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Soon, the eerie sounds coming from somewhere in the distance began to sound more like a melody. The crickets played a rhythm matched by the rustling of branches and shaking of leaves. Even the growling of a creature in time with its own stomping began to lend itself as bass to the song the forest sang.
As I relaxed, Edrich only seemed to become more rigid. The crease between his brow furrowed and deepened as he lost himself in whatever thoughts were plaguing him.
“I can feel you staring.” His deep voice practically reverberated against me in his pocket.
“You sure you know where you’re going?” I finally asked with a smile and a quirk of my eyebrow, trying to soften his demeanor.
He peered down at me, his countenance beginning to mirror my own.
Only, instead of the boy I’d known all of my life looking back at me, it was a man I only barely recognized. The beginning of a beard was forming on his face, and the circles under his thick lashes were a dark blue. His once soft expression was hardened and haunted. The thick, blond waves that used to cascade over his brow, were now tightly pulled back into a knot behind his head.
It wasn’t until I saw the corner of his mouth twitch that I realized he was going to let our earlier conversation go. When his lips eventually stretched into a reluctant smile, relief washed through me. He rolled his eyes and sighed.
“Maybe if I could read that sorry excuse for a map you have, I would know for sure.” He answered my earlier question. Then he glanced back at his pocket and shook his head. “Did you really just decide to help yourself to my cookie?”
I returned his grin and wiped away whatever evidence still lingered on my face.
“First of all, it’s your fault for putting me in here with the temptation and for not ever breaking for lunch. But also, that map wasn’t made foryou,” I said, sticking out my tongue, earning a reluctant chuckle. “But I would be happy to guide you, oh Surly One.”
This time his laugh was heartier, the sound rich and deep.
“All right,Thumbelina.” He emphasized the old nickname he’d given me. “Lead the way.”
10
Edrich
Ihad forgotten how impossible it was to stay irritated with Lina.
It was easier to resent her when we were apart, but not when I looked at her smirking face and knew she had no idea of the way her existence had shackled my life.It’s not her fault I bound myself to protect her.It was mine, and Rumplestiltskin’s.
And that wasn’t why I hated to be around her, not really. I knew that, even if it was hard to admit it most of the time.
Every hint of anger slowly drained away, but not the tension—not when we were intruding on the homes of a thousand creatures that would try to kill both of us, and not when she was staring at me like that. Like I was some knight in shining armor instead of just a mercenary.
We made steady progress following the basic direction of her map, but it wasn’t without detours. Pepper scouted constantly ahead. When she cawed out a warning, we knew to give the area in front of us a wide berth.
Even with my falcon, we had a few near-misses. Too many, considering we were still on the relative outskirts of the forest. I was so lost in my thoughts and my constant perusal of the forest, it took me a while to figure out why it was getting chillier and harder to see. Night was falling.
“We should find a stopping point,” I told Lina.
“Oh, I guess we should.” She glanced around, sounding dubious, so I raised my eyebrows in question.
“I usually just find a nice enclosed flower if I’m away from home.” She shrugged.
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my lips.Of course, she does.
“Well, as much as I would love to just curl up in a tulip for the night, I’ll have to set some shelter up somewhere, hopefully out of the way.”
“Would you?” She tilted her head in question.
“Would I what?”
“Love to be small enough to curl up in a flower and sleep?”
I would have laughed the question off, but she was peering up at my face like she was searching for something… like the answer mattered.
Visions flitted through my mind, the difficulties of being small. But… not everything I envisioned was bad. Something else occurred to me also, something I didn’t want to delve too deeply into.
