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But just like Teo, Atlas just smirks at the reprimand.
And to my surprise, so does Teo.
“Atta go, Atlas. Love seeing you with some backbone, kid.” He winks at him.
I shake my head, giving up on trying to understand these two together.
Instead, I turn to Teo and ask him to tell us why Nas Laed to him is the best city in the land.
Teo gets up from the floor, making sure that all eyes are on him.
“First of all, you have to be from the south to even know where it’s located.”
“So it’s a secret?” I ask, sincerely intrigued.
“Why keep it a secret?” Atlas curiously asks beside me.
“For protection.” Teo shrugs. “Enemies can’t invade a city if they don’t know where it is.”
“But we don’t have enemies,” I state, with a confused expression plastered on my face.
“Today we might not, but who knows what tomorrow may bring.” Teo wiggles his brows.
“Stop showing off and tell them what they want to know already,” Levi interjects, annoyed at Teo’s dramatics.
“I was getting to it,” Teo replies, giving Levi a roll of the eye. “Anyway, my home may not have an ocean like Atlas accused, but it has a waterfall so high it almost touches the stars. Birds of every feather are free to fly through a sky so bright that you have to put your hand over your eyes to see it. Every cat known to man, be it a black panther or a wild-mane lion, roams around the city like stray dogs roam yours. And our gardens hold more colors in their flowers than rainbows even possess,” Teo explains, transporting us all to this wondrous land.
“You’re making this up,” Atlas mumbles skeptically.
“I’m not. I swear that I’m telling you the truth.”
“He is,” Levi confirms, his head hanging low as he continues to carve away. “When my grandfather was alive, he went to Nas Laed once on crown business, and when he returned, he wouldn’t stop talking about it. He would spend nights telling me these fantastical tales like Teo is telling you. He’s not lying. It exists just as he says.”
“Now do you believe me?” Teo throws his arms in the air, frustrated.
“Wow!” Atlas exclaims, his eyes almost coming out of their sockets, while mine are filled with all these fantastical images Teo planted in my head.
“Figures. When I say something, no one believes me, but when Levi says the same damn thing, everyone does,” Teo grumbles. “One day you’re going to have to teach me that neat trick.”
Levi turns around and stands up, keeping his arms behind his back.
“It’s not a trick, Teo. If you always tell the truth, then no one will doubt your word,” Levi explains.
“Sounds boring.” Teo scoffs.
“Sounds honorable,” Levi rebukes.
“Is there a difference?” Teo taunts by raising a cocky brow.
But I don’t have time to get in between them and simmer down their hotheaded temperaments since Atlas is already jumping up to his feet and racing toward Levi. I, of course, get up and follow him too.
“Is it done?” he asks, wide-eyed.
“You tell me?”
Levi then brings his hands to his front and places a wooden toy boat into his palms.
Atlas stares at it like it’s the best gift he’s ever gotten.
