Her cheeks were pink.
But it was the soft, bemused smile on her lips that stole his breath.
She didn’t look angry.
She looked… pleased.
Hope bloomed inside him, fragile and bright.
Alice lifted one hand and whispered something under her breath. Geoff’s breath caught as a scarf shimmered into existence in her palm—a soft, silvery thing that glowed like moonlight on water.
She hugged it to her chest, turned to him with tears glistening in her eyes, and smiled.
His chest tightened at the sight.
“You did it,” he said softly. “Well done.”
Alice nodded, emotion thick in her throat. “It’s the first thing I’ve made since I got here.”
Geoff reached out, almost touched her hand—then stopped himself. “We should go,” he said, his voice low.
“Yeah,” she whispered, but didn’t move.
For a moment, they stood in silence, surrounded by towering trees and ancient magic, the hush of the forest a kind of blessing. He didn’t know what would happen next. Didn’t know if she’d find her friends. Or if she’d ever be able to return home.
But he knew this:
He would protect her.
And he would never forget the way her smile made his heart beat louder than his fear.
Alice adjusted the soft scarf tied around her head, feeling the silken fabric settle against her tangled braid. It had taken her several tries to craft it—Geoff’s steady guidance nudging her toward the rhythm of this world’s energy—but it was hers. The threads shimmered faintly when they caught the light, threaded with color like spun starlight.
She tried not to think about his kiss, but her fingers kept brushing the edge of the scarf as if it still held the echo of that moment. Geoff hadn’t said anything about it since. Maybe it hadn’t meant anything to him.
She wasn’t sure what it meant to her.
Geoff walked ahead, his hands wrapped around the strap of his satchel, his gait easy as he pointed to a cluster of blue-feathered birds diving through the upper branches. “Those are sky-dancers. They can mimic any song they hear. Beautiful, but loud. They love stealing shiny things, too—especially earrings.”
Alice smiled, tucking the scarf over her ears. He flashed her a grin, and she stuck her tongue out at him. He released a low series of whistles, and soon the air was filled with the melody as the sky-dancers picked it up and repeated it.
“They are loud! Do you get many travelers here?” she asked.
Geoff snorted. “Not like you. Most strangers show up by ship, both air and sea, or enter through one of the regulated portals. You—” he glanced over his shoulder “—you fell from the sky from a very unregulated portal.”
“Sorry about that. It wasn’t like I was trying to pop in unannounced. Well, we were, but not—oh, forget it. It was a totally unregulated portal.”
He grinned. “I would be surprised if the king and queen didn’t already know about you. Since the other alien creature, they have been a lot more cautious.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged his shoulder and flicked his fingers. A small stick appeared in his hand. Alice watched him with envy as he swung it in front of him to catch the spider webs that crossed their path.
“Years ago, there was this alien creature—a parasite, really—that tried to take over the Seven Kingdoms. It possessed Magna.”
“Who’s Magna?”
“She’s the Sea Witch,” he replied, winding a silky web around the end of his stick.
