old magic knew you'd need to prove to yourself that you were a Changeling after all. Fae magic can be tricky, but the old magic is more so.”
“Well, fuck that,” Florian grumbled, absently running his hands up his torso and his arms. Everything felt familiar once more, but he didn't want to pull his hands away from his skin for fear that he would come apart again. “There must have been nicer ways to go about it.”
He took in a long breath to steady himself, then finally straightened up to look back at Jerah. “How... How did you do that? When you told me to listen, it was like... like I couldn'tnotlook at you.”
“Ah,” Jerah said, and grimaced. “My apologies. It's generally considered quite rude to use our magic on others without reason, but, well, it seemed necessary. Fae magic is…” He paused, clearly considering what to say. “There are Earth myths about fae being unable to lie. This is not true, but it stems from the fact that our magic comes from our words. We can... speak things into existence, if you will. So when you're using your magic, the words you use are of the utmost importance.”
His expression softened now, even though Florian stared at him with a quizzically raised eyebrow. “I'll be sure to teach you, of course.”
Behind him, Kade cleared his throat, and Florian's heart plummeted to the very bottom of his stomach. He had entirely forgotten that Kade was still there, and he must have seen him like—likethat. Shame burned anew in his face, even as he glanced over his shoulder. His breath hitched at the sight of him, somehow more ridiculously handsome than he had been on earth, with eyes that glowed brightly in a yellowish-orange tangerine color very much like a dog's. No, a wolf's, Florian thought—his whole face seemed somehow more lupine in a way he couldn’t place, and he hated how attractive it made him.
But Kade looked embarrassed as well, and he kept his eyes steadily on Jerah, avoiding Florian entirely. “Maybe we can walk and talk.”
“Of course, of course,” Jerah said, stepping toward Kade. When Florian looked back the way they had come from, there was nothing. He took a moment to study it: the longer he looked, there did seem to be a slight glimmer in the air reminiscent of the shimmer of light that Jerah had pulled out of the nothingness back on Earth.Thatthought took him by surprise: back on Earth. He wasn't on Earth anymore, impossible as it seemed.
Then he realized with a start that they were not, in fact, standing on a mountain either. It looked as if they were standing in the middle of a dark blue ocean: wet black stone beneath their feet with dark water on all sides.
“Where—where are we?” he stammered, looking around nervously. Jerah glanced back at him with a grin, and Florian realized with a start that the same dark stone rose up from the water to meet the older man’s steps.
“It's a bit of a walk to the castle,” he said, chuckling. “Not as far as we hiked, of course, but a little ways. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe. Just don't wander too far from me.”
Nervously Florian leapt closer to Jerah, jogging to keep up with his stride that was somehow longer than before. He almost couldn't bring himself to look down, but when he did, he watched in fascination as the dark black stone rose up to meet his feet as well, sinking back into the water when he walked away. Though they were certainly in some kind of ocean, the water was quite calm: light was reflecting off a few small, choppy waves, but the water barely kissed their ankles as they walked.
“Is it night time right now?” Florian asked, struck again by the darkness that spread as far as he could see. It was dim, as if the sun were blocked out with thick clouds; but when he looked up, the sky looked clear. There were no stars, but the moon hung bright and heavy on the horizon.
“Yes,” Jerah said with a nod. “It often is. The Winter Court is... well, we do have daytime, but it's different from the cycles that happen on Earth. It's more like the long nights nearer the poles of the planet.”
“Interesting,” Florian said, though he frowned a bit as he spoke. It sounded like a far cry from the balmy beach weather he was used to. Although now that he was thinking about it, he didn't exactly feel cold, despite the dim light and surrounding water. “Is it... supposed to be cold?”
“Ha!” Jerah laughed at that, whirling around to look at him with a wide grin. “Not to us. No, I can assure you that you'll always be quite comfortable here. Although it might be a little less pleasant for Kade.”
Behind him, Kade made a soft noise of dissent. “Not as cold as the wolf kingdom,” he answered. Florian nodded, but he kept his back firmly turned away from the other man, still embarrassed and unsure of how to act around him now.
“Kade's homeland is far, far to the north,” Jerah said, his eyes flickering between the two as he seemed to sense Florian's discomfort. “The nearest curtain to them is in Canada and quite remote, so traveling between the two is tricky even on Earth. But I'm sure we'll make our way up there before too much longer.”
“I never said I was staying,” Florian interrupted, shaking his head. “I just want to see and then go back home.”
Jerah's grin faltered slightly at that, but he nodded. “Of course. As I said, Florian, I can't force you to do anything you don't want to do, even with magic. I assure you, the moment you'd like to return, we'll bring you back. But…” He sighed, looking away before continuing. “But it is my hope you'll change your mind. I want to show you the Winter Court, and whatever is left of the Veil beyond. I'd like to spend more time with you, now, to make up for the time we lost.”
Florian turned away, flustered. He certainly had no intention of staying longer than a day or two, but saying that to Jerah proved difficult. Now that his anger had largely subsided from the day before, some primal part of him did want to spend time with his father, and to know where he came from. His mother was gone, but if he could rekindle a relationship with his father, shouldn't he?
But even as he thought it, Florian knew that the more he gave in to the impulse of staying for his father, the more likely it was that he would end up staying for everything else, too. If he truly did not want to be involved in any of this, then he should turn and go home now. He knew it—could feel the weight of it on his shoulders—but his curiosity was too strong to ignore. He didn’t want to be involved, but he wanted toknowwhere he came from even more.
The conflict must have been apparent on his face, but luckily Jerah had turned away and was a few paces ahead of him now, and Kade stayed dutifully behind Florian. He smoothed away the tension in his brow, keeping his face carefully neutral, even as the unsettled, conflicting thoughts rattled around in his head. At the very least, he didn't need to make a decision now, he told himself. He had agreed to come to the Veil to see the Winter Court, and to see a picture of his mother, so until that happened he would stay.
“Look,” Jerah said softly, snapping Florian from his thoughts. “You can see it now, on the cliff.”
Jerah pointed toward the horizon, and Florian’s gaze followed for only a moment, when he stopped dead in his tracks. A cliffside had risen in the distance as they walked, and built along its peak Florian could see a castle made of some dark material that shone like a polished gem in the moonlight. Its tall spires broke the skyline, and even from this distance, he could make out trees dotted with flowers like tiny stars surrounding its walls. It was beautiful, and somehow achingly familiar in his chest.
Kade hesitated behind him, and Jerah turned, noticing that he'd stopped. “Everything all right?” he asked, but Florian couldn't tear his gaze away from the castle.
“It's... I think I remember it, somehow,” he said softly, his voice thick with emotion. Distantly, he had the thought that he'd been on the verge of tears far too often already today, but still the castle with the starlit forest commanded his focus. “It's beautiful. It's really beautiful.”
He didn't realize that Jerah had come up next to him, until he felt the soft, now-familiar weight of his hand on his shoulder. “It is,” his father agreed, a similar soft, affectionate tone in his voice. “I've never set eyes on a more beautiful place. And that's our home. I knew you would love it.”
Absently, Florian nodded, his eyes still tracing the lines and shapes of the castle. They stood for a moment longer, then Jerah gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
“It's even lovelier up close,” he teased, stepping forward once more with an amused grin. “Come, we're almost there.”
